CHAPTER IX 



MR G. SMITH-BOSANQUET'S HERTFORDSHIRE PACK 



The old Hatfield hunt— Mr E. P. Delme Radcliffe, master 1835— Mr G. 

 Smith-Bosanquet, master 1907 — Hunting, shooting, and keepers' 

 furthering sport — The master and his kennels at Broxbornebury — 

 James Budd, kennel huntsman, and the hounds — The pick of three 

 entries — Some good runs seen during season 1910-1 1 — A day's hunting 

 with Mr G. Smith-Bosanquet in February 191 1 — The hunt-^taff and 

 horses — The statue of the late Marquis of Salisbury by Hatfield 

 House — A wet day in the woods by Goose Green. 



" I will show you a country that none can surpass 

 For a flyer to cross Hke a bird on the wing, 

 We have acres of woodland, and oceans of grass, 

 We have game in the Autumn and cubs in the Spring." 



— Major Whyte Melville. 



Hertfordshire, some twenty miles north of 

 London was originally hunted by the Salisbury 

 family, the Hatfield Hunt being established by the 

 famous Marchioness about 1775. In the charming 

 " Family Chronicle " by Miss Gertrude Lyster, is 

 a curious recollection of the famous Lady Salisbury, 

 widow of the first Marquess, who in her latter years 

 was known as " Old Sarum." She was burned to 

 death at Hatfield in 1835, when she was eighty-five 

 years of age. Miss Lyster writes : " I well remember 

 the fire at Hatfield ; I was twelve at the time. 

 The news of it was brought to Kimpton from some- 

 one at the Hoo, and the sensation in the country 

 can be imagined. The old Marchioness was a 

 well-known figure at the covert-side, riding with a 

 groom at her side, who people said, got so eager 



