FOX-HUNTING RECOLLECTIONS Lady J Ustified in Her Bitter Reproof to a Young Man
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FO X- H U NTING RECO LLECTIO N S S IR R G N D GR H M BART . E I A L A A , S E COND IMPR E S S ION L O ND O N E V E L E IG H N A S H 1 9 0 8 D R H M B SIR REG N G ART . I A L A A , S E CON D IMPR E S S ION L O N D O N E V E L E I G H N A S H 1 9 0 8 C O N T E N T S CHAP. EARLY DAYS I I . THE B EAUFO RT HUNT III. THE B URTON HUNT IV . THE CO TSW OLD HUNT THE N E W FORE ST HUNT V I . THE TEDW O RTH HUN T V I I . THE HURW ORTH HUNT V II N O O O S I . RT N C NYER IX IR I . S B . BELL NGHAM GRAHAM , ART — — ATHERSTON E PYTCHLEY Q UO RN INDEX LI ST O F I L L U STR ATI O NS PA GE ' S IR E I B . Frontz s ie ce R G NALD GRAHAM , ART p THE E IGHTH DUK E AND DUCHESS OF BEAUFORT O O I S O I C L NEL M LE , N BLUE P LL LADY BLAN CHE SOMERSET ON V IOLET LO RD HENRY BENTINCK . N I M . P. MR HE RY CHAPL N , R E V . OS I V I O N O B THE J EPH P TT , CAR F RE DC M COLON EL MARTIN POW ELL HOUND SHOW AT PETERBOROUGH AS S HE TO N MR . THOMAS SMITH LORD ALGERNON ST . MAUR LADY GRAHAM THE HALL AT NORTO N CONYERS V ISCOUNT ANDOV ER (AFTERW ARDS EARL OF SUFFOLK ) AND S IR I REG NALD GRAHAM , BART . SIR BELLINGHAM GRAHAM ’ S TREACLE S IR I M B . O N E B ON BELL NGHA GRAHAM , ART , TH AR FOX-H% NTING RECOLLECTIONS C HA PTE R I EARLY D AY S HOW I envy the facile pen whic h let us into the M ark et Harborou h o f secrets of g , and told us Tilbury Nogo , that unsuccessful man so admirably described by George Whyte Melville . What would I not give for the ever-pleasant pencil with un which the Druid j otted down the plain , D c k varnished words of i Christian , as that veteran hero personally conveyed him in a o ne - horse gig along the bridle roads o f Leicestershire P Classic o f o ld names are these , recalling to many us the o f days , and that sensation screaming delight - with which we once galloped for a start . To day , ’ such musings are all in vain , for it is at a snail s pace , and in chastened mood , that I approach my formidable task . Memoirs are often prefaced by unnecessary reference to parentage and pedigree this at least shall not be laid to my charge . Was not that old 2 FOX-HUNTING RECOLLECTIONS lady j ustified in her bitter reproof to a young man ’ ’ overfond o f allusions to his family 7 Don t talk % o f to me ancestors , she said ; I once kept a grandmother myself % Let it be sufficient to record that 1 835 was the year o f my birth at Norton Conyers , in the North Riding of Yorkshire that I a was educated at the Royal Military College , S nd o f hurst , gazetted at the age seventeen to the 1 hi 4th Regiment (then the Buckinghams re , now the West Yorkshire) , j oined them at Limerick , o f passed a year in Ireland , and at the end that period was ordered with the regiment to Malta . The detachment with which I went sailed in an old troopship o f about seven hundred Ali ore tons , by name the p , and it took fifteen days o n the voyage from Cork t o Gibraltar (think o f that in these days o f swift military transport) . Malta was but a brief halting-place o n the way to the Crimea , and we landed at Balaclava the 1 1 first week of November 854 . The 4th was soon moved to the front , and posted to the Third S ir Division , commanded by General Richard England . Our chief duty for many months to come was in the trenches day and night , and my most vivid recollection o f that dreary time is snow , everlasting snow , throughout the bitterly o f 1 — r severe winter 854 55 . Owing to o u hasty FOX- HUNTING RECOLLECTIONS 3 al o f departure from M ta we , like the rest the - army , were ill provided with suitable clothing , and I remember the jo y with which I received at last a fur coat and a pair o f long brown boots sent o ut - no t from England , ready made and exactly a perfect fit ; but to me at that time they were