PREFACE 



XIll 



has contributed greatly to the interest of the book is Mrs. 

 Cooper, of Carlton Scroop, for whose assistance in the loan of 

 private papers I wish to make very special acknowledgment. 

 During the whole time this work has been in hand I have 

 been in constant communication with Mr. Frederick Sloane 

 Stanley, whose help has been by no means confined to the 

 very interesting chapter of " Personal Recollections " which 

 appears under his name. My thanks are also due to Mr. 

 John Reeve, of Leadenham, for some extracts from the 

 letters and papers of the late General Reeve ; to Mr. R. 

 Millington Knowles, who kindly mounted me on several 

 occasions, and thus enabled me to see some parts of the 

 country to the best advantage ; to Mr, Cuthbert Bradley, 

 whose own book is so well known, for many valuable 

 hints, in addition to the spirited drawings he has made for 

 this book. To Mr, Pinder, of Barrowby, I am indebted for 

 some amusing and characteristic anecdotes of William 

 Goodall, To Mr, Manners Escritt, the proprietor and 

 editor of the Grantham Journal, my thanks are gratefully 

 rendered for information derived from the columns of that 

 paper. 



In the chapter on " The Race of Bel voir," great assistance 

 has been afforded me by the huntsmen of many famous 

 packs of hounds, in tracing the Belvoir strains of blood in 

 their kennels. The opinions they express, being those of 

 practical men who have given a life-long study to the subject 

 of hound-breeding, are of great value. Nor am I unmindful 

 of the generosity with which, amid the labours and cares of 

 the hunting season, they gave so freely of their time and 

 thought to a brother sportsman. 



