Page:The Victoria History of the County of Lincoln Volume 2.pdf/539

Rh held office until 1813, when he resigned, receiving from the hunt a silver salver in token of appreciation. He always retained his regard for the blood of the Monson kennel. The 'Squire' was succeeded by the Mr. Walker already referred to. This gentleman only remained one season, in 1814 giving place to Mr. G. S. Foljambe, who in 1816 was succeeded by Mr. Assheton Smith. This famous hunting man brought with him a good many followers from the Quorn. The eight seasons he spent at Burton were marked by the best of fox-hunting, but the friends who had followed him from Leicestershire dropped away one by one to return to their old haunts, until at last Sir Harry Goodricke and Captain Baird only remained. Possibly they did not appreciate the east-country dykes. On one occasion Mr. Smith found near the kennels a fox which went away over a dyke called the Lilla. The pack and master followed, but fourteen Meltonians got a ducking, and not one of the field got over safely. Mr. Smith once jumped from a narrow bridge over the Fosdyke on to one parallel to it, because a high gate on the former was locked, and the one on the other was open. While at Burton he bought some of 'John Warde's jackasses,' very big hounds, with the nose of beagles, but no pace. Mr. Smith had at various times some of the most skilful hunt servants in England; among them Jack Shirley (who had been huntsman to Lord Sefton), Dick Burton, Joe Harrison, and Tom Wingfield. 'Jack Shirley,' says Dick Christian (Silk and Scarlet), 'was one of Mr. Meynell's whips; he was an owdacious fellow, big and stout, with a rough voice.' Mr. C. J. Apperley (Nimrod) says he was a fine rider over a country, and that his nerve and pluck were wonderful. He used to ride young horses at 10s. a day when he whipped-in for Mr. Smith; permission to do this was always granted provided they did not kick hounds. Tom Wingfield was very good in his casts. He had been with Mr. Meynell, and Joe Harrison had hunted the Quorn for Lord Foley. Mr. Smith hunted six days a week, and took no subscription. He rode as hard in Lincolnshire as ever he did with the Quorn, his object being always to get into the next field, with or without a fall.

Sir Richard Sutton succeeded Mr. Assheton Smith in 1824, buying the hounds and keeping on the huntsman, Jack Shirley. Shirley continued to hunt the hounds for one season, after which the new master carried the horn himself, save for a season when he was incapacitated by a broken thigh. Sir Richard's term of mastership lasted until 1842, when he left to take the Quorn. His resignation threatened a great blow to sport in the Burton country, but a new master was found in Lord Henry Bentinck, whose acceptance of office was felt to be a high compliment in view of the fact that he had at the time the option of taking the Quorn. Lord Henry Bentinck's reign, 1842 to 1862, was a most brilliant one. As already stated, the new master early in his career transferred the hounds to new kennels at Reepham, where there was also built a covered ride and a Turkish bath capable of receiving eight horses at a time. Lord Henry hunted six days a week, and to meet his requirements he had sometimes one hundred couples of hounds on the benches and a hundred horses in the stables. He would sometimes have two packs out on the same day. He was particular to the last degree about the horses he rode; he bid £1,500 for The Colonel, winner of the Grand National, to ride as a hunter; he also gave £600 for a horse called Shropshire, and allowed the former owner £100 a year as long as he rode him. He was a fine horseman and a good huntsman, but did not often carry the horn himself, though no one better understood and appreciated hound work. He never allowed hounds to be interfered with, and any huntsman who tried lifting them was speedily discharged; indeed, he seldom kept one more than two seasons. He always made it a great point that every hound should get away from covert with the fox, and always kept well away from them until they had been some minutes at check. Lord Henry had a great opinion of Mr. Foljambe as a fox-hunter, and thought highly of his hounds, using the blood freely. He considered Mr. Foljambe, Mr. Musters and Will Goodall the three great hound-men of the day. Lord Henry Bentinck's stallion hounds soon became famous; and Contest, Tomboy, Comus, and others were in great demand by the leading kennels. His pack was originally purchased from Lord Ducie, who hunted the V.W.H. country, but thirty couples more were secured at Mr. G. S. Foljambe's sale. The Belvoir, Brocklesby, and Grove, and occasionally Sir Richard Sutton's, were Lord Henry's favourite kennels. Two years after he gave up the Burton he sold his pack for £3,500. Dick Burton was huntsman from 1843 to 1849; his master held him the best hand at entering young hounds he ever saw. Lord Henry was a very difficult master to please. He greatly disliked seeing a whipper-in turn his head when watching a ride, affirming that no man could watch one properly who did so. He dismissed one man because he turned his head seven times in five minutes. The Burton country and hounds gained much in prestige during Lord Henry's mastership. In 1862 he retired, lending his splendid pack to his successor, Viscount Doneraile. Lord Doneraile resigned in 1865, making way for Mr. Henry Chaplin, who in 1864 had purchased the pack from Lord Henry Bentinck. Mr. Chaplin agreed to hunt the country as it had been hunted heretofore; and he continued to do so until 1871, when he found himself unable to reconcile the duties of a member of Parliament with those of a master of