CHAPTER VII 

 ' NIMROD ' 



MR. APPERLEY, whose literary name was ' Nimrod,' 

 was born in 1777 and died in 1843. He was at 

 one time the Squire of Beaurepaire in the Vine 

 Country, adjoining the property of that name belonging to 

 Mr. Chute, but owing to financial trouble he took to the 

 profession of writing about the sport that he loved. He 

 pursued this profession with much industry and vigour, 

 being a well-documented and painstaking analyst of every- 

 thing to do with the Chase. From the point of view of 

 history his work is valuable, and if he had contented 

 himself with noting and chronicling the things that he 

 saw and understood, it would have been even purer and 

 sounder than it is. But although there is nothing super- 

 ficial about Mr. Apperley's work, a certain pretentious- 

 ness crops up every now and then which would be 

 irritating if it were taken seriously. For instance, in this 

 very paper, he is kind enough to patronise the sixth Duke 

 of Beaufort and his establishment by announcing that he 

 * did not consider his Grace a sportsman of the very first 

 class.' ^ There are some indications, which will be re- 

 ferred to presently, that ' Nimrod ' was not himself in the 

 very first class as an authority on the huntsman's craft 



^ Our italics. 



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