The Sport of Our Jtncestors 



The chapter selected from ' Holmby House ' is thought by 

 some people to be a classic in the literature of the Chase, 

 and is often mentioned when the question is asked, ' Which 

 is the best imaginary description of a run ? ' We should 

 ourselves certainly give the blue ribbon to Beckford, whose 

 account will be dealt with presently. But the reader can 

 now set them side by side, and choose for himself. 



' Market Harborough ' can be read again with greater 

 pleasure than any of Major Whyte Melville's works. It 

 wears remarkably well. The central figure is Mr. Sawyer, 

 who, having been rusticated from Oxford, settled down 

 on his estate in some provincial country with enough money 

 to keep a few hunters and to buy another to take down to 

 the Shires on his celebrated visit to Market Harborough. 

 Mr. Sawyer thought and talked of nothing but hunting. 

 In the summer he went to Tattersalls every Sunday after- 

 noon. He was typical of that country gentleman who in 

 those days never did a stroke of work, was animated by 

 no sort of public spirit, read nothing but ' BelFs Life,' ' The 

 Field, ^ and the * Sporting Magazine,' and was apparently 

 expected by the rest of the world to do nothing but amuse 

 himself. He had been living up to this standard of conduct 

 by hunting from home, but it occurred to him that he 

 might get more amusement out of life by going to Market 

 Harborough. So Major Whyte Melville describes how he 

 walked over to find out if Mr. Job Sloper, the local horse- 

 dealer, had a horse for sale that would carry him over 

 Leicestershire and Northamptonshire, and how he bought 



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