212 THE QUORN HUNT 



artist into whose hands the decorations were entrusted 

 evidently thought fit to impress upon her Majesty the 

 staple trade of Melton ; for standing out against the 

 sky, above the arch, were two stuffed foxes, emblems of 

 Melton as the mainstay of hunting, and on the front was 

 the inscription, " Albert, Prince of Wales, England's 

 hope " — the prince being at that period about two years 

 old ; for the time had not arrived for him to don tops 

 and leathers, as he afterwards did in Leicestershire. 



The season of 1844-45 was marked by a certain 

 number of accidents, though the number might not per- 

 haps have been very much above the average. Still, 

 among those recorded we find that Lord Canteloupe, 

 who had been staying with Lord Wilton, at Egerton 

 Lodge, Melton Mowbray, was following the Ouorn 

 when his horse fell, and his lordship so injured his eye 

 that when he arrived home fears were entertained that 

 the sight was irretrievably gone ; but such, however, 

 fortunately did not appear to be the case. A little later 

 on Mr. Knight, one of the old yeomen farmers, and one 

 of the best friends fox-hunting ever had, was sitting at 

 dinner when he heard the hounds in full cry passing his 

 house. He at once started up to follow on foot, but the 

 exertion was too much for him, and he dropped down 

 dead a few yards from his own house. 



It will have been seen that the Ouorn almost 

 invariably opened their season at Kirby Gate, where 

 was the residence of Sir Francis Burdett, for a com- 

 paratively short time one of the most regular followers 

 of the Quorn. Sir Francis's history as a sportsman is 

 rather singular, for as a matter of fact he was almost 

 fifty years of age before he took to hunting. He always 

 mounted himself on the best of cattle, and being ardently 

 fond of the sport and having plenty of courage, got along 

 pretty well. It is related of him that on his return from 

 his first day's hunting he was so charmed with the 



