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(Bein^ the story of the Hurivorth Hunt and other packs,
together with biographies of Northern Sportsmen and
Sportswomen, old records, diaries and songs, reminiscences
and illustrations, collected from many sources).
EDITED BY
J. FAIRFAX BLAKEBOROUGH
(Author of ^^ England's Oldest Hunt," '' Ckvdand and its Hunt,'" ''Northern
Racing Records,'' ''Life in a Yorkshife Village," "The Yorhshireman and the
Hoss," etc., etc.)
stockton-on-tees :
The Yorkshire Publishing Press, 24 Trent Street.
LONDON :
Hunter & Longhurst, 9 Paternoster Row.
THE THROW OFF.
T is often alleged that the Nimrod of to-day prefers a
short, sharp burst of twenty minutes over a nice
jumping country to a long, slow hunt, full of hound
work and echoing with music. There is some truth
in the charge. The evolution which has brought
about this disaffection for meandering has had its influence
upon journalism. One of the arts of the scribe of to-day is the
power of condensation. Be terse, be pithy, be brief, in short
be anything but long-winded. Such is the prevailing cry in the
face of which I am flying.
I set out to write the history of the Hurworth Hunt, and,
as I worked out the line, I found that the characters and events
in the story embraced sportsmen and sport over almost
the whole of the North. The chronicling of facts regarding
both are essential to the completeness of the history of the pack
and its personnel. So the book goes forth under the more
comprehensive title of Northern Sport and Sportsmen. I have
chosen this course rather than that of condensation, believing,
in my conceit, that much in these pages will be found worthy
of preservation, even though such matter is connected only by
a slender thread with the history of the Hurworth Hunt, and
will rather justify the title.
Northern Sport and Sportsmen is issued in parts at a
"popular" price for a dual reason, (i) Many of my good
farmer friends have expressed regret at their inability to
purchase previous sporting works from my pen, owing to their
(to them) prohibitive prices. Many of us, who cannot afford
half-a-guinea for a book we should hke to possess, find it less
difficult to procure it, as it were, on the " easy payment system."
(ii.) I hope that the Northern Spoilt and Sportsmen may live as
a monthly magazine after its present purpose is achieved.
That remains to be seen.
^^aJ^c/%(y\cM.iU^
Norton-on-Tees,
Nov., 1912.
CHAPTER I.
THE HURWORTH COUNTRY AND
AN HISTORIC RUN.
Jovrocks : Wot 'ounds have you been with ?
Pigg : A, a vast, yen way and another. Ar ken all the
hounds amaist : Tyndale, and D'orm, and Horworth,
and all.
Jovrocks : Ah, but those'll be Scotch dogs — a country I knows
nothin' whatever on — have you been in any civilised
country ?
— Handley Cross.
ONSEQUENT upon his ignorance of the
location of the Hurworth domains and the broad
Northumbrian accent of the immortal James
Pigg, Jorrocks was led to suppose that the
country was in the wilds of Scotland, or, at any
rate, not within the realms of what he called
' civilisation.' Intercommunication, the increase of sporting
literature and the growing custom of gadding from country
to country nowadays, brings Shires and Provinces very close
together, and had John Jorrocks lived to-day he would have
been better versed in the story and tradition, past and present,
of the Northern packs. We must not, however, find fault with
him for having placed the Hurworth without the pale of
civilisation, for we have often heard Hurworth followers
similarly exclude portions of their territory and anathematise
them. For instance, on those occasions, a few seasons ago,
when foxes seemed to have 2. penchant for running to the hills,
2 Hill hunting and hill foxes.
and when we frequently found ourselves on Carlton Bank top, on
Thimbleby Moor, behind Slapestones and on the heatherlands
above Arncliffe, many gave a sigh of relief when they found
themselves once more in the vale, and said " Thank God we're
back to civilisation ! " The Hurworth country does not,
however, include very much hill and moor ; indeed the hills
form the boundary line and divide the country from the Bilsdale
territory. Still, the close proximity of the Cleveland and
Hambleton ranges naturally results in occasional journeys of the
big grey-hound foxes from the heathery heights to low-country
Hounds leaving Arncliffe Wood for the open moor.
woodland and whin covert in response to the vixen's love-call.
When such a traveller is found at Winton, Cotcliffe, Stank,
Welbury, Faulkland's, Rounton, or elsewhere, he points his mask
straight for the beautiful range of hills ayont, and it invariably
means " sit down and ride for a great hunt has commenced."
(f)
Mountain^ moor, bog and woodland. 3
There are some sportsmen and sportswomen, however, who, so
soon as they reach the foot of Arncliffe, Thimbleby, or Silton,
say " No thank you," and turn their horses' heads homewards.
They have exaggerated visions of bogs, open drains, precipices
and what not. I once heard a very able hunter-judge say that no
horse could be called a perfect hunter till he could gallop over
a moor without putting a foot wrong. If this is the case then
there are very, very few perfect hunters, but, despite this, the
moors do not present nearly the dangers or difficulties to horse
and rider most folk, who have not followed hounds over them,
imagine. Bog a horse once, and let him fall into an open
drain once, and he'll be very careful on future occasions. By
drawing rein at the foot of the hills, those who have funked
taking the rough with the smooth have probably missed some
of the greatest runs recorded in Hurworth Hunt annals. Of
this, however, more anon.
As I have said, the Hurworth domains contain very little
moorland, and you may ride a whole season without ever having
occasion to jump a stone wall. With the exception of Arncliffe,
heretofore mentioned, and Thimbleby, a little further on round
the bend in the hills, there are no extensive woodlands in the
Hurworth country. Arncliffe, of course, is a hill-side wood like
Thimbleby, and it cannot be said the draw is a very favourite
one nor that very much sport has its origin directly from this
covert, though foxes are well preserved therein.
We all of us know those long waits and funereal rides along
Arncliffe's boggy paths, where once the Carthusian monks
paced and where now, thanks to the preservation of the late
Sir I. L. Bell and his son. Sir Hugh Bell, the badger's pad
marks are not infrequently seen. One passes the ruins of
Mount Grace Priory several times during the course of each
Arncliffe and Mount Grace.
season and hounds pass by the remains of St. John's well, rich
in tradition.
Mount Grace : situated within the shadow of ArncHffe wood.
When one recalls the situation of Byland, Rievaulx, Mount
Grace and other Yorkshire monasteries and abbeys, one cannot
help but be struck by the eye the early fathers had for the
picturesque, for shelter, and for localities likely to provide them
with food. The Carthusian order, of which Mount Grace was
one of the nine monasteries in England, did not, I fancy, eat
flesh, and their life was much more severe than most others.
The monks at Jervaulx and elsewhere had quite a good time
hunting and hawking, whilst Chaucer paints us a word picture
of these old-time, sport-loving monks :
The Hurworth Country.
A monk there was, a fayre for the maistrie,
An out-rider, that loved venerie :
A manly man, to ben an abbot able.
Ful many a deinte horse had he in stable :
And when he rode, men might his bridel here,
Gyngle in a whistling wind as clere,
And eke as loude as doth the chapell belle.
Greihounds he hadde as swift as fowel in flight :
Of pricking and of hunting for the hare
Was all his lust, for no cost would he spare.
If you would persue the subject of hunting and hawking
archbishops, bishops, priests and monks, I would refer you to
a most interesting chapter in Mr. Cuthbert Bradley's Hunting
from Shire to Shire. I shall have more to say regarding
Arncliffe later and would just add that it is almost unstoppable,
possessing as it does a thousand and one earths amongst huge
crags and boulders. Foxes, when they do break away,
frequently go out at the top, and, as this means either a gallop
over the rough moor to Raindriff (out of Hurworth boundaries)
or to Slapestones, Arnim Green or Black Hambleton, they are
allowed to go their way in peace till some unfortunate day when
the Bilsdale come across them sunning themselves in the
heather.
These big greyhound foxes take a lot more catching than
the half-tame, hand-reared, ignorant-of-locality animals one
occasionally finds in the low country (I am not referring
specially to the Hurworth in this respect).
The Hurworth is a " clay country," more so even than the
Cleveland, where they have an ancient couplet :
Cleveland in the Clay !
Bringeth in two souls and beareth one away.
Once Mr. Alec Park was asked the nature of the Hurworth
soil and he described it as " Chanelly-clay," to the amusement
of those who heard the description. Originally the country
6 A fine stretch of vale.
was described as consisting mainly of plough land, but, when
the price of cereals sank to such a low ebb, a considerable
portion of the stronger land was laid away to grass and now
there is a much larger average of pasture than tillage. There
are some very delightful bits within the boundaries of the hunt.
Take, for instance, that fine stretch from North Kilvington to
the Tees. Close your eyes, fancy yourself on a good horse,
with the rider in good tune (for " nerve " is really enthusiasm
backed up by health), and a straight-necked fox sailing ahead
over the line under good scenting conditions with hounds sing-
ing away behind ! Better still than the delight of imagination
— practically realise the actual charm of it, and you will agree
with men of experience in many parts of England that there are
few finer stretches of country in the United Kingdom.
One of the great charms of this wide expanse of vale is that
a man, with a useful hunter under him and his heart in the
right place, may ride his own line without meeting with any
obstacle to turn him back. As he throws fence after fence
behind him, and warms with indescribable joy and exhilaration
to his work, the further he goes and the more satisfied he
becomes with his occupation and the locale of it. He has the
added satisfaction of knowing, too, that almost every field he
crosses is farmed by a sportsman, who, even though he may not
ride to hounds himself, is fond of the game and is a Nimrod at
heart. Mr. W. Forbes always declared that " the Hurworth
farmers were the best set of fellows in the world," and he spoke
from long and wide experience. Where such happy conditions
prevail one always feels it in what may be described as the spirit
of the hunt, and in the Hurworth country strangers are always
struck by that spirit — the true atmosphere of sport which may
only be a sidelight but still has its influence over the whole.
The Tees ! A not infrequent occurrence in the Hurworth Country,
The River Tees. 7
The Hurworth country may be said to carry a good scent,
especially when it rides deep ; in fact, it can usually be taken
for granted that when the going is up to the hocks the Hurworth
are having great sport, though some other packs cannot run a
yard. Perhaps nowhere could a better example of the mysteries
of scent be discovered than in this little corner of England.
The Hurworth, an inland clay country, the Cleveland bounded
by the sea and adjoining the Hurworth. The one pack may be
"going strong and well " and the other finding the conditions
absolutely inimical to scent.
The River Tees is often a drawback to sport in the
Hurworth country, though not so much nowadays, perhaps, as
at an earlier period in the history of the Hunt, when the country
around the Tees was so much relied upon for sport. Through-
out all time, however, many are the foxes which have had to
thank its waters for their liberty. The Tees rises above the
wild moors of Milburn Forest, on the borders of Westmoreland,
Where Tees in tumult leaves his source,
Thund'ring o'er Caldron and High Force.
Continuing its journey eastward through Teesdale, it passes
Barnard Castle and Piercebridge (now the headquarters of the
Zetland Hunt) to Croft, onwards to Yarm (below which it is
joined by the Leven), thence to Stockton.
With regard to otter-hunting the Tees has a better charac-
ter, for an old couplet has it :
An otter in the Wear you may find but once a year
But an otter in the Tees you may find at your ease.
Speaking of the Tees reminds me of an experience related
to me by Mr. Parrington. He says the river rises four feet in
a few minutes, and without any intimation. In Mr. Parrington's
day, there was always a breed of foxes at Eyreholme Scarr, on
8 An old-time reminiscence.
the Yorkshire side of the water, and it was customary for the
keenest sportsmen living thereabouts to walk thither after dinner
and watch the cubs playing about. When the water is low, the
river is very narrow here, and, on one occasion, Mr. Parrington
and old Mr. John Colling (grandfather of Mr. Bob Colling, of
Middleham racing fame) had had dinner with Dr. Cockcroft (a
brother of the present Middleham doctor, and a very able
physician), and afterwards walked on to Eyreholme Scarr to
see the cubs. None were seen about, however, and it was
thought the earth had been tampered with. The doctor said
he would swim across and give his diagnosis, so walked into the
gravelly bed of the river, " peeled," and swam over the narrow
bit. Whilst he was making his examination, "a fresh" suddenly
came down and carried off the medico's clothes, leaving him on
the opposite side as naked as when he was born. Those on the
further bank saw the humour of the situation, but they also saw
that something would have to be done. So Mr. Colling went
to Hurworth, and told Col. Scurfield of their friend's predica-
ment. A boat and some clothes were procured, and the doctor,
who, by the way, was a great otter-hunter, was brought safely,
if shivering, to his friends again.
On another occasion, when Mr. Parrington wanted to cross
the Tees at Worsall (where Marmaduke Theakston,* son of the
then Rector of Hurworth, was drowned, on December 26th, 1823),
his great friend, Mr. Maughan, who lived at Worsall, and was
one of the best friends the hunt had amongst the farmers, said
he would pilot him. There was already a bit of flood, and, as
*There is a mural monument on the east side of the south transept of Hurworth Church
bearing the following inscription :
"A.D. 1831. This monument is erected by the Rev. John Theakston to the memory of
his beloved wife, Dorothy Theakston, and of their two sons, Marmaduke and John. John
Theakston died Octr. 8th, 1799, aged 4 years. Marmaduke Theakston, A.M., died Deer.
26th, 1823, aged 32 years. Dorothy Theakston departed this life Jany. 2nd. 1826, aged 71
years. The Rev. John Theakston, B.A., departed this life the ist day of Aug., 1832, in the
88th year of his age, having been rector of this parish 48 years."
Hiirworth Boundaries. 9
they were crossing the river, a sudden rise took place, and the
water began to run in at the top of Mr. Parrington's boots.
"You may know this ford all right, Maughan," said Mr.
Parrington, " but Pm saying my prayers all the time." " I
think we'd be better out," reiterated Maughan, and Mr.
Parrington agreed with him. Fortunately they did succeed in
reaching the other side. As will be mentioned hereafter, the
Wilkinsons used to train their horses during the summer to
swim the river.
There have been many "experiences" in the Tees, all of
which add excitement to the sport ; but there is not a bit of
doubt that the river does spoil the Hurworth country to a very
great extent. So soon as foxes find they are pressed, they seem
to instinctively make for the river, and frequently beat hounds.
The Hurworth country lies in Durham and North Yorks.,
and has been described as " oblong with a bulge in it." On
the North it adjoins the South Durham ; on the West Lord
Zetland's ; on the South the Bedale ; and on the East the
Cleveland and Bilsdale. When the Duke of Cleveland gave up
hunting, the Hurv/orth took the Durham side of the Tees and
Mr. Cradock the Yorkshire side of the old Raby territory. For
long the Duke of Cleveland hunted pretty much where he liked,
and the Cleveland had come as far as they wished to in what is
now Hurworth preserves. Generally speaking, there were no
boundaries in those early days, as is made evident in the ballad
" The Hurworth Fox Chased
" Account of a wonderful run with Sir Charles Turner's
foxhounds, nearly fifty miles, from Hurworth to Kilton." Such
was the heading to the following verses, which appeared in the
Sporting Magazine, in October, 1827, and which told of a
wonderful run in 1775 :
lo ''The Hiinvortli Fox Chase'' in 1775.
Attend, jolly sportsmen, I'll sing you a song.
Which cannot help pleasing the old and the young ;
I'll sing of a famous old fox and his wiles.
Which led us a chase of at least fifty miles.
I'll tell you a tale of such men and such hounds,
With what courage they'd hie over all sorts of grounds ;
See hounds vie with hounds, and how men with men strive,
Old Draper might rue that he were not alive !
At Hurworth, famed village, as soon as 'twas light,
We feasted our eyes with a ravishing sight !
Each sportsman had pleasure and joy in his face,
There horses and hounds were all ripe for the chase.
But first the Commander-in-Chief let me name
The Lord of Kirkleatham, of true honest fame,
A friend to good men, but profess'dly a foe.
To villains with four legs as well as with two.
We had not tried long before ' Rafter ' gave mouth.
Esteemed by our pack as the standard of truth ;
They quickly flew to him and instant declare
That ' Rafter ' was right ; for a fox had been there.
And, trust me, he proved a notorious blade.
His name was ' Old Caesar,' and plunder his trade.
His namesake, in all the great battles he won.
Spilt less blood by gallons than this rogue had done.
Unkennel'd at Airyholme, he led us a round.
In which we might run about four miles of ground ;
Then back to the earth, but the stoppers took care
To baulk him from making his quarters good there.
Disdaining such treatment, he flourished his brush.
And seemed to say — ' Sportsmen, I care not a rush ;
I'll give you a proof of such stoutness and speed,
That old Nimrod himself would have honour'd my breed.'
Through Hornby and Smeaton he now bent his way,
Resolved to make this a remarkable day ;
^ He then wheel'd to the left, to the banks of the Tees,
But there he could find neither shelter nor ease ;
Now, finding with what sort of hounds he'd to deal,
And that his pursuers were true men of steel.
He push'd to gain shelter in great Crathorne wood,
With hounds at his brush, and all eager for blood.
Now the field, all alive, how they smoked him along !
So joyous the music, each note was a song.
And all was melody, spirit and' joy.
Though strong emulation enlivened each eye.
Next, passing by Marton and Ormesby great hall,
He seemed to say — ' Little I value you all ;'
For many a stout horse was now slackening his speed,
And to see them tail oflf was diverting, indeed.
Mr. Turner's Hounds. ii
Then, not to be thought a contemptible fox,
He dared them to follow o'er Cleveland's high rocks.
But the ascent was so steep, and so painfully won,
That few gained the top before he was far gone.
To Kirkleatham Hall he next bent his career.
Hard pressed by the owner to end his life there ;
Assuring him he and his friends would not fail
All possible honours to render his tail.
Now, no one but Turner being left on the field,
And finding ' Old Caesar ' unwilling to yield,
At Kilton, thought proper to finish the strife.
So called off the pack to give ' Caesar ' his life ;
But ' Bluebell ' and ' Bonny Lass ' would have a meal
(Whose hearts were of oak, and whose limbs were of steel) ;
So they soon ran him up to his friend at the mill.
