" G. S. L." OX THE NORTH STAFFORD HOUNDS. 99 



only fair to say that in the Shrewsbury-Nugent reign, 

 matters were not allowed to fall below a good average 

 standard, and every effort was made, by judicious recourse 

 to well-known kennels, to keep up the ejBiciency and repu- 

 tation of the pack. When the present Master took office, 

 it will be remembered that he was very young, and could 

 have had no previous experience of hound-breeding, but 

 he soon began to show great interest in, and remarkable 

 aptitude for, hound breeding and management, and with a 

 huntsman like Dickins, and an adviser like his brother-in- 

 law, Mr. H. Chaplin, and other friends of similar experience, 

 added to his own strong desire to succeed, it was no wonder 

 that the hounds soon began to show improvement, both in 

 quality and work, and that the name of the pack stood at 

 least as high as ever. In this connection we cannot do 

 better than quote from an article by " G. S, L,," which 

 appeared in the Field in the spring of 1887, that is, about 

 thirteen years after' Lord Stafford had succeeded to the 

 Mastership, a period of time which would give full scope 

 and fair play to the kennel management of the Master and 

 his experienced huntsman, Stephen Dickins. After some 

 introductory and historical remarks dealing with the days 

 of Mr. Wicksted and Mr. Davenport, and a passing 

 reference to the short Shrewsbury-Nugent Mastership, 

 " G. S. L." goes on to say — 



" The Marquis of Stafford made very large additions to the kennel stock, and, 

 for the matter of that, so had Lord Shrewsbury and Captain Nugent, as in their 

 time some very large drafts liad been got from Sir Watkin Wynn, and these 

 included a good many hounds by the noted Painter, and many others that traced 

 away from Royal. The Marquis, however, took up breeding his own hounds as 

 soon as the groundwork he had satisfied him, and for several years no draft from 

 any other kennel has been necessary. The encouragement given to walk puppies 

 is much more liberal than in most quarters, for cups are given to the various 

 counties in which the Duke of Sutherland has tenantry ; and as fifty couples is 

 about the number sent out, there are several recipients of honours. The good 

 blood above alluded to has been evidently made the most of, as three or four 

 years ago I paid this kennel a visit, and I thought the pack at that time belonged 

 to a high class, but there has been improvement since, I think, in getting them 

 more level ; and for hounds of just the Belvoir height, twenty-three inches dogs 

 and twenty-two inches bitches, it struck me, in drawing comparisons with other 

 packs I had recently seen, that very few can beat them as a lot of little hounds 

 with plenty of bone. This is not done in a year or two, or five or six years, as 



