Page:VCH Kent 1.djvu/576

 A HISTORY OF KENT volume.^ One day, while out cubbing, one of the field who did not know the master — the latter not being dressed exactly in hunting costume — mistook Mr. Brockman for one of the hunt servants and offered him five shillings to put hounds on to an old dog- fox that Mr. Brockman himself had just viewed away. We are not told whether the bribe was accepted. Mr. Brockman's popularity may be gauged from the fact that some of the farmers in his district paid him subscriptions amounting to as much as ;^ioo at a time ; and the esteem with which he was regarded is further evi- denced by the presentation to him in 1866 of a portrait of himself by Stephen Pearce which still hangs at Beachborough House. The inscription underneath the picture runs : — ' Presented by the members of the E.K.H. and other friends as a mark of respect and esteem to Frederick Brockman, Esq., who for thirty-three successive seasons has hunted the East Kent country.' Four years later Mr. Brockman was obliged, owing to failing health, to end his long and remarkable reign, when another testi- monial, this time in the form of a valuable gift of plate, was presented to him. The East Kent now entered upon a still more prosperous era, when Dudley Francis, seventh Earl of Guilford, whose name was well known in connexion with racing, and indeed with every form of sport, began his nine years' mastership. This was in 1870, and he began at once to hunt the country in lavish style four days a week. His lordship's most generous act was to build new kennels and stables at Waldershare at a cost of some £30,000. Foxes were not very plentiful, but Lord Guilford was a keen man to hounds and it was said of him that he could find a fox when nobody else could. He showed good sport until 1879 when his control of the pack ceased, and it was a sad day - when he met with his death in Dorset after a fall while hunting. Mr. F. J. Mackenzie succeeded the Earl of Guilford as master, but only stayed a season or so, and Mr. V. H. White, whose tenure of office was equally short, came in 1881 and went in 1882. The next master was Mr. E. R. Sworder, who stayed with the pack for seven years. During his mastership he nearly lost his life through the earth falling Ireland, 146. ^ On 19 December 1885. He was then master of the Cattistock. in upon him while he was digging out a badger, and it is said that he never really recovered from the effects of that accident. He left the East Kent in 1889 and went to the Hertfordshire, of which he was master for ten or eleven seasons. The next master of the East Kent was Captain F. Fitzroy, who died at the end of his first season. Foxes were still scarce even at this date, but Captain Fitzroy showed good sport with what there were ; and his sad death, coming at the end of a long run of bad luck and a series of vicissitudes for the pack, cast a feeling of gloom over the whole country. Mr. C. W. Prescott Westcar came next, in 1 890, and stayed till 1 893. He was followed by Mr. A. B. Worthington (i 893-1 894), and Mr. L. E. Bligh, who stayed till 1898, when he left to hunt the Minehead Harriers. He was succeeded by Mr. Wilfred Baker White, who controlled the destinies of the hunt till 1900, when the present master, Mr. William Selby-Lowndes, took hold. Mr. White went to the West Kent, with whom he stayed till 1904. The present master came from the Bilsdale pack, where he had been for three seasons. His father was master of the Whaddon Chase, which pack has been hunted by the Selby- Lowndes,family since the end of the eighteenth century. The present master of the East Kent began with a pack of harriers at the age of thirteen, and afterwards went to America, where he hunted the fox for two vears. Since Mr. Selby-Lowndes came to the East Kent the quality of the sport has been much improved. Foxes are more plentiful, and a good feeling prevails between shooting and hunting men as well as among the farmers. During his first five years of mastership Mr. Lowndes accounted for 6ji brace of foxes, a tally which beats all previous East Kent records.^ The pack is now forty-five couples strong, and contains Belvoir, Grafton, and Warwickshire blood. Hounds meet four times a week. The country is about twenty-four miles in length by eighteen miles from north to south, and extends from the Tickham boundary on the north-west to the sea on the south and east. About half of the area is plough, with plenty of grass and downland, and a little jumping of ditches and fences in the lowlands. A few of the fences in other parts of the country are somewhat stifT. The best part of the low country is the Ashford Vale. A sum Foxhounds of Great Britain and Ireland, 147. 482
 * Trafford, The Foxhounds of Grrtit Britain and