244 GOOD SPORT 



during which Lord Forester officiated, the master- 

 ship has always been held by a reigning Duke of 

 Rutland until the appointment of Sir Gilbert 

 Greenall in 1896. 



The word " classic " describes the Belvoir kennel 

 and its surroundings better than any other, for it 

 is the Mecca to -which every houndsman turns, as 

 Captain Pennell Elmhirst exactly expresses it, " to 

 refresh the memory, attune the eye, and renew one's 

 notion of the ideal." Expert opinion has pro- 

 nounced the Duke of Rutland's pack at Belvoir 

 a national institution, the recognised source of the 

 purest foxhound blood in the kingdom 

 for those seeking improvement for any 

 other kennel. The privilege extended 

 by successive Dukes of Rutland has 

 had the effect of raising the standard 

 of foxhound-breeding all over England, 

 many beautiful packs being built up by 

 the Belvoir blood. As Mr. Nevill Fitt, in " Covert- 

 Side Sketches," says, "Where is the man possessing 

 a pack of foxhounds who does not try for a bit of 

 Belvoir ? In fact, it is as hard to get away from in 

 foxhounds as that of Waxy amongst race-horses ; 

 and there are few who will not admit that a dip 

 into it has been of great service to them!" The 

 Belvoir kennel is the home of the thoroughbred 

 foxhound, a very high standard of excellence 

 having been mamtained by a succession of hunts- 

 men, the best of their day, who held long periods 

 of office, and followed the same system of breeding. 



Belvoir and fox-hunting are interchangeable 

 terms, for no history of the one can possibly be 

 complete without frequent mention of the other. 

 From the topmost turrets of the castle a huge 

 panorama of Leicestershire hunting country may be 



