208 IRISH SPORT AND SPORTSMEN. 



some years with the late Sir Tatton Sykes before he 

 came to Roscommon ; Hugh M'Keon, afterwards hunts- 

 man to Mr. John Longworth, was second-whip. This 

 arrangement continued for five seasons, the sport 

 being very good. Then, unfortunately, Captain 

 Drought was obliged to go abroad for the winter 

 on account of his health. He was an excellent 

 M. F. H., and his brother sportsmen regarded with 

 sincere admiration a master to whom they owed so 

 much. Mr. Tom Bodkin of Kilclooney succeeded 

 Captain Drought, and he, poor fellow, was soon after- 

 wards killed in the hunting-field whilst hunting the 

 hounds. The taste for pheasant preserving was then 

 at its height, and Irish keepers not having the art of 

 keeping foxes and pheasants in the same coverts, 

 fox-hunting in Roscommon became a thing of the 

 past. Stag-hunting is, however, better suited to a 

 county where there are so few resident landed pro- 

 prietors, which is very open, and where there is 

 such an extent of bog. And those hounds afford 

 a better opportunity for the many hard riders resident 

 in the neighbourhood to show their skill and their 

 hunters' cleverness, and to cool the daring spirits that 

 were wont to chafe at the drawing of such large 

 coverts as Mote-Park or Danamon. 



In 1873, a pack of staghounds was formed, by 

 Captain M. J. Balfe of South-Park, and he has 

 hunted them himself ever since in a manner which 

 does him infinite credit. There was, of course, 

 much trouble experienced in getting together a 

 good lot of hounds, but the difficulty was soon 

 overcome. Having inspected them on the flags, 

 and seen them perform in the field, I can vouch for 



