ESQ. 97 



and one of the unfortunate victims who came to 

 grief on that occasion. 



In the county of Croppershire, and not far from 

 the little post town of Craneford, a pack of fox- 

 hounds was kennelled : they were under the joint 

 mastership of two gentlemen, Samuel Head, Esq., 

 commonly called Soft Head, and Henry Over, Esq., 

 who was usually designated Hi Over ; the secretary 

 was George Heels : he went by the name of Greasy 

 Heels. 



A local wag had nicknamed it the " Head-over- 

 heels Hunt ; " but another aristocratic gentleman 

 and a public-school man said that a much more 

 distingue and appropriate title would be the classical 

 one of the Sternum-super-caput Hunt. This it was 

 ever afterwards called ; and certainly no hunt de- 

 served the name better, for hardly a man amongst 

 the whole lot could ride ; they were ever being 

 grassed, or " coming to grief." 



Men from the next county used to say to each 

 other, " Old fellow, I am in for a lark to-morrow. 

 I'm going to see the ' Sternum ' dogs ; " or, " I am 

 going to drive the ladies over next week, when the 

 Sternum hounds meet at the cross-roads ; they want 

 a laugh, and to see a few falls." 



The huntsman to these hounds was John Slow- 

 man. He was not a brilliant huntsman, but he 



II G 



