THE HISTORY OF THE BEL VOIR HUNT 



fly not without scent. . . , From all I heard — and I 

 asked the opinion of a good many judges — the Belvoir ken- 

 nel never before stood anything like so high. In short, it 

 now stands rubrick in the sporting world." ^ 



The finishing touch to the pack was indeed put afterwards 

 by Will Goodall, who brought to his task what I should be 

 tempted to describe as a touch of genius. But this belongs 

 to a later period. As to the sport enjoyed, it seems to have 

 been good. We have no longer the assistance of the Records, 

 but there lies before me a small, red, old-fashioned pocket- 

 book in which Lord Forester kept a diary of his sport, and 

 from which we are able to judge what kind of runs the 

 hounds had. There is perhaps less need of the Records, in- 

 asmuch as the hounds now occupy a larger place in the 

 minds of the men of Melton and of the sporting magazines, 

 and even Nimrod extends the patronage of his most mag- 

 nificent style to the hunt. 



Thomas Goosey had now been many years with the Bel- 

 voir, and was established as one of the leading huntsmen of 

 the day. He was still a powerful horseman, and he had a 

 marvellous constitution and a very hard head, for he is said 

 to have been able to drink a bottle of brandy at a sitting, a 

 statement which is somewhat confirmed by a private letter 

 in my possession, which relates how the old huntsman when 

 driving from Belvoir to visit the Cottesmore kennels, on a 

 cold winter's day, took thirteen glasses of hot whisky and 

 water without being apparently in the least affected by it. 

 He was a very polite man with his field, and his severest re- 

 mark seems to have been, " You jumped on that hound, sir, 

 and I beg leave to say that you buried him as well." 



Lord Forester is said to have insisted almost from the 

 first on a severe rule of drafting. He never would spare a 

 hound that did not come up to the very highest standard in 

 the matter of legs and feet. 



The condition and management of the pack at this time 

 gave the greatest satisfaction to all who hunted with it. In 



* sporting Magazine, old series, vol. clxxiv., p. 48. May, 1829. 



140 



