GEORGE TEMPLER OF STOVER 23 



ford, formerly the seat of the Harris (now Mohun- 

 Harris) family, shadowed and overhung by trees, 

 and hollowed out and paved, with rustic stalls formed 

 of blocks and slabs of Dartmoor granite arranged 

 round the circular enclosure. Each of the twenty- 

 three stalls was dedicated to a famous foxhunter of 

 the day.^ 



The following extract from a hitherto unpublished 

 letter, written in 1863 by the Reverend John Russell 

 — " Jack Russell " — to Mr. Christopher Arthur Harris 

 of Hayne, shews the high opinion the writer had of 

 Templer as a sportsman. 



" I think the Duke of Beaufort is the best sportsman I 

 ever saw. I say ' I think,' because during poor, dear George 

 Templer' s lifetime I was not — could not be — so good a 

 judge of the Noble Science &c. &c. &c. as I may be at this 

 present writing. There would be, however, only two or 

 three pounds between them, I fancy ; the latter was the 

 best man over a country, and, even in Devonshire, saw 

 every turn hounds made. ..." 



Nimrod, too, makes honom-able mention of the 

 first master of the South Devon. 



" The West of England," he writes, " produces 

 two very good riders — Imprimis — the well known 

 George Templer, one of the cleverest sportsmen of 

 the age ; and his friend, ^Ir. Henry Taylor, who 

 officiated as whipper-in to him when I visited his 

 country. He was a surprizing man, as the saying is, 

 to get across that awkward country, Devonshire." 



There was a tradition, when I was a boy, that on 

 one occasion Templer rode his horse in cold blood 

 over the toll gate of the Teignmouth and Shaldon 

 Bridge, and that the formidable chevaux - de -frise 



^ Letters on the past and present Foxhounds of Devonshire. 



