THE LOUTH HOUNDS. IIQ 



returned to England, where he hunted the Warwick- 

 shire Hounds for several seasons. 



Mr. Filgate began with Thomas Powell (who had 

 been huntsman to the Cottesmore and Lord Henry 

 Bentinck's hounds) as huntsman for five years, but in 

 1865 he assumed the horn himself, and has ever since 

 hunted the pack, with Harry Hardy as first whip and 

 kennel huntsman. 



Louth itself is a rough country, with a great 

 deal of plough, and the best portions of it are 

 the parts of Meath and Dublin, which these hounds 

 hunt. The coverts, as a rule, are mostly demesnes, 

 with some thirty-five gorse coverts scattered at 

 intervals. 



The family of Filgate is one of the *' oldest " and 

 most popular in Louth ; they have for many years 

 been connected with the County hounds, and have 

 done ? o;Teat deal to promote the interests of the fox- 

 hunters m their native land. Being one of a family 

 so remarkable for their love of hunting, it is not to be 

 wondered at that Mr. William De Salis Filgate, while 

 a very young man, gave sufficient indication in what 

 direction his taste lay by taking the mastership. 

 The length of time that he has filled the post 

 speaks trumpet-tongued in his favour. No man 

 ever filled the role more worthily. In the field he pre- 

 serves the gentlemanly demeanour that characterises 

 every action of his life, and renders hunting with him 

 so agreeable. He is passionately fond of his hounds, 

 and is a very good huntsman — indeed I may say 

 there are 



" Few more skilled the noisy pack to guide, 

 To urge the chase, to cheer them, or to chide." 



The fact that during the seventeen years which he 



