LONG POINTS AND THE HEYTHROP. 203 



which Lord Cra,ven and Mr. " Tom " Duffield were then 

 joint Masters. Where this was held I cannot remember, but 

 I have a recollection of a breakfast in a long room — possibly 

 a bam — co'nveTted into a dining-room for the pui-poee, and I 

 think the meet was either at the kennels or at some farmhouse 

 close by. The Bicester was a very smart hunt in those days, 

 and I think there were more scarlet coats, in proportion to 

 the numbers out, than in any other hunt I have seen. Bunches 

 of violets and other buttonholes were common, as were snaffle 

 bridle thoroughbred horses; but the best of the country was 

 a long way from Oxford, and I was not very lucky as regards 

 sport in my visits. With the Old Berks I saw several good 

 days; but there again the Oxford side of the country con- 

 tains — or did then — a lot of plough land, and is nothing like 

 so good as the Berkshire Vale further south, and to which 

 I only once penetrated. Lord Craven and Mr. Duffield were 

 an enthusiastic couple of foxhunters, and the whole field 

 struck me as being terribly keen and businesslike. The South 

 Oxfordshire are perhaps more frequently close to Oxford than 

 any other pack, and at the time I write of the late Lord 

 Macclesfield was Master, and my chief recollections of the 

 hunt are of biggish woodlands and very consistent sport. 

 About this time I had odd days with thei Warwickshire 

 and the V.W.H., the latter then one country, with Sir W. 

 Throckmorton Master, and I also saw the Duke of Beaufort's 

 hounds on the north side of their country, close to the V.W.H. 

 boundary. During the late 'sieventies and early 'eighties all 

 the hunting I saw was in Durham, Northumberland, and York- 

 shire and this I have already described; but in the late 

 'eighties I had a good deal of wandering up and down the 

 country and saw many packs at work. From Lichfield, 

 where I stayed with the late " Squire " Treadwell at Bury 

 Hills, I saw the South Staffordshire and Meynell, and a year 

 or two later I saw the North Staffordshire, hunting, and in 

 the kennel, whilst staying with a friend at Ecoleshall. About 

 this time, too, I had sundry short expeditions to the Mid- 

 land packs, and I remember taking part in one very fine hunt 

 with the Quorn, of which I wrote an account for Land and 

 Water. But I have mislaid the cutting and cannot be sure 

 of the date. It took place, however, on a Monday, and the 



