INTRODUCTORY 



modern fox-hunting when he bought Quorndon 

 from Lord Ferrers and founded the Quorn pack in 

 the year 1753. By crossing the existing types of 

 hound with the northern beagle, he obtained a breed 

 of foxhound which improved the style of hunting, 

 and introduced a dash which it had never known 

 before. His ideal of breeding was much that of the 

 present day and his style of hunting was summed 

 up in a sentence by some sportsman who said, 

 " Whereas many had walked down foxes, Meynell 

 was the first who galloped them to death." It was 

 indeed only after Mr Meynell's improvement of 

 the foxhound and methods of hunting that hard 

 riding became possible, and it was during his time 

 that the hard rider appeared. Of these Mr Cecil 

 Forester was one of the first to attain eminence, 

 though his conduct in the field gained little sym- 

 pathy from Mr Meynell, who once said, " First out 

 of covert comes Cecil Forester, then the fox, and 

 lastly my hounds." 



Though perhaps not quite relevant to my sub- 

 ject, I may in passing from the development of 

 fox-hunting in England mention that the building 

 of the first bridge across the Thames at Westmin- 

 ster was directly due to the love of the Duke of 

 Grafton for the sport. His grace kept a pack of 

 hounds at Croydon, in addition to that in his own 

 country at Grafton. He was so bored by having to 



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