FAMOUS MASTERS 6i 



the society of his friends on account of jealousy. The 

 statement is explained by the fact that Mrs. Mytton 

 disliked Mr. Apperley. In regard to the statement that 

 Mrs. Mytton did not take any interest in her husband's 

 sporting pursuits, it is only necessary to say that she 

 used to accompany her husband every morning — till 

 her health prevented her from doing so — on his visit 

 to his kennels before breakfast. On one occasion, 

 while she was throwing biscuits to the hounds, Mytton 

 slipped the bolt of the kennel gate, as a practical joke. 

 Mrs. Mytton laughed, perhaps the hounds smiled — and 

 Mr. Apperley gravely records the incident as one of 

 masculine brutality, committed by " my old friend." It 

 was also during Mrs. Mytton's lifetime that her husband, 

 as M.F.H. of the present Albrighton Hounds, made his 

 name known in history as a sportsman and as a rider. 



He was 5 ft. 9 in. in his socks, and weighed 

 II st. on the average, seldom varying more than 

 a pound during the season. But he was a man of 

 abnormal development. His biceps were thicker than 

 those of Jackson, the pugilistic champion of the day, 

 and he measured over 40 in. round the chest ; yet 

 his thighs were so small and so weak that it was a 

 marvel to his hunting companions that he managed to 

 retain his seat on a horse. My personal belief is that 

 he rode entirely by the iron grasp of his arms, and left 

 his legs to take care of themselves. Though he was a 

 cruel man to his horses, he seldom used the spur. 

 When he rode his one-eyed horse, Baronet, over nine 

 yards one inch of water (measured from hind leg hoof- 

 marks) in cold blood, he had no spurs. 



