198 THE NEW FOREST 



bitterness that had to be reconciled, I remember 

 well how my heart misgave me when I dared 

 to forecast a period when peace and good sport, 

 backed up by all alike, might reign in what 

 truly ought to be a paradise for all hunters. It 

 took twenty years to bring it about, but it is 

 one of the comforts left to me in my old age to 

 reflect that the ancient wars and troubles have 

 died away, and that I left a thoroughly friendly, 

 united body of sportsmen where I had found a 

 very different state of feeling. 



To go back to 1883. It was at once proposed 

 that an established pack of buckhounds should 

 be formed under the mastership of Mr. Lovell, 

 who made over to the managing committee all 

 the hounds he then had in kennel, and under- 

 took to continue the use of those kennels at 

 Hincheslea. 



At first Mr. Lovell carried the horn himself, 

 as he had been wont to do, and, on his invi- 

 tation, I habitually rendered him all the assist- 

 ance in the field that I could. He had only one 

 whip, a groom of his own training, not brought 

 up to kennel work, and an extra hand in the 

 field, even an amateur, was very useful to him. 



In the spring of 1885, owing to the sudden 

 death of Lady Rose Lovell, Mr. Lovell could not 

 hunt. He was, however, quite willing that the 



