42 NOTITIA VENATICA. 



upon Yorkshire, where, in the humble and retired capacity of a plough- 

 man, he first imbibed a passion for the chase. Upon an occasion of 

 Lord Darhngton's (afterwards Duke of Cleveland's) hounds running a 

 fox through the field where our hero was at work, he, totally unable to 

 resist the temptation, unyoked the " fore horse of the team," who had 

 been an old hunter, and, with a nerve and judgment far surpassing his 

 years, went to the end of a long run, when the hounds killed their fox, 

 and the noble master of the hounds presented him with a guinea for the 

 gallant manner in which, without a saddle, he had distinguished himself 

 through the chace. Upon his return home in the evening he got, what 

 he most richly deserved, rather more than a slight taste of the farmer's 

 hunting-whip, and without supper or bed was turned adrift to seek his 

 fortune as he could. He then entered the service of a horse-breaker, 

 and subsequently, emerging from man to master, he started on his own 

 account as a horse-dealer, and settled in the town of Hedon, in the East 

 Riding. These might be considered as the palmy days of our future 

 earth-stopper. To the precarious profession of horse-dealing was added 

 that of the farmer of a pack of harriers, which he kept for many years, 

 they being chiefly supported by the subscriptions of a set of sporting 

 tradespeople at Hull. As time passed away, and hare-hunting became 

 less fashionable in that neighbourhood, poor Bob very soon, Avithout the 

 assistance of his subscrijjtions, " brought Ms nohle to ninepence," and 

 taking his pack to London upon speculation, he sold the finest of his 

 hounds at Tattcrsall's; but failing to find customers for the whole, and 

 not fancying a second taste of keeping hounds out of his own pocket, 

 he, to use his own words, " gave the poor things their Hberty in the 

 streets of London," leaving them, as their master once before had been 

 left, to seek their fortune through the wide Avorld. Upon his return to 

 Yorkshire, still loving any kind of Hfe which was attached to hunting, 

 he was installed earth-stopper and watcher of the fox-covers belonging 

 to the Ilolderness hounds. In this capacity, dressed in the cast off 

 scarlet coats and caps of the whippers in, both summer and winter, did 

 "Dog Bob" perform the ofiice above mentioned till upwards of seventy 

 seasons had blanched his scanty locks, regularly attending the pack at 

 the cover side mounted in full costume, and frequently appearing at the 

 end of the day's sport riding over fences, even during his last season, 

 Avhich would have tried the nerves of many men of only half his years. 

 Subsequent to the period above referred to, in Avhicli Mr. Draper 

 shone so conspicuous, great improvements took place in almost every 

 department connected with the chase ; establishments totally uncon- 

 nected with the other parts of a country gentleman's household, and on 

 a far more expensive scale tliaii heretofore maintained, began to be kept. 

 Still the chief enjoyers and promoters of the anuisement Avere to be dis- 

 covered almost exclusively amongst that class of persons Avho necessarily 

 were the first originators of the science. During the long period of 

 which I am now speaking, it would be diflicult indeed to discover, 

 amongst all his cotemporarics, a counterpart of that extraordinary cha- 

 racter, a short memoir of whom 1 am about to present to my readers. 



