134 FOX-HUNTING IN THE SHIRES 



one. This was in 1857, so that the present Cottesmore 

 pack have been nearly fifty years in the country. 



Lord Kesteven was an excellent judge of a hound, 

 and when Mr. Baird (1880-1900) began his master- 

 ship of twenty years, he found an excellent pack, 

 though the standard of the dog pack was afterwards 

 reduced. The real foundation of the kennel was a 

 lucky union between Lord Fitzhardinge's Termagant, 

 that came to the Cottesmore in a draft, and the 

 Bel voir Lexicon. There is also a considerable strain 

 of Lord Henry Bentinck's blood in the kennel, and 

 another hit was made in Seaman, who combined 

 Belvoir and Grove blood. On the whole, the Cottes- 

 more pack is full of Belvoir blood, and that handsome 

 hound, Stainless, has transmitted his looks to them. 

 Mr. Baird was fortunate in his huntsmen, and when 

 admiring the beautiful pack of to-day, we must not 

 forget the excellent work done by Mr. Baird's hunts- 

 men, Neal and Gillson, who were both men of sound 

 judgment in kennel matters. 



When Mr. Evan Hanbury succeeded, he found the 

 pack famous and its record of sport second to none, 

 and in the two seasons he has been there it is well 

 known that the sport has been something remarkable. 

 Arthur Thatcher, the present huntsman, who was born 

 at Brocklesby and has been with hounds all his life, 

 is deservedly appreciated by all who have hunted 

 with him, and is one of the soundest, as well as most 

 brilliant, of the younger huntsmen of the day. 



If I were given my choice of a place to live in and 

 a pack to hunt with, I would say, let me live near 

 Oakham and hunt with the Cottesmore every day 

 they are out. The country is wilder and, if I may 

 say so, less artificial than some other parts of the grass 

 countries, and in consequence the foxes are stouter 



