?6 HUNTING. 



she did not disdain the badger or the fox. She died of apoplexy 

 in her own house at seventy-five years of age. There was 

 a certain Miss Draper also, appropriately christened Diana, 

 the daughter of a famous old Yorkshire squire, who won 

 great praise in her time. She was wont to assist her father 

 in the field, 'cheering the hounds with her voice.' It is 

 also ncted of her that she 'died at York in a good old age, 

 and, what was more wonderful to many sportsmen who dared 

 not follow her, she died with whole bones in her bed.' Her 

 father was quite 'a character,' and as he must be the earliest 

 of the old fox-hunters of whom we have any note, if it be true, 

 as the 'Druid' says, in 'Scott and Sebright,' that he com- 

 menced operation in 1726, the following account of him, from 

 'The Hunting Directory,' may be interesting : 



In the old, but now ruinous, mansion of Berwick Hall, in the 

 East Riding of Yorkshire, once lived the well-known William 

 Draper, Esq., who bred, fed, and hunted the staunchest pack of 

 foxhounds in Europe. Upon an income of only yoo/. he brought 

 up creditably eleven sons and daughters ; kept a stable of excellent 

 foxhounds, besides a carriage with horses suitable for the conveni- 

 ence of my lady and her daughters. He lived in the old honest 

 style of his country, killing every month a good ox of his own 

 feeding, and priding himself on maintaining a substantial table, but 

 with no foreign kickshaws. His general apparel was a long, dark 

 drab hunting-coat, a belt round his waist, and a strong velvet 

 cap on his head. In his humour he was very facetious, always 

 having some pleasant story, both in the field and in the hall, so 

 that his company was much sought after by persons of good con- 

 dition, and which was of great use to him in the advancement of 

 his children. His stables and kennels were kept in such order, 

 that sportsmen observed them as schools for huntsmen and grooms, 

 who were glad to come there without wages merely to learn their 

 business. When they had obtained proper instruction he then 

 recommended them to other gentlemen, who wished for no better 

 character than Squire Draper's recommendation. He was always 

 up during the hunting season at four in the morning, mounted on 

 one of his nags at five, himself bringing forth his hounds, who 

 knew every note of their old master's voice. In the field he rode 

 with judgment, avoiding what was unnecessary, and helping his 



