188 THE SOUTH DEVON HUNT 



Wood, giving us a gallop of about a mile and a half 

 on the road as hard as horses could go. Here, he 

 turned to the left, and, after crossing the vale at 

 Willing, made straight for the village of Dean, where 

 we were close to him. From there he made over the 

 hill to within a field of Dean Wood, where, as bad 

 luck would have it, he got to ground dead-beat close 

 before the hounds. Time, one hour and a half. 



During her father's mastership Miss Whidborne, 

 who had hunted regularly ever since Mr. Westlake 

 first kept the hounds, took a very keen interest in the 

 hunt and in the pack, and was of great assistance to 

 her father, who was not always able to be out. Not 

 that she asserted her position in the field, except 

 upon occasion, as, for instance, w^hen the huntsman 

 would be disposed to kill a fox on the earth which she 

 considered should be given a chance. But she was 

 always there to be consulted if necessary and to 

 exercise a moral control upon hunt servants and field 

 alike ; and, knowing as she did all about the sport, 

 the country and the people, she could always be 

 relied on to give a clear and accurate accoiuit of 

 what had taken place. She was a good rider and had 

 a good eye herself for a country, besides having an 

 excellent attendant in the person of her groom, John 

 Croot, whose hawk-like eye has been known to view 

 a fox as it crossed the narrow space of an open 

 gateway a couple of fields distant. 



Of course. Miss \'\Tiidborne was well mounted. In 

 the likeness of her given here, she is mounted on 

 Killeen, an Irish hunter of good stamp and quality, 

 and a great favourite of hers. Then there was the 

 grey. Shamrock, also Irish, to my mind one of the 

 best types of hunter I have seen, though perhaps a 

 trifle big about the head ; but full of knowledge and 



