84 FOX-HUNTING FROM SHIRE TO SHIRE 



appear to be that the larger landowners, and the 

 hereditary leaders of the nobility, are by right de- 

 signed for the mastership of the hounds which hunt 

 over their ancestral acres. So it was in the 'fifties 

 that the illustrious Cheshire poet, Egerton War- 

 burton, voiced public opinion when the much 

 beloved Lord Grosvenor, first Duke of Westminster, 

 became master of the historic pack : — 



" Old and young with delight shall Gros-Veneur greet, 

 The field once again in good fellowship meet : 

 The shire with one voice shall re-echo our choice. 

 And again the old pasture of Cheshire rejoice. 

 May the sport we ensure, many seasons endure, 

 And the Chief of the Chase be Le Gros-Veneur." 



—Egerton Warburton, 1858. 



A born leader of men, it is now a matter of history 

 how sport and agriculture flourished in Cheshire 

 during his life time, and the present pack for the 

 country practically owed its origin to his fore- 

 thought and generosity. The fame of the Cheshire 

 hounds has always stood high amongst the kennels 

 of England, for their blood past and present has 

 been an influence for good to those packs which 

 have dipped into it. It was, therefore, a happy 

 omen when in the year 1907, Hugh Richard Arthur 

 Grosvenor, second and present Duke of West- 

 minster, grandson of the first Duke, succeeded his 

 ancestor in every kind of association, and became 

 master of the Cheshire. Though the reign was a 

 short one, terminating at the end of season 1910-11, 

 it will always be memorable for the visit of King 

 Alfonso of Spain to Eaton Hall by Chester, the 

 guest of the Duke and Duchess of Westminster in 

 1907, on which occasion His Majesty rode with the 

 Cheshire hounds, holding his own across country 

 with a hard-riding field. Mounted on the Duke's 



