234 THE QUORN HUNT 



care of the coverts to Sir Richard Sutton, who thereupon 

 bought and restored Ouorndon Hall, of which he had 

 previously been tenant only. 



By this time (1852) railways had made their mark, 

 and so far as Leicestershire is concerned it was feared 

 that they would deal a heavy blow to fox-hunting, and 

 when the Midland line first intersected the country from 

 north to south the gravest fears for hunting were enter- 

 tained. Afterwards the System and Peterborough line 

 was opened to cut through the eastern portion of the 

 country, and then came the Leicester and Ashby section 

 to more or less interfere with the western part. The rail- 

 ways no doubt changed the run of foxes, and were the 

 cause of several inconveniences ; but the verdict in the 

 Ouorn country was that the advantages they offered in 

 the way of transit and the saving of fatigue to both horse 

 and man, in addition to enabling the Ouorn men to 

 make their way to the Donington country if they wished, 

 and to the fixtures of other hunts, counterbalanced the 

 injury to hunting which they were supposed to inflict. 



Mr. Thomas Craddock, the third of his family to 

 be secretary of the Ouorn Hunt, was by profession a 

 solicitor; and though he was courteous to all the farmers 

 and kept them in good humour, there was one who 

 refused to become friendly, and he one day sued Sir 

 Richard Sutton for damages for riding over his land, 

 so Mr. Craddock was engaged for the defence. Sir 

 Richard, through his solicitor, offered the man a liberal 

 sum, which was refused with the remark that he " in- 

 tended to strangle fox-hunting altogether." The farmer, 

 however, appears to have got up his case very badly, for 

 he souo-ht to identify Sir Richard Sutton by stating that 

 he wore a hunting cap and a scarlet cloak, a dress which, 

 Mr. Craddock pointed out, was worn by many members 

 of the Hunt ; and as the farmer could carry his case no 

 further he was nonsuited, or, in the words of some of 



