MR O'CONNOR HENCHY, 1846-1847 



the times and the circumstances, it is obvious that 

 things might have been much worse. Before passing 

 on I may just note that it was Mr O'Connor 

 Henchy who introduced a notable hunt servant 

 to the Kildare country in the person of Backhouse, 

 whom he imported from England as huntsman for 

 the Kildare from the Holdernesse, where he was 

 first whip. Backhouse was a great trainer of hounds 

 and probably a huntsman after Mr Wm La Touche's 

 own heart, for he was gentle in his methods, and 

 never moved or touched them. He was a pleasant, 

 talkative man, but was much disliked by the 

 farmers and peasants, who probably failed to under- 

 stand his alien forms of pleasantry. Backhouse was 

 never particular as to what he said or how he said 

 it, even to his employers. On one occasion a mem- 

 ber of the Hunt who was a particularly plain man, 

 rode up to him and confessed that he had just 

 turned the fox back. " No wonder," replied the 

 huntsman, staring hard into the face of the sports- 

 man. 



Backhouse continued through the two years of 

 Mr Henchy 's Mastership, and acted as huntsman 

 for a short time for Mr Wm Kennedy, Mr 

 Henchy's successor. But his methods of dealing 

 with hounds did not appeal to the hard riders who 

 were yearly becoming more prominent in Kildare 

 fields, as elsewhere. These gentlemen thought him 



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