vi PREFACE 



gives a most interesting summary of the past, 

 which is undoubtedly the foundation of modern- 

 day excellence. 



Referring to his mastership of the Blankney from 

 1877 to 1885, Mr. Chaplin writes : 



" The proofs I have looked at with interest, for 

 any task connected with hunting in Lincolnshire is 

 thoroughly congenial to me. The Blankney were 

 shorn of their glory, after the pack which I 

 bought of the late Lord Henry Bentinck, and then 

 sold to Lord Lonsdale, were dispersed by him. 

 There was little, I am afraid, of Lord Henry's sort 

 left at Blankney, and the present pack, I fancy, has 

 but little connection with Lord Henry's, which at 

 one time, in the opinion of many of the best and 

 finest judges of the time, stood almost alone. 



" The Beaufort are, and have been for many 

 generations, a first-class pack of hounds, but never 

 probably so good as they are to-day. 



" The Belvoir were in Goodall's time the fountain- 

 head of everything, and though they have altered in 

 size and character since his day, and have never 

 worked for any one as they did for him, they are 

 still in my opinion a remarkable kennel, probably 

 the most so. 



" The Quorn under Tom Firr were the handiest 

 and best-broken pack in England, but otherwise 

 never in the first class since the days of old Sir 

 Richard Sutton, though in the open Firr could do 

 anything with them, and showed excellent sport. 



"The Cottesmore, until Lord Lonsdale brought 

 the present pack, were never in the first class, or 

 near it, in my recollection — alas a long one ! — ex- 

 cepting in the time of his father, who had some 

 wonderful animals in the pack." 



Something over twenty seasons' hunt corre- 



