114 REMINISCENCES, ETC. 



and his hounds had drawn Kettlethorpe Wood, belonging 

 to Sir William Ingleby, without finding a fox, Mr. Smith 

 observed a man at a gate, in a shooting-jacket and with a 

 gun over his shoulder, who opened it for him, and at whom, 

 taking him to be the gamekeej^er and imagining him to 

 have been beating the covert, he railed in no measured 

 terms, saying he would tell his master of the blank which 

 had occurred. The man listened quietly to the squire and 

 touched his hat. After they had got through and were 

 trotting off to Lee Wood, belonging to Sir Charles Ander- 

 son, at no great distance, Mr. Uppleby said to Mr. Smith, 

 "Do you know who that was?" "No, indeed," was the 

 reply, "and I don't care." When told that it was Sir 

 William himself, and that he was merely passing through 

 the wood in which he strictly preserved foxes, on his way 

 to his shooting grounds, Mr. Smith was anxious to go back 

 and apologise ; but his friends said there was no occasion 

 for this, for Sir William, they observed, was rather eccentric, 

 and would be amused at being taken for one of his keepers. 



After Mr. Smith gave up the Burton country, he resided 

 in the Yale for several seasons, being frequently the guest 

 of the Duke of Rutland, and joining the various packs in the 

 neighbourhood from Belvoir Castle. '■ I've known him," 

 says Dick Christian," " come all the way from Belvoir to 

 Gumley of a morning, two and thirty miles, to cover, and 

 back again at night." To accomplish these long distances 

 he was up early at the castle and breakfasted alone. On 

 one occasion he was not satisfied with the breakfast pre- 

 pared for him, and complained to the footman who waited 

 that he did not think he had the attention given to him to 

 which he was entitled. The duke's servant received the 

 rebuke in silence, but on the following mornins:, when the 

 sportsman came down to breakfast, he was surprised to see 

 all tlie footmen in the castle enter the room in their state 



* " Silk and Scarlet," p. 57. 



