246 THE BROCKLESBY HOUNDS. [1700 



descendants of tlie Yorkshire family. Not far from 

 Bigby, on tlie opposite side of tlie Barnetby valley, lived 

 the Ross family at Melton Ross, between which family 

 and the Tyrwhitts there was a feud ; and the two families 

 coming into collision while out hunting in 1603, went for 

 each other with such right goodwill that a great many 

 were killed on both sides. James I. was returning from 

 a visit to Scotland at the time, and hearing of the affray, 

 he turned aside to erect a gallows near the scene of the 

 combat, threatening to hang the next person who, with- 

 out royal authority, ventured to appeal to arms.'" The 

 Rosses are no more a power in Lincolnshire, but the name 

 of Skipworth is still a familiar one in agricultural circles ; 

 and the Tyrwhitts, who, as I said before, took the name 

 of Drake, though better known in Bicester territory, have 

 still no little to do with Brocklesby hunting. As lord 

 of the manor of Aylesby, Lord Yarborough finds a good 

 sportsman in the present Mr. Tyrwhitt-Drake, a very 

 important item in fox-hunting, and one of our choicest 

 coverts, Drake's Gorse to wit, was given to the Hunt by 

 his father, the late Master of the Bicester. Mr. G. P. 

 Tyrwhitt-Drake, too, who is now doing so much for the 

 Scawby estate, is also one of the best men to hounds with 

 the Brocklesby, and a keen all-round sportsman. At 

 Aylesby Manor, at one time occupied by the late Mr. 

 William Torr, of shorthorn and Leicester sheep celebrity, 

 and now the home of that good sportsman and once 

 famous steeplechase rider, Mr. Robert Walker, the walls of 

 some old buildings once known as the kennels still stand, 

 and there, two hundred years ago, was kennelled Sir 

 Thomas Tyrwhitt's pack of hounds. Lord Yarborough has, 

 or had, in his possession the original memorandum which 

 practically fixes the beginning of the Brocklesby pack. 

 It is dated April 20th, 1713, and states that it is agreed 

 " between Sir John Tyrwhitt, Charles Pelham, Esq., and 

 Robert Yyner, Esq., that the fox-hounds now kept by the 



* Melton Gallows is still a regular fixture with Lord Yarborough's Hounds, 

 and the old srallows is still standing. 



