6 HUNTING REMINISCENCES 



The sound of Gillard's musical voice was most 

 inspiriting, and his horn was warranted to charm 

 the very foxes from their earths. Such was cheery 

 Frank as we knew him, a dapper man with a keen 

 eye and iron gray hair, brisk as a bee in all his 

 movements, accomplishing a gigantic day's work 

 because his heart and soul were in it. An hour or 

 two spent in the kennels with him talking over 

 hound lore, in which, like his predecessors at Belvoir, 

 he was so learned, made old time fairly gallop for 

 his hsteners. 



Devonshire was Gillard's native county, where 

 he was born in the year 1838, and until eighteen 

 years of age had only occasional days with hounds. 

 His father was kennel huntsman to a pack near 

 Exeter, and from him he inherited the love of the 

 chase, his first appointment being to a pack of 

 harriers which had been presented by Squire Buck 

 to Captain Willet. The kennels were at IVIonk- 

 leigh. North Devon ; the pack were beautiful 

 dwarf foxhounds, which hunted hare three days a 

 week, turning their attention to otter in the 

 summer. Unlike hare hunters in general, Gillard 

 declined to "cast back," and in 1859 cast aside the 

 green coat in favour of the scarlet, on taking the 

 position of second whipper-in to the Hon. Mark 

 Rolles' hounds, the Stevenstone. One season was 

 spent pursuing the Devonshire foxes, and then 

 came the chance to wear the red velvet collar and 

 ride second whip to the Belvoir. " The spring of 

 1860 saw me whipping-in to the Duke of Rutland's 

 hounds," said Frank, taking up the story, " I date 



