LORD SOUTHAMPTON 127 



the critics of the time said that he was not a very neat 

 horseman, but he kept well with his hounds, and was 

 " the civilest best-tempered fellow in the world." 



The first time the new hounds were out the fixture 

 was Breedon Clouds, an extensive covert near Ashby- 

 de-la-Zouch. This was regarded as a notable day in 

 the Ouorn country, and men from other hunts came to 

 see how the new pack would perform on this, their first, 

 and Dick Burton's last, day in Leicestershire. The 

 hounds made quite a favourable impression. They 

 found a good fox as soon as they were in covert; bustled 

 him well for five-and-thirty minutes, and then after a 

 check had to put their noses down. They lost their fox, 

 and, as they were not in anything like condition, hounds 

 were then taken home ; but they showed that they could 

 run. Two or three days later they were out again at 

 Woodhouse Cleaves and found a fox at Beacon Hill. 

 He ran nicely as far as Garendon Park, where he turned 

 back to the forest, and after ringing about for an hour 

 was pulled down. The work in the forest, though not 

 to everybody's liking, served to show that the hounds 

 could hunt as well as run, and in connection with Charn- 

 wood Forest Lord Alvanley used to say that if you 

 should happen to be killed there you would have your 

 gravestone beside you. Lord Southampton hunted up 

 to May Day, and having in the meantime been helped 

 from Belvoir, found his kennel vastly improved. 



The opening of the season 1829-30 again saw George 

 Mountford huntsman, with Will Derry and George Beers 

 whipping in to him. The excellence of Mountford in the 

 kennel was seen as soon as cub-hunting began. He 

 had ten horses for his own use and the whippers-in six 

 or seven apiece. Both master and huntsman, and, of 

 course, the field had their reward this season in very 

 much improved sport. Before cub-hunting was over 

 several good runs had taken place, and the regular 



