Introduction 



In these days of enormous fields and extensive 

 " capping," the account of the INIeeting at which the 

 " Gentlemen of Charlton " formed themselves into a regular 

 Hunt Club, strikes us with a quaint note. For we are told 

 that no stranger might appear in the field unless he had 

 been previously admitted by ballot, at which one black ball 

 was sufficient to exclude ; even then his visit was limited 

 to eight days and, should he wish to prolong his stay, a 

 further ballot was necessary ! And we learn that a 

 Meeting took place annually, at various London taverns, 

 at which Prosperity to the Hunt and the Memory of 

 Mr. Roper (the founder of the Hunt) were the chief 

 toasts. 



The letters written to the Duke by his brethren of the 

 Chace contain, besides the hunting allusions, a sprinkling of 

 topics military, social, and political, many of w^hich, alas, I 

 am quite unable to unravel ; they must remain obscured by 

 the mist of ages as far as I am concerned ; but through 

 them all there runs the typical bonhomie and cordiality 

 of the genuine lover of the chace, and it is interesting to 

 note that many of them are written from hunting quarters 

 in the New Forest, whither the gentlemen of Charlton were 

 wont to betake themselves in the spring and autumn, 

 there to follow their favourite pastime, until it was time 

 to foregather once again in that " Great Hall," towards 

 the building of which they had so enthusiastically 

 subscribed. 



The ' Sussex Garland ' of hunting songs, composed by a 

 native of Charlton, is copied out of the Hound Pedigree 

 Book, and is verbatim, with the exception of one stanza, 

 which I found it was absolutely necessary to bowdlerize 



xiii 



