92 THE BKOCKLESBY HOUNDS. [1864 



It was an open secret that, had Shore not accepted the 

 huntsmanship of the Scotch pack, he would have been 

 offered the Brocklesby horn in succession to Tom Smith. 



There are still some of the old stock of the famous 

 Brocklesby Smiths left ; one of them, the eldest son of 

 the second Will Smith, and himself a Will, still lives at 

 Kirmington, ever ready for a cheery yarn of man, horse, 

 and hound ; and another son, Tom, is the popular Bramham 

 Moor huntsman. 



Tom rode second horse for Philip Tocock, and also for 

 his father the one season that he returned to active service, 

 and when Nimrod Long came to carry the Brocklesby 

 horn he w^as promoted to second whipper-in. He went to 

 the Burton a season later, and had five years' service under 

 Lord Doneraile and Mr. Chaplin, and then went to the 

 Wynnstay, where he was first whipper-in under Charles 

 Payne for seven seasons. Payne gave him a silver horn 

 and Sir Watkin a handsome testimonial when he left to 

 go to Bramham in 1877, and there he has been ever since. 



Of Philip Tocock, who hunted the hounds during the 

 season 1862-63, little is known, and he appears to have 

 been a better whipper-in than a huntsman. 



Nor can I obtain diaries or details of the reigns of 

 Alfred Thatcher, from 1877 till 1887, and of George Ash 

 — who came from the Holderness, and afterwards went 

 back there— from 1881 till 1884. 



Nimrod Long. 



Few huntsmen hold as prominent a position in the 

 history of the Brocklesby as does Nimrod Long, a great 

 houndman, and a bold and fearless rider. For thirteen years 

 he hunted a grand pack of hounds, having done much to 

 raise it to the very highest pitch of excellence by his 

 great judgment and skill in hound breeding and kennel 