Where, triumphant, they seized him and feasted their fill.
Then, just like attraction 'twixt needle and pole,
All centred that evening at Kirkleatham Hall,
Where the bottles of red, and the fox-hunter's bowl,
Not only enlivened, but cherished the soul.
Oh, long may our host continue to grace
His mansion, the country, and likewise the chase ;
And as long as old time shall be governed by clocks,
May a Turner for ever prevail o'er a fox.*
Regarding this song, Sir A. E. Pease, in The Cleveland
Hounds, says :
" Now this ballad concerns Mr. Turner's hounds, and he finds this
•no contemptible fox' at Hurworth. I believe that Mr. Turner hunted
the low-lying portions of Cleveland, the neighbourhood of Kirkleatham,
and as far West as Hurworth. Packs were not advertised in those days,
and were designated sometimes by their owners' names and sometimes by
the name of the country they hunted In those days Masters of
hounds were not limited in the North to any exact boundary in hunting,
but it became customary not to encroach on the hunting grounds of those
who were in the habit of drawing the country ; and in Yorkshire at this
early date, although the Earl of Darlington hunted the country pretty much
as he liked, Mr. Turner's, alias ' The Cleveland,' would find a large tract of
country, now divided between the Hurworth and Cleveland, in which he
could hunt without any interference from others."
* Mr. Charles Turner and Lord John Cavendish represented York City from 1768-74-S0.
Mr. George Lane-Fox, a Tory, having formerly been one of the members.
12
Another Cleveland pack.
Col. R. Chaloner, M.P., hardly agrees with Sir Alfred, and
some years ago wrote to me :
" My great-great-grandfather, William Chaloner, kept a pack of
hounds here before the Cleveland hunt started. I have a picture of him in
my dining room, in a red coat with blue collar (which, oddly enough, is
now the dress of the Hunt). He was born on August 24th, 1745, and died
INIay 8th, 1793, and it was his pack which is mentioned in two old songs
quoted in Sir A. Pease's 'The Cleveland Hounds,' on pages 7 to 11,
and 256. As regards this book, it will be seen Sir A. Pease has made some
mistake, as, first, he says, on page 7, that ' there is little doubt that it was
the same pack as Mr. Turner's hounds commemorated in the
following verses.' He then finds two different verses of a song on a great
run on January 2gth, 1785 ; but on page 10 he refers you at the bottom to
page 256, where in the agenda he gives what he describes as 'an "old"
copy,' which is headed, ' A song of a chase with William Chaloner Esq's
Foxhounds, Guisborough in Cleveland, wrote by . . . .' Sir A. E. Pease
then says ' from this it is clear that "The Cleveland Hounds" was then the
title of Mr. William Chaloner's Pack.' Why ? Surely, the oldest copy,
actually written by a man who was in the run, is most likely to be the
correct one, and he never mentions the words ' Cleveland Hounds,' but
distinctly calls them ' Mr. William Chaloner's.' Nor could they be Mr.
Turner's hounds, if they were Mr. Chaloner's. Both Mr. Turner* and Mr.
Chaloner had packs then. Major C. Ward Jackson, of Normanby, has
some most interesting old diaries of that date, in which his ancestor relates
odd days with both these packs. I enclose a copy of a letter written by
Major C. Ward Jackson on the subject, which please return when read.
This Mr. William Chaloner's son, Robert Chaloner, was the first master
(joint master with Mr. George Lloyd), of the York and Ainsty."
The following is the record of the run, as given in W.
Pick's Authentic Historical Raciftg Calendar, 1705- 1785 :
" KiRKLEATHAM, Dec. 1 , 1775.
Mr. Charles Turner's hounds hunted at Ayreyholm, near Hurworth,
and found the noted fox Caesar, who made an extraordinary chase : After
* It may be evidence, as well as explanation as to what persuaded Mr. Charles Turner to
hunt so far from home, to point out that he owned the Neasham Estate, the purchase of
which, from Sir William Blackett, Bart., is hereafter recorded.
Sir A. E. Pease's arguments.
13
a round of four miles, he led to Smeaton, through Hornby and Appleton ;
then back to Hornby, Worset Moor, Piersburgh, Limpton, Craythorn,
Middleton, Hilton, Seamer, Newby, Marton, Ormesby, then upon Hamble-
ton, through Kirkleatham Park, Upleatham, Skelton and Kilton. Mr.
Turner tired three horses, and only three hounds in pursuit, when he
thought proper to call them off, it being near five in the evening, and invited
the gentlemen present to his house at Kirkleatham, where they were most
hospitabl}' entertained. The chase was upwards of fifty miles."
Kirkleatham Hall: where the great run ended, where "Van Tromp " and
"The Flying Dutchman" were bred, and where the Cleveland Hounds were
at one time kennelled.
In Cleveland and its Hunt, by the present author, Sir A. E.
Pease refers to this wonderful run in the Hurvvorth country
thus :
" In The Cleveland Hounds, there is, on page 5, an old ballad describ-
ing a run on the ist December, 1775, where 'Old Cassar ' yielded his brush
after a run from ' Eyreholm' to Kilton-in-Cleveland. Colonel V. Straubenzie
used to claim that he possessed the brush of ' Old Caesar,' and I had some
correspondence with him on the subject, but I think the following will
show his claim was unfounded. Colonel V. Straubenzie's original claim
was set out as follows : —
14 A brush and a ballad.
"' My great uncle, who possessed the above-named brush, was cousin to
the Master of the Hounds, and was at that tinne a Captain in the 17th Light
Dragoons, and a great sportsman. Very probably he was on leave at
Kirkleatham, and distinguished himself in the run, which would account
for his having the brush. This valuable trophy is carefully locked up, so
that I cannot copy the description of the run, but I am certain the places
are the same as those mentioned in the ballad, and that the brush in question
is that of ' Old Caesar.' The ballad in question was written by a well-
known sporting poet, the late Mr. Sutton, of Elton.'
"Now I think I can correct this statement in two particulars, or even
three, and I think I got the information from Colonel V. Straubenzie at a
later period. Firstly the brush was that of a fox killed in a great run in
1779, and to show that it was not only not ' Old Caesar's,' I give the places
passed in the two runs, in parallel columns.
1775- 1779-
Places mentioned Places mentioned in
in the ballad. the Straubenzie description.
Eyreholme Eston Nab
Smeaton Mordale
Hornby Chalandor's Park
Craythorne Hutton Wood
Marten Rousberry
Ormesby Hall Aryaum Gills
Eston Hall Kildale Covers
Kirkleatham Park Borrow Greens
Kilton Battersby
and other places to Rudby
" The ballad in question could not have been written by Mr. Sutton,
of Elton, for he was born about 1802, and it was written long before
this. The authorship was always attributed to the Rector of Hurworth
of that day, the Rev. Mr. Bramwell, father of Mr. Christopher Bramwell,
senior, of Sunderland. The rector was an intimate friend of Mr. Charles
Turner's, and probably his host during the night previous to the run.
Mr. Sutton was in the habit of singing this ballad, whence probably arose
the mistake of ascribing it to his pen. It will be noticed that in both of
these runs the country covered w^as partly within the boundaries of the
present Hurworth Hunt — a Hunt with a long historical record."
A hunting party in picture.
15
Mr. T. Parrington has an interesting old oil painting showing
the Wilkinsons and Mr. Charles Turner toasting the blood of
" Old Caesar," at Kirkleatham, after this wonderful day's sport,
and there are copies (or the original ?) of the picture at Neasham
Abbey, also an engraving differing somewhat in detail.
Through the courtesy of Mr. W. Turnbull, of Whitby, a copy
of the engraving is reproduced in this work.
CHAPTER II.
LORD DARLINGTON'S ERA.
S will be seen from the Wilkinsons' diaries, which
follow, the Hurworth Hounds were, at the time of
the great run mentioned in the preceding chapter,
virtually harriers, and, with the exception of an
occasional chance run after a fox on their part, the
nobler quarry was left to Lord Darlington, whose name is
inseparable from the early history of hunting in general and in
this part of the world in particular. For over 150 years fox-
hounds were kept at Raby Castle. x\bout the year 1791, the
Earl of Darlington, who became Duke of Cleveland in 1832,
hunted a tremendous area of country, embracing practically the
whole of the County of Durham and nearly half of Yorkshire,
including the now Badsworth country. In the early diaries of
the old Raby Hunts one finds records of them meeting in
various parts of Durham, afterwards ceded to the famous Mr.
Ralph Lambton, and also of them having sport from Newsham
Banks, Dinsdale Woods, and Neasham (for long the head-
quarters of the Hurworth and the home of the Wilkinsons).
He also hunted what are now the Bedale and Zetland coun-
tries, and even the now York and Ainsty territory was not free
from his sporting incursions.
There appeared in Baity, for April, 1872, a very interesting
article on the Old Raby Hunt, which mentions so many
Nimrods afterwards connected with early sport in the North,
and particularly with the Hurworth, that I make no apology for
Old Time Northern Nimrods. 17
quoting a portion of it here. The writer, after speaking of the
expanse of country in which Lord Darlington hunted, says :
" To do all this he was so many weeks at Raby Castle, so many at
Catterick, or Newton House, near Bedale [where now lives that good
sportsman Mr. W. Russell], for the country around Boroughbridge, and
then went on to Bilham to hunt the now Badsworth country, which he
continued to do till i8og, when he retired Northwards Hunting
with him were Sir Harry Tempest Vane, who purchased ' Hambletonian,'
by ' King Fergus,' winner of the St. Leger, in 1795, from Sir Charles
Turner, and rode him in the Park on the Sunday after he won the
celebrated match over the B. C, for ^'3,000, in which Frank Buckle so
fairly out-generalled Fitzpatrick, who rode ' Diamond,' by making play
across the flat where Hambletonian's stride told, that it was said he won
the race rather than the horse, and the game little ' Diamond ' would even
then have beaten him had the winning post been slightly further off. The
descendants of the magnificent bay are well known in the hunting fields of
England through * Belzoni,' his great-grandson, who got more and better
hunters than any horse.
" To return to the men of that day, another good one was Jack Read,
also Col. John Trotter, of Haughton-le-Skerne and afterwards Staindrop.
The father of John Trotter, M.D., of Durham, Dale Trotter, of Upleatham,
and Charles Trotter, of Stockton, all well known for inheriting their father's
love for horse and hound, was not only a contemporary but a regular man
with Lord Darlington. He walked 15 stone and always rode and hunted
thoroughbred stallions. Amongst these were ' Adonis,' ' Brown Bread,'
and ' Raby.' He rode them as chargers and they also covered mares
during the summer. He once bought a horse out of a plough team for
£^0, which he called ' Cincinnatus,' and sold her to Sir Mark Sykes for
600 guineas ; and Col. Healey (of the N. Yorks Militia) lived a great deal
at Middleton. He was a brother of the Capt. Healey who had only one arm,
also a wonderful horseman, and known as ' The Lasher,' The Duke of Leeds,
from Hornby Castle, Major St. Paul was another regular. The Hon. Col.
Arden, of Pepper Hall, brother of the well known Lord Alvanley, one of the
most witty men of his day ; Mr. Milbank, of Thorpe Perrow, a son-in-law of
the Duke, was always in front, as was also Mr. George Serginson, of Camp
Hill, near Bedale, when there was anything to do and near them Mr.
1 8 More Niinrods of yore.
Newton, living now and for many years past at Kirby-in-Cleveland but
then in the Bedale or Ripon country, and Mr. Henderson, of Durham, now
M.P. for that City ; Sir Bellingham Graham, from Norton Conyers,
always hunted with Lord Darlington when he was in the Bedale country,
and left when they went back to Raby to go to his residence at White-
well to hunt with Sir Tatton Sykes. Sir David Baird, who hunted from
Sedgefield, was a very hard rider, of whom Mr. Lambton said that he
never knew so hard a man do such little mischief. Mr. Best, a tenant
of Lord Barrington, who had property in the County of Durham, Mr.
Geo. Richmond, of Heighington, Mr. Hodgson the post-master of
Staindrop, Mr. John Colling, of Hurworth, now a hale, hearty veteran,
who on more than one occasion 50 years ago swam the Tees. Mr.
Thomas Maude, of Selaby, than whom no better man across country
was never seen, and his younger brother William Maude, the late
Colonel of the South Durham Militia, riding such a weight that he
would never undergo the test of the scales, was one of the most deter-
mined welters that ever mounted a horse, and equall)' honoured in the
field as in every position of life. The Revd. Mr. Newton, of Wath,
was a first-rate man across country ; also the Hon. Capt. Powlett, uncle
of the present Lord Bolton. Mr. Gerard Wharton, of Gainford, and
of the Albany, for many years well known at Melton, was an intimate
friend of the Duke. Mr. John Monson, of Bedale, a son of the man
who had a whin named after him, was a very fair performer and
conspicuous rider.
"The ladies were Lady Augusta Milbank and her sister, Lady
Arabella Vane, his lordship's youngest daughter, who rode in a scarlet
habit. By the way, I must not omit Mr. Tom Shafto, who lived with
his brother at Whitworth and stayed a good deal with his friend Frank
Hartley, at Middleton Lodge, of whom the following story is told.
Crossing over from Ireland in a Liverpool packet boat, a tremendous
storm came on and the Captain told the passengers that they were in
great peril. Mr. Shafto, accompanied by his friend Capt. Johnson, who
on hearing of the danger immediately began to say his prayers. But it
is said Mr. Shafto sat very silent, and after a long meditation said to
his friend ' I say. Bob, no more Uckerby Whin,' showing his ruling
passion in a significant way. I have not mentioned Mr. Chaytor, son
of the first Baronet of the family, who rode hard on a chestnut mare
for some few seasons.
The Duke of Cleveland.
19
" The Duke of Cleveland gave up hunting about 1840, and grubbed
up the covers about Raby, and then the Bedale and Hurworth and
others formed theirs round the old Raby country. He died in 1842 and
left his racing stud to the Duchess, who, instead of selling them, gave
them away to different members of the family.
" When Henry Duke of Cleveland succeeded his father, he first
started a pack of staghounds, while he got up the covers, with Tom
Flint, from the Belvoir, as huntsman. He then kept foxhounds for ig
seasons."
CHAPTER III.
THE WILKINSONS AND THE HURWORTH :
A VISIT TO NEASHAM.
ERFECT was the autumn day, so far as the
weather was concerned, on September 14th,
when I went to Neasham Abbey, the home of
the Wilkinsons. It is a pretty walk from
fV J ^P Dinsdale station, and all the way along farmers
I '-' were busy with their hay — some leading, some
cutting, all " despert thrang " (as we say in the
North), for this was one of the few fine days we had had for
weeks. Passing the home of Mr. R. Cresswell-Ward, a well-
known owner of racehorses, and a good supporter of the
Hurworth Hunt (of which he is now Honorary Secretary), I was
confronted with a small inn boasting a not badly executed sign of
"The Golden Cock." I do not know the origin of the sign here,
but its usual significance is that the lord of the manor had
chanticleer as his crest, though, at the outset, this was simply a
short way of informing passers-by that ale could be procured
here, both on draught and in bottle, "cock" being still used in
some parts to denote the spigot or tap in the barrel. I called
here for direction, and because I have rather an affection for a few
moments country tap-room gossip. I say this boldly, for much
greater men than I have tarried at way-side taverns for amuse-
ment. There were some old wise-acres seated listening to a
stranger endeavouring to thump a tune out of a woefully
tuneless piano. He stopped almost as soon as I entered (for
which I was devoutly thankful, much as I love music), and
A visit to Neasham. 21
joined the company in their stare at me. That fine steeple-
chase rider, the late Bob Adams, used to describe this as
*' running the rule round people," — i.e., measuring them up
and down. I asked the way to the Abbey, and was told it
was only five minutes walk. Then we discussed the Leger (I
had just come from Doncaster), and I told them that on
the Monday of that week I had seen Mr. Thomas Parrington.
Two of the old men remembered him, and a somewhat younger
man claimed that he did, which the other two disputed.
"Thoo'd be a varry young 'un, that's all Ah can say," said one
grey-beard, in a tone of voice pregnant with unbelief. I left
them arguing the point, and passed down the village,
accompanied by a farmer who was walking into Darlington, and
who told me that " Neasham is supposed to beyan o' t' prettiest
villages i' Ingerland." I did not agree with him, though the
river Tees running through it certainly does give it a beauty
and character, whilst its association with the Cooksons, the
Neasham stud, and the Wilkinsons makes it of deep interest
to Northern sportsmen. Before we reached the short drive up
to Neasham Abbey we passed the " Fox and Hounds" hostel,
which stands high on the river side of the road, and has a
distinctly amateurish sign of a hunt in progress, and some
horsemen jumping a stell, which may possibly be meant to
represent the Tees. My companion told me that it is no
uncommon thing, when the river is flooded, for the beer barrels
to be washed out of the " Fox and Hounds " kitchen into
the sitting room. I remarked that the customers would no
doubt follow them, but the joke was so weak that he imagined
I had not grasped the import of what he had said, and repeated
his assertion. We were soon at " t' Abba " (as he called the
Abbey), and here one felt on hallowed ground, both ecclesiast-
22 Neasham Abbey.
ically and sportingly. At one time a Benedictine Abbey or
nunnery, dedicated to the Ever Blessed Virgin, did stand here,
and from time to time there have been interesting discoveries
connecting the present with the monastic past.
During the construction of the cellar years ago, several
skeletons and skulls were brought to light and, being decidedly
more material and practical than sentimental, the workmen
reported the bringing to light of each successive skull thus :
" Wa've fun anuther 'eead " (i.e. head).
Some years later, when the Abbey drains were being
altered, several skeletons were unearthed, one of which was
thought to be the remains of a personage of some importance
— possibly those of Dame Johanna Lawson herself. The said
Joan, or Johanna, according to tradition, was something of a
farmer and squire as well as an Abbess, and, for all one knows,
she cast a line occasionally in the waters of the Tees hard by.
If she was the robust type of Christian one is led to believe, I
am inclined to think that she would be provoked to a spirit
smile at the treatment of her remains — supposing they were hers.
