Records of the Old Charlton Hunt 



Levin Down witness those early morning scenes of bustle 

 and animation that centred around the Duke's huntinff-box, 

 that sole survivor of so many ; nor do the villagers gather o' 

 nights around Foxhall to listen dehghtedly to the sounds of 

 revelry with which the gentlemen of Charlton were wont to 

 celebrate the close of each good hunting day. But the 

 glamour of it all cUngs to the place still ! 



And so, dear reader, in tracing the fortunes of the Hunt, 

 I have not cared to ask you to follow me beyond the quiet 

 little valley that lies snugly beneath the shelter of the old 

 Forest that my ancestor loved so well, and I can only hope 

 that you may find it possible to share with me, in spirit at 

 any rate, the fascination to which every sportsman must 

 surely feel himself subject when brought in contact with old 

 records of this description. 



And now that my congenial task is done, the following 

 verses, written years ago by poor Adam Lindsay Gordon, 

 strike me with a sense of appropriateness as a conclusion : — 



We have no wish to exaggerate 



The worth of the Sports we prize. 

 Some toil for their Church, and some for their State, 



And some for their Merchandise ; 

 Some traffic and trade in the city's mart. 



Some travel by land and sea, 

 Some follow science, some cleave to art. 



And some to scandal and tea ; 

 And some for their country and their Queen 



AVould fight, if a chance they had. 

 Good sooth, 'twere a sorry world, I ween, 



If we all went galloping mad ; 



175 



