CHAPTER VII 



BLANKNEY REMINISCENCES OF SIX MASTERSHIPS 



Squire Henry Chaplin, founder of the Blankney hunt — A gathering out 

 hunting of those connected with the history of the hunt — Sir 

 Robert Filmer, M.F.H. — Lord Lonsdale and Blankney Villager, 

 1884 — Lord Henry Bentinck's hounds — Mr. Henry Chaplin's 

 hunters when master of the Blankney — Major Arthur Tempest's 

 mastership — Mr. " Natty " Cockburn's mastership — And the Earl 

 of Londesborough— Winners at Peterborough, 1894 — Blankney 

 Ambrose, 1898 — Harmston Hall — Mr. " Natty " Cockburn's hunters 

 — George Shepherd — E. Boxhall — Some good days in 1903-4 — 

 Mr. Edgar Lubbock, master — Some of his hunters — Some good 

 days in 1906 — Lord Charles Bentinck's mastership and advice to 

 hunting people — Two good runs in 1908 with Lord Charles Bentinck 

 and the Blankney hounds — Sir Robert Filmer, master, 1909 — 

 The winning puppy of the entry, Vandal — Tom Isaacs, the new 

 huntsman. 



" The merry men of Lincolnshire were forward in the fray, 

 When Skipworth rode their Gay-lad, and Frist steered their Grey.^ 

 Tom OUver, and Vanguard had glory to their meed. 

 And unrivalled for a season were Chandler and Proceed ; 

 Salute and Pioneer amid the bull-finches did revel, 

 And Newport viewed the energy of Lincoln, steered by Bevill. 

 Peter Simple, by four triumphs, earned the praise from every foe — 

 ' He's an ugly one to look at, but a devil for to go ! ' " 



— Old Lincolnshire Song. 



The Blankney hunt owes its existence to '' Squire " 

 Henry Chaplin, returned member for mid-Lincoln- 

 shire in 1868, who established the pack over thirty 

 years ago, holding the mastership from 1877 to 1885. 

 One of the best heavy-weights of his time across 

 country, especially well mounted, the Squire of 

 Blankney is known to the present generation as a 

 great politician, " the last word on the grand manner 

 of the mid- Victorian era," as the Prime Minister said, 

 and a regular follower of the Leicestershire packs, 



^ Peter Simple. 

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