EARL OF LONSDALE 381 



one day in the Market Place, Loughborough, and the 

 master consented to do so, fixing Tuesday the 26th 

 March 1894 for the gathering, the hour being noon. 

 The weather was most propitious, and long before the 

 appointed hour the square began to fill, while the fore- 

 noon trains landed a large contingent : it was estimated 

 that about ten thousand people were present. From 

 the town hall to the other side of the street an arch- 

 way had been erected, on which was to be seen the 

 legend, " Success to Fox-hunting." Lord Lonsdale, 

 Lady Gerard, Mr. Atherley, and Mr. Barclay drove up 

 in an open carriage, and came in for much cheering, as 

 also did the huntsman and whippers-in on arriving with 

 the pack. The Mayor's parlour was the scene of much 

 hospitality, and when the hounds moved off for the 

 first draw they were followed, as a spectator remarked, 

 by a curious collection of "mounts and machines." The 

 meeting was a great success, and perhaps nothing more 

 enthusiastic had been witnessed since Mr. Baker, then 

 master of the North Warwickshire, met for the edifi- 

 cation of the distressed weavers at Coventry railway 

 station on the 25th February 1861, on which occasion 

 a military officer estimated the attendance at between 

 thirty and forty thousand people. 



On an earlier page mention was made of the Melton 

 Hunt balls, but those entertainments appear to have 

 dropped out of fashion until they were revived in Feb- 

 ruary 1895. F'or the preceding decade the members 

 of the Hunt had joined with the townspeople in attend- 

 ing what had been known as the Primrose League ball, 

 but it lost its attraction, so it was determined to drop it 

 and revive the Melton Hunt ball, which took place in 

 the Corn Exchange and proved a great success, many 

 of those who had been driven from Leicestershire by 

 frost making a special pilgrimage back again in order to 

 be present. In the summer of 1895 there were on view 



