MR. J. COUPLAND 333 



About this time the covert fund question cropped up 

 again, as Thursday, February 19th, the business pre- 

 ceding a by-day, saw a meeting convened to discuss 

 the state of the covert fund. It then transpired that the 

 country was indebted to Mr. Coupland to the extent of 

 about ,£950, which sum it had cost him, over and above 

 the covert subscriptions, to bring neglected gorses and 

 spinneys into a state of proper efficiency. Lord Wilton 

 was in the chair, explained the situation, and proposed 

 an immediate payment to the master. No one, of 

 course, could disagree with this, nor could any one deny 

 the good run of continuous sport, so accordingly names 

 were put down in the room for ^450, while subse- 

 quently a further sum, and no doubt the whole of the 

 amount required, was collected. 



The spring of this year (1874) brought with it the 

 death of Lord Rossmore, who hunted in Leicestershire, 

 and who was killed at the Windsor Steeplechases while 

 riding Lord Downshire's Harlequin in the 1st Life 

 Guards' Challenge Cup. It was a singular coincidence 

 that two or three years previously Lord Rossmore met 

 with an accident in the same race, at the very same 

 fence at which he was killed. On the first occasion he 

 broke his collar-bone, and again, curiously enough, he 

 was taken, on the occasion of his first accident, to the 

 same room in the officers' quarters in which he after- 

 wards died. 



In connection with the close of the season 1873-74 

 a rather amusing story was current. The hounds, as 

 usual, hunted during Holy Week, and among the regular 

 followers was a gentleman extremely fond of hunting. 

 and a constant attendant at as many of the fixtures as 

 possible. He was, besides, a staunch High Churchman 

 and ritualist. Before Lent had run its course, a friend 

 asked him whether he intended to hunt during Holy 

 Week. His companion, whose love of sport evidently 



