COLONEL FAIRFAX'S UFASTERSHIP. 



175 



The last day on which Colonel Fairfax hunted hounds, of 

 which an account remains, was April loth, though in the 

 diary it appears that they hunted on the 12th at Stillingfleet. 

 No account of the latter day's sport is given, but only the 

 bare announcement that hounds met there, and probably 

 there was not much to do : — 



'Thursday, April loth. Bishop Monkton. Very cold. East 

 'wind, dry. Whin blank; Burton ditto. Cayton Gill blank, 

 'till Ingleby's end. Found, and killed him. On to Park. 

 'Found in Fir.s. Soon lost, near Clint. Clint blank. Back 

 ' to Nidd, blank ; Mires and Warren ditto. On to Roecliffe. 

 'Brace in whin. Away with a vixen, and stopped hounds. 

 ' So home, 4-55 p.m. Hunting over, though cold enough 

 ' for November.' 



This was Colonel Fairfax's last season as Master. He 

 had sent in his resignation early in January, and his successor. 

 Captain Slingsby, was unanimously elected at a meeting held 

 on F'ebruary 19th. During his mastership, which was all too 

 short, the best traditions of the hunt were preserved, and 

 the sport shown was of a high order. He seemed to know 

 instinctively the run of a fox, and he was one of that band 

 of brilliant oentlemen-huntsmen to which Yorkshire has 

 contributed so largely. In the kennel he was as good as 

 he was in the field, and a careful study of the kennel-book 

 shows what a mark his judgment had made in the pack 

 during the short time in which he presided over its destinies. 

 Indeed, it may be said that he initiated the policy which is 

 followed in the kennel to the present day, and which has 

 made the York and Ainsty the level and handsome pack 

 that it is. 