The late Mr. Wilkinson, with a very proper reverence for
the departed, gave instructions for another grave to be dug,
and the bones reverently laid to rest again. On going to see
how the untutored gravediggers were progressing with their
work, he found that they had dug deep enough, but not a long
enough tomb to take the skeleton. On pointing this out, he
was horrified to see one of the men immediately chop the
skeleton in two with his spade, saying as he did so,
** We'll seean mak him gan in." One would not have been
surprised to hear after this that the ghost of some prioress
or nun walked the corridors of Neasham Abbey, or amongst
the gardens, but I am told that there are no local legends of
the supernatural.
Owners of the Abbey, 23
The Abbey was probably founded by one of the Barons
Greystock, who held the manor of Neasham, and from whom
it passed by marriage to Lord Dacre, and through the co-heir
of Dacre to Howard. In 1670, Lord St. John, of Basing
(afterwards Marquis of Winchester), held the Abbey and
afterwards sold it to Sir William Blackett, Bart., who again
conveyed it, in 1698, to Charles Turner, Esq., of Kirkleatham,
for ;f 1 1,000, whose great-grandson. Sir Charles Turner the
second, sold the estate to William Wrightson, Esq.
Dame Joan Lawson, the last prioress, surrendered the
monastery into the King's hands on Dec. 29th, 1540, before
Thomas Leigh, one of the commissioners, and survived the
dissolution for twenty years. On Sept. ist, 1540, Henry VIII,
by letters patent, granted to James Lawson, merchant, of
Newcastle (to whom his sister, the prioress, had, in 1537,
given a lease of the possessions of the Abbey), for ;f227 5s.,
the house and site of the dissolved monastery of Neasham,
the church bells and burial ground, and all the houses, granges,
barns, buildings, cartilages, gardens and orchards, within or
adjoining the site and circuit of the monastery, as well as
possessions in adjoining parishes.
On the death of James Lawson, descendant of the above,
in 1664, the inheritance devolved on his aunts, Frances and
Anne, the former of whom married Richard Braithwaite, Esq.,
of Burnishead, in Westmoreland. The latter was the wife of
Henry Jenison, of Wynyard, whose descendants figured
conspicuously amongst the pioneers of racing in the North.
Richard Braithwaite was a scholarly man and is generally
admitted to have been the author of Drunken Barnaby, in
which occur the lines :
24 Drunken Barnaby at Neasham.
Thence to Darlington, where I boused,
Till at length I was espoused.
All night long by th' pot I tarry'd
As if I had not been marry'd.
Thence to Nesham, now translated,
Once a nunnery dedicated.
Valleys smiling, bottoms pleasing.
Streaming rivers, never ceasing,
Deck'd with tufted woods and shady.
Graced by a lovely lady.
In his later days Braithwaite lived at Appleton, near
Richmond, upon what his biographer calls " an employment,
or rather a second marriage." He died there May 4th, 1673,
and was buried at Catterick, " leaving behind him the
character of a well-bred gentleman and a good neighbour."
Hutchinson speaks of a stone coffin at Newbus Grange,
which had originally come from the Abbey and which was then
in use as a pig-trough, and Mackenzie records that " at Mr.
Ward's house, at the Hill top, there is a piece of sculpture
fixed in the wall which seems to represent the Marys weeping
at the foot of the Cross."
There are two figures of Crusaders in Hurworth Church
which were taken from the Abbey, and Mrs. Wilkinson has in
her possession a Crusader's sword, which was dug up during
one of the excavations mentioned.
The three brothers Wilkinson, of whom much anon, began
to build the present house on the site of the Abbey and it was
added to by future generations of the family. As one would
expect, there are manifold signs of the sporting proclivities of
the Wilkinson family, past and present, throughout the house.
Fox mask, and otter and badger vie with one another in the
entrance hall. There are pictures of the Hurworth Hunt of
years ago, and of the Wilkinson trio, who did so much for the
The Wilkinsons and the Tees. 25
Hurworth country. I was told that the three brothers, Hving
so near the river, were excellent swimmers, and during the
summer they used to train their horses how to cross, so that
they would be prepared for the hunting season. Their modus
operandi was this. They divested themselves of their clothing,
got a cat, put it on a barrel in the river, then, with terriers and
their horses, they swam into the water, crossed and recrossed,
and accustomed the horses to landing and swimming. So,
except when the Tees was at flood, and was really not safe to
cross, they were rarely beaten by foxes taking the water. The
present Hurworth M.F.H. (Lord Southampton) also swims the
river, but Mr. Forbes never cared for this.
Bound up with the history of the Hurworth are the names
of various members of the Wilkinson family. They were the
founders of the hunt, and for many years carried it on practic-
ally at their own expense. From what one can gather, they
cared little or nothing for show and pageant, and were of that
hard-bitten type of old Nimrod, who were in the saddle all day
long, took their bottle in the evening, and were ready again at
daybreak for the chase. We don't breed that class of men
nowadays.
If one goes far enough back into the history of most of the
old established packs of foxhounds, we discover they had
their origin as harriers. Hare hunting boasts a much more
respectable antiquity than the chase of the fox, and up to not
much more than a century ago Reynard, the fox, occupied a
much inferior place in the venatic social scale to the hare.
Tradition has it that these harriers annoyed Lord Darling-
ton, and he made arrangements with the masters that if they
would let him have their covert and give up " thistle-cutting,"
he would give them some coverts on the Cotcliffe side of the
26 Transition from hare to fox.
country, and also Fighting Cocks, so that they could hunt the
nobler quarry. So the harriers became transformed into fox-
hounds, and neither Lord Darlington nor his favourite bit of
country was disturbed. Soon after this the newly-formed
Hurworth added the country between Crathorne and Yarm,
which used to be hunted by the Cleveland, and also by Mr.
Ralph Lambton, in the early part of his career. The Hurworth
also ventured further into the Cleveland domains in these pre-
boundary days, as witness the following extract from a speech
made by Mr. John Andrew, at the Cleveland Hunt dinner, in
1843:
" I was quite astonished that we did as well this season as
the last, as I feared a scarcity of foxes. We have had some
excellent sport, and in six days running we killed twelve foxes.
It is well known that the Hurworth Hounds hunted this
country several weeks and never killed a fox."
I quote the foregoing from Sir A. E. Pease's book on The
Cleveland Hounds, and in answer to an enquiry. Sir Alfred
wrote to me : "The Roxby and Cleveland, I fancy, seldom
left the hills, and hunted much as do the Bilsdale now. The
Chaloners had a pack of hounds at Guisborough ; the Turners
had one at Kirkleatham, though perhaps not exactly contem-
porary. The Duke of Cleveland, and Lord Darlington before
him, went almost anywhere in the North Riding at one time."
I was permitted to go through the old Wilkinson diaries,
and found the first entries had reference to hare hunting and
fox hunting, till 1799, when the quest of the hare was evidently
given up. The expenses of the hunt immediately began to
increase, for heretofore their real quarry had been hare, and
they had only hunted (we imagine) bagged foxes, and others
they came across by accident. There is no record of earth-
The Wilkinsons' diaries. 27
stopping expenses till 1799, but let the diaries speak for
themselves.
Killed in the year 1787, by Hurworth Hounds : — 108 hares, 8 foxes ;
expenses £2, 14s.
In the year 1788, 102 hares, 22 foxes, lost i fox ; expenses £c, 17s.
In the year 1789, 153 hares, 17 foxes, lost 10 foxes; expenses
£7 19s- 9d.
In the year 1790, 141 hares, 14 foxes ; expenses /g 13s.
In the year 1791, 121 hares 13 foxes ; expenses £12 i8s.
In the year 1792, 146 hares, 3 foxes; expenses £1^ 15s. 2d.
In the year 1793, 125 hares, 7 foxes ; expenses £16.
In the year 1794, 130 hares, 3 foxes ; expenses ;^i2 9s. 3d.
In the year 1795, 136 hares, 6 foxes ; expenses £1"] 5s. iid.
In the year 1796, 114 hares, 11 foxes ; expenses /13 9s.
Expenses of hounds from London and dog fat for last season £6 19s.
In the season 1797, 45 hares, 14 foxes ; expenses £67,.
In the season 1798, 24 foxes, earthed 21 foxes; expenses £^2 3s.
In the season 1799, 29 foxes, earthed 16 foxes ; expenses ^54.
In the season 1800, 27 foxes, earthed 21 foxes ; expenses ^87.
In the season 1801, 33 foxes, earthed 28 foxes ; expenses ;^84 is.
In the season 1802, 39 foxes, earthed 18 foxes ; expenses ^81 2S.
In the season 1803, 36 foxes, earthed 24 foxes ; expenses £gy 13s. 4d.
In the season 1804, 19 foxes, earthed 10 foxes; expenses ;^io7.
In the season 1805, 22 foxes, earthed 12 foxes ; expenses £g6 is. 4d.
From the outset of the change from hare to fox, the
Wilkinsons had great sport in a portion of Yorkshire not ver^'
popular to-day with hunting men and women. I refer to the
moorlands above Arncliffe and Silton. Witness the following
extracts from the diary of Mr. Thomas Wilkinson :
June 25th, 1789. — Mr. Gibson weighed this day, 12 st. 7 lbs.
Mr. M. Wilkinson, 12 st. 7 lbs.
28 The Wilkinsons' diaries.
Mr. Colling, ii st. 6 lbs.
Mr. H. Colling, g st. 9 lbs.
Mr. L. Wilkinson, 10 st. 4 lbs.
January 26th, 1790: Run a fox from Sadbergh to Sherburn, and
killed him ; only Haigh Robson and myself up.
January 14th, 1794: Drowned four hounds in the ice at Sockburn,
and killed fox near Fettles, after crossing Tees three times.
January 23rd, 1796: Killed a fox at Acklam, which ran upwards of
twenty miles.
May 17th, 1798 : Got from Bramham pack huntsman six couples of
hounds.
1799: Earthed one fox at Sir William Fowles' Wood
from Arncliffe, after a good run,
[Note. — Sir William Fowles' (sic Foulis') Wood is at
Ingleby Greenhow, and is in the Cleveland country, though
hounds never draw it nowadays because — well, they never
draw it.]
January 31st, 1800: Earthed a fox Keelbeck, found at
Beverley Wood, ran about forty miles.
March 20th, 1800 : Killed a fox at Gillemoor, after running
him forty miles. Found in Mount Spendy, near Skelton
Castle.
[Note. — Regarding this most wonderful run from Skelton
to Gillamoor (two and a half miles from Kirbymoorside), I wrote
to Squire Wharton, M.F.H., as to what the Hurworth could be
doing at Skelton Castle and if he had ever heard of the great
hunt. He replied : *' I am sorry I can throw no light on the
matter. There is a *' Mount Shandy Wood" at Skelton —
could this be it ? " One is probably not far wrong in surmising
that Shandy Wood was so named after Laurence Sterne
(Tristram Shandy), who used to pay frequent visits to Skelton
First Hurworth Hunt members. 29
Castle in the days of John Hall Stephenson, who, in his
Cleveland Prospect, mentions him :
Skelton, beneath the jocose muse's bower,
Smile on her bard and ancient humble tow'r,
Where feeling Tristram dwelt in daj's of yore,
Where joyful Panty made the table roar.
" Panty" was the Rev. Robert Lascelles.]
Mr. Thomas Wilkinson's diary for 1800 contains the
following list of the members of the Hurworth Hunt :
jgoo. — Mr. Meynell, Mr. Scroop, Mr. Crathorn, Mr.
Chaloner, Mr. Hustlar, Mr. Wilkinson, Mr. Colling, Mr. R.
Colling, Mr. Sleigh, Mr. Wilson, Mr. Hutton, Mr. Webster,
Colonel Skeley, and myself, £s 5s- each, total £^S 5s.
In the following year, the list was :
1801.— Mr. Hustler, Mr. Hutton, Mr. Wilson, Messrs. H.
and T. Colling, Mr. Challoner, Mr. Crathorne, Mr. Meynell,
Colonel Skelby, Major Colling, Mr. Wilkinson (London), Mr.
Brown, Mr. Sleigh, Mr. Russell, and Mr. T. Wilkinson, £s 5s.
each, total /"Bg 5s.
These names are interesting, and not unknown in
connection with sport to-day. Mr. Meynell belonged to a
very old Northern family, who, at this time lived at the
Friarage, Yarm-on-Tees. In the reign of Henry HI., the
Yarm estate came to Marmaduke Thweng, Lord of Kilton,
from whom it passed to the Meinells (or Me3mells) by marriage,
and to their descendants, the D'Arcy and Conyers families. Sir
Conyers D'Arcy, knight, about the year 1556, sold the Yarm
property to Sir Henry Bellasis, of Newburgh, whose descend-
ants were created Earls of Fauconberg. Subsequently, it was
conveyed in marriage with Anne, daughter and heiress of
Henry, the last Earl, to Sir George Wombwell, Bart. The
30
Yarm and its race meetifig.
late Thomas Meynell dying without issue, the lordship was
inherited by his nephew, Edgar John Meynell.
Yarm-on-Tees — quaint, picturesque and sporting.
Yarm, by the way, has always been a most sporting little
town and a Hurworth Hunt stronghold. At one time it had
its own race meeting, the earliest record of which I can find in
my notes is 1751, when the following announcement was made
in The York C our ant :
" Advt. — On Wednesday, the i8th Sept. next, £50 in specie will
be run for on Yarm Ings by four-3'ear-old horses that have never won a
;^5o prize.
" On Thursday, 19th Sept., £50 will be run for on the same course
by any horses that have not won a /20 prize.
" On Friday, 20th Sept., £50 in specie will be run for on the same
course by any horse that has not won a /50 prize since March last."
This meeting was, however, postponed till October 5th, to
avoid clashing with Doncaster. On the day mentioned, ten
four-year-olds started for the £^0 plate, which was won by Mr.
The Scvopes of Danby-on-Yore. 31
Routh's brown mare ' Tailor's Thimble,' got by Mr. Martin-
dale's ' Regulus.' Mr. Routh lived at Snape, in the Bedale
country, but had his horses trained at Dinsdale, where he had
a property. It was natural, therefore, he would have
considerable interest in Yarm races. In 1750 he bred a brown
horse called ' Snap,' and sold him to Mr. Jenison Shafto.
' vSnap ' was by 'Snip,' and his dam by Lord Portmore's 'Fox,'
out of the Duke of Bolton's ' Gipsy.' * Snap' won many races
at Newmarket and York, and was a stallion in Yorkshire and
Northumberland from 1758 to 1761, whilst from 1762 to 1766
he stood to mares at Newmarket. He died in 1777, aged 27.
On the second day of this old time Yarm fixture of 1751,
five horses started for the £^0 plate (give and take) which was
won by Dr. Bracken's ' Tripping Nancy.' For the third and
last day nine horses entered for a similar plate, which Sir
William Middleton's bay filly 'Camillar' carried off, the winner
being by a son of ' Bay Bolton.' So much for Yarm races.
Mr. Scroop (now rendered Scrope) belonged to one of the
most famous families England has ever possessed. He lived
at Danby-on-Yore, which is still in the possession of the family,
and where, in igo5, the late Mr. Simon Conyers Scrope (one
of the best of good fellows) kept a pack of hounds, with which
he hunted the moorland portion of the Bedale country. The
name of Scrope is writ large in the early history of the
Hurworth.
Since very early days, the Scropes have been famed as
equestrians, and, even in Plantagenet times, a Scrope was
chosen from the whole English army to contest on horseback
in a military tournament with the French champion, during a
truce after one of the big battles, and won. In the celebrated
trial in the Court of Chivalry, in 1385, called the Scrope and
32 The Scropes of Danby-on-Yore.
Grosvenor Roll, as to the right of the Grosvenor to carry as his
arms azure a bend or, and in which the Scrope gained his
point ; an aged knight, Sir William Aton, gave evidence that
he had heard his father say " that Sir William Scrope was the
ablest tourneyer (performer in a tournament) of all their
country and that he always tourneyed in the arms azure a bend
or and had been a good esquire, and a good servant, and a
good bohourdeoiir (nder \n 2i ']oust) . In the famous ballad of
Flodden Field are found the lines :
Next whom in place was nexed near
Lord Scrope of Bolton, stern and stout,
On horseback who had not his peer.
No Englishman Scots more did doubt.
Still later, two more Scropes, from old diaries in the possession
of the late Mr. Scrope (which now, unfortunately, cannot be
found), seem to have been hard men across country after
hounds, whilst the next Simon Scrope hunted his own harriers.
His son, in turn, was well known all around Danby as preferr-
ing to ride a four-year-old when turned eighty than more staid
horses ; whilst again, his son, the late Simon Scrope, was,
perhaps, the best rider ever known in the Bedale country, and
old folks even yet tell wondrous stories of his prowess in the
field.
We find Mr. Simon Scrope, in his diary, extolling the
blood of two horses, ' Cade ' and ' Matchem.' We have an
old saying in Yorkshire, " Ya knaw breedin' will tell," and this
is applicable to persons as well as animals, as one finds all
along the line in many such families as the Scropes, whose
support of the Turf, the hound and the horn descends from
generation to generation.
The Scropes of Danby-on-Yore. 33
Thus does an extract from Squire Scrope's lost diary*
run :
"February 17th, 1780. — Mr. Simon Scrope (the son) says
they (the Bedale Hounds) run forty miles. Mr. Scrope had a
bad fall from his horse, in which he much hurt his leg. Mr.
Simon Scrope had four falls, in one of which he greatly hurt
his shoulder. Old Renny beat the whole field, though pursued
from six in the morning till three in the evening — rare work
for horses. Not a horse in the field but Mr. Scrope's
could make a trot towards the end, and even Mr. Simon
Scrope could not catch them. Brave old ' Cade ' and
'Matchem's' blood!"
Mr. Scrope (the father) was seventy years of age when he
rode this historic run. There is a tradition in the family that
the dam of " Nutwith," which won the St. Leger in 1843, was
regularly hunted with Mr. Scrope's harriers by her owner,
Captain Wrather, a Masham wine merchant, and in the famous
picture, still at Danby, of one of the Simon Scropes hunting
his hounds at Middleham,! and just on the point of running
into a hare, there is a man in a green coat on a grey mare.
