288 SPORTING REMINISCENCES [1845 to 



to go out, gave them to Tom Wingfield, his 

 huntsman, as draft to sell. Sir John was the 

 lucky purchaser, and I believe got the whole 

 lot for fifteen pounds. 



Jem Shirley. " Jem Shirley has now been hunts- 

 man to the Bramshill hounds fifteen years; 

 before that he was with Mr. Osbaldeston in 

 Northamptonshire six seasons, coming to him 

 from Sir Richard Sutton, in whose kennel 

 he may be said to have been bred. He is a 

 universal favourite with the field, as also 

 with his master ; and although some of the 

 young-uns, who are never content unless 

 hounds are continually flying, fancy he is 

 getting slow, my humble opinion is, that, if 

 one of the new lifting artistes were put in 

 his place, the hounds, over so ticklish a scent- 

 ing country as that part of Hampshire is well 

 known to be, would seldom kill a stout fox 

 after a run. The family of the Shirleys have 

 been well known and respected by the fox- 

 hunting world for many years. Old Jack 

 Shirley, the father of Sir John Cope's hunts- 

 man, was huntsman to Sir Richard Sutton, in 

 Lincolnshire, for a great number of years. 

 Robert ' ' The first whipper-in to the Brams- 



Tocock. kill hounds is Robert Tocock, a son of 

 Tocock who was huntsman to the pack for a 



