THE HISTORY OF THE BEL VOIR HUNT 



long, it must be a very pleasing sensation to you to feel your 

 spirit continually hovering over the Belvoir pack in full cry, 

 and where I sincerely hope the body will soon be, too, for 

 many, many years to come. 



" On December the 26th I wish with all my heart you 

 could have joined me and Thomas up to the Southerns ; had 

 the hounds gone on there it would have been a dead heat 

 with us two. There are, however, a real good lot of foxes 

 left in our woodlands, to give us, I hope, many such days, 

 when I trust you will be there. We have not had anything 

 very first-rate since the frost, though the hounds have killed 

 a few foxes through difficulties and bad scents handsomely. 

 We had a good day's sport yesterday, with a bad scent, ' but 

 no kill ' ; found him in the school plots, and went away 

 through Ponton Park Wood and Boothby Great Wood, and 

 away straight to Westby, which he left on his left, and away 

 to Burton Lawn Wood ; here he turned short to the right, 

 leaving Basingthorpe on his left, and we lost him going to 

 Boothby Great Wood again : a terrible windy, bad day, and 

 it was quite wonderful the hounds got as far as they did. I 

 fear snow will put in his appearance before morning, and 

 prevent us hunting at Caythorpe Common. 



" Hoping soon to see you again in the hunting field, 



" I beg to remain, 



" Honoured Sir, 

 " Your very faithful and obedient servant, 



"Wm. Goodall." 



In the same year Goodall wrote to General Reeve, " We 

 have had capital sport indeed, killing ONE fox each morn- 

 ing, after real good work," showing that the huntsman was 

 not one of those who advocate by example or precept the 

 indiscriminate murder of the innocents in the autumn. 



In another letter Sir Thomas is congratulated on the birth 

 of a son, and this gives occasion to Goodall to express that 

 anxiety which his own large family made him feel. The 

 postscript overleaf tells that the old feud between foxes and 

 pheasants, huntsman and keeper, broke out from time to time 



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