232 SPORTING REMINISCENCES [1825 to 



ing year. I conclude, therefore, that must be 

 the horse in question.* 



" These said chalk-pits require a man to be 

 a little on the alert, for you not un frequently 

 come upon them very unawares, and should 

 you be unfortunate enough to ride into any one, 

 the great probability is you may not be quite so 

 fortunate as Sir P. St. John in being able to 

 ride out again unscathed, f 



" Foster is no doubt much worried at tae 

 hounds which hunted this country, and of 

 which he had the management for something 

 like twenty-five years, having been transferred 

 to the Craven country, and the hounds Which 

 formerly hunted there having been consigned 

 to him. A huntsman naturally feels a desire 

 to retain the hounds over which he has pre- 

 sided, and, in fact, which have been bred under 



* Cecil is partly right, but as I have obtained the exact inscription 

 on the pedestal of the monument, I am enabled to give the trm story. 

 " Underneath lies buried a horse the property of Paulet St. Johl, Esq., 

 that in the month of September, 1733, leaped into a chalk-pit, a fox- 

 hunting, 25 fee* deep, with his master on his back, and in (jctober, 

 1734, he Avon the Hunters' Plate on Worthy Down, and was pde by 

 his master, and entered in the name of Beware Chalk-pit." 



f Mr. Barton Wallop, while hunting with the Hursley homds on 

 March 15, 1817, had a providential escape, in leaping over a high 

 fence on the other side of which was a chalk-pit. The horse laadedon 

 his legs, and neither the animal nor Mr. Wallop were at all hui. The 

 depth of the pit was about ten feet, which, added to the height of the 

 fence, made a drop of about fifteen feet. Lieutenant Lloyd] of the 

 Grenadier Guards, had also a narrow escape, as he was about t< follow, 

 but had time to pull up. Prince Edward of Saxe Weimar, ant many 

 others also, were following. 



