Some Ancient " Surrey " Masters 1 7 



who knew him, and we are told by the same authority : 

 " neither his tongue nor his horses ran away with him." 



Another authority remarks : " he was a good man in 

 the saddle, and a wise man on foot " ; and, assuredly, we 

 do not often find such qualities in combination. Sir 

 Edmund went on with the management until the year 

 1843, when he made an arrangement with Mr. John 

 Castendeick to act as his assistant, the latter gentleman 

 having unfortunately to give up active hunting in conse- 

 quence of bad health, though he never lost his interest in 

 the sport ; and Mr. William Mortimer, subsequently a 

 famous Master of these hounds, undertook the manage- 

 ment of the field in the event of Sir Edmund being 

 absent. Later, Sir Edmund resigned his position on 

 account of the great scarcity of foxes in the low country, 

 but there were several large landowners in the district 

 who supported him well, and preserved foxes with con- 

 siderable enthusiasm. For example, Mr. T. Alcock, M.P. 

 for Surrey, who did not hunt, always had foxes in his 

 coverts at the Warren, Kingswood. He used to say to 

 the Master, " I only want game enough for my own 

 table, and if you don't find a fox in my coverts let me 

 know, and somebody will get a wigging." How different, 

 alas ! is the existing state of affairs in that district, although 

 the country itself has altered little since those days, as 

 regarded from a hunting point of view. 



In 1847 the hounds were managed by a committee of 

 three gentlemen, namely, Mr. Tom Hood, an ironfounder 

 of Blackfriars, who was exceedingly fond of hunting, and 



