EARLY HISTORY OF FOXHUNTING 13 



plete. Many packs of hounds were kept to 

 hunt the fox alone ; while the science of fox- 

 hunting had become pretty much what it is 

 at the present day, when Beckford published 

 his celebrated *' Thoughts on Hare and Fox 

 Hunting," the first edition of which appeared 

 in 1782.* Hunting still, however, remained 

 a matter of purely private interest until the 

 nineteenth century. It is singular how few 

 are the references to hunting in the early 

 numbers of the Sporting Magazine. Cock- 

 fighting, prize-fighting and duelling evidently 

 excited far greater interest in those days. 

 Later on the growing interest is well shown 

 by the more frequent allusions. Readers 



* The author of this work, Peter Beckford of 

 Stepleton, Dorsetshire, was born in 1740. He was 

 the son of Julines Beckford, whose brother, WiUiam 

 Beckford, was the celebrated Lord Mayor, and father 

 of the author of " Vathek," who lived at Fonthill 

 Abbey. These two brothers came to England from 

 Jamaica with large fortunes. Five years after the 

 birth of Peter his father purchased the house and 

 manor of Stepleton-Iwerne, Dorsetshire, together with 

 certain sporting rights in Cranbourne Chase from 

 Thomas Fownes. Mr. Fownes was an excellent 

 sportsman, and kept hounds with which he hunted 

 the fox. Cranbourne Chase was an old royal hunting 

 ground, and doubtless at that time afforded plenty of 

 game of sorts. Peter was educated at Westminster 

 School. After his return home he commenced to keep 

 harriers, but he soon deserted the hare for the fox. 

 He says, himself: " By inclination I was never, indeed. 