beyond all price . I kept well , and was as happy as the day was long (the days were rather long in the trenches) but soon after Sebastopol was evacuated by the Russians o n the 8t h September 1 8 o f 55 , I had a very bad turn Crimean fever , and was sent down to the hospital at Scutari , where my head was shaved , and for some weeks it seemed doubtful how matters would end for me . Our chief interest in hospital was to watch for Florence Nightingale as sh e passed through the wards with —a im a gentle word for all , weary time until I proved and was invalided to England towards the 1 end o f 855 . My Crimean experience was at the o f age from nineteen to twenty , and , looking back to such distant times , it seems to me nowadays as if those scenes had been in another world , and I feel myself a veritable Rip Van Winkle as I muse upon those far- o ff days and wonder how many officers still survive who landed at Balaclava with the o ld Fighting Fourteenth o n that November 1 8 day in 54 . February 1 856 found me gazetted to the Rifle 4 FOX-HUNTING RECOLLECTIONS o f Brigade as Captain at twenty years age , and almost the youngest Captain in the British Army . I j oined the depot o f the z u d Battalion at Alder o f shot , and my chief remembrance that spot is in complete contrast to that of the Crimea eternal field days instead of the trenches , and perpetual dust instead o f snow . Upon the whole I much preferred Crimean life . Another recollection o f that period is the enthusiasm about pugilism which animated a few young offi cers in various regiments then stationed in the camp at Aldershot . Willingly was I enlisted in that select circle , prominent among o f th e 6 fl whom was a Second Lieutenant oth Ri es , now a distinguished General also two officers of 1 6 that famous regiment the th Lancers , who are still flourishing ; there may have been a few others whose names are now forgotten . Many prize fi ht s g within reach did we attend , and more than once we left by a night train to assist early the ’ following morning at W hat B ell s Life was % wont to term A Merry Mill in the Midlands . -fi h tin Cock g g was also to be seen at that time , o f more especially in the neighbourhood Hendon , - a battle ground well known to some of us . These Corinthian pursuits , which were in favour full fifty years ago , have long since been extinguished — such tastes and attractions are to - day obsolete 6 FOX- HUNTING RECOLLECTIONS — part there was no regret at leaving Malta my final farewell might have been said in the words o f Byron Adie u ye joys of La Valette Adie u sirocco , sun , and sweat , Adieu thou palace rarely entered , ’ Adieu I v e ye mansions where ventured , Adieu o f ye cursed streets stairs , How surely he who mounts them swears % In the autumn o f 1 860 I was posted to the fl o Ri e Dep t at Winchester , commanded by Colonel Macdonald . No better quarter in England than o ld — so Winchester many sports , pastimes , and advantages ; dry fly fishing in the Test and Itchen , nowadays at famine prices , was to be got for next to nothing in those days . How many delightful afternoons did I pass o n the water o f Bram b rid e g House , then belonging to Charles — Sartoris h o w many games o f tennis in t h e o ld ’ — o f tennis court at Crawley , the Queen s Crawley Thackeray in Vanity Fair. I never could see that tumbledown o ld house (since demolished o f altogether) without thoughts Rawdon Crawley , ’ % Becky Sharp , and Hester s famous speech , If o u y please , Sir Pitt , Sir Pitt died this morning , % Sir Pitt . Then the hunting (o ur Colonel was fo r o f very good about leave that) , and plenty H . : H . packs to choose from the , with Edward Tre dc ro ft as Master the Hambledon , hunted by FOX -HUNTING RECOLLECTIONS 7 o f Pre sh aw V ne Walter Long ; the y , by Lord Portsmouth and the Hursley , with Mr . Tregon well as Master .