100 COVEnT-SlDE SKETCHES. 



And again, — 



" Pray, George," cries Wilton, ** head the beast 



From facing that deep clay j'* 



He hears not, heeds not in the least. 



But blows his horn — " Away ! '* 



Altlioiigli these hounds have always been in the possession of 

 the Rutland family, from time to time other persons have been 

 installed as masters ^ro tern., when occasion required, and towards 

 the latter end of the last century we find Lord George Cavendish, 

 a son of the fourth Duke of Devonshire, and Sir Carnaby 

 Haggerstone thus acted during the duke's minority. ]\Ir. Per- 

 cival, of Croxton Park, where the kennels then were, succeeded 

 them — a fine old sportsman, and a brother of Mr. Percival who 

 was shot in the House of Commons. He afterwards lived at 

 Willoughby Hall, Ancaster. The duke took them himself about 

 1799 or 1800, and the first huntsman of whom there is any 

 record was Woods, who had hunted Major Gilbert's hounds in 

 the IsTew Porest, and I believe was a Hampshire man. IS'"ew- 

 man then came and hunted them from 1794 to 1805, and 

 had a man named Fox as his whip. He was succeeded by 

 " Gentleman Shaw," from Sir Thomas Mostyn's, not only a 

 wonderfully fine horseman and a good huntsman, but so noted 

 for his courtesy and urbanity in the field that he obtained the 

 above title. He held the j^ost until 1816, when he was suc- 

 ceeded by Goosey, who first went to these hounds in 1796, and 

 only relinquished the horn at Belvoir in 1842, after having been 

 connected with that pack for a period of forty-eight" years. He 

 was a fine, powerful horseman, a capital huntsman, and a great 

 judge of hound-breeding, wherein he w\as much assisted by 

 Lord Forester, who took the command in 1829; and, during 

 the time he and Goosey had the management, the pack were 

 brought to a greater state of perfection than they had ever yet 

 attained. 



I think it may be said of them what can be told of scarcely 



