TWO GOOD DAYS IN 1889 



61 



under Tom Firr, afterwards going huntsman to Lord 

 Ferrers, who had a pack of hounds on the Donnington 

 side of Leicestershire, the country being eventually 

 reclaimed by the Quorn. Gillson then went hunts- 

 man to the York and Ainsty, until Mr. Baird gave 

 him the appointment to the Cottesmore. Con- 

 temporary with Tom Firr and Frank Gillard, all 

 three of the Leicestershire packs enjoyed an unin- 

 terrupted sequence of sport, well served by huntsmen 

 who were the acknowledged best of their time. 



The Opening Day with the Cottesmore at Greetham Inn. 



Very workmanlike did the pack look, as they 

 arrived by road at Corby Birkholme, well splashed 

 with mud after doing the six-mile-an-hour trot 

 around Gillson's horse. During Mr. Baird's master- 

 ship the hound-van to convey the pack to covert 

 was never used, as was the case in the time of the 

 late Lord Lonsdale, when long distances to fixtures 

 had to be covered, a practice revived again by the 

 present Earl. For these woodland days Mr. Baird 

 had several good grey horses to carry the hunt staff, 

 and there is no better colour to find in a distant 

 landscape. The horses ridden by the Cottesmore 



