LORD CLONMELL, 1854-1857 



from that day, and it seems difficult to imagine a 

 lesson more gently taught. 



Before that, however, there was a complaint of 

 the same sort which nevertheless was made with 

 all good humour. " Shame, shame! " cried a man 

 sitting on a fence, " ye 're riding over wheat." " I 

 beg your pardon, I'm very sorry, I'll go back," 

 said the sportsman. " No, go on, now ye're there 

 and welcome," replied the aggrieved farmer. 

 " That's Mr Kinnidy," remarked a friend, also 

 sitting on the fence, " and divil a wan bit is he 

 sorry. Why he'd lep into your parlour." 



No story of the Kildare Hunt would be com- 

 plete without a mention of the earthstoppers, of 

 whom there has always been a small regiment 

 employed. They are, of course, an important body, 

 and upon their diligence and loyalty much of the 

 success of the hunting depends. I find periodical 

 lists of these worthies giving their names and the 

 covers they watched at different periods of the 

 Hunt's history. A typical list would contain the 

 names of some eighty or a hundred. They are 

 selected from the most trustworthy cottagers living 

 near the earths or coverts; often from the hinds 

 whose work keeps them actually on the land they 

 have to watch, and in some cases the list includes 

 a few women. Here again Mr Robert Kennedy's 

 recollections are invaluable. He remembers the 



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