1 64 Tally ho. 



Queen^s, and wlien the meet was there, or at Castlebar 

 Hill, Ealing, or the Red Lion, at Southall, in the 

 merry days when the Earl of Chesterfield was Master, 

 and Charles Davis huntsman, it was a sight to behold, 

 especially in the spring time, when all the best men 

 from the difierent hunting countries were wont to put 

 in an appearance. Now, London has made such rapid 

 strides that a great portion of the grass is covered 

 with buildings, and it is only on occasions that you have 

 a chance of trying a spin across that which remains 

 between Harrow and Willesden. Even after the 

 Great Western and North-Western Railways first 

 commenced running, and building operations were 

 only threatening the districts, I remember the pack 

 being brought up by train to the Ealing Station. The 

 deer was then uncarted, in the vicinity of Twyford 

 Abbey, which lies over by Hanger Hill, and but a 

 very short distance from East Acton and Old Oak- 

 common ; thence we ran over the grass in the direction 

 of Harrow and Finchley for an hour and a quarter at a 

 racing pace without a check, finally taking the noble 

 animal at Stanmore. During the whole of this run we 

 were never ofi* the grass for a moment; and I well 

 remember that at the finish, " Grasshopper,^^ a flea- 

 bitten thoroughbred, who, in his prime, had figured as 

 one of the fastest and best steeple-chasers of his day, 

 after carrying me like a bird in the very first flight, 

 without for a moment showing the slightest symptom 

 of distress, lay down on the grass at the end of the 

 run, where I was compelled to leave him until I could 

 obtain assistance from a neighbouring village to effect 

 his removal. 



From Gerrard^s Cross I have had many a good spin, 



