CHAPTER XV 



THE MARQUIS OF EXETER'S HOUNDS HUNTING THE 

 HARE AND THE FOX 



The Marquis of Exeter's Hunt started 1899 — From hare to fox — The 

 register of kills — Mr. Harry Armour of point-to-point fame — 

 The Hopetoun House harriers — Churlish, a Peterborough champion 

 — Valid, a Peterborough champion — Pocket beagles — Aswarby Park 

 — Whichcotes who were high sheriffs of Lincolnshire — The country 

 described — The kennel huntsman — Two typical hare hunts — A fox 

 day — An early start cub-huntingwiththe Marquis of Exeter — Another 

 early morning on Cannock Chase with the South Staffordshire — The 

 wild game on Cannock Chase — A good day and a kill in the Fen. 



"A difT'rent hound for every diff'rent chase 

 Select with judgment ; nor the timorous hare 

 O'ermatched destroy." — Somerville. 



Followers of the Belvoir, Cottesmore, Blankney, 

 and Fitzwilliam's hunts owe the Marquis of Exeter 

 a debt of gratitude for estabhshing a pack of hounds 

 at Burghley House, by Stamford, which he hunts 

 himself on the border-land districts of these par- 

 ticular countries. There was a time in the life of 

 his lordship's distinguished kinsman, the late 

 Marquis of Salisbury, when a grateful hunting 

 community would have voted solid for the Marquis 

 of Exeter being appointed huntsmian to the Royal 

 Buckhounds, a post he could have filled with dis- 

 tinction. But the loss to Lincolnshire and fox- 

 hunting would have been a heavy one, for Lord 

 Exeter works hard in the cause of public affairs, 

 and the sport he shows to a scattered community, 

 cheers and invigorates many who required more 

 hunting to keep them in the proper spirit. 



For several seasons Lord Exeter hunted the hare. 



