96 In Scarlet arid Silk 



manner, and such names as those of the 

 three brothers Russell, true type of the fine 

 old English gentleman-farmer ; Cook, who 

 then held the Government lands by the 

 side of the river at Plumstead, and in days 

 gone by used to ride with the drag ; Christie, 

 May, Maxwell, and Colonel Forster will be 

 held in affectionate esteem as long as the 

 hunt has its being. Many of the lines then 

 available — and the drag extended its opera- 

 tions then, as now, as far as Seven oaks — are 

 now partly or wholly built over, and what 

 used to be one of the best in the way of big 

 fencing, the Burnt Ash line, is now entirely 

 covered by bricks and mortar. The number 

 of hounds has never varied very materially ; 

 at the outset there were about 15^ couples, 

 drafts from the Duke of Beaufort's, Bramham 

 Moor, Belvoir, Lord Portsmouth's, &c., whilst 

 the present strength of the establishment is 

 \\\ couples, including contributions from Mr. 

 Lort-Phillips's, Lord Portsmouth's, the Good- 

 wood, and others. The kennels at first were 

 built against the Kemount Establishment, and 



