THE ANCIEN REGIME 95 



Eecollections of Mr. Cecil Tennant 

 Master 1878-9, 1879-80. 



On my way up to Cambridge as a Freshman in October 1876 I 

 happened to meet in the train a Yorkshire neighbour, young John 

 Dent of Eibston, who had two couple of beagles with him. This 

 was my introduction to the Trinity Beagles. I went out with them, 

 I think, at their first meet that term, and continued to do so regu- 

 larly till I handed them over to " Mother Hunt " at Christmas 1879. 

 The pack consisted of some 12 couples of 15 to 16-inch hounds, 

 which the kennelman took to the far meets in an old two-wheeled 

 cart with sheep-netting over the back, and we conveyed ourselves in 

 a very ramshackle waggonette, called the " committee cart," with a 

 pair of weedy chestnuts, very hot and given to bolting. Walter 

 Cunliffe was Master when I went up, and made me one of his Whips 

 after a few weeks, and as he was first string for the " mile," he had 

 to go into strict training in February 1877, and I then took the 

 horn, as he had asked me to succeed him in the Mastership. 



The pack was kennelled at the Merton Arms, I think, in North- 

 ampton Street, and a most primitive kennel it was, though at that 

 time it seemed to serve our purpose fairly well. 



There was a comfortable " chamber " with a good roomy bench, 

 and a feeding-place communicating with it by a small " smoot " or 

 runway blocked by a sliding door, and it was the Master's business 

 (and pleasure) generally to feed the hounds, calling them by name 

 from the bench, and admitting them to the feeding-place ; and many 

 a greedy hound, darting at the " smoot " when uncalled, has had the 

 door dropped on his nose. A great catastrophe (particularly so to 

 me on just taking over the hounds) happened just before Easter 

 1877. I had gone down, but John Beck, who was first Whip, asked 

 if he might have a bye day, and the next thing I heard was that 

 while running with a breast-high scent at Cantelupe Farm the pack 

 got over the line and a train ran into them, killing about 3 

 couple of the leading hounds. To fill this gap I bought 3^ couple 

 from Murray Marshall of Godalmiug, as he was just giving up his 

 pack. These were Chancellor, Drummer, Harmony, Battler, Eestive, 



