THE OLD ORDER CHANGES 



Coupland, Gillard was allowed to go to the Duke — a fortu- 

 nate circumstance for the Belvoir, as the history of the next 

 twenty-six years was to show. No huntsman ever filled so 

 difficult a post as Gillard, or was more successful in doing so. 

 The Duke was often absent from the field, and no deputy 

 master was available as in the days of Lord Forester, who 

 was now unable to hunt much, if at all, and was indeed 

 nearing the end of his happy and useful life. Thus Gillard 

 was often huntsman and master too. The Duke took great 

 pleasure and interest in the hunt, and did not wish to have 

 any one between himself and his servants. The feeling was 

 natural, but it was a severe trial for any man, and though 

 Gillard came out of it with great credit, yet there is no doubt 

 that he often felt the want of some authority to back him up 

 in the field. After the failure of the sixth Duke's health, it 

 was not till Lord Edward Manners became the deputy of his 

 father, the present Duke, that the Belvoir had a master regu- 

 larly in the field. Gillard is still living in honourable retire- 

 ment after his long services to the Belvoir and to fox-hunting. 

 He has given his reminiscences to the world in an attractive 

 form with Mr. Cuthbert Bradley's help, so that there is no 

 need to tell again the story told so well by the man who 

 knew it best. 



Yet, Gillard's reminiscences are rather material for history 

 than history itself, and we may thus sketch the succession 

 of events and study the growth of the pack without fearing 

 to step on well-trodden ground. The first thing that de- 

 manded the attention of the new huntsman was the condition 

 of the pack. James Cooper had shown wonderful sport, and 

 he had, as one of the letters of the Duke has shown, pleased 

 the master in the breeding of the hounds. They were indeed 

 a most beautiful pack, and contained in themselves the possi- 

 bility of still greater improvement. Cooper was one of the 

 finest horsemen and the most daring riders that ever crossed 

 Lincolnshire and Leicestershire. He was always with his 

 hounds, but like many very hard riders he did not value 

 the musical qualities of the pack so highly as their speed. 

 Senator, a hound of rare courage but of a somewhat im- 



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