336 THE QUORN HUNT 



In December 1874 Lord Grey de Wilton, the well- 

 known follower of the Quorn hounds, found himself in 

 the County Court at the instance of the Melton Canal 

 Company. One day, while following the Quorn, he 

 rode his horse on to a foot-bridge belonging to the 

 Canal Company, but the structure, which was really 

 designed for foot passengers only, and was in a very 

 shaky condition, gave way under his lordship and his 

 horse, both being precipitated into the water. In the 

 spirit of a sportsman Lord Wilton sent a man to esti- 

 mate the damage, and his answer was that the job could 

 be done for £5. Thereupon his lordship wrote to the 

 Canal Company offering to pay the sum. Meantime 

 the Highway Board appeared upon the scene, and com- 

 pelling the Canal Company to make good the bridge, 

 they spent over ^20 on the work, applying to his lord- 

 ship to pay ^15 towards the expenses. Fortified by the 

 decision of his expert, Lord Grey de Wilton declined 

 to pay this sum, hence the action. When, however, 

 it came on for hearing, the Canal Company's solicitor 

 suggested that the matter should be referred to an 

 arbitrator, and the facts were laid before Mr. William 

 Garner, one of the town wardens, whose decision was 

 that the ^5 his lordship had previously offered amply 

 sufficed to make sfood the damage. 



About this time we find a writer lamenting the 

 crowds that used to come out with the Quorn on Fridays, 

 and the story is told of a hard-riding visitor from 

 another Hunt who had been on the hounds' backs 

 pretty well all day, and the huntsman was gradually 

 losing his patience. There was also another follower 

 who was somewhat given to overriding the hounds. 

 The last-named gentleman measured his length over a 

 somewhat formidable fence, while the visitor from another 

 country was in the act of riding at a place just as the 

 hounds were feeling their way to it. The huntsman 