The dam of " Nutwith," like most of the daughters of
" Comus," was grey. The horse, " Danby Cade," was, perhaps,
the most famous horse ever owned by any of this historical
and ancient family. He was bred in 1747, and was by
" Cade," dam by " Soreheels." He beat Sir John Moore's
chestnut horse " Slough," nine stones each four miles over the
round course at Newmarket, in 1753, in a match for forty
guineas a-side and 160 guineas bye, and won many other races.
* The late Mr. Simon Conyers Scrope sent the Editor the extract.
t Squire Scrope had hounds at Danby from 1805 to 1829 when they were transferred to
Middleham with Mr. Chris. Topham as Master.
34 Mr. Chaloner and Mr. Hustler.
There is a picture of him at Danby, painted by WilHam Shaw,
in 1753, with his jockey by his side. It is to be hoped, how-
ever, the horse was not hke his representation on canvas, for
here he has nearly all the points a horse should not have, and
few of the essential qualifications of a racehorse. On the
mile-post in the picture is painted "/i,o5o," and the tradition
in the family is that he won a five hundred guineas a-side
match; but the " Racing Calendar " is silent on the subject.
According to the " Turf Bible," he was eventually sold to
Lord March, and afterwards to Captain Vernon ; but the
probability is that, owing to the penal laws (according to which
no Papist could own a horse above the value of ^'5, or, to
speak more correctly, was liable to have him claimed for that
figure), he was entered in these gentlemen's names.
Mr. Chaloner (to continue the list of original Hurworth
Hunt members) lived at Guisboro' Hall, where his father
had kept a pack of hounds. A picture of the latter in full
hunting kit is still preserved by his successors there. The
hunt was established some time prior to 1800. Regarding this
pack and its Master, Colonel R. Chaloner, M.P., some time
ago, wrote to me : —
" The Mr. Chaloner is, I imagine, my great-great-grand-
father, William Chaloner, who kept a pack of hounds here
before the Cleveland Hunt started, and of whom I have a
picture in my dining-room, in a red coat with blue collar
(which, oddly enough, is now the uniform of the members of the
Cleveland Hunt). He was born on August 24th, 1745, and
died May 8th, 1793."
Mr. Hustlar (sic Hustler) was of Acklam Hall, which his
successors are, at the time of writing, thoroughly renovating,
prior to occupancy. The picturesque old place, with its fine
The Colling family and others. 35
avenue, has long stood empty. Mr. William Hustler bought
the Manor of Acklam from Sir Matthew Boynton, in 1673.
Thomas Hustler, formerly Peirse, whose wife, Constance, was
a granddaughter of Sir Griffith Boynton, died in 1802, and
was succeeded by Thomas Hustler, who died unmarried in
1819. i^ide Ancient Middlesbrough.)
Mr. Colling was of Hurworth, where the family are still
living. Mr. Robert Colling, the gentleman trainer, of Middle-
dam, is a grandson of the original Hurworth Hunt member of
that name. He has this year (1912) been most successful
with the string of horses under his charge, and it is interesting
to note that his young son has once or twice been seen wearing
silk. Thus one more generation of the well known Northern
sporting family has made its debut. All success to the presid-
ing genius of Spigot Lodge and his scion.
Mr. Sleigh was of Stockton and Arkendale, and was
Lieut. -Colonel in the 83rd Foot. He was born in 1758, and
married Ann, daughter and heiress of Mr. J. Ward, of
Billingham. His mother was a Sutton, of Elton. He died in
1825.
Col. Skeley (sic Skelly) seems to have left no successors in
the Hurworth country. His remains were buried in the
Church yard at Hurworth, and I copied the following inscrip-
tion from the gravestone : "At the foot of this stone are
deposited the mortal remains of Gordon Skelly, late a Lieut. -
Col. in the army, in which he served many years with
distinguished reputation. The attacks led by him at the last
celebrated siege of Seringapatam are particularly recorded.
He departed this life the 30th day of November, 1828,
aged 61."
CHAPTER IV.
THE WILKINSON DIARIES: SHOWING
OLD-TIME SPORT AND HUNTING EXPENSES.
ET us now continue the extracts from the
diaries kept by the Wilkinsons. They are
instructive and deeply interesting from a
comparative point of view to-day, both as
regards the expense of keeping and hunting a
pack of hounds and also the wonderful points
hounds made and the length of time they ran.
In those days, there is no question, foxes knew much more
country than they do to-day, when a conglomeration of
circumstances have combined to keep them pretty much within
certain well-defined areas and to limit their knowledge thereto.
The diaries themselves speak much more eloquently of this
evolution than I can do. The volume for 1800 begins with :
EARTH-STOPPING ACCOUNTS.
\ Paid for earth-stopping :
Oct. 24th to April 30th, 1800
Sept. 30th, 1800, to 1801
Sept. 22nd, 1801, to April, 1802
Oct. 8th, 1802, to March, 1803
Sept. 24th, 1803, to April, 1804
Oct. 3rd, 1804, to March, 1805
Oct. 15th, 1805, to April, 1806
Sept. 26th, 1806, to March, 1807
Sept. 22nd, 1807, to May
* Initial letter Mr. H. Straker, Master of Zetland Hunt
£
1 1
s,
16
d.
0
16
19
0
II
13
0
15
19
0
13
I
0
7
4
0
I
26
s.
4
d.
I
42
16
3
14
0
0
Hunt expenses in 1800.
1805, Flesh, foxes, hounds, etc. ...
Mang. to Micl. Stamper
For dog fat for 14 couple
HUNT EXPENSES IN 1800.
Oct. 16th, for one horse at Guisborough, 4s,
W. Wilson, for rye meal, £2, is.
November 6th, for flesh at Guisborough and fetching, £1 7s. 2d.
For mealy from Skelton, is.
Ostler at Guisborough, for looking after hounds' meat, jetty water,
etc., 2s.
George Middleton, for five horses, £1.
My brother Matthew for one horse, 5s.
November i6th, W. Wilson for three horses, 14s.
November 17th, Cansick for one horse, 4s.
November 21st, my servant William for one horse, 5s.
November 27th, my servant William for one horse, 5s.
December loth, Cansick for one horse, 4s.
December 15th, Mr. Meynell's servant for bringing one horse, is.
George Middleton's man for one horse, 5s.
December 22nd, W. Markham for one calf, is.
January igth, Mr. Meynell's Thomas for one horse, 5s.
January 27th, Philip Harrison for mange medicine, /"i os. gd.
January 28th, Richard Thompson for one old horse, 4s.
February 3rd, M. Thompson for four horses, los.
February 6th, Wilson's men for one horse, 5s.
February 8th, John Blackburn for one horse, 5s.
February loth, for Skinningrove horse at Scarthlees, is.
February i6th, 1801, Mr. Simpson for meat for hounds, ^3.
February 17th, Wilson's man for one horse, 4s.
February 26th, for flesh at Guisborough, 13s.
March gth, George Middleton for 15 horses, £1.
38 Some early sport.
March 27th, for three horses at Guisborough,* 15s.
March 27th, Richard Davison one horse 5s,
March 29th, John Miles for one horse, 4s.
Brought forward for meat, ;^8 is. — /18 12s. 6d.
For hounds and bringing home, £11 4s.
For meat, etc., at Guisborough, £^ gs.
For earth-stopping, foxes, and flesh at Guisborough, £16 gs.
Dog fat for one year, £8 8s.
For mang. for one year, ^ig 5s.
Total, ;^86 igs.
February loth, 1801 : Earthed one fox at Snotterdale
from Arncliffe, after chasing remarkably hard for seven miles.
[Note, — Snotterdale is in the Bilsdale country, and is a
moorland ravine above Faceby. It has for generations been a
stronghold of foxes, and, years ago, when the Cleveland
regularly hunted bagged foxes, the jet-workers used to set
stone-traps here, and whenever Mr. Andrews was in the neigh-
bourhood with his hounds, they met him with "a baggy," for
the payment of which the field subscribed. The Hurworth
paid for Snotterdale being "stopped" prior to 1805, as will
be seen shortly from a letter from Mr. Wilkinson to Lord
Darlington.]
March 31st, 1801 : Earthed one fox at Snotterdale, and
five hounds went away with another to Hambleton. Both
found at Thimbleby.
[Note. — Whether the fox which was earthed at Snotterdale
left Arncliffe and Raindriff to his left (as he probably would),
or ran through them, the run would be over as rough and
boggy a bit of country as one could find in the North.]
October 15th, 1801 : Killed a foxatArden, near Hemsley.
Found in Thimbleby.
*Why Guisborough — at that time vieing with Stokesley as the capital of Cleveland —
figures so prominently in the diaries at this period I am at a loss to explain. The old-
fashioned town is into teens of miles from Hurworth.— Editor.
sport and Polemics. 39
[Note. — This point is not so great as the place-names
would suggest. Coming out of Thimbleby Wood, passing the
locale of the now reservoir, and bearing away by Black Hamble-
ton and Hawnby to Arden, hounds would not travel more
than six or seven miles as the crow flies. Nevertheless, Messrs.
Wilkinson and their friends were a longer ride from the kennels
than most hunting men would like to face in these days of
motor cars and hunt " specials."]
November 2nd, 1802 : Earthed one fox in Black Hamble-
ton, and killed or earthed another from Arncliffe.
November 30th, 1804 : Killed a brace of foxes from Spring
Wood, one after a capital run of fourteen miles over the moors,
joining Kildale ; the other at Roseberry by Tunner Bath.
[Note. — This must have been a really great day. Spring
Wood is near Silton, and so far removed from Kildale that I
venture to say if we called at a Silton farm, and asked the way
to that village, or, on the other hand, asked one of Mr. Robert
Turton's Kildale tenants the way to Silton, neither could
direct us.]
December 13th, 1804: Killed a fox near Norton, after a
three hours' run of thirty-five miles from Blackbanks.
[Copy of a letter addressed to Lord Darlington.']
" Hurworth, January 30th, 1805.
My Lord :
Mr. Meynell yesterday inclosed me a letter from Sir Henry
Vane Tempest, in which I was surprised to find the Hurworth
Hunt charg'd with offering two guineas for a fox that was
lately run as a bag by Mr. Hubback's Harriers, I therefore
take the earliest opportunity of declaring to your lordship upon
my honour that I did not even know the fox alluded to was
40 Fox poaching.
taken till on the evening of the day he was killed. I hope you
cannot think I would take any foxes out of your, or any other,
country that is hunted by foxhounds. You will find it on
enquiry a vile falsehood, fabricated by Mr. Hubback, or some
of his colleagues — indeed their excuse to Sir H. V. Tempest
confirms my opinion for running the fox with their harriers to
keep him out of our hands cannot at all clear their conduct to
you.
As I am now addressing your lordship, I take the further
liberty of informing you it has been the practice for some years
past of your people to buy foxes from the East Moors, which
we hunt oftener than you do, either the Catterick or Sedgefield
countries will therefore esteem it a particular favour if you will
give orders to your servants in future not to take foxes from
that neighbourhood. (I know from Mr. Scrope you are not
privy to any being taken out of our hunt.) The man that
does us the most mischief lives near Swainby, and his name is
Joseph Raby. He stopped the earths for us in Arncliffe Wood
and Snotterdale till last season, when he was turned off for
taking our foxes. Mr. Meynell or Mr. Scrope can give you
further information when you meet if required. — I am 3'our
lordship's most obedient humble servant,
Thomas Wilkinson."
1808: Found a fox in Spring Wood, and earthed in
Kildale after running nearly twenty miles.
[Note. — It would have been interesting if Mr. Wilkinson
had given us the times of these runs, and some further details.
He simply records them as though they were more or less
everyday occurrences, whereas there would be columns in the
Sporting Press nowadays regarding such hunts. In those days
they were not so particular regarding getting home with
A Hurworth Hunt poem. 41
hounds the same evening, and we fancy, despite the vein of
jealousy which existed between the Hurworth and Roxby and
Cleveland fellows, they would find very hospitable entertain-
ment for man and beast, when they ran into the heart of the
Cleveland Vale.]
A Fox Chase in 1814, described by Col. Sleigh.*
Mild was the breeze and fair the morn,
And blithe the echoings of the horn ;
When we, with spirits light and gay.
To Leven's coverts bent our way.
In silent hope we drew each glen,
To find the arch marauder's den,
When Tuneful with a cheerful cry.
Gave earnest that the chase was nigh.
Soon to confirm the faithful hound
We heard the joy-inspiring sound ;
A word unknown in rhyme, I fear,
Yet music to the Hunter's ear ;
More sweet to our enraptured throng.
Then fancy forms in Mara's song —
Tho' rude the term, the line tho' low
That dares to mention Tally-ho !
The friends to hunting ne'er deny
The witchery of that magic cr5^
With hark and whoop and wild halloo,
No rest the Leven's echoes knew ;
Till pressed he found his life at stake,
And left the fastness of the brake.
Oft had he tried, but tried in vain
The old retreat his earth to gain ;
Where, blanched in heaps, the remnants lay
Of many a luckless feathered prey.
Now o'er the hill and down the dale.
The pack imbibe the tainted gale ;
And in one universal cry
To me at least of melody,
Pursue their victim up the wind
. And many a horseman leave behind.
To names uncouth the rustic muse,
Her homely strains shall ne'er refuse
The devious chance to tell —
She deigns to sing at Kavenscar,
* From an old volume of songs and verses written and collected by the late Squire Sutton,
of Elton, and kindly loaned to the Editor by Mr. William Armstrong, of Stockton.
42 More early sport.
Of Heron's Mill, and Seamer Carr,
And Gill of Fanny Bell.
And when each old asylum tried,
Along the Leven's wooded side,
Oppressed by instant foe ;
He fled the vale where Neville's art
Can to the matron's web impart
The whiteness of the snow.*
And now unchecked his course is made
To Arncliflfe's deep sequester'd shade,
Where mazy woods and frequent fence
May foil the hounds instinctive sense;
Where the dark ground through winter's day
Is seldom warmed by solar ray.
But headed back by sudden fear,
W^ith failing strength and danger near,
He sought his former haunts to gain
And safety find in Rudby's glen.
But vain his wiles — the cautious hound
W^ith ardour tries the tainted ground ;
And soon we heard the fatal knell
In echo's haunts where Reynard fell !
Season i8ig-20.
Tuesday, 2nd November, 1819 : Threw off in Ravenscar
and lost near Arncliffe Wood after a middling good run.
Rickaby's hounds afterwards ran the fox into a house at Kirby
and killed him.
[Note. — Rickaby (whose proper name was Rickitson) kept
hounds at Whorl Hill Farm, between Faceby and Swainby,
from about 1816 to 1825. He hunted a considerable part of
what is now the Cleveland West country, and for a time was
Master of the Bilsdale country.]
Friday, 5th : Threw off at Beverley Wood and found a
brace of foxes, and killed an old bitch fox near Smeaton after
running two rounds by Entercommon, Stones Rigg, through
Beverley and Capt. Hewgill's Plantations ; good scent ;
hounds chased hard.
Tuesday, gth : Threw off at Newsham banks and found,
* Much bleaching was done at Crathorne, Kildale and Osmotherley ; hence the allusion.
See Life in a Yorkshire Village, by the present author.
The Wilkinson diaries, 1819-20. 43
and ran him sharp by Long Newton, Bishopton, and joined
Mr. Lambton's at Great Stainton and run with them slowly to
Foxton Whin and called off there. About 60 horses in the
whole.
[Note. — The County of Durham was hunted by the
celebrated Ralph John Lambton from 1804 to 1838. He died
on July 29th, 1844.]
Tuesday, i6th: Threw off at Worsall Gills and found at
Seamer. A bad scent and slow running. John Booth, etc., out.
[Note. — Mr. John Booth, of Killerby, was Master of the
Bedale from 1867 to 1878. He is referred to in the Bedale
Hunt song thus :
Then there's our late Master, who cut us adrift —
Sixteen stone in the saddle takes something to lift ;
But his horses will follow like dogs at his call,
Give him time — at the finish, he'll make you look small.]
Tuesday, 21st: Threw off at Cotcliff and found in
Lanmouth, and killed at the head of Scugdale after a good
run of 3J hours. A large field.
Tuesday, ist February: Threw off at Black Banks and
found in Col. Skelly's Plantings — a brace of foxes. Ran one
to near Hansons where the hounds took the heel of one back
to near Hurworth, and ran another from Col. Skelly's Plantings
in the Pilmorefield across the Skerne, past Grange, Cockerton,
Ketton, Brafferton, Preston, and then took the Carrs to
Morden, Sands and to Bishop Middleham, where Jane and
Robinson Dunn was left along with seven couple of hounds
and their horses tired. They call'd off when the fox was dead
run. T. Curry's mare died at Brafferton. D. Theakstone
and Mr. Maude got to Sedgefield and remained there the
night, and John Maynard's horse died at home. Supposed
the fox was kili'd [byj four hounds that was left.
44
Around the Hambletons.
Tuesday, 29th February, 1820: Threw off at Cotcliffe
Wood and found a brace of foxes. Run one very sharp to
Hambleton* end and lost him in snow. A very hard frost and
could not cross the moor.
BLACK HAMBLETON
'^ x^ NEIGHBOURHOOD,
55 .qv* vXVAVnA >N Q 1. I
* The above map (given by permission of Mr. Bogg) will enable readers to follow the
course of some of the aforementioned runs.
A tj'pical bit of ^Moorland Country near Black Hambleton.
Another view in the same locaHtv,
Great Runs in the Hambleton country. 45
Friday, 24th : Found a fox in Staindale, and lost at
Hagget Hill after running 6 hours. Changed foxes near
Deighton.
[Note. — There are several blank days interspersed here-
abouts in the diary for this season, during which Cotcliffe
seems to have been called upon to provide much sport,
whilst the Hurworth field frequently found themselves in the
Hambleton country now hunted by the Bilsdale. To use the
word Hambleton without qualification is rather vague, as the
Hambleton range stretches to Sutton Bank and includes the
famous training grounds and a portion of the Sinnington
domains.]
