CHAPTER VI 



THE CHESHIRE UNDER THE DUKE OF WESTMINSTER'S 

 MASTERSHIP 



The Abbots of Chester forest hunting in 1285 — The Cheshire Hunt estab- 

 lished by Mr John Smith Barry in 1763 — His hounds matched for a 

 trial of speed with Mr Hugo Meynell's, in 1762 — The Bluecap Inn 

 to-day at Sandiway and the picture of the winning hound — Egerton 

 Warburton's verses on the mastership of Lord Grosvenor first Duke of 

 Westminster, 1858 — The Second Duke of Westminster's mastership, 

 1907 — Alfonso, King of Spain, hunts with the Cheshire hounds — The 

 Duke's South African pack of hounds — Cheshire Gildimire, winner 

 of the champion cup at Peterborough, 1891 — Cheshire Rantipole 

 another winner in 1900 — Mr Hubert Wilson's mastership, 1901 to 

 1907, and his system of breeding — The five crosses of blood in the 

 Cheshire Kennel — Croome Rambler, 1873 — Fred Champion — Cheshire 

 Dryden (1906) — Cheshire Crowner (1906) — Cheshire Safeguard (1908) — 

 Mr Austin Mackenzie's system of breeding compared with Frank 

 Gillard's — Cheshire Weathergage (1909) — Sixty couples of Cheshire 

 bitches — Thorpe the kennel-man — The Hunt Stables — Lawrence the 

 stud-groom — The pick of the stud — A meet of hounds at Saighton 

 Towers, February 191 1 — A Cheshire field and the Duke of West- 

 minster at the head of it — Eaton Park and the mighty Ormonde and 

 Sceptre — The big dairy farms — Ted Tyrell on Grasshopper — A twist- 

 ing fox in a confined area of grass — A kill in Saighton Gorse — The 

 afternoon hunt in Eaton Park. 



'' From Bluecap's deeds on classic heath 

 To Sceptre and the rest. 

 Hounds, horses, all have fallen low 

 Before a Cheshire best." 



Ancient records disclose the fact that 600 years 



ago an Abbot of Chester was granted the right to 



hunt foxes and hares throughout the forests of 



Cheshire ; but the present hunt dates back to 1763 



and the mastership of Mr John Smith Barry, who 



was succeeded in 1784 by Sir Peter Warburton. 



The hounds have always been famous, and the 



sporting match for speed on Newmarket Heath in 



82 



