MR. WILLIAM CODRINGTON 75 



A writer in the Sporting Magazine says : 

 " Mr. Codrington hunted a great part of the 

 South Oxfordshire country, particularly that 

 part round Thame and Tetsworth, and he fre- 

 quently met at the ' Three Pigeons.' He 

 had a good killing pack of hounds ; but as 

 many of his meets were near Oxford they 

 were always overridden by a lot of young 

 fellows on hack hunters, who only came out 

 to lark. He thoroughly understood the science 

 of hunting, but, as I told you when speaking 

 of him in the South Wilts country, was too 

 heavy to ride ; and he was constantly saying 

 to his horse when in covert, ' Whoa, horse, 

 whoa, horse ; stand still ; ' and if he came 

 to a small gap he would say, ' Walk, horse, 

 walk, damn you! If you jump I'll sell you.'" 



The following letter written by him shows 

 some of the difficulties of fox preserving in 

 those days. The date was about 1820. 



New House, Tuesday morning. 

 My Dear Sir, — I saw Mr. Graham in Oxford last 

 Saturday, who told me that Harry Fathers told 

 him there was a litter at Tubney wood ; if that is the 

 case, I conceive he would not wish any more cubs 

 to be put down there. I really cannot say where it 

 will be best to turn them out, as I fear there are very 

 few friends to foxes in your neighbourhood, but per- 

 haps you had better consult with Mr. Graham. The 

 wood will be the best place if there should be none 

 there already. I fear anywhere about the Warren 



