222 THE NORTH STAFFORDSHIRE HOUNDS. 



companson even with Leicestersliire or Northamptonshire. We maj' not possess 

 the big pastures of the so-called fashionable shires, with four gates to every field 

 (and those left open Avhen hounds meet in the vicinity), but we possess farmers 

 who not only profess to love fox-hunting, but preserve foxes. And we have a 

 country which demands skill both on the part of the horse and the rider to get 

 over. I have heard men who consider the pleasure of hunting to consist merely 

 in galloping over grass and through gates, declare that both the North Stafford- 

 shire and the Albrighton countries are cramped countries. In one sense I admit 

 that they are. The enclosures are small, and seldom have more than one gate, 

 and the obstacles embrace every description of fence ever devised by the farmer. 

 To ride in the first flight with the North Staffordshire, a man must possess a 

 elever horse and plenty of nerve. Unfortunate^, a good many of the followers 

 lack this latter <|uality. They appear to think that the science of riding over a 

 cramped country consists in pulling np their horses into a trot before every fence, 

 a practice to be condemned for many reasons. It has always been a maxim of 

 mine never to ride into another man's pocket, but what is one to do when at the 

 only jumpable place in a fence your leader, who has been going at racing pace 

 over the tiat, suddenly pulls his horse up ? One must either ride over him or pull 

 one's own horse out of his stride, and not improbably make him refuse. A willing 

 horse who goes with dash at his fences hates nothing more than to be checked at 

 the last moment. A man may saj^ that he has every right to ride at his fences in 

 whatever way he may choose, and I admit his right to do so, but I do not admit 

 his right to put my horse out of his stride because he funks his fence. The hard 

 funker is almost as great a nuisance in the hunting-field as the thrusting scoundrel, 

 and, to add insult to injury, he will invariably excuse himself by saying that he 

 rides with judgment. I hope the North Staffordshire men will not be angry with 

 me for my remarks, which are intended to ajiply to every hunting country. What 

 I wish to impress upon my readers is that it is not necessary, in riding over a 

 cramped country, to ride slowly at one's fences. There is moderation in all 

 things, and I do not advocate the method of riding at every fence as if it were the 

 water-jump in a steeplechase course, but I feel sure that this habit of riding 

 slowly at the fence, a habit which has largely increased of late j'ears, is responsible 

 for many accidents. That it deprives horses of their natural courage there can 

 be no doubt, and I should never advise anybody to buy a horse from a man who 

 possessed the habit. But I am oven-unning my scent, a sin which I would not 

 have committed if it had not been for the opinions expressed to me by Stafford- 

 shire gentlemen who do ride to hounds during this week. 



" Though considered now one of the best hunting countries in England, North 

 Staffordshire did not possess an orthodox pack till 1845, when Mr. William 

 Davenport founded the Hunt and held the reins of office till 1870.* From 1870 

 till 1874 Lord Shrewsbury and Captain Nugent hunted the country under a joint 

 IVIastership. In 1874 the present Master, the Duke of Sutherland, then Marquis 

 of Stafford, took office. The secretarial duties are performed by Mr. Alexander 

 Simpson, of Trentham, and. Mr. Reginald N. Wood, of Bignall End, Newcastle. 

 Will Boxall acts as huntsman, with Ned Parker and Ernest Jones to whip in to 

 him. The kennels, which contain sixtj'^ couples of hounds, are at Trentham, and 

 the hunting days are Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays, and Saturdays. 



"Perhaps the simplest manner in which I can describe the country is by 

 saying that it is bisected by the London and North-Western Railway line, which 



* Our readers will note several inaccuracies as to dates and facts in this part of 

 '•G. F. U.'s'' article. 



