THE GOLDEN AGE 



of the craft, nobody enjoying the nocturnal hunt more than 

 Goodall himself." 1 



Blank days were few,^ though the sport had its ups and 

 downs there as elsewhere. Will, however, was of the same 

 opinion as Mr. Meynell, when, after a smart twenty minutes 

 with hare, the great master blandly remarked that " there are 

 days when high-bred hounds will hunt anything." So Will 

 is reported to have said when, after a bad day, hounds 

 changed from a scentless fox to a hare, " Well, it is about 

 time we ran something^ 



Lord Forester was a very popular man with the landowners 

 and farmers. The latter admired his boldness as a horseman, 

 and his handsome face and figure ; and they respected his 

 excellent judgment of live stock, for Lord Forester was a 

 born judge, not only of horses and hounds, but of stock of all 

 kinds. He had that natural eye for form which, when culti- 

 vated, makes a man a judge of power and speed in horse or 

 hound, and which probably cannot altogether be acquired. 



But with the closing of the fifties, the golden age was draw- 

 ing to an end. Lord Forester married in 1856; and this 

 event, and the presentation of a splendid testimonial, fore- 

 shadowed his approaching retirement. He had been master 

 for twenty-eight seasons, and had made the very most of 

 them. It was natural that men's minds should now turn to 

 the Marquis of Granby, one of the hardest riders in a hard- 

 riding age. When the good old Duke, full of years and 

 honours, passed away, it was felt that the time had come for 

 a Duke of Rutland once more to be master of his own 

 hounds. That Lord Forester felt this himself we know by 

 the following letter, which he wrote to General Reeve : — 



"Knipton Lodge, March 22, 1857. 

 " I write to you thinking that you might expect from me 

 some communication about the lamented death of the Duke 

 of Rutland, and also thinking that if a change be made in 



* Random Recollections of the Belvoir Hunt, p. 28. 

 ^ Mr. John Welby writes, " In fifty years' hunting with the Belvoir I 

 never saw a blank day." 



187 



