206 THE NORTH STAFFORDSHIRE HOUNDS. 



hundred the draw from Stoke-by-Stone) ; then after a long 

 trot to Sandon we caught Dickins with his hounds, and 

 accosted him with — 



" I say, Dickins, you have given us a stern chase ; we've 

 been looking out for you, as usual, at Orange Hayes." 



Dickins, without moving a muscle of his face, drily 

 replied, " I thought the card said Stoke-by-Stone." 



He was not fanciful about his mounts, but he was 

 usually very well mounted, and always in his place. We 

 have no doubt he had his favourites, such as Reuben, 

 Blackbird, Pioneer, Mischief, or the Marquis — Reuben was 

 an upstanding chestnut horse, which Dickins usually rode 

 in the Draycot country. Mischief carried him well in 

 a fine run years ago from Wincote Wood to Wrinehill ; 

 but whatever his mount, he always rode in the same 

 determined style. His devotion to duty no doubt 

 shortened his life, for the last time he came out with the 

 hounds he was evidently much too ill to be out of bed, and 

 was with difficulty persuaded to leave early and to seek 

 the bed which he was destined never to leave again alive. 

 Dickins was most thoroughly liked and respected by every 

 member of the Hunt, and by his upright and conscientious 

 discharge of his duties he had earned and entirely deserved 

 their favourable opinion. 



It is satisfactory to know that for his widow and 

 family a handsome sum was subscribed by the members of 

 the Hunt, amounting to nearly £800, the bulk of which is 

 invested in the names of trustees for the permanent 

 benefit of the family. The writer only regrets that he has 

 not the ability to pen a worthier tribute to the memory of 

 so excellent a huntsman as Stephen Dickins, but his merits 

 are well known to all who have hunted with these hounds 

 between 1871 and 1896, and his name will not easily be 

 forgotten in North Stafi'ordshire. The following extracts 

 from the Staffordshire Advertiser and the Field of February 

 8th, 1896, will serve to show the general estimation in 

 which Dickins was held, and the deep regret for his loss 

 which was felt, not only by the members of the Hunt, but 



