102 THE NORTH STAFFORDSHIRE HOUNDS. 



When I looked over the Blankney I thought Druid was the best-looking stalliou 

 hound in the pack, and a very fine-bred hound he was, by Damper, son of the 

 Burton Dorimont, out of Lavender, by Larkspiu', son of Lord Henry Bentinck's 

 Comrade. Druid must have done the pack tmder notice some good, as he had a 

 capital litter of two and half couples, all put on in 1879, and they remained in 

 orders some time, and were bred from ; and two bitches called Darling and 

 Prudence, belonging to other litters, were also by Druid. A blood-like, third- 

 season hound called Bender is of the family, as he is by Bondsman, son of Falstaft', 

 alread}' alluded to, and his dam was Daffodil, by Druid. Vanguard, a good- 

 shaped-hound, and a very good one, has been used a good deal, and he is by the 

 Meynell Baronet, out of Vestal, by Grecian, a Fitzwilliam and Belvoir bred 

 liound. Comus has been another useful sire, and, bar his colour, there is much 

 to like about him, and his pedigree would do for most breeders, by the Bramham 

 Chanticleer, out of Gadfly, by Alfred, out of Gaiety, a bitch 1 have mentioned as 

 going back to the Cheshire Bangor. There are a good many in the kennel now 

 by Comus, and Vanguard's line looks rather the stronger of the two at present, 

 as there is a son of his called Villager, now in his second season, and, bar that he 

 is a trifle short in his shoulders, like the old dog, he is a stallion hound all over, 

 and such a good one, down a road or anywhere, and he can drive besides. He 

 will therefore be used freely, and it is rare blood on his dam's side also, as 

 Sprightly was by the Fitzwilliam Statesman. I think it is to the second-season 

 hunters that the most attention might be paid as regards stallion hounds, as there 

 is Trojan, a very straight, level hound, with immense bone for his size, and quite 

 a multum in 2)arvo. He is as good as he looks, and appears to be Dickins's 

 prime favourite, though he has always been a prominent young gentleman, being 

 the prize puppy of his year. He is by the Brocklesby Tapster, out of Willing, by 

 the Blankney Woldsman, her dam Gladsome, by Benedict, and going back to the 

 oldest sorts I have alluded to. Gameboy, by Manful, son of Dexter, by Lord 

 Hill's Dashwood, is a long, low hound belonging to a very good sort, and I was 

 much taken with Wellington, another two-year-old, by AVarrior, son of Whynot, 

 sou of the Fitzhardinge Wonder, the dam of Wellington Passion, by Primate, 

 out of Mr. Chaplin's Dewdrop, by Druid. 



'* I saw quite enough of the North Staffordshire kennels to convince me that it 

 is a good pack of hounds, that has been coming on in excellence during very recent 

 years, and, as a pack of the future, it may be of great use to breeders in contain- 

 ing blood that, in the many changes constantly taking place in countries, has got 

 somewhat scarce, and may get still more so. The Marquis of Stafford may be 

 ranked with Lord Portsmouth in having got perhaps the cream of the Blankney 

 in the hey-day time of that pack, and there is some fine old Cheshire blood, some 

 of the best of the Meynell, and no bad share of the Fitzwilliam. Its progress is 

 likely to continue, as the noble master is very popular and the country seems 

 proud of the pack. As is well known, the Marquis has been absent this winter, 

 but his deputy, Mr. Fitzherbert Brockholes, has been most assiduous in his duties 

 as Master, and the kind way in which he has conducted the affairs of the Hunt 

 has gained him the good-will of the whole country." 



Our readers would probably find it tedious if we were 

 to supplement " G. S. L.'s" account of the pack in 1887 

 by giving an equally detailed account of tbe various 

 changes and experiments in hound-breeding from 1887 to 



