GEORGIAN STAG-HUNTING ' 27 



front of Queen Caroline's chaise ; it was on August 14, a hot 

 and dusty day, not the time of year one would choose either 

 for hunting or for falling on a hard road. Sir Robert 

 was not hurt, and soon remounted. The Queen, however, 

 ' ordered him to be bled by way of prevention.' Sir Robert 

 was Ranger of Richmond Park, and hunted a good deal 

 with the Buckhounds in a green suit, sometimes, Mr. Hore 

 tells us, officiating as Field Master. No doubt he did 

 it capitally. The best of hacks will fall, but possibly Sir 

 Robert did not ride very well-bred ones, as Horace Walpole 

 used to relate that his father rode two horses to a standstill 

 between London and Richmond Lodge, on the afternoon of 

 June 14, 1727, when he galloped down to tell the Prince of 

 Wales that his father had died on his way to Hanover. 

 Perhaps they were Norfolk hackneys. 



New terrors were added to hunting at this time by the 

 number of highwaymen who infested the neighbourhood 

 of London. Thus, when Lord Tankerville, Master of the 

 Buckhounds in 1733, sets out from London in June to 

 make arrangements for the hunting season, he takes with 

 him ' a guard of retainers and troops.' Little else is recorded 

 of his Lordship's Mastership, but Sir R. Walpole had a good 

 opinion of Lady Tankerville, and recommended her for the 

 discharge of delicate duties. AVhen in later years he ad- 

 vised the Queen to choose the king a mistress, rather than 

 let him choose one for himself, as he was bound to have 

 one. Sir Robert proposed Lady Tankerville as a decent and 

 obliging sort of woman in preference to Lady Deloraine, who 

 had two dangerous things, a weak head and a pretty face. 



Mr. Ralph Jenison, M.P., appointed Master in 1737 and 

 again in 1746, is the last commoner who has filled the 

 office. As far as I know, Mr. Jenison was the only Master of 

 the Buckhounds who was painted by Sir Joshua Reynolds. 

 The picture is in the possession of Mr. Adair, who succeeded 



