CHAPTER VI 



EXTRACTS FROM THE DUKE'S DIARY 



(ABOUT 45 DAYS' HUNTING) 



In making these extracts from my ancestor's diary I have 

 endeavoured to select days which struck me as being note- 

 worthy by reason of some quaint expression, or unusual 

 incident, recorded by his pen. 



And if my readers should find a sameness throughout 

 the accounts of the 45 days' hunting which I have tran- 

 scribed from the yellow pages (still rough with the sand 

 with which they were freely sprinkled in those pre-blotting 

 paper days) I crave their indulgence, inasmuch as the 

 " embarras de richesses " with which I found myself engaged 

 made it difficult to decide where to draw the line. 



It will be noticed that each entry is headed by a list of 

 the horses that were sent out ; and that the Hunt Servants 

 appear in the right-hand column. 



Mr. St. Paul was the Duke's stud groom. He was a 

 Frenchman, and came from the Richmond estate of 

 Aubigny, the residence of Louise de Querouaille, Duchess 

 of Portsmouth, and mother of the first Duke of Richmond. 



But as for Tom Leaver, Will Macey, Joe Budd and 

 others who appear so constantly in these pages, there is 

 little, if anything, to be gleaned concerning them. 



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