202 The Pytchley Hunt, Past and Present. 



it all its own way, and tliat when the ways of a horse and 

 those of the first gentleman in the kingdom come into 

 collision, it is not the former that usually has to give in. 

 " Pale Ale '^ declined the brook, whip and spur notwith- 

 standing, and the passage across the stream was finally 

 effected by means of a friendly ford. 



After the completion of a decade and a half from 

 this time — namely in January, 1878, — another Royalty^ 

 different alike in sex, rank, and nationality, honoured the 

 Pytchley Hunt during Lord Spencer's second Mastership. 



Occupying the very highest rung on the social ladder, 

 her lofty position did not prevent the Empress of Austria 

 from freely indulging in her ruling passion, horses and 

 hunting. At home, hours were spent in the riding- 

 school, where she acquired a perfection of seat and 

 hands, and a mastery over her animal which served her 

 in good stead when a big fence intervened between 

 herself and the hounds she was following. Attended by 

 a suite bearing names illustrious in Austrian history, her 

 Majesty took up her quarters in Cottesbrooke Park, 

 where for six weeks she *^ witched the (Pytchley) world 

 with noble horsemanship."" Buh duce '^ Bay Middleton,'' 

 the task she had set herself of seeing all that there was to 

 be seen, was performed in a fashion that excited the 

 admiration of a critical field, and aroused the envy of 

 many a rival horsewoman. The custom of carrying a 

 fan as well as a whip attracted much observation at first, 

 but foreign ways are not always as English ways, and 

 everything is good taste in an Empress. Courteous and 

 affable, her Majesty was pleased to have any Members 

 of the Hunt presented to her, and would converse freely 

 on all topics connected with hunting. Selected for their 



