1845.] OF HAMPSHIRE. 125 



more respectable than that of the H. H." 

 (Here follows a list of the members, which 

 has been given at pp. 42 and 60.) 



" Having more than once had the honour of 

 dining with them, I can speak to the fact, 

 that not only are their dinners served up in a 

 style almost amounting to elegance, but there 

 exists among the members in their social 

 hours that proper portion of jollity and good 

 fellowship which, upon such occasions, ought 

 to exist among fox-hunters of the present day. 

 Some songs are sung ; and the due medium 

 is observed between the boisterous mirth and 

 roaring licentiousness of our forefathers at 

 their hunting parties, and that excess of re- 

 finement which is becoming the character- 

 istic of modern manners. 



" At the head of the list of the Hampshire 

 Hunt stood his present Majesty's name for 

 many years previous to his accession to the 

 throne ; and to this are they indebted for the 

 plume of feathers which adorns their uniform 

 button. This honour was conferred upon 

 them when his Majesty resided at Kempshot, 

 within the limits of the Hunt, and, as himself 

 a master of fox-hounds, his patronage was 

 aptly bestowed. The morning uniform is a 

 scarlet coat, and that worn in the evening 



