178 SPORTING REMINISCENCES [1825 to 



because it was the fashion to be a master of 

 fox-hounds, neither did he go a hunting be- 

 cause others went a hunting, neither did he 

 ride well up to his hounds one day, and be a 

 mile behind them the next. No ; from the 

 first day of the season to the last he was 

 always the same man, the same desperate 

 fellow over a country, and unquestionably 

 possessing on every occasion, and at every hoar 

 of the clay, the most bull-dog-like nerve ever 

 exhibited in a saddle. 



" His motto was, ' I'll be with my hounds ;' 

 and all those who have seen him must ac- 

 knowledge he made no vain boast of his 

 prowess. His falls were countless, and no 

 wonder ! for he rode at places which he knew 

 no horse could leap over; but his object was 

 to get one way or other into the field with his 

 hounds. As a horseman, however, he has 

 ever been super-excellent." 



In 1827 Mr. Smith purchased Sir 

 Richard Sutton's hounds, and with 

 them came Dick Burton, who had lived ten 

 years with Mr. Smith in Leicestershire. 



Dick Burton was a good horseman, and 

 very active in the field; he lived altogether 

 twenty- two years with Mr. Smith. In 1860 

 he was still living near Quorndon. George 

 Carter came to Tedworth with the Grafton 