Tuesday, nth April : Threw off at Cotcliffe Wood, found
three foxes. Lost one at Hambleton end and another in the
wood. Bad scent.
Thursday, 13th : Threw off in Cotcliffe Wood and earth'd
in Kirby Knowle after a good run.
Season 1820 — 21.
1820, Sept. 27th : Began to hunt with earths open.
Sept. 24th : Threw off at Crathorne Wood and found in
Weary Bank, and earthed in Lambs Bank after a sharp run
past Leven Grove, and found another near Skriddles. Lost
him in ditto by the young hounds changing to hare.
Tuesday, Sept. 28th : Threw off at Newsham Banks, and,
after trying all Aisleby Plantings, a fox was seen a few fields
north of the bank, which the hounds took and chased hard by
Oaktree, Bowel Hole, Worsall, Moorey's bank, Yarm, Leven
Bridge, and back to Meynell's Bank, Worsall, Newsham Banks,
Oaktree, to Fountains, Middleton, Farthingside, and kill'd near
Girsby Scar, after running about twenty miles.
Friday, Dec. ist : Blank day from Black Banks, Dinsdale
Wood, my drain, etc.
46 Uckerby and Ravenscar.
Dec. 14th : Threw off at Cotcliffe Wood and found in
Landmouth and earthed in Guttof, after a slow run of four
miles and a sharp burst of four or five ditto at the end. Found
near Kirby Knowle and killed him after a severe run of one
hour without a check. Mr. Mercheson [_sic : Roderick J.
Murchinson] Mr. Armitage and Mr. Petre out. Got the first
fox out and brought him home.
Tuesday, Dec. 19th ; Threw off at Ravenscar and found in
Bullister Gill, and lost him near Hob Beck. Bad scent and
the hounds over road \sic : over-ridden] very much.
[Note. — Ravenscar was evidently considered one of the
best Hurworth coverts, for the Lambton Hunt song says :
Let Uckerby boast of the feats of the Rab}',
And Ravenscar tell what the Hurworth have done.]
Saturday, loth Feby., 182 1 : Try'd Cowton Cars by way
of exercise for the hounds with all the earths open, and found a
fox and had a good run Pepper Hall, Atley Hill, to Cowton,
Hutton Bonville and Birkby, and lost near Smeaton.
Tuesday, 13th : Threw off at Ravenscar, and found and
changed the fox in Marton Gill, and ran the fresh fox to
Guisborough Park ; the old fox was killed near Ormesby by a
terrier and mastiff dog.
29th Feby., 182 1 : Threw off at Cotcliffe and found near
New Buildings after trying five hours, and called off at Thim-
bleby, having the three foxes and only seven hounds left. The
rest of the pack were running another fox till Jane got them off.
A very wild, frosty night, high wind, yet the 3 J couple had a
hard run.
March ist : Threw off at Cotcliffe and had a blank day
after trying Thimbleby and New Buildings, the moors, etc., for
six hours.
So7ne old time incidents recorded. 47
Friday, 2nd : Threw off by 7 o'clock at New Buildings,
and took a drag to Birck Banks, and had a good run by Mount
St. John, Fellis Church [Felixkirk], Thirsk, Knayton to New
Buildings, and lost him on the moor towards Hambleton. A
hard hoar frost and bad scent after the sun began to take the
frost.
[Note. — Hounds had evidently laid out on April ist.
Probably at Newbuilding, now the residence of Mr. Geo,
Stafford Thompson, famed years ago as a gentleman jockey.
The Newbuilding country has always been part of the Bilsdale
domains, though in olden days the York and Ainsty occasion-
ally had a meet there, and evidently the Hurworth, so that it
was a sort of Tom Tiddler's ground, for the Hambleton Hounds
also hunted there.]
Friday, 30th Nov., 1821 : Threw off at Dinsdale Wood,
earth'd a fox in a drain. Got him out and took him from the
hounds near Sadbergh, and the hounds went away with a fresh
fox, and killed him by one hound near Newby [near Stokesley],
after a hard run of 23 miles. The hounds were mostly called
off at Mandale [now the locale of Stockton Racecourse] and
Acklam, by the farmers that joined them, the sportsmen having
lost hounds near Hartburn.
Friday, nth January, 1822: Captain Colling quarrelled
with Matthew and went home.
Tuesday, 15th January : Threw off at Newsham Banks,
found a brace of foxes. Run one and earth'd him in Mr.
Jacksoh's Planting. A cold frosty day and bad scent. Matthew
staked his mare near Ormesby Lodge.
On December 26th, 1823, while following him at a ford
near Worsall, the Rev. Marmaduke Theakston, son of the
48
A drowning fatality.
Rector of Hurworth, was unfortunately drowned, owing to his
horse rearing and falling on him, in the middle of the river.*
Tuesday, nth March, 1823 • Threw off at Ravenscar, and
found in the Leven Bank three foxes, and lost them all ; one
at Ormesby after a good run, and Tom killed the grey horse.
The Old Kennels at Hurworth.
From a sketch by Mr. G A . Fotlicrgill.
See page 8.
NIMROD" AND THE WILKINSONS.
OLLOWING up his Northern Tour in 1827,
"Nimrod" paid a visit to the Hurworth and
wrote an account of his experiences and impres-
sions in the Sporting Magazine of that year as
follows :
" On Friday Mr, Flounders accompanied me
to Croft Bridge to meet the Hurworth Hounds,
which place was about eight miles from Yarm. Our road to
Croft also led us through the village of Hurworth, within a
A corner of Hurworth Village.
From a sketch by Mr. G. A. Fothergill.
short distance of the Hurworth kennel, and we overtook the
hounds going to covert. They were accompanied by Mr.
Wilkinson and his whipper-in, and Mr. Flounders took this
opportunity of introducing me to Mr. Wilkinson. I found him
very much what I expected to find him; a well-fed Englishman,,
* Initial letter Mr. W. Forbes, ex-Hurworth M.F.H.
50 ^^ Nimrod's'' Northern Tour.
with a back as broad as those of three of our dandies put
together ; mounted on a finely-shaped chestnut horse, looking
very like a hunter to carry a heavy seventeen stone man, which
he had then on his back ; with a keen eye in his head, and a
very intelligent countenance and strong to be sure in the dialect
of his country, but looking very much like a sportsman, and
therefore claiming my respect.
" There was a very large field of sportsmen assembled at
Croft Bridge on this day — amounting to at least one hundred,
which is a very unusual circumstance with this pack, Mr.
Lambton's hounds, however, were gone from Sedgefield and
Lord Darlington's were a long way off : so it was supplied by
the gentlemen of those hunts, many of whom had come a long
distance for the occasion. I am happy to add, some of them
were well requited for their pains.
" We proceeded to draw Dinsdale Wood, a covert of some
size and situated on a steep hanging bank. Before throwing in
his hounds, Mr. Wilkinson did me the honour of asking me
to accompany him into the wood and see him find his fox.
This invitation I readily accepted, and so far I was most grati-
fied. He found his fox almost instantly, and in excellent style
his hallos were capital, and his ear unusually quick. This was
not all. We had a very baffling fox on foot — very unwilling to
break — and his turns were short and frequent. The pack and
their Master, however, were quite a match for him and for
about five minutes the scene — witnessed only by ourselves —
was enchanting. ' Have at him, Music, good bitch,' halloed
Matty. * By Jove, th' ast better gang away, for thou'lt die if
thou don't. Have at him, Cruiser, old fellow, but thou'll have
his head in thy mouth before night.' Oh, that I could give his
view-halloes on paper, but that can't be done. They were
enough to raise a man from the dead.
^^ Nimrod'' attd the Wilkinsons. 51
" Mr. Wilkinson wished to see his hounds get well away
with their fox and therefore stood still and blew his horn ; but
he should have ridden on, and blown his horn ; for when we
got to the top of the covert, not a hound, except a few that
were with us, could we get sight of. ' I know where they are
gone,' said Mr. Wilkinson ; ' you must follow me, for we shall
never get over that stelL' I did follow him, and he took
me to an awkward ford ; but we might just as well have gone
round by York. The hounds had a capital run of an hour,
and killed their fox, but only in the presence of a chosen few,
who were bold enough and fortunate enough to get well over
this awkward stell, Billy Williamson,* I believe, being the first
to charge it. It was deep and rotten, and the change that was
affected in the colour of ci-devant white cords of those gentle-
men who dropped short of it, plainly showed what sort of
bottom it had.
" Two things were now evident : I was quite sure they
were in for a run, and I was quite sure I should see nothing of
it unless let in by some lucky turn. I did not, however, quit
my pilot ; but, strange to say, I rode for exactly one hour fifty
yards behind him, without ever hearing the tongue of a hound
until within the last ten minutes. When we did get up to
them, the thing was over, the whoo-hoop was only wanting.
They had not tasted him, but he was dead beat, and in a few
minutes more Matty had him by the brush. It must have been
a beautiful run for those who saw it. The pace was excellent ;
and the country very good indeed for the provincials.
" I had two reasons why I did not regret this wrong turn
at first starting. First, I and my horse might have been planted
* Mr. Williamson succeeded Mr. Ralph Lambton (who was compelled to retire owing to a
severe accident) as Master of the Sedgefield country in 1838, and continued till 1842 when
the late Marquis of Londonderry took the pack, kennelled them at Wynyard, and styled
them " The Wynyard and South Durham Foxhounds." Mr. Williamson was later again
Master.
52 Mr. Matthew Wilkinson as a horseman.
in the stell ; and secondly, it was a great treat to me to see
Matty Wilkinson and his chestnut horse get over, or I should
rather say creep over, upwards of a hundred fences in the very
masterly fashion they both performed. He has ridden this
horse three seasons without having had a fall from him ; and
when I saw him creeping over his fences, which appeared
nothing to him, whilst my horse was flying over them, and
afraid to touch a thorn, I almost envied his great weight.
Certain, however, is it, that hunters carrying heavy men do
walk into their fences in a most enviable manner, although,
indeed, if they did not walk into them, they could never gallop
across a deep country for an hour, and a hundred fences in the
bargain.
" I really was much pleased with the scientific manner in
which Mr, Wilkinson and his horse crossed the country in this
hour's gallop. We exchanged but few words with one another
— with the exception of his telling me he was too heavy for a
huntsman, and an occasional lamentation of our ill-luck.
Matty, however, once addressed his horse and it had the
desired effect. We came to a very awkward fence, a wide ditch
from us, and no footing for our horses but among some strong
stubs. ' Tak' time, lad,' said Matty. The lad did take time
and did it like a workman. Towards the end of our gallop we
came to another still worse place. It was high and stiff and
near to a tree. Matty rode up to it, and, not liking it, stood
looking at it. ' Shall I try and pull down those strong
binders,' I said. ' No, no,' replied Matty, 'we'll gang at it,'
and over he went at a good hard gallop. All his fences but
this were taken either at a stand or in a walk.
" This certainly was a good run, and a good finish, and
the brush was asked for by a gentleman (Mr. Dryden, I think)
Mr. Matthew Wilkinson.
53
who had ridden well to the hounds. * No, no,' said Matty,
' 'Nimrod ' shall have the brush,' and it hangs up in my hall.
It is quite evident I had no pretensions to it, therefore I
considered it the greater compliment. We drew again, and
three foxes broke covert at the same moment ; but we did
nothing worth speaking of, although they tasted one of them.
"Matty, however, is the hero of my tale; and his character
is described in a few words. He boasts of no scholastic
education, no collegiate reading ; neither does he appear to be
much under the discipline of art. But of this he may be
proud — he keeps a pack of foxhounds on perhaps smaller
means to keep them with than almost any other man in
England ; and he is acknowledged by all to be as good a
rough-and-ready sportsman as ever halloed to hound. He is
likewise much esteemed amongst his neighbours as a kind-
hearted man, a character, indeed, true sportsman for the most
part lay claim to and maintain.
" In everything relating to the passion for hunting, I
should be inclined to say, Mr. Matthew Wilkinson may have
his equal, but his superior would be difficult to produce. His
attachment to his hounds is almost beyond belief, and equals
that of an old maid to her cat. He has always some of his
favourites walking about his house ; and to a bitch with whelps
he will give as much as she can eat of a good sirloin of beef or
leg of mutton from his own table. I had it on unquestionable
authority that, although he keeps ten or twelve cows, the
whelps in the spring have all the best milk, and nothing but a
a little sky-blue is allowed for the house. I was also informed
that it had been his practice to keep a tame fox in his buildings
for the edification of the puppies as soon as they were able to
follow him. He keeps but four hunters for himself and
54
The Tees.
Tommy, and his stable system is this : His horses are never
physicked, neither are they galloped in their exercise, having,
as he observed, ' plenty of galloping when they hunt.'
" Death and its terrors kick the beam when put into the
scale against Matty Wilkinson's passion for the chase.
Although he cannot swim, no, not even a little, he has crossed
The Three Brothers Wilkinson (Matty smoking).
that rapid and deep river, the Tees, at least forty times in his
life after the hounds, and has had some hair-breadth escapes.
Very soon after I was in his country, he was in the greatest
danger of being drowned. He plunged into this stream when
swelled with rain, and was unhorsed in the middle of it,
Some stories. 55
fortunately, catching hold of one of the stirrups, his horse
dragged him out, but I believe it was what he called ' a very
near go.' When he had run his fox to ground he coolly laid
down on his back and held up his heels to enable the water to
run out of his boots.
" I very much fear this gallant sportsman will, one of
these days, change time for eternity in his attempts to cross
this rapid river. Indeed, on his late escape, his brother Lozzy
seriously admonished him of the impending danger ; but all
the notice taken of the salutary hint was — 'My life is my own,
and I suppose I may do what I like with it.'
" When Mr. Matthew Wilkinson's eldest brother was on
his death-bed, he was asked by a friend for the fixtures for the
forthcoming week. His reply was this : ' Why, Tommy is
very ill, and if Tommy dies we can't hunt till Monday; but if
Tommy don't die we shall hunt somewhere on Friday.' A
brother sportsman died, and left Matty five pounds to purchase
a black coat to his memory, Matty purchased a red one,
thinking thereby that he had shown still greater respect to his
departed friend.
" Mr. Matthew Wilkinson is esteemed a very superior
huntsman as far as the working of his hounds is concerned, as
also assisting them in recovering a scent. His great weight,
however (full seventeen stones), precludes the possibility of his
always being in the place ; though everyone I conversed with
agreed that, from his great knowledge of the country, and of
the usual line of his foxes, he creeps up to his hounds, when at
fault, much sooner than expected. This is the result of a
quick eye and a good share of brains, with each of which Mr.
W. is very well furnished. Of his management in the kennel
I can say nothing ; nor can I say much of the condition of his
56
Hurworth Hounds in 1827.
pack, any further than that their elbows were clean, and that is
as much as can be generally said of hounds that work as hard
as his do ; but I thought the hounds themselves did credit to
his judgment. They are fine slashing animals, with great
power and bone, and are allowed to have as much hunt in them
as their owner has zeal ; and truly that is in abundance.
' Tattler,' ' Cruiser ' and ' Juggler ' would be an ornament to
any pack. The subscription, I understand, amounts only to
£iJS P^r annum, which may perhaps, with good management,
find meal for the hounds, as the pack is small, only consisting
of 26 couples of hunting hounds, and this year not more than
four couples to come in,
" I have now done with Matthew and his hounds. Long
may he live to enjoy his favourite sport ; and when he is gone
let his memory be cherished for the zeal he has shown in the
science of foxhunting."
DEATHS OF THOMAS AND MATTHEW
WILKINSON IN 1823 AND 1837.
F. COATES BECOMES HUNTSMAN IN 1837.
'R. Thomas Wilkinson died at Hurworth on
Nov. igth, 1823, aged 64, and was succeeded
by his brother, Matthew, who at first carried
the horn. Matthew does not seem to have
kept any diaries, and between the years 1823 —
1854 there are no written Hurworth records extant, so far as
we know, though, fortunately, we have those of the late Mr.
R. S. D. Roper.
^3
^s
■
tI
mi
(^
W^ n
\E~A
F. Coates, of Hilton, an early Hurworth huntsman.
Mr. Matthew Wilkinson gave np hunting hounds in 1835,
and was followed as huntsman by Frank Coates, a Hilton
i; * Initial letter the late Mr. Anthony Lax Maynard, Master of the North Durham hounds
ik for 14 years.
^8 Frank Coates.
farmer, who was a tremendously keen and very popular man.
Every Wednesday he used to attend Stockton market and
meet the Cleveland men, either at the " Black Lion " or
"Vane Arms," and compare notes as to sport. He was wont
to chaff the Cleveland fellows a good deal about their partiality
for running bagged foxes, but Mr. Parrington tells me the
Hurworth at this time used to have just as much affection for
" a baggy " but were not quite so open about it as their neigh-
bours in the adjoining country. I am told that Coates had a
drain put down on his farm for the especial purpose of catching
foxes which came down from the hills, and they also had a
man rigged up with a capacious-pocketed coat in which he
could carry the bagman. He did his work well, liberated his
foxes just at the right moment, and then gave the view-halloa
which brought up Frank Coates and the Hurworth in quick-
sticks. Coates, says tradition, was a beautiful horseman and
" an elegant man in the saddle." Squire Wilkinson often used
to go over and stay with him during the hunting season, when
the following day's fixture was in that part of the country, and
thought a great deal of him. Frank Coates lived some years
after he retired from the position of huntsman.
Mr. W. Armstrong, of Stockton, better known with the
South Durham than the Hurworth (though he used to often
hunt with the latter pack so long ago as forty years), tells me
that the hounds were tremendously fond of Coates, and used
to make a dash towards him when they saw him awaiting them
at the tryst. His last day's hunting was on a young horse by
"Perrion," which belonged to Prince Stockdale, of Leven.
He rode well up to hounds on this occasion, and was delighted
that the old hand had lost none of its cunning. He was buried
in Hilton Churchyard, and there is a tombstone to his memory
Frank Coates. 59
at the east end of the httle God's Acre, bearing the following
inscription :
Sacred to the memory of Francis Coates, who died Dec. 2nd, 1858,
aged 66 years.
