EARLY HISTORY OF THE HUNT. 



23 



questionable, even had he had leisure to indulge in a gallop 

 from Sessay Wood, whether he would have found it to his 

 taste, for the country takes some getting over, the Sun Beck 

 is wide and deep, and Napoleon was a wretched horseman. 



Luckily we have a spirited description of the run in 

 verse, from the pen of one who was there, and who, as was 

 his wont, was amongst the first flight — the Hon. Martin 

 Bladen Hawke : — 



'Sessay Wood: Descriptive of a Run witji Sir jMark. 

 Masterman Sykes' Foxhounds. 



" Deus nobis, hrec otia fecit." — Virgil. 



' Though an easterly wind, and the sun shining bright, 

 No pack ever hunted with such gay delight, 

 As when lately at .Sessay' we joyously met, 

 Of horses and riders a desperate set. 



Famed Sessay, whose woodlands have long been renowned. 

 Whose foxes themselves with such honour have crown'd, 

 Again we invite thee thine aid to impart, 

 And trust to good luck for a fortunate start. 



' Each breast was expanded with joy at the thought, 

 And each bosom the flame now ardently caught ; 

 The face which, unmoved, such rapture could view, 

 Were unworthy the pencil of me or of you ; 

 But happy indeed am I now to relate. 

 That nothing was wanting our wish to complete. 

 A huntsman- so keen, and a country so good, 

 A pack so renowned and so famous in blood ; 

 These, these are the joys we should follow through life. 

 And drive far away hatred, envy, and strife. 



'Now see but how nobly the covert they try: 

 Hark ! surely 'twas Myrmidon's musical cry. 



(i) Sessay Wood has, almost from time immemorial, been renowned for 

 affording the best foxes and the longest runs ; and in Colonel Thornton's days 

 of celebrity, it was the most favourite covert in his Hunt. 



{2) The huntsman's name was William Carter, father of Tom Carter, who 

 was afterwards huntsman to Sir Tatton Sykes. 



