

THE SHIRES. 235 



and was too fond of lifting them. . . . He had neither patience nor 

 perseverance, and was always for finding a fresh fox. Having 

 plenty of horses, he would gallop off miles distant. Half the field 

 thought the hounds were running, and did not discover their mis- 

 take till they got to a fresh covert with their horses half done. 

 Such we believe to have been the mode adopted by the renowned 

 Dick Knight. 



Then, after one season under a Mr. Buller, the hounds 

 passed to the great John Warde. He brought the two countries 

 into one, and moved the kennels to Boughton. Large hounds 

 were his passion, 'great calves,' as the Quorn men called 

 them ; but large as they were they could chase as well as 

 hunt, and their steadiness was a byword through the length 

 and breadth of hunting England. When 'Glorious John' 

 left Northamptonshire for the New Forest (a change, indeed !), 

 the old family came to the front again in the person of Lord 

 Althorp, who bought the hounds from his predecessor for 

 1,000 guineas, a pretty good proof of the value of the 'great 

 calves.' Pytchley once more became the head-quarters, and 

 the golden years returned. According to ' Cecil,' in which he 

 differs from ' The Druid,' who, however, is vague in the matter 

 of dates, and apt sometimes to contradict himself, Charles 

 King was then the huntsman, a better one than Knight and 

 quite as good a rider. He is said to have offered to ride, 

 dance, play the fiddle, and hunt a pack of hounds, against any 

 man in the midland counties, and, like the first Lord Spencer, 

 he was very particular in keeping a diary. The Club was then 

 in its prime, with Frank Forester, the giant Dick Gurney, Hugo 

 Meynell, Sir Charles Knightley, Sir David Baird, George Payne 

 (father of the late George), the brothers Allix, Sir Thomas 

 Salisbury, and Frederick Ponsonby among its shining lights, 

 with an occasional flash from Melton in the shape of Lord 

 Alvanley. This great time lasted till 1820, and then, after a 

 series of short reigns, including Sir Bellingham Graham's and 

 Mr. Musters', came 'the Squire's' mastership from 1827 till 

 1834, which almost rivalled the great days of Lord Althorp's. 



