HUNTING IN ROSCOMMON. 205 



hounds were kept by his brother, Arthur French, and 

 afterwards by his (Arthur's) son, Arthur, until his 

 death, in 1 820, when he was succeeded in the mastership 

 by another Arthur, son to the former, afterwards Lord 

 De Freyne. He was an ardent sportsman, and im- 

 proved the pack very much by importations from the 

 best kennels in the kingdom. He hunted the entire 

 county of Roscommon until his death, in 1856. Game 

 was at that time very scarce, and bagged foxes were 

 the rule not the exception. After his demise, the 

 hounds were hunted by his brother John, second Lord 

 De Freyne, who continued to do so until 1859, when 

 scarcity of game obliged him to discontinue fox-hunt- 

 ing. He, however, kept on some of the hounds, and 

 hunted the stout hares on the plains of his native 

 county until his departure for the happy grounds, in 

 1863. A few words about this valued Irish sportsman 

 will not be inappropriate here. 



Universal was the grief amongst the sport-loving 

 community throughout Ireland when they heard that 

 his Lordship had paid that debt which we must all 

 one day discharge. They mourned in him the loss of 

 one who had done much to promote the welfare of his 

 countrymen ; a nobleman who endeared himself to his 

 peers and equals, and especially to the poor residents 

 in his neighbourhood, for he was to them a benefactor 

 in the truest and widest sense of the term. 



Lord De Freyne, second son of Arthur French of 

 French-Park, Castlerea, born in 1790, succeeded to 

 the title, at the death of his brother, in 1856. The 

 love for field-sports is strongly inherent to the members 

 of some families ; and the Frenches have for genera- 

 tions been proverbial for their marked predilection for 



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