igS GOOD SPORT 



Amongst the leading talent in the field to-day, both 

 amongst gentlemen and professional huntsmen, there 

 are many who received an inspiration from Tom 

 Firr's finished performance, and modelled their plan 

 of campaign on the same lines. Brain as well as 

 nerve are the necessary attributes for the hunts- 

 man to a pack of hounds in a fashionable country, 

 especially in these rapid times, when a day's sport 

 is carried out at very high pressure. A Leicester- 

 shire field is always keenly competitive, but at the 

 same time it is thoroughly appreciative, and a 

 successful huntsman's popularity might be envied by 

 a Prime Minister or an Archbishop. Of course Tom 

 Firr, with years of experience behind him, was a 

 master at the game, standing the severe test of 

 criticism better than any man of his time, but even 

 he confessed that the Quorn Fridays on a bad 

 scenting day were the most trying, owing to the 

 size and ardour of the crowd. He used to say that 

 there was only time to make one cast when hounds 

 checked, and if that did not come off, he had to 

 take the smart bitches practically in his hand and 

 lift them clear of the crowd. Possessing a mar- 

 vellous instinct of the run of a fox, no one knew 

 better when the exact moment had come to make 

 a bold cast, although Tom Firr was one of those 

 who believed in leaving hounds alone on every 

 occasion possible. 



For many years Mr. H anbury hunted from Oak- 

 ham, and was one of the leading division with the 

 Leicestershire packs, a light weight who favoured a 

 thoroughbred type of hunter, and donned silk on 

 many occasions with success. Identified with the 

 county of Rutland by marriage with Miss Gwendoline 

 Finch, daughter of the late Mr. G. H. Finch of 

 Burley - on - the - Hill by Oakham, Conservative 



