LORD SOUTHAMPTON 133 



caused them to run heel way, and eventually the fox 

 saved his brush, but Mr. Bernal Osborne, to give point 

 to his poem, makes the run end with a kill. These 

 spirited verses are as follows : — 



MELTON IN 1830 



A DAY WITH LORD SOUTHAMPTON'S HOUNDS 



Midst lowering skies, o'ercast and tinged with red, 

 Sol, slowly rising, quits his ocean bed ; 

 Chases the vapours of the night away, 

 Illumines Melton, and proclaims the day ; 

 Far in the East his glorious orb appears, 

 And smiles at once on Helpers and on Peers. 

 O'er gorse and wood alike, o'er hill and plain, 

 On brooks, still bumpers from the recent rain, 

 His brightest rays he cast ; as if he meant 

 To gladden nature, but to spoil the scent. 

 Though bright his rising, soon his face he shrouds 

 Behind a mantle of o'erspreading clouds ; 

 And ere John Clod has drove afield his wain, 

 His jacket's moistened with a drizzling rain. 



Now Melton sportsmen for the chase prepare : 



Some curl their wigs, — some merely curl their hair, — 



And curse that rashness which has brought them down 



So far from Crockford's, and the joys of town. 



Tenacious of his toggery, Musgrave fears 



To spoil his garments, worn for many years ; 



And, though already mounted, back he goes, 



And changes old ones for still older clothes : 



(What's in a coat? When hounds run, he is wont 



To show its back much oftener than its front.) 



Now here a youth who goes too fast to last, 



On milk and soda-water breaks his fast ; 



Here older hands, with stronger stomachs blest, 



With tea and brandy lull their nerves to rest. 



Now, trampling at the door, the hack appears, 



Impatient of delay he kicks and rears. 



Away ! away ! once mounted, on they ride, 



And soon are panting at the cover side. 



