THE PROVINCES. 2 si 



hunt takes its name, and ' not a chimney corner was to be let.' l 

 As Stephen weighed twenty stone he was not of much service 

 when hounds ran fast, which, as a matter of fact, they do not 

 seem very often to have done in those days. Sir Thomas had 

 curious theories of breeding, and an almost fanatic aversion to 

 tongue, which resulted in his hounds at last running almost 

 mute. Tom Wingfield was a better servant to Sir Thomas 

 than either Goodall or the ' great Mr. Shawe,' and, among other 

 accomplishments, he was famous for being the only man able 

 to keep in order Griff Lloyd, the hunting parson, and a great 

 character in that country and time. Mr. Drake, the Squire of 

 Shardeloes, succeeded to Sir Thomas, and the sport grew 

 faster. Drake has always been a name of mark in this country, 

 and when the present Squire hunted the country, and his 

 brothers Edward (a parson, too, but of a different stamp to 

 Griff Lloyd, and as good in the cricket field as the saddle) and 

 George were in their prime, it took an uncommon good man and 

 horse to beat the family. Besides Banbury, the country can be 

 hunted from Bicester, Buckingham, and Brackley. Bicester is 

 the most central, being only three miles from the kennels at 

 Stratton Audley. Leighton and Bletchley are also convenient 

 spots, especially if you hunt from London, and to one so hunt- 

 ing there is no good country more accessible than this. Its 

 stiffest part is in the northern angle running up to Daventry, 

 sandwiched in between the Heythrop and the Warwickshire on 

 the west and the Duke of Grafton's and a little corner of the 

 Pytchley on the east. This is nearly all grass and fenced in 

 true Northamptonshire style. In the centre lies the Bicester 

 Vale, grassy too, but less formidable to cross, and separated 

 from * the fairest of all hunting quarters,' the beautiful vale of 

 Aylesbury, by the Claydon Woods on the east, while on the 

 south lie the deep Oxford woodlands, which are mostly shared 

 with Lord Macclesfield. Hereabouts the country is rough, 

 deep, and wild, and bad to cross ; but eastwards towards Brill 

 a fairer prospect opens, and in the days before Oxford became a 



1 Scott and Sebright, ch. v. 



