THE FOXHOUND. 



207 



breeding of hounds, and of their deeds in fifty such breeders, including the fifth 

 the field with the fox as their quarry. Duke of Beaufort, Lord Lincoln, Lord 



The first known kennel 

 of all was at Wardour 

 Castle, and was said to 

 have been established in 

 1696 ; but more reliable 

 is the date of the 

 Brocklesby, commenced 

 in 1713. The first record 

 of a pack of hounds being 

 sold was in 1730, when a 

 Mr. Fownes sold his pack 

 to a Mr. Bowles. The 

 latter gentleman showed 

 great sport with them in 

 Yorkshire. At that time 



COL. THORNTON'S FAMOUS BITCH HOUND MERKIN (1794), 

 CHALLENGED TO RUN ANY HOUND OF THE YEAR 



Lord Hertford began to 

 hunt the Cotswold coun- 

 try, in Gloucestershire, 

 and was the first to draw 

 coverts for fox in the 

 modern style. Very soon after this it be- 

 came the fashion of the day to breed 

 hounds. Many of the nobility and large 

 landowners devoted much ol their time 

 and money to it, and would take long 

 journeys to get fresh blood. It was the 

 rule to breed hounds on the most scien- 

 tific principles, and by 1750 there were 



FOR 10,000 GUINEAS. 



DRAWN BY SAWREY GILPIN, ENGRAVED BY 0. SCOTT. 



TYPICAL FOXHOUNDS OF A HUNDRED YEARS AGO. 

 From " The Sportsman's Cabinet " (1803). By P. Reinagte, R A. 



Stamford, Lord Percival, Lord Granby, 

 Lord Ludlow, Lord Vernon, Lord Carlisle, 

 Lord Mexbro, Sir Walter Vavasour, Sir 

 Roland Winns, Mr. Noel, Mr. Stanhope, 

 Mr. Meynell, Mr. Barry, and Mr. Charles 

 Pelham. The last-named gentleman, after- 

 ward the first Lord Yarborough, was per- 

 haps the most indefatigable of all, as he 

 was the first to start 

 the system of walking 

 puppies amongst his 

 tenantry, on the 

 Brocklesby estates, and 

 of keeping lists of 

 hound pedigrees and 

 ages. By 1760 all the 

 above-named noblemen 

 and gentlemen had 

 been breeding from 

 each other's kennels. 

 The hounds were regis- 

 tered, as can be seen 

 now in Lord Middle- 

 ton's private kennel 

 stud book, through 

 which his lordship can 

 trace the pedigrees of 

 his present pack for a 

 hundred and sixty years 



