KENNELS AND STABLES. 253 



thoroughbred horse for the gratuitous use of the farmers 

 in the North Stafford country. The present stud horse is 

 Strathnaver by Galopin— Snood. We ; are told that this 

 boon is much appreciated and freely used by the sporting 

 farmers of the district. 



Amongst the sixty-two horses mentioned above, half a 

 dozen belong to Mr. H. Chaplin, and half a dozen to 

 his son, Mr. Eric Chaplin, but they are kept permanently 

 at Trentham, for riding with the North Staffordshire 

 Hounds, and are under the charge of Percival, like the 

 rest of the stud. 



The two old horses, Bellaport and the Celt, of which 



we give photographs in this volume, were ridden by the 



Duke for many seasons, and were especial favourites, 



Bellaport in particular. His career came to an end almost 



two years ago, and the Celt, whom we saw on our recent 



visit to the stables, will soon be entitled to either a pension 



or a bullet. They were both horses of a good short-legged 



stamp, and proved to be well suited for the North Stafford 



country. There is a good brown horse, Northampton, six 



years old, at the present moment one of his Grace's special 



favourites. The view we publish of the Hunt stables, and 



the adjoining Village Institute, gives a good idea of the 



situation, and of the appearance of the buildings, which 



are of the same picturesque style of architecture as most 



of the houses and villas at Trentham, which may be 



■considered quite a model village. The Institute is the 



gift of the Duke and Duchess to the village, and is used 



^s a reading-room and lecture-room, and for general 



purposes, and is much prized by the inhabitants generally. 



Hitherto we have said very little with reference to the 



Mastership of the present Duke of Sutherland, and, in 



truth, there seems to be little need of many words, even if 



the present writer was the proper person to contribute 



them, for surely the best proof of the success of the 



Master is the unbroken record of good sport and good 



fellowship for the past twenty-eight years in the North 



Staffordshire Hunt, and the smooth and even tenor of its 



