SPORT IN THE SIXTIES 17 



man left was Mr. George Drummond, who had 

 lost one of his coat-tails coming through a fence. 

 Hounds were screaming along, for the wood was fuU 

 of foxes, and James Cooper, the huntsman, was lost 

 in the thicket, so the Duke turned to me and said, 

 'You second whip must do the best you can to 

 stop hounds, take my horn, for I must be off home.' 

 After blowing his Grace's horn and hallooing I got 

 the bulk of the pack round me, though it was too 

 dark to count them, and we started back for kennels 

 twenty miles distant. That was the first time I 

 had the honour to blow the Duke of Rutland's 

 hunting-horn, and when his death occurred in 

 March 1888, after thirty years' mastership, the 

 present Duke of Rutland, Lord John Manners, 

 came down to the kennels with that hunting-horn 

 in his pocket, and said, ' My brother wished me to 

 bring you this horn, Frank, and I am sure no one 

 will value it more than you ! ' " Tears came into 

 Gillard's eyes as he narrated the story, which it was 

 plain to see was most heartfelt. "No man could 

 have wished for a kinder master than the noble 

 Duke, who was always so considerate and interested 

 in the doings of his hounds." 



" What notes you could get out of your horn, 

 Frank, you gave it quite a language of its own ; if 

 you had not chosen fox-hunting as a profession you 

 ought to have been a musician ! " we said, deter- 

 mined to lead our subject back to the line, and if 

 possible get him on a gossiping scent. "Well, 

 you see, I had a musical pack to play up to, for the 

 Belvoir always had plenty to say about it when 



