THE BUILDERS OF BELVOIR 



all animation and keenness to show sport. No fence would 

 stop him if he thought he could hit a line on the far side. 

 Then when his hounds were feathering, clustering on the line, 

 he would take off his cap and cheer them with an enthusiasm 

 which gave them confidence. And when the chiming pack, 

 heads up and sterns down, started to race over the grass, 

 Shaw, riding beside them, his face alight with pleasure, was 

 in his glory. Then it was, when they hesitated, " Gently, 

 gentlemen, if you please," with his hand raised above his 

 head. " One moment, and I'll thank you." " Governess has 

 it," some hard-riding member of the hunt would exclaim, 

 Nimrod tells us, which shows that even the hard riders in 

 those days knew something of the hounds. " Will it do, 

 Shaw ? " the Duke would ask. " I think not, your Grace ; 

 I fear it's only flash," for his keen eye had marked that it 

 was not the trusty hounds that spoke. It is of interest to 

 note the opinion held of Shaw by one of his fellow-servants, 

 since such are often the acutest of observers as well as the 

 severest of critics, and old Zack Goddard, one of the best 

 whippers-in that ever lived, declared that " Mr. Shaw was the 

 best huntsman " he had ever seen. 



There is no doubt that a great run which took place on 

 December loth, 1805, in Shaw's first season with the Belvoir 

 greatly contributed to establish his reputation among the 

 hard-riding Meltonians, and served to make the hunt popular 

 with the keenest sportsmen of the day, as the brilliant circle 

 of visitors to the Castle had already done with those who 

 loved the sport then, as many love it now, for its social side. 

 This run was recorded in prose in the diary at Belvoir, and 

 in verse by Mr. Cecil Forester. Both the verse and the prose 

 were privately printed, and are among the unrivalled records 

 at Belvoir Castle. They are given here, as each tells faith- 

 fully of a great historic run from a different point of view — 

 the verse from that of the riders, the prose from that of the 

 huntsman. In the former we read of the exploits and mis- 

 fortunes, with some sly hits at their failings, of the best 

 known of the Belvoir field, and in the latter of the " heroical 

 exploits " of the fox and of the pack. 



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