224 HUNTING TOURS. 



CHAPTER XIII. 



THE QUORN COUNTRY AND LORD STAMFORD'S 

 HOUNDS — THEIR OPENING DAY. 



Several events have combined together to 

 render the Quorn country first in the esti- 

 mation of sportsmen of the highest order. 

 The nature of the land affording every faci- 

 lity for the enjoyment of the chase in its 

 most delectable form, vras doubtless the 

 primary attraction to noblemen and wealthy 

 commoners to select Leicestershire for the 

 pursuit of their favourite pastime. In the 

 early days of foxhunting, before, in fact, it 

 had become a " science," the ever cele- 

 brated Mr. Meynell, — in his courtesy, talent, 

 and zeal, far surpassing all predecessors or 

 contemporaries, — drew the fahionables of the 

 sporting hemisphere to the Elysian fields of 

 this country. Many curious anecdotes have 

 been related of that gentleman's management 



