240 IRISH SPORT AND SPORTSMEN. 



In i860, Major Garden took the hounds, and hunted 

 them himself, and the horn could scarcely be placed 

 in better keeping. He was keen "to the heel," and 

 let hounds hunt when they coidd hunt, and assisted 

 them when they could not ; but this cannot be said of 

 many huntsmen of the present day, gentlemen or pro- 

 fessionals ; most of them teach the hounds to rely 

 more on their orders than on their own noses. The 

 Major, although a one-handed man, rode in the first- 

 flight, and with his hounds — never on them. 



At the end of 1867, he resigned in favour of 

 Captain R. Cosby. It would be a great injustice on 

 my part did I not bestow very high encomiums on the 

 gallant squire of Stradbally Hall, who is undoubtedly 

 deserving of the highest praise from, and has a 

 claim on, the gratitude of the lovers of hunting in his 

 native county. For eight years he worthily filled the 

 post of Master of the Queen's County Hounds, and 

 during that time improved very much indeed the 

 country and the pack. He is a first-rate judge of 

 horses, and few masters of hounds in Ireland turned 

 out their hunt-servants in better style. They were 

 always, like their master, very well mounted. Al- 

 though not a "bruiser," he is a very good man to 

 hounds; he rides not for show, but to be with them, 

 and he seldom fails in his effort. In agricultural pur- 

 suits Captain Cosby takes a keen interest, and has the 

 same correct eye for horn and fleece as in the kennel 

 or stable. He is a breeder of first-rate stock— ovine, 

 bovine, and equine — and he has had many show-yard 

 celebrities in his possession. At the annual Horse 

 Show in Kildare-street he is generally amongst the 

 most successful competitors. 



