CHAPTER X 



THE QUORN UNDER CAPTAIN FRANK FORESTER 



Kirby Gate the hunting Saturnalia — The crowd there November 6, 191 1 — 

 The hunt on the cinematograph at the Empire Theatre — Captain Frank 

 Forester — George Leaf — The long procession to Gartree Hill — The 

 field there — F. Earp, former whipper-in to Tom Firr — A hunt from 

 Gartree Hill to a kill by Little Dalby — The afternoon hunt — Ash 

 Wednesday, 191 1, with the Quorn at Ashby Pastures — The cap for the 

 Surgical Aid Society — The Belvoir Ash Wednesday of 1880, recalled — 

 The field out on that occasion — The Ash W'ednesday masks collected 

 by Captain, the Hon. H. H. Molyneux — For and against hunting on the 

 first day of Lent — The field out March i, 191 1 — A hunt in the morning 

 up to Melton IMowbray — A quick hunt and a kill in the afternoon — A 

 Quorn Ash Wednesday brush for the baby — The Quorn entry, 191 1 — 

 The Rev. Cecil Legard judging — Ben Capell's opinion on the entry — 

 The winners — Captain Forester's guests at the luncheon — The toast 

 of the day proposed by Major Robertson, and a tribute to the Quorn 

 master. 



" Fill up a bumper ! No hounds can go faster, 

 No country can equal our country of Quorn, 

 Health and long life, and success to our Master. 

 Long may Leaf flourish to carry the horn." 



— Mr H. Cumberland Bentley. 



Kirby Gate, the opening meet in Leicestershire 

 with the Quorn, has come to be regarded as the 

 people's day, a sort of hunting Saturnaha, when the 

 country-side and dwellers in towns turn out for a 

 jollification. Countless battalions are there to ride, 

 drive, cycle, or walk, to eat, drink, and enjoy the 

 healthiest and most inspiriting sight under the sun. 

 In the same way that Derby Day is a public holiday 

 for the Londoner, and an excuse to picnic on 

 Epsom downs, so the opening meet of the Quorn 

 on the first Monday in November is regarded as an 

 annual outing for Leicester, and the district within 



