THE BLACKMORE VALE. 97 



come to the country from the Vale of White 

 Horse not long before, and at first he used to 

 astonish us all by his seat. At every fence he 

 leaned right back on his horse, and at a very high 

 bank this looked extremely uncomfortable, to say 

 the least. He rode, however, very well, and the 

 quickness with which he learned the country was 

 remarkable. Not one of the least of the difficulties 

 he had to contend w^ith was the fondness of the 

 hounds for their old huntsman. The followinef 

 season G. Orbell was appointed to Press's place, 

 and every one hailed with delight his method of 

 getting away from covert with his first fox. 

 Orbell remained in office till the year 1885, the 

 season after Sir Richard Glyn had retired. 



During the time that Orbell carried the horn 

 I was living with my uncle at Haddon, and hunted 

 regularly in the Vale. Among my recollections 

 of the followers of the hunt at this period there 

 stands out the figure of Mr Wingfield Baker, 

 who still took the gates as they came when 

 upwards of eighty years of age. This veteran 

 met with his death in the hunting- field, and he 

 was universally regretted. Another first-class 

 rider was Mr Wadham KnatchbuU, whose seat 

 and hands were so incomparably good that it 

 was a pleasure to watch him. Always there and 

 in the right place, he was one of the quietest of 

 riders, and nothing ever came amiss to him. At 

 a real hairy Vale double, however, Mr Marwood 

 Yeatman was the best man I ever knew. He 



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