SEASON 1893-94 263 



sound, received an honourable pension to roam about 

 the kennel precincts, enjoying a day's sport when the 

 fixtures were near home, and not in big woods. 

 Of the young hounds Gillard pointed with pride on 

 a cubbing morning to Skylark, walking at his horse's 

 heels carrying a cub's mask. She was the daughter 

 of that promising stud hound Druid (1890) the son 

 of Shamrock and Dihgent, pronounced by Mr. 

 Henry Chaplin, the Squire of Blankney, to be worth 

 £1000. What a grand fellow he was — symmetrical, 

 deep of girth, remarkable in neck and shoulders, even 

 in Belvoir kennel, nippy as a kitten, and good as 

 he looked. Unfortunately Druid died of inflamma- 

 tion this year, but he left five couple which were aU 

 considered good enough to " put on," viz. Captive, 

 Costly, Dinah, Gainer, Guidance, Monarch, Render, 

 Romeo, Regal, and Skylark. 



A useful morning's work resulted at Leadenham, 

 though Frank remarked in his diary, " we killed too 

 many foxes, two and a half brace." The late duke 

 would always grumble when he heard of more than 

 a leash being killed in any one day's work, and 

 Gillard stood true to old precedent. A brace were 

 first killed in Leadenham Hill -top Covert, and 

 another in California Covert, the fourth being a fine 

 old dog-fox quite eight years of age, and the last a 

 green cub started from Tiger Holt. Strange to say, 

 in his hurry to bolt through the first fence, he ran 

 his nose against a big flat stone with such force that 

 his neck was broken, and hounds had only to eat 

 him up. 



At Aswarby this season a new squire reigned. 



