204 TJie Pytchley Hunt, Past and Present, 



and Lady Spencer opposite, she closely watched the 

 competition for the prizes she had offered, and in one 

 race, at least, had the satisfaction of seeing her pilot. 

 Captain Middleton, arrive an easy winner. Before quit- 

 ting for the railway station, she begged Lord Spencer to 

 bring to the carriage any Member of the Hunt he could 

 find, so that she might personally take leave of him — an 

 act of royal courtesy and condescension that will not 

 easily be forgotten by the recipients of the honour. The 

 cheers that greeted her Majesty on leaving the field were 

 loud and long, and seemed to afford her much gratifica- 

 tion ; and thus ended a memorable incident in the history 

 of the Pytchley Hunt. 



After an accident which occurred to Goodall early in 

 1877, Lord Spencer hunted the hounds himself, and 

 continued to do so twice a week in the open ; and was 

 doing this during the Empress's visit. On many an occa- 

 sion he had shown his aptitude for the difiicult post, but 

 on the day succeeding that of her Majesty's departure he 

 hunted a fox from Naseby cover to Wilby, near Welling- 

 borough, in a manner that would have done credit to 

 '^ Gentleman ^' vSmith himself. The distance from point to 

 point cannot be less than fifteen miles ; and the scent at 

 no time being anything more than a ^' holding one,'' but 

 for the exercise of great patience and perseverance, the 

 run might have collapsed at any moment. 



At another time, with a very catchy scent. Lord Spencer 

 hunted a fox from Rockingham across the railway, 

 twice, killing him in the open near Uppingham. On each 

 of the occasions above referred to, his Lordship exhibited 

 the true instincts of a huntsman, patience and self-posses- 

 sion, proving thereby that in the diflacult art of 



