THOMAS WESTLAKE 107 



run to ground, the earth-stopping being very in- 

 efficiently done. Major Tucker notes this in his diary, 

 and before the season was half over, namely, on the 

 20th December, his entry states that twenty-three 

 foxes had been earthed and that Mr. Westlake was 

 very annoyed in consequence. From another entry 

 in the same diary, stating that the hounds got mixed 

 in Awsewell with Mr. Cole's harriers which were 

 trying to rouse a stag, we learn that the presence of 

 an occasional red deer in the Buckland Woods is not 

 only of recent date.^ 



It is noticeable that in his second season Westlake 

 did not have a single blank day. This fact occasioned 

 much congratulation at the keepers' dinner held at 

 the end of the season. It is interesting to note the 

 names of those present at the dinner. Mr. Evan 

 Baillie, in the chair, and Messrs. J. Wills, Franklin 

 and Rendell vice-chairmen. Captain Keating, Messrs. 

 C. C. Wills (hon. sec), R. C. Tucker, W. R. Mortimer, 

 H. G. Beachey, J. Barratt, Thomas Pinsent, John 

 Drake, Wilham Webber, S. Bartlett, J. Blackaller, 

 W. Reed and Adams. The keepers from the following 

 properties attended : Stover, Ogwell, Bradley, Hac- 

 combe, Torbrian, Ugbrooke, Lindridge, Wood, Mam- 

 head, Luscombe, Powderham, Oxton, Bickham, 

 Haldon, Whiteway, Canonteign, Yarner, Barton Hall, 

 Netherton Manor and Gurrington Manor. The pro- 

 ceedings were most enthusiastic. 



By the commencement of the season 1867-8 the 

 pack had been considerably improved, a regular whip 

 had been engaged, and the hunt had become estab- 



1 This refers to stragglers from Exmoor, but the red deer once had a home 

 en Dartmoor. Mr. Crossing, in his One Hundred Years on Dartmoor, has some 

 interesting notes on the subject. In DanieVs Rural Sports, 1801-2, it is stated 

 that " stags are Hkewise foiind thinly scattered on the moors bordering on 

 Cornwall and Devon." 



