In the Shires, 8i 



with every possible convenience. I am subsequently 

 handed over to the care of Mr. Weatherston, the stud 

 groom, who spares no pains to exhibit all that pertains 

 to his department. Amongst some forty or more 

 horses I am shown the " Pick of the basket/^ Mont- 

 rose, who has done the State much service, and 

 carries Neale, the huntsman, right well up to the 

 hounds, and no day is too long or fence too big for 

 him. I see Chameleon, a wonderful weight carrier, 

 and Student, another of the same sort, supplied by 

 Percival, with some forty more excellent hunters, who, 

 notwithstanding the severe work they have had 

 throughout this unusually open season, look as fit to 

 go as need be. No trouble or expense is spared, and 

 Mr. Weatherston, under whose charge they are placed, 

 is the right man in the right place, a strict dis- 

 ciplinarian with a thorough knowledge of his business. 

 After this, I accompany Neale to the kennels, which 

 are admirably placed and most judiciously arranged, 

 and I am shown some sixty couples of splendid 

 hounds, which are divided into three packs. At 

 the command of his huntsman, Chanticleer steps 

 out. 



The sire of this beautiful specimen of a foxhound is 

 Lord Fitzwilliam's Bacchus. In obedience next to the 

 call of " Lictor ! Lictor ! good dog! '' there walks out a 

 noble hound. Then, " Stately, good lass ! '' responds 

 to the call, and, in succession, all the flowers of the pack 

 are invited to stand forth for my inspection, and having 

 been duly paraded in the field at the back of the kennels, 

 they return, passing down an incline at the bottom of 

 which is a shallow pool of water, through which every 

 hound passes before he is allowed to re-enter — an ex- 



6 



