our leading packs, and the forward riding displayed by them, another feature has been demanded, and 'the supply' in the 'grass countries' has been obtained in a remarkable manner. I allude to the gift hounds of getting

peculiar to our best modern through a crowd of horses when accidentally 'slipped' by the pack. This faculty is developed to a very wonderful extent in all packs hunting the Shires,' varying, of course, slightly in each, and it is nol s remarkably absent in certain packs otherwise. equal to the Quorn and its neighbours, or even superior to them." I may say that through force of circumstances this valued gift of self-preservation has lately been exhibited by Her Majesty's and some other packs within easy railway distance of our great metropolis.

The following is from an article by Mr. G. S. Lowe, that appeared in the Field some time ago, and as it deals more fully with our present strain of foxhounds and their pedigrees (there is a foxhound stud book now) than I could, I have an excuse for its republication :

The casual observer in the hunting field might not be inclined to appreciate the laudations bestowed upon certain hounds in almost every pack. Hounds run very much in one form, and a huntsman of, say, forty years' experience might call up hounds to his memory to number in the aggregate several thousands, though in speaking of any exquisites he will refer to two or three only

that, according to his idea, were incomparable. The faults of even good foxhounds must be, therefore, numerous- -far more so, I expect, than the casual observer could detect, as faultless hounds, it would appear, crop up in the smallest proportions in the lifetime of a huntsman. Mr. Osbaldeston was generally in a position to have the best of hounds only, as in the heyday of his career, at any rate, he had an immense pack, hunted his own hounds six days a week, and, in the style in which he rode over Leicestershire and other countries, it can be fairly asserted that he was never separated from them. It is said that he depended on his hounds with a flying fox, speaking very little to them, but observing all they did, and in strong gorse he went in with them himself, and could make them hunt like spaniels. With all this experience, though, Osbaldeston had one hound out of the many he had to do with, of which he would speak with exceptional regard up to the very time of his death. I remember it was told me that a friend met the veteran in a billiard room, years after he had given up hunting, and, the conversation drifting into matters of the chase, the squire got upon the line of Furrier, and there was no getting him off it. He expatiated on the merit of this hound as the best ever bred; and it must be remembered also that, when Osbaldeston bred hounds, he supported his opinion by breeding from this hound to such an extent that he could take a pack into the field made up entirely of Furrier's progeny.

Harry Ayris lived, I think, sixty years with the Fitzhardinge pack, and in an interview with him about fifteen years ago, when the old fellow was over eighty, I put the question straight to him as to the best hound he had ever seen. Cromwell," was the ready reply, "and no man ever hunted another like him." It was difficult, then, to get Harry Ayris off the line of Cromwell; and it was no easier task to make the late John Walker believe that a better foxhound had ever been bred than Sir Watkin Wynn's Royal. Lord Henry Bentinck had several favourites, and, for the benefit of those after him, he left a written record, showing how these particular hounds excelled their fellows. This is in manu

script still, I believe; but I am perfectly assured that the leading hound breeders of the day have seen it, and hence the great leaning of late years towards the pack that came originally from Lord Henry's benches. One might go considerably further back, to quote how Mr. Corbet is said to have spoilt his pack by excessive in-breeding to Trojan; and how Sir Thomas Mostyn committed the same mistake by appreciating the blood too much of a famous bitch called Lady. It is sufficient, however, to note that this sort of allegiance to certain hounds has had a marvellous effect on hound breeding, and that such hounds can be regarded as landmarks through a veritable maze of pedigrees ranging over half a century. No animal of any sort whatever has been bred to in the same persistency as can be traced to the Osbaldeston Furrier; he was the best hound of his day, in the opinion of an experienced authority; and that opinion was followed by such hound breeders as the late Mr Foljambe, the late Lord Henry Bentinck, and the late Mr. Parry, besides a host of others, not excepting those who attended to the well-being of the almost classical packs of Belvoir, Brocklesby, Fitzwilliam, and Badminton.

