250 FOX-HUNTING FROM SHIRE TO SHIRE 



typical of that dog, and his great-grandsire, 

 Belvoir Woldsman (1898), a son of Watchman and 

 Honesty ; who was walked by the Master at Wools- 

 thorpe. Belvoir Woldsman was a hard worker, 

 carried no flesh on his ribs, had a beautiful 

 tongue, and although not straight, sired some 

 good whelps for the Bramham Moor and Ather- 

 stone kennels. The distinguishing characteristics 

 of the Weavers is their generous countenances, their 

 dignity of carriage, and the mysterious blending 

 of size, shape, and colour. The group of stallion 

 hounds by Weaver, now in office at Belvoir include 

 — beside those already mentioned — Wiseman (1908) 

 Wexford (1909), Chimer (1910), Contract (1910), 

 Hazard (1910), Roland (1911). Weaver unfor- 

 tunately came to a sad end, laid low by the kick of 

 a horse beside Sproxton's Thorns, in the spring of 

 1910. 



The Ragman group of stallion hounds are a clan 

 of themselves, who have on every occasion run the 

 Weavers very close in the contest for supremacy 

 on the flags. It is easy to recognise the family 

 characteristics of the Ragmans, who are a taller 

 build of hound, with a shoulder not nearly so oblique 

 as that of the Weavers. Generally distinguishable 

 by a paler colouring of tan, they look determined 

 hunters, able to stride along to the top, and stay 

 there. Ragman was first in his entry, 1906, beating 

 Weaver ; though the popular verdict was about 

 equally divided between the merits of the two 

 hounds. Since then, the progeny of these two 

 famous sires have fought out the finish on the flags 

 at Belvoir ; with the result that the Ragmans have 

 on each occasion had to take second position to the 

 Weavers. The breeding of Ragman made him a 

 particularly valuable sire for the home kennel, to 



