MR. MEYNELL 49 



The meaning of the passage concerning the apart- 

 ments, dinner, and other provisions is somewhat obscure, 

 but it surely cannot mean that the master of the Quorn 

 took any payment ; while, although Mr. Meynell was a 

 tolerably wealthy man, his purse could hardly have stood 

 the strain of keeping absolutely open house for nearly 

 half a century at a stretch ! 



In the matter of hound-breeding, Mr. Meynell's idea 

 as to a hound's shape did not materially differ from those 

 of the Peterborough judges. Straight legs, good bone, 

 and compact feet he set great store by, and what more 

 can modern masters want, especially as the great master 

 of the last century insisted upon good backs and 

 shoulders ; but he was equally exacting with respect 

 to nose and stamina. Mr. Meynell had a famous old 

 hound, Rattler by name, and when he was past work 

 he had the run of the place ; but the kitchen and the 

 servants' hall were his favourite resorts. Rattler used to 

 play about with several dogs in a field near the house ; 

 but no sooner did the bell ring for the servants' dinner 

 than he immediately left his companions and bolted off 

 for the servants' hall. 



What we should now consider eccentricities were 

 indulged in by Mr. Meynell. For example, he entered 

 his hounds at hare, and if the hounds had to be cast in 

 the field after the huntsman had had one try, it was in 

 three lots in different directions, the master taking one 

 batch himself, the huntsman a second, and the whipper- 

 in a third. Still, whatever we may think of these matters, 

 the pack showed such excellent sport that many notabili- 

 ties were attracted to Leicestershire, and many hunters 

 were stabled in various parts of the county. In 1795, for 

 instance, Major-General St. Leger kept ten horses to 

 hunt with Mr. Meynell, and Sir Henry Featherston- 

 haugh "daily aired thirty hunters in body clothing." 



As a horseman Mr. Meynell appears to have been 



D 