He was many years the able and esteemed huntsman of the Hurworth
Hounds. This stone is erected as a tribute of respect by a few friends and
gentlemen connected with the Hurworth Hunt.
[The family now seems to be extinct.]
The Squire never pretended to hunt hounds, and when
Frank Coates gave up he was followed by Bob Ecclefield, who
came from Squire Hill's (of Thornton) kennels. He was a
rough Yorkshire diamond — even a rougher and quainter type
Mr. Parrington thinks, than Jack Parker, of Sinnington fame,
The late Jack Parker, the famous Sinnington huntsman.
who told one sportsman given to use strong language that
" he would have made a fine natteral blackguard if he hadn't
been born a gentleman." After a few seasons Ecclefield went
to hunt hounds in America. He was followed by Salmon, who
gave place to old Danby, whom Mr. Parrington thinks was
"done" when he came to the Hurworth. He had not been
on a horse for two seasons, and had not the vitality left to hunt
the pack though his heart was as good as ever.
6o Two old Hurworth Huntsmen.
In his new book, Hunting in the Olden Days, Mr. W. S.
Dixon tells us something of this quaint character. He says
(page 365) : " John Booth for many years was huntsman to
Squire Hill, of Thornton. He was the son of a farmer near
Loftus, and no doubt in his younger days was frequently seen
with the Roxby hounds Willy Ecclefield, who was
Booth's whipper-in, and who also acted as head groom,
deserves a word. He was a fine sportsman, a bold horseman,
and what is known in Yorkshire as *'a character." An instance
of his devotion to his Master and to sport is worth preserving.
He went one night to see Mr. Hill and said, " Do you want
owt i' t'morn, sir?" "No, Willy, I don't want anything
particularly," answered the Squire. " Whya, sir. Ah was
thinking of getting wed, but if you want owt we can put it off."
A writer in Baily says of Coates :
" He kept his own horses, and was a very good rider, but a very
jealous one ; although he went slow at his fences, he had an extraordinary
knack of stealing away, and went like oil on the ocean. He was called the
heaven-born huntsman. No keener man ever lived. He was very quick,
and used to rattle the woods of the Leven and the Tees till the foxes,
whose track he knew, would fly from them. I need not say he had a fine
eye and knowledge of the country. This pack never had better sport than
when he hunted them, and it was an unfortunate thing for the country
that he and Thomas Raper Wilkinson quarrelled and parted. Coates'
whip was the same Tom Hopper who turned them to old ' Matthew.'
"The old signboard of the Hilton Inn is a curiosity, and still
preserved. On it is a painting of hounds running a fox in full view, and
the field following, with these lines below : —
The fox he runs, the hounds him view.
Come, take a glass, and then pursue."
In the August of 1837, Mr. Matthew Wilkinson died, and
the same writer said of him :
Mr. Matthew Wilkinson. 6i
" Hounds had been kept a long time at Hurworth by old
Tommy Wilkinson, and, at his death, his brother Lozzy (a
contraction of L'Oiseleur, the surname of a family of some
note, from whom the Wilkinson family inherited, through the
maternal line, the estate of Coating Moor, near Heighington),
built a kennel upon his estate at Neasham, where the pack,
originally bred from the Duke of Leeds and Lord Darlington's
kennels, \vere principally supported by him and his brother,
old ' Matthew ' Wilkinson, who lived at Entercommon, The
latter was an extraordinary character in every way, and, from
the description of his hunting costume, given by 'Nimrod,'
quite one of the rough-and-ready order, who would have
abominated the modern toothpick-and-nosegay school. He
was a very singular old man ; a welter weight, but the most
indefatigable man that ever got on a horse. He hunted his
hounds, assisted by Tom Hopper, whose father, old Tommy,
another character, was the feeder. He slept in a room adjoin-
ing the kennels, in which there was a trap-door which opened
close to his head. If there was row at night, as he knew every
hound's voice, he would rate the quarrelsome ones by name,
and establish order. Mr. Wilkinson, though he could not
swim a yard, would jump into the Tees on an old grey mare,
and swim across at any point, and, on getting over, lie on his
back, and hold up his heels, to empty the water out of his
boots ; and his breeches were double the size of anybody else's.
He would exclaim : * Lads, ho'd my boss till I let t' watteroot
o' me boots.' He weighed about twenty stones, and always
rode good horses ; stuck at no price, and gave three hundred
guineas for * Stocktonian,' a strong thorough-bred horse. He
knew the country well, and, when hounds checked, would come
up and say to his field, ' Yes, gentlemen, you shall have
another fox, if you want him,' and his dog language and view
62
Mr. Matthew Wilkinson's death.
* holloo ' cannot be described. As he was quite one of the
people, old ' Matthew " never paid a penny for poultry.
" Hunting with him at this time were General Aylmer, of
Walworth Castle, whose son was burnt to death at Abergeldie
in 1869; Mr. Richmond, of Sadberge, a famous rider; and
Frank Hartley, of Middleton Lodge; Mr. John ColHng, of
Hurworth, before mentioned, now living in Mr. Wilkinson's
old house ; Tom Shafto, celebrated for riding welter races ;
and Bob Deighton, of Northallerton, who had been secretary
to the Duke of York."
The present author found the following record of Mr.
Matthew's death in the diaries at Neasham. It is evidently
the tribute of a friend.
" On Thursday, the 23rd August, at Entercommon, in the
64th year of his age, Matthew Wilkinson, Esq., long master of
the Hurworth Foxhounds, being much respected and deeply
regretted by his relatives and numerous train of followers in
the chase.
Hark ! the brief story ; on a winter's morn.
No more will Matthew come with cheering horn,*
To dash his much-fam'd hounds through Crathorne Rush,
Where many a gallant fox he forced to brush.
No more we listen to his shrill, clear voice,
Which made his hounds and followers rejoice ;
No more his tongue will yield each sportsman mirth,
For now has Matthew gone himself to earth.
*Mr. Matthew Wilkinson used one of the old-fashioned twisted horns.
An old Song. 63
Regarding Matthew and the grey mare mentioned, the
following lines were very popular sometime after his death,
Mr. Parrington kindly allowed me to copy them from his
journal :
GREYMARES AND NIGHTMARES.
(A Peacock's Tale, with a Fox at the End of it.)
Oftentimes, in my slumbers, I've seen a grey mare
Coming bang down upon me, her heels in the air,
Whose rider, a welter (i), cried out with a cheer,
" They've found him, young Doctor, now cannot you hear."
Then deep in the recess of Beverley Wood,
Drawing nearer and nearer the place where I stood.
Along by the banks of the Tees just below,
I heard the sweet music of " Cruiser " (2) and Co.
Soon Reynard I spied ; he was gone like a flash
Of lightning ; and then, ye Gods ! what a crash
Of thunder rolled after him, making him fly.
While Matty's (3) view-halloo shook wood, earth and sky ;
Then I waked, 'twas no wonder, for oft it's been said
That Matty's view-halloo would have wakened the dead.
Once I dreamt I saw Reynard creep into a drain, —
A shallow-flagged one by the side of a lane ;
I'd a terrier with me, quite up to the trick
Of making the foxes bolt out pretty quick.
On my knees then I listen'd, to make out the spot
Where old " Pincher " (4) for Reynard was making it hot,
When a voice I knew well cried " Hang it ! stand by,"
" Is he good for ought. Doctor ? " " He's at him ! " said I,
When in went the drain, with a terrible crack,
From the weight of old Matty, who'd got on my back,
1. Mr. Matthew Wilkinson, Master of the Hnrworth, whose famous grey mare wili
long be remembered.
2. " Cruiser," a famous hound in the Hurworth pack.
3. It is said that Matty's view halloa is still echoing in Beverley Wood.
4. "Pincher" was a terrier belonging to Mr. Jack Peacock, the author of the song.
64 ^^''- T. Raper Wilkinson becomes Master.
Right on to the dog and the fox down we came,
And the latter caught me by a part I'll not name ;
I struggled and kick'd, when, in the midst of the row,
A nudge from my grey mare (5), with " what's matter now ? "
Half waked me ; and then I cried out, with a stare.
That greatly astonished the canny grey mare,
" By Jove ! but our ' Pincher' is hard as a nail.
Or your Peacock had lost the best part of his tail ;
He's a real good bred 'un, a chis of the block,
Or a fox had quite ruined your pretty Peacock."
The early historian, whom I have already quoted, wrote
thus of Mr. Matthew Wilkinson :
" At old Matther's death, in 1837* his nephew, Thomas
Raper, who took the name of Wilkinson, became master, and
held the post for twenty-four years. There is an excellent
picture of him in the possession of his widow, at Neasham,
painted by Ferneley, in 1846, mounted on a favourite horse,
' The Squire,' in which there are also Frank Coates, with his
coat buttoned at the bottom ; of the two Hoppers, father and
son, the elder with his terrier, ' Tip.' I think this is the best
hunting picture I have ever seen. It is so full of life ; quite
worth going many miles to see. After Coates gave up, profes-
sional huntsmen came in vogue, which, as the subscription was
not a large one, was a drawback, and, although the general run
of sport fell off, still they had done extraordinary good runs, and
a fair succession of them, more especially from Deighton Whin,
Welbury, and Fighting Cocks. Frank Coates was succeeded
first by Robert Hecklefield [sic, Ecclefield), a good servant
who came from Mr. Hill, of Thornton, and who, I hear, went
to America to hunt hounds, then by Tom Salmon, who for
many years hunted Colonel Hildyard's harriers, at Stokesley.
5. Mrs. Peacock.
The Maynard family. 65
Amongst those hunting regularly with Thomas Raper Wilkin-
son were Tom Allison, of White House, who lost all his money
on the Turf; John Gregson, of Burdon Hall, in Mr. Lambton's
country, a light-weight and a good rider ; Archibald Cochrane,
now of Langton — ' Archy ' Cochrane, who ' hung by the mane,'
in the words of a good song of the day ; and his brothers,
Robert and Basil ; all showed in the field that the blood of
their celebrated uncle, the famous Lord Cochrane, afterwards
the Earl of Dundonald, flowed in their veins. The late John
Maynard, of Harlsey, a large farmer id noted breeder of
Shorthorns, whose brother, Anthon^ ,> used to keep the
Boroughbridge Harriers, hunted a good deal with the Hurworth
and Raby, and was sure to be up in a forward position ; and with
him several nephews, of whom AnthonyV then of Skinningrove,
now of Newton Hall, so well known as a judge at the agricul-
tural shows, is a wonderful man, and can still beat most of his
juniors with hounds or on the moors. I have heard that, once,
when riding a valuable horse, he got into the Wiske, when his
father, who was cross, remonstrated with him, but he quietly
said, ' Never mind, there is £'^0 of him above water yet.' Bob
Hubback, of Durham, was then a very hard man; R. S. D.
Roper, of Richmond, and Sam Smithson, of Heighington,
rarely missed a day, who also hunted with the Duke.
" In 1843, the Duke of Cleveland, from Raby Castle, and
with his brother. Lord William Poulett, Mr. James Farrer, of
^.*Mr. Anthony Lax Maynard died at Harewood Grove, Darlington. He had sixty seasons
with hounds and for fourteen of them carried the horn. In 1870, when the Durham country
was divided, he took the Northern part. On his retirement, in 1884, he was presented with
his portrait. He regularly followed the Hurworth and Raby hunts. He was well known in
the show ring as a hunter judge, and himself rode as useful cattle as most men. He ran a
few 'chasers in the early days of the sport. The son of Mr. J. C. Maynard, of Harlsey (one
of the hardest welter weights of his day), Mr. Anthony whipped in to his father, who kept
harriers on this side of the Hurworth country, and occasionally ran a fox from the Deighton
coverts. Mr. A. L. Maynard was the nephew and namesake of the famous shorthorn breeder
but he himself was more in the " boss " line, as we say in Yorkshire.
66 Some sportsmen of yore.
Ingleborough, M.P. for South Durham, stopped at Croft, and
would go thirty-five miles to meet Mr. Milbank, and Colonel
Beckwith, of Silksworth, a very good rider, who always hunted
five or six days a week if he could, but was rather more of a
Lambton man ; Colonel Tower, of Elemor, master of the
Durham country, a nice, affable old gentleman, and his son,
Harry Baker, a first-rate man to hounds ; Tom Masterman, of
Little Danby, near Northallerton, the oldest sportsman in the
hunt, whom no man could beat when on his grey horse ; Billy
Clark, of Killerby, who thought nought of a twenty-mile ride
in the dark ; Mr. G. W. Sutton, of Elton Hall, the author of
'Ballynamonaora,' or 'The Hounds of Ralph Lambton for me,'
and many other poetical effusions ; Tom Waldy, of Eggles-
cliffe, and his son. Captain Edward Waldy ; and Mr. Marshall
Fowler, of Preston Hall. The late Harry Faber, of Stockton,
was a regular bruiser, and very fond of jumping. Being half-
blind, he rode in spectacles, and stuck to hounds like a leech ;
with him his two sons ; Mr. Simon Scrope, of Danby Hall,
who was about their best man in the field ; and Captain
Heneage Wynne, of the 68th Regiment, who was killed at
Inkerman : he was a nephew of the late Colonel Hildyard, and
very fond of fox-hunting when on leave. His death was greatly
deplored by all who knew him. Mr. George Marwood ; Mr.
James Cookson, of Neasham Hall, was a very hard rider, and
his brother, Captain W. Cookson, late of the nth Regiment,
a most amusing man. Then, there was Major Lowe, of Yarm,
for a season or two ; and Mr. George Stonehouse, who was
killed by a fall from his horse near Stockton ; Admiral Watt,
who was a very eccentric character ; Mr. David Laird, who
came from Scotland to Middleton-St. -George, and was very
well turned out ; and Mr. Blackett, of Sockburn, ' with his
mare in a fidget, himself in a funk,' an excellent preserver of
The Revs. Hart Dyke and W. Gooch. 67
foxes, whose early death was deeply lamented. I must not
overlook Squire Allan, of Grange, ' who got there by knowing
the country and riding the lanes,' and George Maughan, of
Worsall, a sporting farmer, who died a few years ago, was a
real good man to hounds, and knew the run of a fox. There
were also some first-rate 'gentlemen in black' who were difficult
to beat, namely the Rev. Thomas Hart Dyke, who was related
to the Dykes of Lullingstone Castle, in Kent, a capital rider,
and a first-class man to hounds, of whom the song said :
' If he leads unto Heaven as he rides in a run.'
" The Rev. W. Gooch, Stainton, and his sons, Percy and
Cecil, both good boys with hounds."
It will be interesting to add some little data to the fore-
going extract from the early writer we are quoting, with
reference to the late Rev. Wm. Gooch. He was Rector of
Benacre, Suffolk, Canon of York, Vicar of Stainton, Rural
Dean of Cleveland, and a J. P. for the North Riding. The
only son of Colonel William Gooch, 4th Dragoon Guards (who
fought in the Peninsula War and at Waterloo) ; the late Rev.
William Gooch was a man of great stature, fine physique, and
one of the old time handsome squarsons. There was no rectory
at Benacre, so from 1828 to 1866 the late Vicar of Stainton
lived in Cleveland. His sister, Matilda — one of the beauties of
her day — married William Vernon Harcourt, son of Archbishop
Harcourt, who gave Mr. Gooch the living of Stainton, and here
he kept an open house of call for all local sportsmen. He was
an exceedingly popular man and a very fine horseman, riding
the best of cattle and invariably taking a foremost place with
the Cleveland, South Durham, and Hurworth foxhounds, and
also Col. Hildyard's Stokesley Harriers. When pluralism
became unfashionable he resigned the living of Stainton and
68 The Gooch family.
went to live near Benacre, eventually dying in London on
Feby. 27th, 1876, at the age of 78. He had sixteen children
of whom only four now survive. They all more or less
followed their father's love of sport. When at Stainton, Major
Cecil Gooch (93rd Highlanders) and Capt. Percy Gooch (92nd
Highlanders) used to hunt regularly from there, and later
fought in the Crimea and also through the Indian Mutiny.
Major Cecil Gooch married Miss Van Straubenzee, the
daughter of a house the name of which is much connected
with Northern sport, as has already been shown. Another
son, the Rev. Frank Harcourt Gooch, was ordained in 1865,
and regularly rode to hounds till his increasing weight
compelled him to give up the saddle. He still maintains his
interest in the chase, however, and follows either on foot or on
wheels. His only son, Captain R. F. R. Gooch, maintains the
old tradition of the family, and now hunts from Banbury,
where he keeps a big stud of hunters. He is well known with
the Bicester and Warwickshire as a first-flight man and as the
winner of many Point to Point Races both in those countries
and in the Belvoir. He was for some years A.D.C. to Sir W.
Ridgeway, in Ceylon, and there won the Governor's Cup two
successive years. A daughter of the late Rev. Wm. Gooch's,
in the person of Mrs. Bewicke-Bewicke, still lives in Yorkshire
at Linton Dale, near Doncaster. Her husband was the owner
of Coulby Manor, near Stockton, of which her son, General
Bewicke-Copley, is now owner. He resides at Sprotborough
Hall, near Doncaster, the family place. By a peculiar
coincidence the late vicar of Stainton was curate there before
Archbishop Harcourt gave him the living of Stainton. His
remains are interred at the pretty little Cleveland village where
he was so much beloved, from which he saw so much sport.
The Rev. John Newton. 69
and at which he entertained so many congenial spirits who
sought his society and were made so welcome at his hospitable
board.
The writer, whom I have previously quoted, next refers to
the Rev. John Newton, of Kirby, as being " quite an artist,
especially on 'Liberal,'" and his servant also a character.
Through the kindness of Mr. T. Kirby, jnr., Miss E. Hunter,
of Broughton, and Mrs. Elliott, of Kirby, I am able to give
some further particulars regarding this famous sporting cleric,
and also a reproduction of a photo of him. He died Nov. 23rd,
1880. The Yorkshire Gazette (I fancy the oldest newspaper in
the County) referred to him thus, on December 4th, following :
" On Saturday last were laid to rest, in the lovely churchyard of Kirby-
in-Cleveland, by his sorrowing parishioners and friends, the remains of the
Rev. John Farmer Newton, for 52 years curate and vicar of the parish.
