1825.] OF HAMPSHIRE. 83 



Mr. Nevill then rode him for two seasons. Mr. 

 Scotland is father-in-law of Mr. Yates, who 

 now hunts a very neat and clever pack of 

 harriers, and is assisted by his son, Mr. Arthur 

 Yates, one of the best riders in the county. 

 This season Sir John Cope, Bart., 



x . lblb-17. 



who took the title on the death of his sir joim 

 brother, Sir Denzil, in 1812, com- Cope ' Bart - 

 menced his long career as a master of hounds, 

 and, with Mr. St. John's pack, which was the 

 origin of his own, began to hunt the country 

 which for so many years was associated with 

 his name. 



Sir John had been a solicitor in the Temple, 

 and a partner of Mr. Gerard Wharton (gene- 

 rally known as Jerry Wharton), who was ever 

 afterwards Sir John's most intimate friend, 

 and, like him, a first-rate sportsman and rider 

 to hounds. The story goes that, on the death 

 of Sir Denzil, a special messenger came up 

 from Bramshill to the chambers in the Temple 

 with a letter, addressed to Sir John Cope, Bart. 

 He was at the time examining a deed, and, 

 seeing the address, he hastily glanced at the 

 contents, threw it to his partner, and said, 

 " There, Jerry, hang the law, and now for fox- 

 hunting." The partnership was of course in- 

 stantly dissolved, but not the friendship. Mr. 



G2 



