2 8 The Pytchley Htnit, Past and Present, [chap. i. 



riding considerably under twelve stone, and though a good 

 horseman he would always let an aspiring rider break the 

 binders for him, and would rather get his horse^s hind 

 legs into a fence and make him creep through than jump 

 it. He had a sharp eye for a gap, and could bore a 

 hole through a big fence as well as any man. King^s 

 hands and seat were as good as could be, and his fac3 

 was bright and intelligent. During a run, it lit up with 

 singular animation, and wore a look of such extreme 

 satisfaction as to give a beholder the feeling that he was 

 in the full fruition of the greatest happiness to be found 

 here below. To him, life might be a" wale ^' as Mrs. 

 Gamp declared ; but if it were taken in the '^ wale ^^ of 

 Cottesbrooke or that about Misterton or Crick, it was 

 not such a very bad place after all. Having had the 

 advantage of a good education, he could not only ride, 

 dance, play the fiddle, and hunt a pack of hounds better 

 than most men, but he kept a diary of each day's pro- 

 ceedings, which is remarkable for the minuteness and 

 accuracy with which the different incidents were recorded. 

 No day closed without his setting down the names of 

 those who were out, and the list of the hounds, with 

 observations on their behaviour, such as : " ' Plunder ' 

 noisy at her fences." "* Glider^ ran a hare to Byfield 

 and back to Charwelton spinny." " The young hounds 

 ran a cur and two greyhounds half a mile down a lane. 

 Corn was standing (November 18th, 1816) as we went 

 through Kilsby Field." '^ Young F. dug out a fox, and 

 sold him in Kettering Market." Several volumes of 

 these records, full of interest to any hunting-man, are to 

 be found on a shelf of the Althorp library, and are open 

 for the perusal of all who find pleasure in the literature 



