112 FOX-HUNTING IN THE SHIRES 



tion necessary, raised £1500 a year and offered it to 

 the late Duke without conditions, as a contribution 

 to the poultry and damage fund. It was also, I 

 believe, Grantham that prevented a division of the 

 hunt, and to this we owe the fact that the historic 

 hunt of Belvoir is still undivided. Grantham is the 

 hunting capital of Lincolnshire, a county which has 

 produced more hounds and huntsmen of note than 

 any other. The families of the Smiths, the Thatchers 

 and the Goodalls all handle fox-hounds, as Frank 

 Gillard once said, as naturally as a setter or pointer 

 takes to finding game. 



It is perhaps not very surprising that Grantham 

 and its neighbourhood have produced hard riders, 

 for the ditches are deep, the rails strong and the 

 fences, if neat and well kept, are not to be trifled 

 with. When I was preparing to write the history 

 of the Belvoir hunt, I drove, rode and cycled over 

 the country round Grantham, Aswarby, Folkingham 

 and other places, and it struck me as most sporting, 

 but rather stiff. Will Wells, the huntsman succes- 

 sively of the Puckeridge and Hertfordshire, was a 

 noted rider, and the following incident which he 

 wrote to me himself may serve to illustrate what I 

 have said. " The hounds were drawing Colonel 

 Reeves' Gorse at Leadenham. Wells rode down to 

 the bottom to view the fox away, and Mr. Clark, 

 the great sheep-feeder, was there with a friend. He 

 said, ' Will, if we find a fox how are you going to get 

 over that fence ? ' — a very big ditch with a post and 

 rails from me. — ' Wait and see,' said Will, and at 

 that very moment a fox broke. ' Now let us see,' 

 said Mr. Clark, and Will, giving his horse a ten yards' 

 run, flew the fence." * If the fences are strong, 



* " History of the Belvoir Hunt," p. 328. 



