PERSONAL RECOLLECTIONS 



he asked for him. Now, as Mr. Tomlin resided in Rutland- 

 shire, not far from Oakham, he must have had to ride home 

 at least twenty miles, and had gone almost that distance out 

 of his way in trying to make a deal. 



During the early part of the period at which the Duke of 

 Rutland took the mastership of his hounds he appointed 

 James Cooper, who had acted for some time as first whipper- 

 in to Goodall, to be his huntsman, and he could not have 

 selected a better man for the place. Cooper was a light- 

 weight, a strong, wiry man, and a splendid horseman ; indeed, 

 I believe that nobody ever rode over a hunting country with 

 greater ease and with fewer falls than Cooper did during the 

 many years he hunted the Belvoir hounds. 



Jem Cooper, as he was usually called, was a Scotchman 

 by birth, and came from Fife. He was a very quiet man 

 in the hunting field, and was not given to holloaing, and he 

 made very little noise while drawing the coverts, but he was 

 very good with his horn, and if he viewed a fox av/ay it was 

 quite a treat to hear the cheering and inspiriting notes he 

 could produce on it. During this period the Duke of Rut- 

 land entertained numerous guests at Belvoir Castle. Among 

 others his two brothers, Lord John Manners, M.P., and Lord 

 George Manners, M.P., were frequently there, and they were 

 both very fond of hunting ; and Mr. Andrew Drummond, of 

 Cadland, the Duke's brother-in-law, usually came to Belvoir 

 every season and brought a stud of hunters with him. Mr, 

 Busfield Ferrand, M.P., was also a frequent guest, and had 

 a considerable stud of hunters, which were stabled at the 

 Peacock Inn at Belvoir ; and Mr. George Drummond was 

 also a constant guest at the Castle ; his large stud of hunters 

 were stabled at the George Hotel, Grantham. On this 

 gentleman's first day with the Belvoir he is said to have had 

 six or seven falls, but afterwards he became a very fairly 

 good horseman, and rode hard and saw many good runs, 

 and was a good supporter of the Belvoir Hunt. 



I will now endeavour to give a list of those who regularly 

 hunted with the Belvoir during the time that Cooper was 

 huntsman, commencing with those who resided in the immcr 



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