220 THE LIFE OF A SPORTSMAN 



sister, and at length succeeded to his property ; and Mr. 

 Griffith Lloyd, his brother, a fellow of All Souls, Oxford, 

 both good sportsmen. As may be expected, more Welsh 

 gentlemen occasionally sojourned in the neighbourhood, 

 for the sake of hunting with their countryman, who was 

 deservedly popular amongst them all. 



But the great object of attraction in the eyes of Frank 

 Raby was the huntsman to this pack, the very celebrated 

 Shaw, who afterwards hunted the Belvoir hounds with so 

 much spirit and &lat. There was a peculiarity in his 

 manner of hunting his hounds which was quite unlike 

 anything he had ever before seen, as well as a quickness, 

 almost approaching to wildness, in his motions, that could 

 not be lost upon anyone who was capable of common 

 observation. And to show the repute he was in as a 

 huntsman, and the value put on his services by his master, 

 his salary for wages would be an improper term for such 

 an annual sum, although paid to a person occupying what 

 may be called a menial situation was 300 per annum, 

 with a servant to arrange his apartment ! And then his 

 horsemanship also surprised Frank Raby. There was an 

 ease and elegance in his seat not often witnessed even in 

 the higher orders of life, together with a quickness that 

 kept him always in his place, and this with a pack noted, 

 as that of Sir Thomas Mostyn was, in those days, for going 

 a racing pace whenever the scent served. And he was 

 told of an extraordinary circumstance that occurred to 

 Shaw, which made a lasting impression on his mind. He 

 first commenced hunting Sir Thomas Mostyn's hounds in 

 what is called the Woore country, comprising parts of 

 Staffordshire and Cheshire, previously to their removal 

 into Oxfordshire. It so happened, at this time, that, 

 partly from a scarcity of foxes, and partly from ill-luck 

 in not catching them, the space of seventeen days had 

 passed over without his hounds tasting blood. Having, 

 then, marked a fox to ground in an earth on the side of a 

 bank, Shaw determined on digging to him, although the 

 night had commenced, and the assistance of lanthorns had 

 become necessary. At length he got him in his hand, not 

 a little to his satisfaction, and, throwing him to the pack, 

 who were below him, on very slanting ground, and 

 hallooing " Who-hoop ! " most lustily, expected to see him 

 devoured. But no ; the nature of the ground favoured 

 him ; the hounds overshot their mark, and reynard rolling 



