THE STAINTON DALE 



45 



being, the only means of informing a scattered 

 population. 



Old Tom Harrison is very proud of a tribute 

 paid to his character by that fine old sportsman, 

 Mr Tom Parrington, who instituted the foxhound 

 show, and was master of the Sinnington between 

 1874 and 1884, when a trencher-fed pack. After a 

 day with the Stainton Dale, Mr Parrington is re- 

 ported to have said, " Tommy is a gentleman, even 

 when three sheets in the wind." It must be re- 

 membered that in those days, in primitive districts, 

 a hunt used to adjourn to the nearest public-house 

 after a kill, and discuss the whole performance ; 

 for the following, whether riding or on foot, all 

 combined with a strenuous effort to bring about 

 the death of the fox. 

 For ten seasons Harrison 

 worked single-handed with 

 no whipper-in, depending 

 on the field to help him, 

 which they did to the best 

 of their ability, armed with 

 whips to round up their 

 own particular hounds. 

 The keenest rivalry ex- 

 isted amongst the follow- 

 ers, for everyone hoped 

 to see the hounds they 

 walked, at the top of the 

 hunt, and when trencher 

 feeding became a thing of 

 the past, much of this love of hound - lore and 

 hunting disappeared with the old system. 



Serving under two Stainton Dale masterships, 

 that of Mr C. Leadley from 1874 to 1894, and Mr 

 W. S. Tindall, 1894 to 1899, Tom spoke with the 



Celebrating a kill. 



