23 



CHAPTER II. 



HE SUCCEEDS LORD FOLEY AT QUORX IN 1806, AND HUNTS LEICESTER- 

 SHIRE UNTIL 1816. — ANECDOTES OP HIS QUORN CAREER, AND OF 

 HIS ASSOCIATES. — SUCCEEDS MR. OSBALDESTON IN LINCOLNSHIRE, 

 AND KEEPS THE BURTON COUNTRY UNTIL 1824. — CEASES TO BE 

 MASTER OF HOUNDS FOR TWO YEARS, DURING WHICH HE HUNTS AT 

 BELVOIR AND IN THE NEIGHBOURING COUNTRIES. — RESIDES IN 1826 

 AT PENTON LODGE, ANDOVER, AND CREATES A NEW HUNTING COUNTRY 

 IN THAT REGION. — HIS MARRIAGE. — TAKES POSSESSION OF TEDWORTH 

 ON THE DEATH OF HIS FATHER. — FAMOUS RUN OVER SALISBURY PLAIN. 



"Never did I heai' 

 Such gallant chiding ; for besides the groves, 

 The skies, the fountains, every region near 

 Seems all one mutual cry. I never heard 

 So musical a discord, such sweet thunder." 



Midsummer Night's Dream. 



In 1806 Mr. Smith left Nortliamptonsliire, and collecting a 

 first-rate pack from different kennels, the best portion 

 having been purchased for 1,000 guineas of Mr. Musters, 

 of Colwick Hall, on that gentleman's giving up the 

 Nottinghamshire country, he succeeded Lord Foley at 

 Quorn. 



Here, with a fine stud and with splendid hounds, he kept 

 the game alive for ten years, during which time the sport 

 he showed was unrivalled. His feats of horsemanship, his 

 excellent management of the hounds, and the fields he drew 

 together, will live in Leicestershire as long as fox-hunting 

 is dear to Englishmen as a national sport. It may be almost 

 said, that, even at this remote distance of time, the wood- 

 lands and open of that unrivalled country still echo with 

 the music of his gallant pack. During his stay in Leices- 

 tershire, Mr. Smith resided at Quorndon Hall, and had a no 



