The Rev. Jack Russell, M.F.H. and M.O.H. Z7 



and done up generally, and I am glad to say the inhabitants 

 have had the good taste to leave this curio untouched. 



I feel I know exactly why Mr. Russell retired to this little 

 box when in the throes of sermon-production, for there was 

 nothing to distract his attention, no wistful brown eyes of a 

 favourite old hound to coax him from his work, no old hunter 

 to be seen in the paddock enticing him out. 



There is so little I can write of this dear old parson that is 

 not generally known, yet my book would be strangely in- 

 complete without him, one of the finest specimens of the sporting 

 parson that has ever trodden the earth, I imagine. 



There are, however, amongst the rising generation, a number 

 of young people, I am told, to whom Parson Jack is only a 

 name. For them I will briefly relate his life and sporting 

 experiences, and it may interest some folk, as it does myself. 

 Observing the characteristic tastes and temperaments of 

 children, and following them through the years to man's estate 

 and seeing what they lead to, how they bury or use their talents ; 

 being with them, so to speak, from the cradle to the grave, is 

 an engrossing pastime. 



The west seems to ^be the home of sporting parsons, even 

 more than the north. At one time Mr. Russell owned hounds 

 in Devonshire, and about a score of other clergymen did the 

 same in the Bishop of Exeter's diocese alone, much to that 

 gentleman's chagrin ; he remonstrated with several of them, 

 Mr. Russell amongst the number, but they continued to hunt 

 all the same. 



Mr. Phillpotts, who was at that time Bishop of Exeter, feared 

 his clergy were not attending to their duties and were neglecting 

 their parishes, " gadding about the country after dogs " ; this 

 was his unsympathetic and ignorant — or perhaps meant to be 

 annoying — way of expressing himself. Nevertheless, he allowed 

 Mr. Russell was a fine preacher, and travelled some miles to 

 hear him when the opportunity offered itself. 



Mr. Jack Russell was born in 1795 at Iddesleigh rectory, in 

 Devonshire, his father being incumbent, keeping both pupils 

 and hounds. One pony was set apart on purpose for the boys 

 to ride out hunting and used as an incentive to work; the youth 

 who could show the highest marks at the end of the week was 

 allowed to ride it on the next hunting -day. 



