SIR RICHARD SUTTON 235 



the hunting men in court, was "grassed/' and "saddled" 

 with the costs. 



In 1852, too, Leicestershire lost another of its 

 notable riders, Lord Rancliffe, who for many seasons 

 had hunted with the Ouorn ; in fact, for a generation he 

 had been a notable figure at all the Ouorn fixtures. He 

 lived at Bunny Park, and being a very light weight, is 

 reported to have always ridden Arabs ; he possessed a 

 strong seat, beautiful hands, and he knew every fence in 

 the country, while after dinner he was a capital racon- 

 teur. On one* occasion when a storm of unusual severity 

 had driven the field to seek the shelter of a farm-house, 

 and the farmer's wife was busying herself about her 

 unbidden guests to the detriment of her own dinner, 

 which was in course of cooking, Lord Rancliffe proffered 

 his services to see to the piece of bacon and to mull the 

 ale, both of which duties he accomplished to the complete 

 satisfaction of the good-wife, who had not the slightest 

 idea of the identity of the amateur chef. He was popu- 

 lar everywhere, but dignified withal, and a local worthy 

 once summed him up by saying, " He's a little 'un ; but 

 he's every inch a lord." Close by the side of Bunny 

 Hall stood a curious sort of tower, built by Sir Thomas 

 Parkyns, Lord Rancliffe' s great-grandfather, for the pur- 

 pose of seeing as much of the hounds as he could when 

 they were out in that district, and on the summit of this 

 tower the old baronet and his wife often enjoyed what 

 they called a day's hunting. Lord Rancliffe himself, 

 too, when no longer able to mount his hunters, used to 

 mount the tower, and it was from its battlements that he 

 gave his last tally-ho ! 



Ratcliffe, all through Sir Richard Sutton's master- 

 ship, appears to have been a lucky fixture, and after 

 meeting there about the middle of January 1852. a first- 

 rate run began at E liar's Gorse. It was late in the after- 

 noon when hounds found after several blank draws, and 



