HOUNDS AND HORSES 251 



' By following these rules our pack has acquired its 

 excellence. Indeed, there are no other thoroughbred 

 staghounds in the kingdom, the other kennels being 

 tainted with foxhound blood.' 



It will be observed that Lord Graves, with a 

 master's pride, speaks of the hounds thus crossbred as 

 thoroughbred, and a good proportion of the pack were 

 home-bred on these lines ; but two old hound lists of 

 1812 and 1820 at Castle Hill show that several recruits 

 were also obtained from outside, drafts being recorded 

 therein from the King's kennel, from the Oaks (Lord 

 Derby's) ' never worth anything^' from Lord Ailes- 

 bury's, Mr. Wellesley Poole's, Lord Fitzwilliam's and 

 others. 



The royal pack, of course, hunted deer, and had 

 only lately given up hunting wild ones. Lord Derby's, 

 I believe, were staghounds too, as were probably Lord 

 Ailesbury's, but Lord Fitzwilliam tells me that his 

 ancestor's pack were foxhounds and nothing else, so I 

 fear Lord Graves's favourites were rather a mixed lot. 



His Majesty's Brusher heads the first list, and 

 though ' very old ' and only ' supposed to be thorough- 

 bred,' he was the one hound used as a stallion in 1811, 

 and had twelve and a half couple of whelps to his 

 credit at walk the June following. 



I wonder if he was as good and as fond of venison 



