Lord Middleton's, 311 



ordinary liunt -servant is supposed, or allowed, to 

 weigh. You and I, reader, may run to leg or flesh to 

 any reasonable extent, without finding ourselves 

 barred from the hunting-field. But it is not so with 

 a hunt-servant. His occupation — save in a few 

 exceptional and invaluable instances — departs with 

 his title to be considered a light-weight. Certainly he 

 would be far out of the category if Lord Middleton's 

 thoroughbreds were inadequate to carrying him. 



The stables and breeding-stud at Birdsall are in their 

 way just as interesting and perfect as the kennels : 

 and all three are alike remarkable for the fashion and 

 quality of their contents. In the long stable a dozen 

 stalls in a row show occupants with all the breeding of 

 racehorses, and yet with the muscular development of 

 hunters called upon to do long days. At the stud 

 farm high blood is a characteristic noticeable, in the 

 brood mares and stallions, down to the four-year-olds 

 just about to enter upon their work. And both here 

 and in the kennel recent years show the addition of 

 more and more bone. The kennels were built by the 

 late lord some five-and-twenty years ago ; and, besides 

 being roomy and complete, occupy a warm and sunny 

 position not far from the House. The pack was 

 formed at a very distant date ; and the kennel books 

 go back as far as 1764, when Sir Thomas Gascoigne 

 was Master. After him came a Duke of Hamilton 

 (1773), to be succeeded by Mr. Fox-Lane. Mr. 

 Willoughby (afterwards Lord Middleton) had the 

 hounds in 1789; and Sir Mark Sykes for nearly 

 thirty years at the commencement of the present 

 century. The late Sir Tatton Sykes held the master- 



