PETERBOROUGH AND THE FITZWILLIAM HUNT 3 



y 



man, possessing a common origin, for the dignitaries 

 of the Church in ages gone by were the pioneers 

 of the Chase. 



My father, the late " Cuthbert Bede," was all his 

 life the incumbent of vari- 

 ous country livings in the 

 Fitzwilliam, Cottesmore, and 

 Belvoir countries, and — as 

 did the late Canon Kingsley 

 — took the keenest interest 

 in hunting lore, though he 

 never rode to hounds. The 

 following is a quotation from 

 one of his writings^ : — " Dean 

 Stanley, in his Historical 

 Memoirs of Westminster Abbey, tells us that Edward 

 the Confessor, with ecclesiastics in his train, would 

 spend days together hawking and cheering on his 

 hounds. The Clergy, as a matter of course, took 

 part in all sports of the field ; and despite the 

 prohibition of Councils, they continued to hunt 

 and hawk wdth a determination not to relinquish 

 their popular pastimes. Mitred bishops and Abbots 

 gave the lead to the inferior Priests and Deacons ; 

 and as Bishops and Abbots were, at that time, 

 feudal lords, their vassals looked to them to counten- 

 ance the sports of the field. Walter, Bishop of 

 Rochester, in the tenth century, was a vigorous 

 episcopal follower of the hounds ; and, even in his 

 eightieth year, would not forego the favourite sport, 

 neglecting his diocesan duties in order that he might 

 gratify his love for hunting. An Abbot of Leicester, 

 in the eleventh century, is recorded to have been 

 an eminent hunter of hares. Abroad it was the 



> From an article by the late Rev. Edward Bradley — Cuthbert Bede — 

 author of " Verdant Green " in Fores Magazine, 1888. 



