46 FOX-HUNTING FROM SHIRE TO SHIRE 



greatest reverence and admiration. " Hi, Mr 

 Tindall were a grand un', and no mistake about it. 

 When he came to the hunt it was ever so bad, in 

 debt £27, los., and he wiped it out all at one go ! 

 He was the best master man ever had, and I never 

 had a wrong word from him." Born of yeoman 

 parents, Tommy never served an apprenticeship 

 in any other kennel, but, as he narrates, " being 

 fond of 'untin' and having now't to do one 

 winter," he applied for the post of huntsman 

 when it became vacant, and getting all the votes 

 received the appointment, succeeding Jackson, who 

 had been in ofhce nine seasons. Yorkshire sports- 

 men learned to regard him in the light of a celebrity 

 and an authority on matters of the chase, knowing 

 as he did every yard of the country, and the run 

 of foxes in a district where topical knowledge was 

 of absolute importance to get to hounds. His pre- 

 decessor had hunted the pack for three seasons on 

 foot, and was then provided with one horse, which 

 he rode for six seasons. A stout chestnut, pur- 

 chased for twenty-five sovereigns at York to carry 

 Tommy, proved a really good investment, no day 

 being too long for him, in nine seasons over the 

 rough going of the moors. Red Robin became 

 famous as his rider, a round quartered sturdy cob 

 with heavyish shoulders and a wonderful cupboard. 

 With 14 stone 7 lbs. in the saddle he could accom- 

 plish a wonderful day's work, running the pig-cart 

 between times to gather up the pack for a day's 

 hunting, able to pound the best part of the field 

 when it came to solid hunting. A slow, clever 

 horse, in harmony with his rider, Tommy had only 

 to tell Red Robin what to do when they came to a 

 fence, and he would scale any obstacle he could 

 not fly. A horse not bred to moorland hunting is 



