NOTITIA VENATIOA. H 



evident tracc« of tlio good chocv whioli, onoo existed in this liospltablo 

 chateau. She always lind a diniiov party after eacli day's hniitinft-, 

 Avliich was three days a-Avoek. In the kitchen Avas tlie head of an im- 

 mense sta,n', shot hy Madame lierself : ho Avas nine years okl Avhen she 

 killed him. A picture also represents the foUoAving remarkable fact, 

 which I had almost forgotten to mention. As the hounds of this lady 

 were pursuing a ferocious hoar, a Avoodman chanced to be in his path, 

 and apprehensiA'e tliat he might attack him, Avas about to aim a blow 

 at the animal as he passed. Whether from agitation at the moment, or 

 Avishing the bloAV to be effectual, it is not in my poAver to determine ; but 

 Avith such force Avas the Aveapon raised, previous to its being struck, that 

 it entered the man's head, and killed him on the spot. Madame is re- 

 presented riding up to him, and offering him assistance. In her bed- 

 room up stairs Avas a row of saddle-rests, seven in number, on which 

 her own saddles Avere kept. Also six rests for her guns, over the fire- 

 j^lace, in the use of Avhich she Avas most expert ; in fact, almost the last 

 act of her life Avas to kill an owl Avith her rifle on the top of a dove-cote. 

 All her dinner-knives Avere mounted Avith stag's -horn, killed by herself ; 

 and even the Avhistle, Avith Avhich she used to call her pointers, Avas made 

 from the tusk of a Avild boar of her OAvn killing, and Avhich still remained 

 amongst her trophies. Her stud of hunters consisted of eight. She 

 hunted all the year round, as Avhen the stag and boar Avere out of season 

 she had a pack of beagles to hunt the badger, and on other days amused 

 herself by earthing the fox. She Avas fond of cock-fighting, and this 

 amusement was carried on in one of the out-houses, where chairs Avere 

 placed round, and all the neighbours Avho Avould come Avere made wel- 

 come. The foUoAving anecdote is told of lier as very characteristic, and 

 at the same time hard to be excelled. On her return from one of her 

 excursions — as she Avent from home to hunt AA^hen game ran short — she 

 passed through St. Omers with nine Avolves' heads exposed to public 

 vicAV ; blowing the horn herself, and thus attracting notice. So rich 

 Avas her hunting-dress upon this occasion, that the soldiers at the gates 

 presented arms as she passed, mistaking her for a general officer. She 

 Avas known to have killed upwards of six hundred and seventy Avolves in 

 her time, besides hundreds of deer and other game. It is singular that 

 almost the last Avolf she killed Avas hunted by her hounds into a village 

 Avhere there Avas a Avake, or ducasse, and Avhere she shot him in the 

 midst of the festivities. 



To return to my subject. It Avas at the end of the seventeenth cen- 

 tury that fox-hunting first became an amusement in England ; before 

 that time the sport chiefly consisted in driving him to earth, and dio-- 

 ging him out, or trapping him. Hunting the hare and stag are of much 

 earlier date. We read in the account of King James's journey from 

 Edinlnn-gh to London, in the year 160.3, that "he left NoAvark on 

 Friday, the twenty-third of April, and advanced toAvards Belvoir Castle, 

 the splendid seat of the Earl of Rutland, hunting all the Avay ; next 

 morning after breakfast he set forward to Burleigh, dining by the Avay 

 at the seat of Sir J. Harrington. His Majestic on the way was attended 

 by many lords and knights, and before his coming there were prepared 



