HUNTS AND THEIR HISTORY 171 



of a Midland fixture at a crack meet must needs wear 

 a more or less formidable aspect in the eyes of master 

 and huntsman, but nothing is so bad as it seems, 

 and it is to be doubted if an accurate return could 

 be made of sport spoiled on these occasions whether 

 it would not be a very humble one." * 



VI. The Woodland Pytchley 



Mention above has been made of the Woodlands, 

 though at that time (1864) the Pytchley hunted the 

 whole country. Lord Spencer hunted hounds in 

 the Woodlands for two seasons, but it was not until 

 Mr. Langham, of Cottesbrooke, took the Pytchley 

 country in 1878 that the Woodland or North Pytchley 

 became a separate establishment. In that year 

 Mr. G. L. Watson, of Rockingham Castle, formed a 

 pack at the Brigstock Kennels. He was succeeded 

 in turn by Captain Pennell Elmhirst and Lord Lons- 

 dale. Then came Mr. Austin Mackenzie in 1885, 

 who remained for fifteen years and was a most success- 

 ful hound breeder. His pack of hounds, which he 

 brought with him from the Old Berkeley, had a great 

 deal of the Blankney blood. On that Mr. Mackenzie 

 grafted the desired Belvoir strains, and formed by 

 degrees the magnificent pack that produced such 

 celebrities as Vaulter, a Peterborough champion. 

 The pack was sold to Mr. Wroughton and the present 

 Duke of Beaufort for five thousand guineas, the 

 latter taking the dog pack and the former the bitches. 

 Mr. Wroughton lent the latter pack or some of it 

 to Lord Southampton and Mr. Cazenove, who were 



* "The Pytchley Hunt, Past and Present," pp. 169, 170. 



