INDEPENDENT TESTIMONY. 305 



to 1877, which are in the possession of the present Earl 

 of Yarborough at Brocklesby Hall. 



This is what cheery Will Dale says : 



'' The Kennels, Badminton, S.O., Glos., 



" August 27th, 1901. 



''Dear Sir, 



" I always found the Brocklesby blood noted for nose and stoutness, 

 and I always endeavoured to stick to the lines that I was sure had been proved 

 so. It can easily be seen how I guarded against anything that had been con- 

 sidered in any way deficient in work or shown any signs of slackness. The old 

 strains I thought most of were the Brutus and Bachelor blood, and anything that 

 I could trace to Random and Venom and that went to Ranter. 



" My father speaks of a noted bitch that he kept for a great many years ; 

 her name was Margery, she was by Pontiff, 1830, dam Mindful, 1837 (? 1835, 

 G. E. C.) She was a draft to the Vine, and my father kept her and took her 

 with him to Lord Kintoi'e's in Scotland, and then, when that nobleman gave up 

 and my father came to hunt the Surrey Union in 1847, he brought her, and she 

 killed him a fox on the first cub-hunting morning, when she was fourteen. 

 They had a hard morning and were beaten, and father heard the old bitch 

 baying. He had taken her out, being close at home, and there she had a cub 

 under some faggots, much to father's delight, and of course they soon killed him. 

 My father was only talking about this the other day. 



" You will know that the Brocklesby had certainly gone back when I went 

 to them in 1884, and were also in a bad state of lameness. Mr. J. M. Richardson 

 can tell you this. 



" The Milton Solomon and Belvoir Weathergage did us a lot of good. I 

 always thought Belvoir and Brocklesby hit together better than any other two, 

 and with a combination of Lord Henry Bentinck's, it would be hard to beat, of 

 course by working out the best strains, which I was fairly successful with. 



"I was glad to see Mr. Richardson here, and I hope he was pleased with 

 what he saw. We have made an excellent start. Had such a ripping morning 

 yesterday, ran hard for sixty-five minutes, and killed ; another thirty-five minutes, 

 and ditto. Had some capital scents ; been out thirteen times, and killed eleven 

 and a half brace. 



" Yours truly, 



" Will Dale." 



X 



