14 The Lanarkshire and Renfrewshire Hunt. 



Mr. Alexander Crum, Mr. J. C. Cuninghame, and Mr. J. Wallace among 

 the more ardent followers. The last-mentioned gentleman was for a long 

 time a familiar figure in the hunting field, and for many years he contributed 

 racy articles on the sport to The Glasgow Herald. Advanced age compelled 

 him to retire, and it was on the suggestion of this sportsman who wrote 

 under the nom de plume of " Crop and Spurs," that I continued a descrip- 

 tion of hunting in Renfrewshire. 



There was about this time another very keen participant in Mr. Thomas 

 Speirs, of Largs, who was a fine horseman and one to follow across country, 

 except when in a jovial mood, when he seemed to revel in leading the in- 

 experienced into difficulties. For instance, he would unhesitatingly gallop 

 right into a bog if he saw a chance of leading anyone into an awkward 

 predicament. Latterly Mr. Speirs sustained an injury that caused him to 

 take things more quietly, but he continued to follow hounds on a pony or 

 hack, and when coming to a fairly stiff jump he would slide off and allow 

 his mount to get over more easily itself. For this method a very quiet nag 

 is an absolute necessity. 



After Bishop came Tom Morgan as huntsman in 1879, and he was in 

 turn succeeded by Harry Judd in 1882. There was quite a plethoric supply 

 of foxes in those days, and one specific instruction Judd received from his 

 master on being engaged is worth recalling. " You can go into Wraes and 

 some of the other coverts in the Houston country and find half-a-dozen old 

 dog foxes any day. If you can't kill them you are of no use to me." It is 

 hardly necessary to add that this injunction was especially satisfactory to 

 Judd, who, like most huntsmen, had a veritable thirst for blood, and he was 

 seldom satisfied unless he handled a brace or more in the course of a day's 

 hunting. 



What a turmoil we used to have on an opening day when foxes were 

 running in various directions, and foot people who were scattered all over 

 the country made the welkin echo to such an extent as to earn the disgust 

 and blessings of Master and huntsman, to say nothing of the field ! 



Those who remember hunting at this time will readily agree with the 

 assertion that foxes were then generally much bigger than they are at the 

 present time, although an exception must be made in regard to foxes found 

 in the high lying country above Johnstone and Howwood. What lovely 

 brushes they carried, too, thick and bushy, with snow-white tips of anything 



