SPORT 



part of the county produced more harm than 

 good the promoter of this pleasant little 

 meeting was obliged reluctantly to abandon 

 his good endeavours towards the promotion 

 of steeplechasing in West Kent. As honorary 

 secretary the West Kent Hunt had in Mr. 

 Russell a good friend and a faithful honorary 

 servant, and no one could carry out more 

 happily than he those unpleasant duties 

 connected with ' passing round the hat ' 

 which fall to the lot of every man in his 

 position. His name is one which will live 

 long in the history of Kentish sport and in 

 the memory of those of his contemporaries 

 still living. 



Many an anecdote is told of ' Dick of 

 Otford,' as he was familiarly known, and a 

 quaint character he was in his way. He is 

 said to have been a distant relation of the 

 famous ' Parson Jack,' and his possession of 

 the true sporting instinct rather favours the 

 contention. The Hon. Ralph Nevill, a 

 former master of the West Kent, wrote some 

 verses having ' Dick ' for their subject, and 

 many a time have they been handed round 

 for inspection at jovial gatherings of sporting 

 men in the district. A couple of the verses 

 run as follows : — 



Let the sound of the horn, when reynard is found 

 The tally ho ! forward ! the cry of the hound, 

 Bring life and new vigour, with hearty good cheer 

 To Richard of Otford for many a year. 

 * * * 



But when the time comes, as to all it must do 

 For saying ' good-bye ' and bidding adieu, 

 To ground he must go, and with many a sigh, 

 We'll holloa ' Who-hoop ! ' and in peace let him lie. 



Most of the meetings of the 'sixties and 

 'seventies were under the management of 

 Mr. Marcus Verrall ; but the East Kent 

 Hunt had also at the head of affairs, in the 

 person of the seventh Earl of Guilford, a 

 man who was something of a ' character.' 

 One year, however, he undertook more than 

 he bargained for. Desiring to bring about a 

 cessation of the many abuses of sport then 

 in existence, his lordship took over the entire 

 management of the meeting, and his butler, 

 gardeners, grooms, and, in fact, his entire 

 retinue of house servants were pressed into 

 the service. Upon his lordship's arrival, he 

 found the ring in possession of a fair com- 

 pany, and turning to the butler, who was in 

 charge at the entrance, asked him how much 

 money he had taken. The occupants, it 

 appears, had taken advantage of the butler's 

 inexperience to persuade him that they were 

 members of the press and had thus obtained 

 free admission 1 Lord Guilford, however, 

 was a fine sportsman and expended a con- 



I 497 



siderable sum of money in the provision of 

 amusement for soldier and civilian, and great 

 was the regret felt when the news arrived 

 of his fatal fall while hunting with the 

 Cattistock, near Crewkerne, 19 December 

 1885. 



Kent stiU retains some of its National 

 Hunt fixtures, and of those now existing we 

 have the pleasant annual outing at Eridge 

 close to the Marquess of Abergavenny's 

 picturesque seat at Eridge Castle, and the 

 Wye meetings, held three or four times 

 annually. Enjoyable enough as these latter 

 fixtures are, they shine only with the reflected 

 glory of an earlier day when Wye was 

 in the heyday of its prosperity, and racing 

 took place on the other side of the little town 

 in the vale of Fanscombe. Those were 

 the days of such notable owners as Lord 

 Conyngham, Lord St. Vincent, Mr. C. S. 

 Hardy, Sir John Honeywood, Lord Maid- 

 stone, and many other famous sportsmen. 



These earlier Wye meetings were famous 

 the county over, and were described by the 

 ' Van Driver ' of Baily's Magazine as being 

 a subject worthy of any artist in search of a 

 lively scene for his canvas. ' The sight from 

 the hill,' he wrote, ' would delight a Linnell 

 or a Maclise.' With regard to this meeting 

 the same writer refers to an ancient custom 

 adopted by the young bloods of the neigh- 

 bourhood who decked their caps with 

 coloured paper shavings, and no local celebrity 

 at the races was entitled to be considered a 

 village dandy without such adornment. 



Kent has always been so intimately con- 

 nected with the British Army that we are not 

 surprised to find that races for military and 

 gentlemen riders were usually a strong 

 feature of the county's racing, whether on 

 the flat or across country. The support 

 afforded by the garrisons at Canterbury, 

 Dover and Shorncliffe has already been 

 alluded to, and during the last half-century 

 Woolwich Garrison has contributed sub- 

 stantially to the sport. One of the chief 

 annual events in connexion with that garrison 

 was the Royal Horse Artillery Gold Cup, 

 and at Eltham, Plumstead, and Bromley the 

 military element was always strongly in 

 evidence both upon the card and among the 

 spectators. The Royal Horse Artillery have 

 now drifted to Aldershot, but their long 

 connexion with the county of Kent has caused 

 them to leave behind the records of many 

 brave gunners of the past, and of one or two 

 still living among those who figured between 

 the flags. Of the latter may be mentioned 

 the name of Captain Annesley, while two of 

 those who have joined the great majority 

 63 



