172 FOX-HUNTING FROM SHIRE TO SHIRE 



of the Cottesmore hunt during April, 191 1 — when 

 Lord Lonsdale retired from the mastership — now 

 occupies the position of honour at Barleythorpe 

 Hall. In lighter vein, the caricatures of sporting 

 celebrities adorn the walls of the billiard room, 

 and one of the master of the Cottesmore as a centaur, 

 hunting for a fox, is exceedingly humorous. Every 

 branch of sport of w^hich the noble owner is part on, 

 is represented by some trophy in the Barleythorpe 

 collection, together with big game and Arctic ex- 

 ploration treasures, gathered during a notable career 

 of sporting achievements. 



During dinner, the master of the Cottesmore and 

 Lady Lonsdale recalled many interesting stories 

 of the chase in an experience of thirty seasons' 

 mastership with the Woodland Pytchley, the 

 Blankney, the Ouorn, and the Cottesmore. Like 

 his father and grandfather, the present Lord Lons- 

 dale has bred some of the most notable hounds 

 of his time, being an adept at pedigrees, and the 

 lines of blood, which to-day are the tap-root of 

 excellence in foxhound breeding. A model in 

 silver of the foxhound Pytchley Forager, occupied 

 the centre of the dinner-table, with a unique group 

 of four life-size foxes' masks in silver, tw^o hunting 

 horns and silver spurs on ebony plinths, the cruets 

 taking the form of a litter of foxes, and game cocks, 

 with John Jorrocks in silver delivering his famous 

 " sportin' lectur'," standing on the mustard pots. 

 When talking of hounds. Lord Lonsdale expressed 

 decided views on the necessity of a foxhound being 

 built on the right lines, if he is to fulfil the arduous 

 duties of the chase at a high rate of speed. " A 

 true-made foxhound," he remarked, " is all a matter 

 of mathematical balance, with the centre of gravity 

 behind shoulders that slope into the muscles of the 



