FAMOUS MASTERS 77 



from both the Hambledon and Craven countries, and 

 he had used his pen as well as his horn in the pro- 

 motion of sport. But he was hampered in financ^^, 

 and probably had the worst lot of horses and hounds 

 that had ever been seen in Northamptonshire. The 

 hounds were a portion of Lord Chesterfield's pack, 

 which were purchased by the Hunt for the small sum 

 of ;^400 after twenty couples had been sent to Lord 

 Ducie. These twenty couples were all hung, because 

 they were so incorrigibly wild. So much for the 

 hounds. The horses varied in value from ^^20 to ^60. 

 Yet, during the two seasons of Mr. Smith's reign, there 

 was an amount of sport which had never been equalled 

 during the Mastership of Lord Chesterfield. Jack 

 Goddard was his first, and Jones his second, whipper- 

 in during his stay in the Pytchley country, when he 

 lived en gargon in Brixworth. But the subscriptions 

 were not sufficient to enable him to hunt four days a 

 week and meet all the difficulties of a weak establish- 

 ment ; so at the end of his second season he resigned 

 office, and the Pytchley, for the seventh time in ten 

 years, were seeking a new Master. But Mr. Smith had 

 fulfilled a wholesome duty towards fox-hunting. He 

 had succeeded Lord Chesterfield, who, generally 

 popular as he was, had been surrounded by com- 

 panions who turned night into day and wounded the 

 prejudices of the country squires. Not only did he 

 keep them waiting at the meet, but often the delay was 

 caused by the non-arrival of the celebrated Nelly 

 Holmes, who, though afterwards a lady of title, was at 

 no time an ornament to the social morale. There was 



