PREFACE. 



It will be evident to all who read this work that the 

 task undertaken by Mr. Collins has been a laborious one, 

 involving as it has done a large amount of research, and 

 covering a long period of years. I hope he will be 

 rewarded by finding that the history, as he has given 

 it, of an old-established pack of fox-hounds, proves to be 

 of interest to those who take part in this great national 

 sport. That fox-hunting has as much right to bear that 

 title to-day as it has done previously I have not the 

 slightest doubt. You have only to glance at a Hunting 

 Directory to see the large number of packs which now 

 exist, while the money spent on their upkeep, and the 

 number of ladies and gentlemen who follow them in 

 the field, is larger than it has ever been before. Indeed, 

 hunting may be said never to have enjoyed such general 

 popularity as it does at the present day. Almost every 

 Hunt is now kept up more or less by subscription, and 

 the number of packs in private hands is very limited. 

 It is a matter of no little pride to me to have succeeded 

 to probably the oldest established pack in the kingdom, 

 and I am pleased to think Mv. Collins, by producing this 

 work, will enable those interested in " the noble science" 

 to read how the Brocklesby Hounds have passed with 

 the Estates, as an inheritance, from father to son, for 

 two hundred years or more. Such a splendid continuity 

 could not have occurred unless my predecessors and 

 myself had met with a full measure of support from 



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