138 THE QUORN HUNT 



Each timid skirter thinks it is his right 



To hurt your feelings and display his spite. 



If blest with iron nerves " you ride for fame, 



And seek in hunting nothing but a name " ; 



If tender of your person in the chase, 



" You love the hounds, but still refuse to race." 



" Look at him now ! " on all sides it is said, 



" I always knew it, damn him, he's afraid ! " 



These blame the system, master, hounds, and all, 



And swear the huntsman does not like a fall ; 



Not prone to cavil or to take offence, 



Some in good nature pardon want of sense ; 



And think a smiling and un?nea?iing face 



Can Ewart stop, or Willis, 1 when they race. 



On t'other tack some err, and make their boast, 



Hounds run the hardest when they're damned the most. 



Who to Southampton could in judgment yield ? 



With a light hand he ruled a stubborn field ; 



Now firm, now gentle, as occasion proved, 



And on all sides alike, both feared and loved. 



Come then again ! resume thy proper place ! 



Manage the kennel, and direct the chase ; 



An equal balance keep, the skirters chide, 



And check Spring Captains* when they try to ride. 



For want of practice all our talent's lost ; 



Hounds never run, but still the same they cost. 



What shall we do without thee ? for I hear 



The country's vacant in another year. 



Old times, old sport bring back ! and once again 



Melton shall flourish 'neath thy golden reign. 



It appears to have been generally understood from 

 the first that Lord Southampton did not regard himself, 

 nor was he regarded by the Quorn men, as likely to hunt 

 the country for any great length of time. The giving 

 up of Ouorndon Hall and the removal to the incon- 



1 Two gentlemen who occasioned more oaths to be uttered, one may 

 safely say, than any two others in England. While they spoiled sport, 

 they endangered future prospects. 



2 A well-known Leicestershire appellation at that time for military gentle- 

 men who arrived late in the season. 



