54 THE QUORN HUNT 



names of four only are mentioned — the Duke of Bed- 

 ford, Sir Harry Featherstonhaugh, Lord Maynard, and 

 Lord Robert Spencer. This statement, one would 

 imagine, must be received with some caution, for, con- 

 sidering that upwards of four hundred horses were, it is 

 said, brought into the neighbourhood to hunt with Mr. 

 Meynell, it seems rather strange that five men should 

 be willing to provide sport for so many : moreover, if 

 five thousand guineas were forthcoming from five men, 

 Mr. Meynell's contribution — no small one — must be 

 added, the total making a sum out of all proportion to 

 the requirements of the day, even if we admit that " the 

 establishment of this hunt is upon an infinitely larger 

 scale, and a much more expensive footing, than any 

 other in this country." 



In this same year (1783) the Prince of Wales de- 

 clared his intention of hunting with Mr. Meynell, but 

 he does not appear to have carried out his intention. 

 Three years later he declared he would go to Leicester- 

 shire as soon as the frost broke, and his horses set 

 out on their journey to Leicestershire, but the frost 

 coming on again they returned to Windsor. 



By the time that the Duke of York paid his last visit 

 to Leicestershire Mr. Meynell was near the end of his 

 tether, and about 1797 or 1798, he, though retaining 

 the position of master, entrusted to his son the actual 

 management of the pack in the field. Still, it was while 

 Mr. Meynell was nominally master of the Quorn that 

 the famous Billesdon Coplow run took place, on Mon- 

 day the 24th February 1800, and this famous gallop has 

 been lauded in verse by the Rev. Mr. Lowth, the son of 

 Bishop Lowth, and by many writers in prose. No com- 

 plete version, however, of Mr. Lowth's poem has ever 

 been published, as the author thought that in its original 

 form it would be too long. 



The story of the description of the Billesdon Coplow 