The deceased had attained the patriarchal age of 90, but upright, pure,
and charitable to an extent which will probably never be known. He
retained to the last the esteem and regard of the people amongst whom he
dwelt, and has left an honoured name which will long be remembered with
affection in Cleveland. Most hospitable to his friends high and low, he
was himself of very frugal habits and a man of great activity and resolution.
He only finally ceased taking part in the services of his church some 18
months before his death. The late Mr. Newton was a highly successful
amateur gardener and was particularly celebrated for his strawberries,
of which and of other fruit he was accustomed to give away large quan-
tities. Mr. Newton, when in the prime of his life, frequently indulged in
his favourite sport of fox-hvmting, and it was generally agreed that he was
one of the best men across country that ever rode to hounds. He possessed,
in a remarkable degree, all the attributes of a finished horseman, namely, a
fine and elegant seat on his horse, good hands and a quick eye, combined
with excellent nerve and judgment, so that, no matter how stiff the country
or how quick the pace, he was sure to be seen sailing away with the pack
apparently quite at his leisure. And at the age of 86, when he gave up
JO The Rev. John Newton.
riding, the remainder of the seat and hands which had once rendered him
so famous with the Raby, the Bedale, the Hurworth and the Cleveland,
were plainly visible."
In Kirby-in-Cleveland Church are tablets bearing the
following inscriptions :
" In Memory of The Rev. John Farmer Newton, for 52 years curate
and vicar of this parish. Born Sept., 1791. Died Nov., 1880. This
tablet was erected by parishioners and friends."
"This tablet is erected to the memory of Elizabeth Newton, Daughter
of Wm, Kent, Esq., of Little Bedwin, in the county of Wilts., who died
July 19, 1850, aged 64 years, by her afflicted husband, John Farmer
Newton, vicar of the parish."
" The Rev. John Farmer Newton, for 52 years vicar of this parish,
who died Nov. 23rd, 1880, in his 90th year. "
Continuing, the old-time writer tells us of another sport-
ing cleric in the neighbouring town of Stokesley — '* The Rev.
Charles Cator, rector of Stokesley, whose sister married
Osbaldeston. I must not omit Scott-Waring, of Darlington,
who had been educated at Eton and Sandhurst, but who turned
livery stable keeper, and owned racehorses, having bought 'Sir
Bennett ' of Lord Eglington. He was a singular character,
and he dressed to it, wearing very tight trousers. He would
over-ride hounds, and use the strangest and strongest languages
when remonstrated with ; yet, withal, he kept up his reading,
and, in his very lowest moments, the gentleman would peep out,
showing that what was bred in him never departed entirely.
He told curious tales of travels with ' Sir Bennett.'"
" In those days, hunting men lived a good deal together
at the Dinsdale Hotel, a beautiful place near Middleton One
Row, which has now become a lunatic asylum, and the stables,
formerly full of hunters, are a picture of desolation ; and at the
good old hostelry, at Croft Spa, were Lord Falkland and the
Old tune Northern Sportsmen.
71
Hon. John Dundas, Mr. Barras, who, I beheve, came from
near Newcastle ; Captain Marshall, from Scotland ; Mr.
Lowndes, whose original name was Gorst, who has large
property in London, and a fine place in Wiltshire ; and Mr.
George Gilpin-Brown, now of Sedbury, a great supporter of
the Hurworth Hunt."
They had gay doings at the old hostelry mentioned in
those days, and our artist has imagined a post-hunting group
drinking success to the fox and Hurworth Hounds after the
day's sport.
■ir*"f
^ ^m!l:'W^^^»i''^"'
■J
V
Success to the fox and the Hurworth.
72 The great Stillington Run.
Mr. Parrington has also kindly allowed me to copy from
one of his scrapbooks an account of a great run with the
Hurworth, during Coates' era of huntsmanship. There is no
date attached, but it was sometime after 1837, ^'^'^ it was in
that year that Mr. T. Wilkinson took the hounds, with Coates
still as their huntsman.
The song recalls a number of names of sportsmen of "the
good old times " : —
THE STILLINGTON RUN.
Of the deeds of the Hurworth, you've oftentimes heard,
To think that you hadn't would be most absurd ;
But a run from near Haughton, I vow and declare,
As Hght into dark, beats all others by far.
With a pack of such hounds as no sportsman could spurn,
The hunt were all muster'd at Haughton-le-Skerne ;
Into Lingfield Plantation the pack had scarce got,
When a gallant old varmin went off like a shot.
As they cross'd Burdon Bottoms, 'twould really have been
The task of an artist in painting the scene ;
Some balking, some pounded, some down in a stell,
Some taking their hedges and fences pell-mell.
Turning round to the right, by Sadberge they went,
At a St. Leger pace, with a death-doing scent ;
There was many a wish he might wait at Fox-hill,
For most of the Flashers were near standing still.
Pointing for Stainton, many a horseman now fails
To catch e'en a glimpse of this gallant pack's tails ;
But I beg them all pardon, don't think me to blame,
Should I happen to mention some sportsmen by name.
First, like oil on the ocean, comes C — tes (i), on his grey.
Quite pleased that he needn't cry " Hold hard " to-day ;
I. Frank Coates, late huntsman of the Hurworth pack, who Hved at Hilton, where he
had a farm.
The great StiUington Run. 73
How he laughs in his sleeve, now he's cracking his joke,
As he leaves all the clippers behind him like smoke.
Ramming spurs in " Bachelor," next came the squire (2),
Wiping sweat from his brow with his face all on fire ;
Oh ! there's none can go with 'em, not even full blood 'uns,
(i) Yoi Stingy and Gallant, they're going like good 'uns.
Then straight as an arrow o'er all sorts of land,
At a pace that must soon bring a horse to a stand,
Comes " Roderick Random " (3), all hurry and stickle,
I'm doubting, ere long, he'll be " Peregrine Pickle."
There's the L— g N — wt — n Parson (4) enjoying the fun.
If he leads unto heaven as he rides in a run ;
Have good faith in your nag, and I almost could swear,
Only stick to his skirts and your sure to get there.
Then, smash, at a rasper, goes Killerby CI — ke (5),
Who thinks naught of a ride twenty miles in the dark ;
Roaring " Fo'rard, yoi, for'ard," you can't tell, my boys,
Whether he or his chestnut makes the most noise.
The " Lady of Eryholme," a game little crack, \
With M — yn — d (6) the younger bestriding her back ; 1|
Is sure to be up in a forward position, 1
Being dam by " Old Harry," and by a " Physician."
Who's yon on the bay ? If a rasper he meet,
I'll bet two-to-one he loses his seat ;
Aye ! he's over her head ; no ! he hangs by the mane, —
Bless me 1 don't you know ? Why it's Archy C — ch — ne (7).
The Squire of S — w Hall, striving still to be first.
Has blown the half-bred 'un in this terrible burst ;
Now he's taking to skirting, he's trying to nick it.
When he finds that " Box-keeper " has got the wrong ticket.
1. Yoi! Stingy and Gallant.
2. Mr. T. Wilkinson, the Master.
3. Mr. James Cookson.
4. The Rev, T. H. Dyke of Long Newton.
5. Billy Clark, of Killerby.
6. Anthony Maynard, now of Skinningrove.
7. Archy Cochrane, now of Langton.
74 The great Sttllington Run.
Where's W — dy, of Y-— m ? (8) Oh ! he's made a mistake.
Being certain to know the road Reynard would take ;
But to-day he's deceived him, Ren's changed his hne,
So he's left in the lanes, or he's gone home to dine.
Where's Harrier Huntsman, the son of Physician ? (9)
On a mare that could go with such blood and condition,
If he only durst ride her, but that he'll ne'er do,
So he makes the old excuse of losing a shoe.
Among those who started at Haughton-le-skerne,
Oh, where, then, oh, where, is the Squire of S — kb — n ? (10)
Turning shy at a rasper, behind them he slunk,
His mare in a fidget, himself in a funk.
I've kept you so long o'er the horses and men,
I'd almost forgotten the hounds and bold Ren. ;
By Great Stainton village still onward they flew.
Near Bishopton Plantings they have him in view.
Down Stillington Bank like a torrent they rush, —
Poor Reynard's in trouble — they're close at his brush ;
And in forty-five minutes, with never a check,
They pull'd him to pieces in Stillington Beck.
At the death of the fox (nay, now, don't think it strange),
For who should come up but Squire A — 1 — n of Grange (11),
But how that he got there, a question remains, —
Was't by knowing the country, or riding the lanes ?
May a true-hearted foxhunter pardon a brother.
If it happened to be neither one nor the other ;
At a good steady pace, perhaps as some not so fast,
Yet blood and good bottom told a tale at the last.
May each honest foxhunter keep a good fame.
Nor turn " Dog in manger," like one I could name (12);
T. W. Waldy. of Egglescliffe.
Jack Peacock, of Darlington, the author of the song.
The late Mr. Blackett, of Sockburn.
The late W. Allan, of Blackwell Grange.
The first Duke of Cleveland, who, on giving up the hounds, burnt all his coverts, and
destroyed the foxes.
i^ '
!
1
I
.■■>''^^i
-x
^,.-S
^'"^ it'
\ :
^
V
«•
, .■^;.,^^,-^-a^
TJie great Stillington Run.
Whatever his rank be, I boldly assert
Such a vulpicide villain will get his desert.
Here's a health to all sportsmen, wherever they be,
Long life to foxhunters of every degree,
Whether farmer or tradesmen, my lord or his grace,
May he spend his last days in support of the chase.
75
CHAPTER V.
CONTEMPORARY PACKS.
'EST for hunting in the early part of the
nineteenth century resulted in not a few packs
of harriers being kept in every country
regularly hunted by foxhounds. In the fore-
going chapter a lengthy quotation was given
regarding the early followers of the Hurworth
Hounds and, incidentally, both Mr.Maynard's Harlsey Harriers
i and Col. Hildyard's Stokesley pack were mentioned. Both were
exceedingly popular, and, as the powers that be with the local
foxhounds frequently threw in their lot with the hare-hunters
(whose sport boasts a much greater antiquity than the chase of
the fox), it was, no doubt, with their knowledge and consent
that when a fox was put up the harriers were allowed to run it.
Col. Hildyard's pack showed great sport in what is now the
Cleveland West (and one might say best) country, and occasion-
ally visited portions of the Hurworth domains. The Master
lived at the Manor House, at Stokesley, and was the son of a
sporting cleric who died in 1865.
Sir Alfred Pease, in his book, refers to the Colonel as
keeping " a crack pack of harriers which showed great sport ;
he was a most hospitable man, and was known to keep a good
cellar ; throughout his life he had 1,100 dozens of wine always
in the house." He is recorded in the Cleveland Hunt records
as a "new subscriber" in 1835 (the year of John Andrew's
* Initial letter the Marquess of Zetland.
Col. HildyarcVs Harriers. yj
death), when he gave the then handsome sum of ;/^io. I am
told the favourite and most frequent fixtures were Stainton,
Hilton, Acklam, Blue Bell, Hemlington, Newton, Ayton,
Broughton and Carlton. A big stud of hunters was kept at the
Manor House stables. Mr. W. H. Burnett sends the following
reminiscences regarding Col. Hildyard :
" He was an austere man, one of the old army breed. He
had a great friend. Major Healey, who had lost an arm (we
boys always understood at Waterloo), and who lived in the
Grammar School Square. They were nearly always together.
Colonel Hildyard had a solitary sister who used to live with
him, and I suppose kept house. The Colonel built the Town
Hall and the shambles and the engine-house at his own expense.
There is a good full-length portrait of him in the Town Hall.
He was thought to be a stern magistrate. He was interred in
Dr. Handysides.
the family vault on the north side of the Churchyard. His
funeral was a big function. I saw it all from a coign of
78 Col. Hildyard's and Mr. Rowntree's Harriers.
'vantage, overlooking Churchyard and Manor House, on the
Churchyard wall. Miss Hildyard, who was a big buxom
spinster of masculine tendencies, used to hunt with her brother's
hounds until she met with an accident, when she gave it up.
She was very fond of hounds, and wherever she went she had
two with her as companions. In Colonel Hildyard's time the
town was governed from the Manor House, where old Dr.
Handysides (who was prominent in connection with the Stokes-
ley race meeting and at local coursing meetings) was a frequent
visitor."
The Captain Healey, to whom Mr. Burnett refers, was
indeed a boon friend of Colonel Hildyard's. He lost his arm
at the battle of Albuera, yet was a most daring rider. He was
one of the cracks of the day, and was often mounted on one
of the Colonel's hunters.
A nephew of Colonel Hildyard's — Mr. Heneage Wynne,
afterwards Major Wynne — occasionally followed the Hurworth
and was an excellent horseman. He went with his regiment to
the Crimea, where he was killed at the battle of Inkerman,
November 5th, 1854. Colonel Hildyard had died on October
30th in the same year, aged 67, and had left his property
equally between two of his nephev/s. Major Wynne and Mr. J.
R. W. Hall, who afterwards took the name of Hildyard.
Major Wynne never knew of his good fortune. His share of
the property went to his father.
Another pack of hounds hunting in the Hurworth country
in early years was that kept by Mr. Christopher Rowntree.
Regarding whom an interesting trial took place in 1803, and
was thus reported :
" At an assize held at York, to decide whether one, Christopher
Rowntree, of Middleton-on-Leven, the celebrated Cleveland foxhunter, was
An interesting trial. yg
a gentleman. The only evidence given against him was that he vv^as bHnd
of one eye, wore leather breeches, and when he came to Stokesley market
dined at an ordinary with the farmers at one shilling or eighteenpence a
head, the best joints of beef then never being sold by the butchers at more
than fourpence a pound, and eggs being retailed at our market at two-
pence a dozen, during the season. As his worldly wealth and unblemished
character were freely admitted by his opponents (though they doubted
whether he could be said to keep a pack of hounds, as each of his tenants
fed a few of them, and the horn was blown to gather them together when
the}' had to assemble for a hunt). The counsel on behalf of G.R. declared
that a gentleman remained such wherever he dined. Could those wishing
to hold from him that title, to which his client possessed every just claim,
they ought to have proved, not where he dined and paid, but where he
dined and left without paying, then guilty of such an act as that, he would
have lost all right to have been considered a gentleman, they, his opponents
should have proved, not that he went abroad in leather breeches, but
without any at all, then that truly would have stamped his client as no
gentleman." The Sporting Gentleman of that year said, regarding the trial,
" A match was to be rode by gentlemen only ; but the person who won it
was not admitted to be a gentleman, and the amount of the sweepstakes was
therefore refused to him. On this the action was brought. He had a
verdict in his favour."
" A New Hunting Song, made on a fox chase," written
1783, and included amongst the Roxburghe Ballads (and given
in the Badminton Library volume of verse) refers to Rowntree
thus :
Rowntree, a noted old sportsman as good
Who brags of his Grey-tail, that choice bit of blood,
How at Stokesley so clever she won every race,
And how that she's equally famed for the chase.
We shall have more to say of Stokesley Races later.
I
8o Some more old time Harrier packs.
In the early part of the nineteenth century, when the
Hurworth frequently stayed at Guisborough for a week at a
time, to hunt that portion of what is now the Cleveland country,
they frequently ran foul of Mr. Wharton's Skelton Harriers, as
will be seen later by the Wilkinsons' diaries. In addition to
these packs, Mr. Peirse had harriers at Thimbleby, and Mr.
Trotter had a pack on the Durham side. Later, Mr. R. S. D.
Roper hunted a portion of the country with harriers, and in his
diary (from which we hope to give quotations later) we find
that he often drew " Lozzy's Whin," and not infrequently ran
a fox when one got up before his pack. They must have been
death on hares, for in his diary for Nov. ist, 1842, we find the
master making the following entry :
" Harriers at Lime (?) Pasture. Day very wet. Very good scent.
Killed 5 hares. Obliged to come home, as the hounds killed every hare
that got up almost immediately."
Then there were Mr. Maynard's Harlsey Harriers and
Rickaby's Swainby pack (with which the Wilkinsons occasion-
ally clashed). In those days intercommunication was difficult,
and country gentlemen were compelled to eke out their sport
pretty much on their own properties, or at any rate on their
own estates. Thus is it one finds that there w^ere many packs
of hounds hunting one particular country. They were called
harriers, but nothing seems to have delighted the field more (as
is the case with the Glaisdale harriers of to-day) than when the
nobler quarry — the fox — jumped up. Witness another extract
from Mr. Roper's diaries :
"Nov. 3rd, 1843. — Harriers at Leven House. Killed two hares in
view. Found a third and during the run changed to a fox, which was
lost near an old barn near Coatham [Stobbs]. Found a fourth, and in the
run also changed to fox which went to ground in a drain.''
THE LATE MR. R. S. D, R. ROPER'S DIARIES:
VARIED SPORT FROM 1842—54.
Harking back to the time of Frank Coates' huntsmanship of
the Hurworth there were, as has already been stated, no diaries
kept by the Wilkinson family after the death of Mr. Thomas
Wilkinson, in 1823, till Mrs. Wilkinson commenced her records
in 1854. We have, however, been fortunate enough to have
loaned to us " the accounts of sport for the years 1842 and
onwards," kept by the late Mr. R. S. D. R. Roper, who was
about this epoch " one of the main men " with the Hurworth,
Wynyard and South Durham, and the Duke of Cleveland's. In
addition to riding regularly with these packs, the late Mr. Roper,
who lived at Heighington at the time he began his diaries,
kept a pack of harriers with which he enjoyed sport on " ofif
days." He was an all-round sportsman, and accounts of
hunting are frequently interspersed with details of shooting
days which make interesting reading to-day. As mentioned in
the previous chapter, Mr. Roper was known as a good horse-
man, as was his brother-in-law, Mr. George Gilpin-Brown,
whose name is deep writ in Northern hunting history about
this period. Mr. Roper died on February 15th, 1867, and was
buried at Gilling. His son, Mr. George Roper, of The Lodge,
Gilling West, Richmond, has followed in the footsteps of his
father and, as will be seen from the excerpts from the diaries,
began his sporting career so long ago as 1846, when he had his
initiatory day, at the age of five, with the Duke of Cleveland's
foxhounds and was presented vAth. the brush. In his day Mr.
