THE HISTORY OF THE BEL VOIR HUNT 



£S'^ by the deal. It was a showy animal, and a good bold 

 fencer, and was quite the modern stamp of Leicestershire 

 horse, save that it was smaller than we care for now. 



Some years before this, the Duke had bought some of Mr. 

 Heron's famous pack from Cheshire. These hounds were 

 remarkable for the excellence of the sport they showed, and 

 they brought their good qualities into the Belvoir kennel. 

 They also brought in a good deal of the rich colouring which 

 had already become a feature of the Belvoir kennels, though 

 not to the same extent that was afterwards the case when 

 Rallywood from Brocklesby began a new era for the Belvoir. 



The fifth Duke was a keen sportsman, but he had many 

 other occupations and he loved society, and for that reason 

 he spent a good deal of time at Cheveley and dipped from 

 there into racing. He was a member of the Jockey Club, 

 and he ran a dead heat for the Derby with Cadland in 

 1828. This success stirred in him a little enthusiasm for 

 the turf, but it soon died out. The Duke's racing interest 

 had indeed been much stimulated by his intimacy with 

 the second Earl of Chatham, the Duke of York and Mr. 

 Sloane Stanley, and when the influence of these friends 

 was lessened or withdrawn, the Duke's liking for racing 

 flickered out ; a horse called Flambeau, which he had 

 bred himself, and with which he had had some success, 

 being his last racer of any note. 



For a time the Duchess's death was a blow to the 

 gaieties of Belvoir, and the Duke never ceased to feel 

 her loss. Yet the duties of a great landlord and the 

 political excitements of the time could not fail to distract 

 and to employ his mind. But from this date his personal 

 interest in hunting, and his attendance in the hunting field, 

 became less frequent, until in the year 1829 he gave up 

 the entire management of the hounds to Lord Forester. 

 After that year the Duke only appeared in the hunting field 

 occasionally, and then rather in order to meet his tenants 

 and his friends than with a view to riding hard to hounds. 

 In his early youth the Duke could occasionally go well, but 

 he was never at any time a hard rider, though always a good 



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