304 THE BEST OF THE FUN 



CHAPTER XLV 



THE OUORN UNDER LORD LONSDALE (1893) 



An oft-quoted utterance on the part of the truest gentle- 

 man who ever wrote upon sport is to the effect that 

 " after a good run he always felt as if he had done a good 

 deed." Very good indeed did I feel after the Quorn 

 Friday of December 8, and little excuse need I plead. 

 For had we not seen a brilliant gallop and a second 

 excellent hunt, enacted both of them over the best of that 

 beautiful country ? 



I had come from a distance, once more to hear Tom 

 Firr ; again to see the good pack at their work under his 

 marvellous handling, and for myself to mark the firm rule 

 of Lord Lonsdale insisting upon scope for his huntsman 

 and hounds. As luck would have it, I saw it all under 

 circumstances most favourable and events most fortunate. 



The overnight storm had freshened the ground, had 

 driven foxes into the coverts, and had cleared the air for 

 scent and sport. It had, it is true, brought the smart 

 Melton field out all unadorned. But what mattered this ? 

 It gave them a business-like air that was fully endorsed 

 by the deeds of the day. Knowing Leicestershire, as I 

 happen to, I make bold to say I never saw it ridden over 

 harder and more unflinchingly. In giving a few names 

 of those riding to hounds I cannot, at all events, be wrong 

 in commencing with those of Lady Curzon, Lady Gerard, 

 Miss Tennant, and Miss Eraser. To these, and to that of 

 the noble Master, I may add, from indifferent memory, 

 and only as an old-time acquaintance, those of Mr. and 

 Mrs. L. Lowther, Mr. and Mrs. Cecil Chaplin, Mr. and 

 Mrs. C. Fenwick, Mr. and Mrs. Philips, Mrs. Osgood, 

 Lord Seymour, Baron M. de Tuyll, General Chippendall, 

 Captains Biddulph, Boyce, King-King, O'Neil, Messrs. 

 Hed worth Barclay, Baldock, H. Bourke, B. Lubbock, 

 H. Praed, B. Sheriffe, Russell-Monro, G. Wood, Hames, 

 Kewley, Wade, &c. 



No insignificant item in the scene (as may be imagined) 



I 



