THE BELVOIR CIRCLE 



never known to quarrel with his horse. Among other frequent 

 guests were the two Grosvenors and Mr. John Douglas, a 

 young Scotsman, and a very hard man, of whom it is told 

 that, having a good place in a run, and getting a fall under 

 water, he suffered his horse to drag him eight yards (I am 

 not responsible for the distance) rather than lose his hold of 

 him. Another frequent visitor was Mr. Sloane Stanley, the 

 Duke's racing partner. 



Then there were three men who deserve some notice 

 in a sporting history, for they were among the finest 

 horsemen of their day. Lord Jersey was one of the 

 brightest ornaments of the shires, and noted for his good 

 looks, of which Lord Alvanley used to tell a good 

 story. A certain young foreign lady, being desirous of 

 capturing the hand of a rich English " milord," paid great 

 attention to Lord Alvanley. The interest was more on her 

 side than his, and once when dancing with her at Almack's, 

 he had come to the end of his conversational resources. See- 

 ing Lord Jersey come in, he remarked, for the sake of saying 

 something, " What a handsome man Jersey is ! " to which, 

 with a tender glance, the lady instantly replied, " He shall 

 not be so pretty than you." Lord Jersey later in life took 

 a considerable part in politics and on the turf. Curiously 

 enough, his greatest success was the cause of the death of 

 another well-known member of the Belvoir set. Many years 

 after the time of which I am writing, when Lord Jersey's 

 Bay Middleton won the Derby, Berkeley Craven shot him- 

 self, being unable to meet his engagements. 



Lord Jersey's most brilliant time as a rider to hounds 

 was when he was Lord Villiers. He was, according to 

 Nimrod,^ one of the hardest, boldest, most judicious riders^ 

 as well as the most elegant. He rode horses always above 

 his weight. Lord Villiers was apt at times to press too 

 hardly on the hounds. We may hope, however, that the 

 exclamation recorded of him is somewhat exaggerated. 

 " Curse these hounds, what a bore they are ! they can't get 

 from under one's horse's feet." Two famous black horses 



^ Hunting Reminiscences, p. 209. 

 117 



