222 THE QUORN HUNT 



Sir Richard had something like eighteen years in Lin- 

 colnshire in which to get his kennel into order, and when 

 he appeared in the Cottesmore country in 1842 he 

 showed the men of the Midlands a pack of hounds which 

 for symmetry and working qualities could scarcely be 

 excelled ; and these were the hounds he took into the 

 Quorn country. It may be mentioned en passant that 

 Sir Richard Sutton estimated that in thirty-two years 

 or thereabouts, during which he had been a master of 

 hounds, he had expended no less a sum than ^"300,000 

 on fox-hunting. 



In accordance with precedent, a dinner was orga- 

 nised, and took place on the 17th November, to welcome 

 Sir Richard Sutton to the Quorn country ; while it was 

 made to serve a twofold purpose by celebrating the 

 advent of Mr. Henley Greaves to the Cottesmore, in 

 succession to Sir Richard Sutton. This dinner, which 

 took place at the George Hotel, Melton, does not 

 appear to have been very well attended ; but under 

 the chairmanship of Colonel Wyndham --he rode 

 over twenty stone, and invariably held a good place — 

 things passed off pleasantly enough. In proposing the 

 health of the new master, the colonel remarked that 

 he had brought with him into the country a pack 

 of hounds second to none, and a large family which 

 were treading in their father's footsteps. Mr. Greaves' 

 health was of course proposed, he being a sort of joint 

 guest, and so was that of Mr. Greene, the ex-master of 

 the Quorn. 



Sir Richard Sutton and his hounds were not long- in 

 settling down in their new country ; but Melton Mow- 

 bray itself was not so full as might have been expected, 

 considering the prestige of the new master. Some careful 

 statistician, who for some years appears to have made 

 the round of the different stables, estimates that there 

 were seventy fewer horses than in the previous season, 



