72 The Lanarkshire and Renfrewshire Hunt. 



Mr. GEORGE BARCLAY. 



One has to go back many years to find when Mr. George Barclay was 

 initiated into the glories of the sport he loves so well, for at a very early 

 age he was to be found taking a very keen interest in the doings of hounds. 



The instinct for foxhunting was veritably born within him, and as 

 years rolled on, his enthusiasm knew no bounds. Always a bold and fear- 

 less rider, he took his full share of the sport during several seasons prior 

 to 1 90 1, when he took over the Mastership. At this time Mr. Barclay was 

 so keen on hunting that he was not only out two days with his own pack, 

 but also hunted twice a week with Lord Eglinton's, and in these times when 

 motors were not so much in use, this entailed long days and hard work. 

 He really missed no opportunity of hunting, and besides taking horses 

 down to the shires to be with the Quorn, Cottesmore, and Belvoir he pro- 

 longed his season by going out with the New Forest when all other packs 

 had closed their campaign. It would, in fact, be a difficult matter to detail 

 all that Mr. Barclay has done pertaining to the welfare of the Hunt in the 

 course of the past twenty years, and how he so successfully carried on under 

 the stress of war-time conditions, when the prospects for future hunting 

 were so gloomy, will be long remembered. As the outcome of his in- 

 domitable courage and perseverance in this respect, he can find some satis- 

 faction in the fact that he vacated the Mastership at a time when the Hunt 

 was never in a more flourishing condition. 



Born in i860, Mr. Barclay was a son of the late Mr. John Barclay of 

 Gateside, and he resides at Thornhill, near Johnstone. During the long 

 period he was at the head of affairs he not only enjoyed the esteem of 

 followers of the sport, but he was especially popular with the farmers over 

 whose land we hunt, and such cordial relations must inevitably tend towards 

 the prosperity of foxhunting. 



The portrait here given is a reproduction of the painting in oils by 

 W. Carter (painted in 1914), presented to the Master by the members of 

 the Hunt in 1920, in recognition of his long and honourable services. 



