Lord Hopefoim's Mastership. i6 



J 



occurred between the days of my first courtsliip and the 

 current year. Alas ! 



Many a lad I loved is dead, 

 And many a lass grown old, 



and the only men I recognized as representing the men 

 of old time were those of Knightley, Isted, Nethercote, 

 Isham and the young heir of Althorp. In vain did I ask 

 to be shown a Cooke^ an Elwes^ a Hanbury, a Payne^ a 

 Hungerford — names that will stir the blood of many a 

 snowy head, and recall visions of the days from Dick 

 Knight to the ^ Squire/ and his glorious bitch-pack. But 

 though these be gone, their places are not unworthily 

 filled. 



^^ Messrs. Yilliers, Oust, Sir G. Jenkiuson, Clerk, 

 Bevan, Franklin (Hazelbeach) and last, that brave old 

 sportsman with hair of snow and heart of oak, Sir Francis 

 B. Head, satisfactorily make up the gap which time has 

 worked. Nor should a ^ heavy weight ' be passed over, 

 who, hailing from Kelmarsh, finds few to beat him across 

 the Waterloo or any other country, and seems only too 

 forgetful of the fact that the human frame is made up of 

 separate limbs, and that each limb is liable to fracture. 

 Charles Payne, the Huntsman, is as fine a rider as ever 

 steered a horse over a fence — is quick and cheery with 

 his hounds — most anxious to show sport — and from his 

 civility and excellent conduct is a favourite with every- 

 body. One hint I would venture to oS'er him, namely, 

 that he should be more careful not to chop his foxes. 

 More than one have I seen this season snapped up for 

 lack of the awakening crack of the whip ; and foxes here 

 are no longer plentiful as blackberries ; indeed, in the 



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