LOYAL GRANTHAM 



and whose sons have since been well known in the Quorn and 

 Belvoir countries ; Mr, Nuneham, of Colsterworth ; Mr. Young, 

 of Wilsford, a good man to hounds ; Mr. W. Newcome, of 

 Boothby, who was somewhat of a character ; Mr. Heathcote, 

 of Lenton, the bearer of a name which is remembered by the 

 covert he planted for the hunt, and whose love of sport and 

 hospitality are not forgotten in the neighbourhood; Mr. Crofts, 

 of Claythorpe Paine ; and Mr. T. Bullen, whose deeds in 

 his old age are recounted by Brooksby's pleasant pen. 



" Quite the leader, and one of the most appreciative mem- 

 bers of the little party who watched the day's proceedings, 

 was the Rev. T. Bullen, of Eastwell, now entering on his 

 eightieth season with hounds — his first serious fall having 

 taken place in his second season with his father's pack in Nor- 

 folk only seventy-nine years ago, when he dislocated his knee. 

 Within the last very few winters he has ridden really hard 

 across country ; even now his face of keen enjoyment as hounds 

 drive their fox through covert is a refreshing and admirable 

 sight. He was present at Salamanca, and he went through 

 the retreat from Burgos. See what fox-hunting can do 

 towards prolonging health and life," ^ 



The Rector of Waltham still keeps up the credit of the 

 cloth when hounds run hard in the Belvoir Vale, " the best 

 country in the world to ride over," as he himself has said. 



Mr. Seabrooke belongs to the present, but if we turn back 

 to the past there were other names among the clergy whose 

 memory lives in the record of the hunt, such as Parsons 

 Sharp, Disbrow, and Younger, all well-known figures in their 

 day. 



Grantham has had many distinguished visitors in the past 

 — Lord Gardner, Mr. George Drummond and his friend 

 Major Longstaffe (now of Little Ponton Hall, and a member 

 of the hunt committee), M. Roy, and besides these a share 

 of the patronage of those spring visitors whose descent on 

 Melton and Grantham has been told with characteristic 

 humour in the Lays of Belvoir'^ by Mr. George Stanley. 



' The Best Season on Record^ Captain Pennell Elmhirst, p. 17. 

 2 p. 19. 



309 



