THE HISTORY OF THE BELVOIR HUNT 

 20. 



Lord Robert,* the dandy, I'm told, 



When his regiment ^ gets into quarters 

 At Romford he rides very bold. 



And at Painton he swims o'er the waters. 

 What a pity he should so annoy 



His mother and make her so thin, 

 But, alas ! he's not the same boy 



She used to chuck under the chin. 



21. 

 Now a bumper we'll drink to his Grace, 



A full bumper to him and his hounds, 

 And long may he live at the place 



Where health and good humour abounds. 

 May his family flourish for ages. 



Such a noble sport to pursue, 

 And the poet to be hanged now engages, 



If his song in all points be not true. 



This was a magnificent run and speaks well for the stout- 

 ness of the pack ; yet we cannot claim all the merit for the 

 Belvoir hounds, for the whole of Mr. Calcraft's pack had 

 shortly before this been bought and incorporated with the 

 Duke's hounds. The season was marked, too, by the appear- 

 ance of kennel lameness, which spread to an alarming extent 

 and crippled the numbers of the hunting hounds. This 

 was felt severely, as it has never been the custom at Belvoir 

 to keep more hounds than are required, and the better pre- 

 servation of foxes and the increasing popularity of the sport 

 obliged the Duke to go out more frequently, and he seems 

 to have hunted four days a week. 



The Belvoir now had recourse to the Meynell blood, going 

 to Lord Sefton's kennels at Quorn for Tamerlane, Sultan and 

 Truant. Lord Sefton, who was then hunting the Quorn 

 country with great splendour, was no judge of hounds, and 

 he left matters to Jack Raven, who looked after the fifty 

 couples the master had purchased from Mr. Meynell, while to 

 Stephen Goodall was confided the pack he had brought from 



* Lord Robert Manners, a friend of Brummell and one of the dandies 

 of White's and Watier's. ^ loth Hussars. 



96 



