8o IRISH SPORT AND SPORTSMEN. 



me of *' Tommy Knockmore ;" he has been in care of 

 Killeen since it was planted, and there never was a 

 better keeper ; he would always have a litter in the 

 cover though it is not an acre in extent ; and no 

 matter how scant the gorse might be, if there was a 

 fox within five miles of it, he would have him there 

 when the hounds drew it. He told me the dodge he 

 practised, which is a most efficacious one, though, 

 perhaps, not particularly considerate to his neighbour- 

 ing keepers. However, it was not done by " bagging.' ' 

 I ought to have said a word about our Hunt 

 Steeplechases. They were established by the present 

 Marquis in 1870, and used to be run over a course in 

 the Ballydurn country ; but that not being convenient, 

 the venue was changed to Williamstown, two miles 

 from Waterford, where they have since been held. A 

 beautiful course is now laid out there, and which is a 

 natural one: noneof your artificial cock-pits, which you 

 see all over the country now. The stand-houses and 

 paddocks are commodious; and, after Punchestown, the 

 meeting has no superior in Ireland : though it has 

 not the costly appointments of Cork, Baldoyle, or Fairy 

 House. The different races are all called after our 

 principal fox coverts, and it was this meeting that first 

 revived the old red-coat races of long ago, and which 

 are now so popular in Ireland. Mr. Harry Sargent, 

 assisted by Captain Slacke, has always managed these 

 races ; and, if we believe the newspapers, he has 

 managed them well; but it was a "labour of love" 

 to him, and he understood it, and would not under- 

 take the management unless he was allowed to do it 

 properly, which he is by Lord Waterford, who allows 

 him almost a carte blanche to do as he deems best for 