:

There have been hounds in considerable numbers that could boast of temporary reputations, but they have not secured lasting fame and I should be inclined to limit what might be called the standard favourites to a dozen since the days of the Osbaldeston Furrier. Others may be inclined to differ from my selections, but they will catch my meaning if they will trace recent pedigrees to their sources, and will regard such hounds as are seen at the Peterborough show. It is seen that during years of breeding. there has been no loss of size and bone, to begin with-no loss of quality, as shown in clean necks and shoulders, and general carriage; and, if looks can be taken for anything, there can have been no loss in pace, or in such qualities of shape that suggest power and stamina. Hunting men of various countries can decide whether foxhounds are not as good or better than they have ever been; but a very strong feature in maintaining the

qualities and characteristics of the foxhound has been the system of keeping several celebrated foxhounds in view when going in for high breeding. Mr. Parry, so long associated with the Puckeridge, had two hounds called Pilgrim and Rummager, both entered in 1840, and the latter was a great-grandson of the famous Furrier, whilst Pilgrim was descended from another celebrity known as the Belvoir Topper. With this couple of hounds Mr. Parry stamped his pack, as they were always kept in view, as it were, and before Mr. Parry left off hound-keeping his kennel had a very high reputation for blood. Of late years whole packs have been established from the Belvoir Senator, and others have been benefited in a similar degree, through holding to the Burton Dorimont line, the Drake Duster, the Wynnstay Royal, the Grove Furrier, or the Berkeley Castle Cromwell.

To come to the notable twelve that have been, and may still be, esteemed as "landmarks" of hound breeding, I should, of course, name the Osbaldeston Furrier, a Belvoir-bred hound, as he came in a draft from the ducal kennels, and was by their Saladin out of their Fallacy, and thence going back to Mr. Meynell's hounds of 1790. It has been stated that Furrier was not so much a perfect working hound as a hard runner, as he was inclined to be jealous and impatient on a cold scent; but he was the leading hound in every fast thing, and he never did wrong when holding that important post of honour. He was the sire of Ranter, and to that hound Mr. Foljambe was principally indebted for the Furrier blood, as his Herald and Harbinger, entered in 1835, were by Ranter. Herald was the sire of Wildair, sire of Wild Boy, sire of Modish, the dam of The Grove Guider. Harbinger and Herald appear several times in Barrister's pedigree, as, for instance, he was by Rambler, son of Roister, son of Captive, a daughter of Herald's; and the dam of Rambler again was Dorothy, her dam Dowager, by Songster, a son of Sybil by the Osbaldeston Ranter. The sire of Roister again was Render, son of Riot, by Ranter, and it is therefore not difficult to trace several lines of Furrier in the Grove Barrister, a hound well in the

memory of all breeders of the present day. The Fitzwilliam claim a line to Furrier, chiefly through Hardwick, a hound entered in the Milton kennels in 1843, by Mr. Drake's Hector out of Goldfinch, her dam Frenzy, by Fatal, son of Ferryman, son of Furrier. Hardwick was the sire of Handmaid, the dam of Hardwick of 1851, and the latter sire in turn of Hercules and Harbinger. There was another double Furrier cross in the Fitzwilliams, as their Hero and Hotspur were by the second Hardwick out of Ransom, by Mr. Foljambe's Roister.

Another famous line from Furrier, and through the same kennels as the above, is traced to the Burton Dorimont, a hound spoken of in Lord Henry Bentinck's diary as a thoroughly good foxhound. He was got by Roderick by Mr. Foljambe's Roister, named above as out of a Herald bitch. There was a double cross of this sort in Dorimont, as his dam Daffodil was out of Dairymaid by Driver, son of Harbinger, brother to Herald, and a third cross to Furrier might even be traced through the Belvoir Chaser, There is Dorimont blood in the Fitzwilliam kennel, as Dagmar and Daphne were by him; and their Selim of 1869 was out of Dagmar, and Selim is the sire of Balmy, Bloomer, Remedy, and others on the Milton benches, that have been bred from. Dorimont is largely represented also in the Oakley kennels, and, if I am not much mistaken, Sailor, a sire of note at the present time, from Lord Portsmouth's kennels, traces directly to him. At any rate, I know there was a good deal of the blood in Mr. LaneFox's kennel through a hound called Damper; and very few kennels, I expect, are without the strain. Dorimont was a branch from Furrier, but should accept him as one of the corner stones of the stud book amongst my twelve selections.

The Drake Duster is another not to be forgotten by anyone who has ever thought of breeding hounds. He was entered in 1844 by the late Mr. Drake, so long associated with the Bicester, and he was got by Bachelor out of Destitute, the former running into Mr. Warde's sort, and the latter to the Belvoir. The last named famous kennel got many good returns of their own blood from