George Roper was well known with the Raby Hunt, when Mr.
82 The late Mr. Roper^s Diaries.
Cradock was at its head, and prior to that time when the
country was divided. He also hunted regularly with the
Bedale when Mr. Mark Milbank was in the zenith of his fame,
and later when Mr. Roper's friend, Mr. John Booth, piloted
them from times of difficulty to seasons of brilliant success.
It is interesting to note that Mr. Roper was a witness (as
was the present writer's father) of the terrible Ainsty Ure
fatality, when the ferry-boat capsized at Newby, and would
have been on the boat himself had there been room for two
more horses and men. As a matter of fact he was actually on
the boat and was attempting to get his horse on when Mr.
Vyner begged him not to continue his efforts, pointing out that
there were already as many, or more, on board as the boat
would hold. Very fortunately for him Mr. Roper did as he
was requested.
Mr. Roper still maintains his interest in the chase and is
often seen on wheels with the Zetland Hounds. Now for some
extracts from his father's diaries :
Oct. 1 2th, 1842 : Shot with Mr. John Colling, at White
House. The party consisted of J. Colling, J. Allison, W.
Allison, and Wilkinson. The bag consisted of 64 head, of
which 14 were pheasants.
Oct. 1 8th : Heard of a brace of pheasants which were
feeding near Lozzy's Whin the night before. After hunting
went with Dixon and John to look for them. Found one in a
little plantation of Mr. Cumby's and the other in the whin.
Bagged both and a snipe.
22nd : Harriers at Wilkinson's Whin. Very wet morning.
Got a regular soaking and very poor sport. Killed two hares.
[The late Mr. Roper kept a pack of harriers when at Heighing-
Hurworth Sport in 1842. 83
ton.] Dixon saw another pheasant, so from the whin we tried
for him in the afternoon but were unsuccessful,
Nov. gth : Met Hurworth at Low Middleton. Drew
along the river banks. Newsham banks blank. Found no fox
in Fountains' Plantations. Went to Burdon and found in a
stubble field. Ran over the railway near the quarry hole,
down past Fighting Cocks to Dinsdale Wood, thro' it to
Blackett's, where he ran to ground. Dug him out and killed
him. Very fair day's sport.
Nov. 24th, 1842: Hurworth at Yarm. Drew the banks
of the river to Worsall Gill blank. Found in the covert at
Farthingside ; ran him back thro' Worsall Gill to Picton
Plantations, near Appleton, very fast. There he turned back to
Worsall Gill where he was killed, after running once up and
down the Gill. Found again at Farthingside Whin and had a
very pretty ring. Left them running near Over Dinsdale.
Nov. 29th, 1842 : Met Hurworth at Killerby. Found at
Trundlemire, ran a ring to the North to the cover again.
Went thro' without dwelling and ran over the hill towards
Ingleton, before reaching which he went to ground. Dug him
out and killed him. Went to Hilton Tarn (or Cairn), found
and ran him through Trundlemire, over the hill, and ran into
him in 16 minutes. Very fast. One fall. Rode " Samson."
Dec. 6th, 1842; Hurworth, Greystones blank ; found in
some whinny pastures and ran to ground immediately. He
was not got out at 4 o'clock, in fact the terrier worried him.
Shocking day's sport. Think the Hurworth too fond of digging
and bolting.
loth do. : Thickness of fog prevented my meeting the
Hurworth at Cleasby village. Turned out with the harriers,
and at 12 the fog cleared off when we had two very good and
84 The late Mr. Roper^s Diaries.
fast runs. Killed two. Rode " Samson " [added later] .
Blank day at Cleasby.
17th do. : Met Hurworth at Neasham. Found near
Cookson's, but he was headed backwards and forwards by foot
people and all chance of sport spoiled. Bad day.
24th do. : Met Hurworth at Dalton Wood. Drew D.W.
blank. Jimmy Cookson whipped up a fox in the boundary
hedge which, after a ring, ran to Beverley Wood, from whence
another fox went away by Hornby Grange, across Worsall
Moor, past Farthingside covert and Over Dinsdale, crossed the
river near the hotel and went to ground in Lozzy's Whin.
Very good from the Hornby road and fast.
29th do. : Saw Lord Zetland's harriers at Middleton
Tyas. Hounds too fat. Poor day's sport. Rode James
Wharton's chestnut mare.
Jany. 28th, 1843: Hurworth at Lovesome Hill. Found
at Deighton and had a very fast burst to Harlsey, where a
check took place. He was hit off again and killed in Silton
Wood, beyond Thimbleby, passing Foxton Wood and Kibbeck
Mill. I hour and 10 minutes.
Feby. gth, 1843 : Hurworth a bye day at Entercommon.
Found a fox in Beverley Wood, which went away over a
beautiful line of country, but unluckily the hounds could not be
got out of covert till too far gone. Drew Beverley Wood again,
Allan's Plantations, Eryholm, Rockcliffe Scarr blank. Tried
to dig (horrible dictu) out a fox from a drain, during which
process I left them. Rode "The Nob."
25th do. : Hurworth at Neasham. Found in Lozzy's
Whin. He went thro' Grey's Plantations, past Pease's, across
Hurworth Moor, over the railway to Blackbanks, where he
crossed the Skerne, thro' Allan's Whin (or past it as no one
sport in 1843. 85
saw them) , over the high road down to the Tees, over the
river, and it is supposed he went to ground in Stapylton Banks.
Went back and found another fox in Pease's Plantation. The
pace was so fast that I hardly know the line of country passed
over. He was killed near Haughton in 22 minutes. Pace
tremendous.
Oct. nth, 1843: Shot with Thos. Allison and killed 22
head, principally rabbits. Day soaking.
1 2th : Mr. Wilkinson, who did not show up yesterday,
appeared this morning, and during five hours we killed 81 head,
Nov. 3rd, 1843: Harriers at Swan House. Killed two
hares in view. Found a third and during the run changed to
fox, which was lost near an old burn near Coatham [Stobb].
Found a fourth and in the run also changed to fox, which went
to ground in a drain in the railway.
i6th do. : Met Hurworth at Killerby. Found at Trundle-
mire and, after hunting slowly past Morton Lime Kiln Banks
to Haughton Plantations, either a fresh fox was found or the
run one doubled back by Summerhouse, Killerby, and run to
ground in a drain, from which last year we bolted and killed.
The Duke not wishing him to be bolted in this instance, we
trotted to Hilton Cairn, where, in spite of the new brick kiln,
we found, and had a brilliant spurt to Craig Wood, through
which we went to Gordon Whin, back again to Craig Wood,
where the hounds were halloa'd to a fresh fox, which ran to
Raby Park wall where they were whipped off. Hard day for
horses.
Dec. 7th, 1843: Hurworth at Haughton Bridge. Found
at Greystones. Ran him past Wilkinson's Whin, Coatsay
Moor, to the drain near Peelacre Plantations. Tried Haughton
Plantations, Lime Kiln Banks, and Dobbison's Whin, blank.
86 The late Mr. Roper's Diaries.
Went back to the drain and found the fox ready for bolting.
He was allowed 3 or 4 minutes start when the hounds were
laid on. He went through Peelacre, past Archdeacon Newton,
to Ba3^dales, where he got to ground and again saved himself.
The distance was done in 25 minutes and the pace first-rate.
A very good thing indeed.
Jany. 6th, 1844 : Met at Neasham. Found in Lozzy's
Whins immediately and went thro' Grey's Plantations, thence
in a ring to the Fighting Cocks, then to the cross roads leading
to Middleton-one-Row and Dinsdale, where he bent to the
left and passed in front of Laird's house to the plantation, then
to the high end of Newsham Banks, where he turned to the left
to Waldy's Plantations and down to the river, which he
crossed. Up to this point the time was one minute under
three quarters of an hour, and the pace as fast as it well could
be. After crossing the river he ran nearly to the Yarm and
Catterick Road, which he crossed and made for Major Lowe's
Plantation. Here we again joined the hounds, having gone
round by Yarm Bridge. After a slight check we got on a fresh
fox and ran him by the river side to Worsall Whin, then over
by Kirklevington to Crathorne to Rudby Wood, where there
were two or three foxes afoot and I left them, my nag not being
fit for a fresh fox. The pace after the river was not so good.
The whole run was two hours minus five minutes ; over a very
heavy country and the run one of the very best I ever saw.
Rode " Lottery." N.B.— Gave " Lottery " to Wm. Atkinson.
[Hunting fixtures in those days were not advertised,
though notices were sent out, posted in inn parlours, and
occasionally announced with other notices from the pulpit on
Sunday morning. The following entry in Mr. Roper's diary
shows us how "he say and she say" information as to hunting
fixtures was not always correct] :
Short tn 1844, 87
March 4th, 1884 : Went to Caldwell to meet the Duke
of Cleveland's Staghounds, but found out that my servant had
made a mistake, the Duke being at Killerby.
March 5th : Met Hurworth at Entercommon and found at
Blackett's Whin. He went out at the South side of the whin ;
turned to Appleton Wiske, then to the right and past Welbury
and Rounton, and was run into in the open near Haggett Hill
after a beautiful burst of 30 minutes ; pace very fast, country
heavy. Tried Beverley Wood and found immediately a brace
of foxes. The hounds took the worst line. When they were
got off they were unable to run the other on account of the
scent being foiled by three hounds, which had got away with
the first fox. After running him slowly to Pepper Hall Plant-
ations I left them.
March 28th, 1844 : Met Hurworth at Cleasby. Drew
Howden Hills blank. Found at Brettonby and after a sharp
burst towards Howden Hills he was lost. Drew Sowerby's
Plantations blank, and went to Sir W. Chaytor's and found in
the wood. He went to Halnaby, where he was headed and
turned for Allan's Whin but at the road he was headed again.
He then ran past the brick kilns and over the hill, and crossed
the brook half way between Kirkbanks and Middleton Tyas,
where he turned to the left to Moulton. He crossed the lane
near the end of the village and pointed direct for where the old
whin was, but was headed from it and killed within two fields
of Scurrah House. This was a very fast run, the fox never
being far before them and twice in the same field with the
hounds.
April Qth : Entercommon. Found in Beverley Wood.
Ran him up to the eastward of Hornby and Blackett's Whin,
over the stell and into a country which I did not know. Found
88 The late Mr. Roper's Diaries.
a second fox, after drawing Beverley Wood again blank, in the
Gill near George Allan's plantation. Went away best pace up
to Entercommon road above the black boy, then to Pepper
Hall Plantation, thro' which he went without dwelling. Cross
the [blank] and ran between it and the railway past Birkby,
and was making direct for Hutton Bonville when he turned
short to the left, re-crossed the bottoms and ran down to near
Appleton Wiske, where he was killed. Very good run. Rode
" The Nob."
N.B. — " Nob" died June 4th, in John Husband's hands.
" Lottery " was shot by Tommy Copley's keeper, having
tumbled with Wm. Atkinson, to whom I had given him.
Foxhounds. Harriers. Staghounds. Total.
"Samson" ... ^3 ^ 5 26
"The Nob" ... 14 8 2 24
" Lottery" ... 7 5 2 14
" Birthday "...501 6
[Note. — "Lottery" was no doubt given his name from the
famous horse which won the first Grand National, or, as it was
then called, the Grand Liverpool Steeplechase, run on Feby.
26th, 1839. Jim Mason, who steered the horse to victory, made
his first appearance on him in the St. Alban's Steeplechase, in
1836, when he finished third, being then hardly fit. Six weeks
later, at Barnett, he beat a big field. " Lottery" was owned by
Mr. John Elmore and Mr. Yates, and bred in Yorkshire. — Ed.]
Dec. 3rd, 1844 : Hurworth at Low Middleton. Drew
Newsham banks blank. Found at Aislaby Plantation, and
after a ringing half hour he went to ground near Yarm. Tried
Marshall Fowler's Plantation and the open up to Goosepool
blank. Found in a hedgerow close to the plantation. He ran
thro' Burn Wood to Coatham Stobb earths. The pace
tremendous. He then doubled back through Burn Wood
The Season 1845-46. 8gi
again to Goosepool Plantation where he broke again almost
over the same line, only a little wider, by Long Newton, Early
Nook, down to Egglescliffe, where he went into a drain under
the road and was killed by two hounds and got out and worried.
Very good day's sport indeed. The time from finding to killing
being one hour and a half. Rode " Ugly Buck."
Feby. 27th, 1845 : Hurworth at kennels. Found at
Sockburn and had a vast of running and lost him. Went to
kennels and got a second pack of hounds and found immed-
iately in the whin. Went thro' Grey's Plantation, thro'
Pease's and to ground in Hurworth Moor Whin. I left but
they found again and killed. Rode Mr. Sowerby's horse.
" Buck " out with Billy Messenger.
Season 1845-6 : The campaign opened as far as could be
foreseen comparatively inauspiciously, a grey horse that I had
bought having fallen lame. However, he was returned and his
place filled up, as will be noticed in due season. There is a
good report of foxes from all quarters and every prospect of a
brilliant season for men with plenty of nags.
Nov. 1st, 1845 '- Hurworth at the kennels. Joined them
at Hurworth. Drew below Pilmore blank. P'ound in the
whin and had a scurry to Black Banks, which I lost owing to
trying to shoot a white pheasant. Found a fox in Pease's
Plantation and ran him smartly to Lozzy's Whin where the
hounds were drawn off and I left.
[Note. — One cannot refrain, in connection with the
foregoing note, from quoting Whyte-Melville's couplet against
the diarist :
One fox on foot more diversion can bring
Than twice twenty thousand cock pheasants on wing.]
go The late Mr. Roper'' s Diaries.
Nov. 6th, 1845 : Hurworth at Croft. Found at Dalton
Wood and ran a ring and into Eryholm Scarr, then round the
bottom by Hurworth. Two foxes crossed the water, the
hounds following the second but could make nothing of him
and lost near Neasham. The hounds got divided, some in the
whin and some oflf with Frank Coates and Wilkinson, re-crossed
the water, found another fox in George Allan's Plantations.
Passed behind Entercommon into Beverley Wood. Nothing
more was done with him. Grey horse sent home.
[Note. — This entry is interesting in that it shows us Frank
Coates was still hunting the Hurworth in the season of 1845-6.]
Jany. ist, 1846: Croft Bridge. Drew Dalton Wood
blank. Found at Eryholm and killed immediately a fine old
dog fox. George Allan's Plantation, Beverley Wood and
Blackett's Whin blank. Found at Hornby Grange and ran
him very slowly past the house down to the stell and in the
direction of Deighton, when I gave it up as a bad job and left.
N.B. — After I left the fox had waited for them and they had a
capital 40 minutes to Arncliffe Wood.
6th : After being unable to get out with the Hurworth on
the 3rd, the Duke of Cleveland's on the 5th, the weather was
kind enough to break about ten last night, consequently this
morning I went and breakfasted with Wilkinson, the meet being
Low Middleton. Drew Aislaby Plantations and every inch of
country in the usual try, by Coatham Stobb, &c., Goosepool
Plantations, Fountain's do., — all blank when I left at 5 minutes
past three o'clock.
27th : Entercommon. Went and found at Deighton
Whin. He broke as if for the hills, across a country of which
I have no knowledge. The points were from Deighton to
within a few fields of Northallerton, where he turned and passed
The Season 1846-47, gi
by Harlsey Castle, Harlsey, Rounton and nearly to Hornby
Grange, which we passed to the left, thro' Blackett's Whin, and
was lost near Longroof 'd House.
Oct. 2nd, 1846 : Shot the Fox Hall Plantations with Mr.
Allison and killed 70 head. On this day Mr. Wilkinson and
Mr. Scurfield backed themselves to beat Mr. Allison and
myself but failed to do so. Mr. Wilkinson and I each killed
20 head.
Oct. 6: Day after Hurworth Hunt dinner. Hounds at
kennels. Owing to wetness of morning did not go but went
to York Union Hunt meeting. Sent " Samson" and "Ugly
Buck." Billy Messenger got a fall over Mr. Blackett's post
and rails on the Buck, which, according to everybody's account,
served him right.
October 30th : Duke of Cleveland's at Middleton Lodge.
Found plenty of foxes and killed one cub, the brush of which
was given to my son, George, that being his first appearance
with foxhounds. He rode a grey pony called " Crutch " and
his age is five off.
31 : Hurworth at Beverley Wood. On getting there
found they had orders to stop the hounds, so, after seeing them
find in Beverley Wood and run to George Allan's Plantations,
I left.
Jany, 20, 1847 • Hurworth at Entercommon. Went direct
to Deighton Whin. The hounds were hardly in the cover when
" gone away " was the word. He crossed the Deighton and
Northallerton road, and went past Harlsey and Mr. Mauleverer's
place to Arncliffe Wood, straight through it and along the line
of hills past Scarth Nick, and was run into in Scugdale. One
hour and twenty-five minutes over a magnificent country. We
left off 30 miles from home. " Samson," old horse, very fresh.
92 The late Mr. Roper's Diaries.
March ist : Went to Raby. March 2nd, met Duke of
Cleveland's at Manfield. Rode "Benedict." Bought this
horse from James Cookson for £100.
March 1 6th: Hurworth at Middleton-one-Row. Middleton-
St.-George and Goosepool Plantations, and all the country by
Low Middleton to Aislaby Plantations blank. Found at
Aislaby and ran him across Stockton and Darlington railway
to Elton, and killed him close to Stockton after a good hour.
Nov. gth, 1847 : Hurworth at Low Middleton. Did not
find till we got to Aislaby. Found three or four and after a
ring we ran into one. Found again in Farrer's Whin and after
a sharp scurry ran into him — both old dog foxes. The scent
was tremendous. Gave up for fear of killing more.
Dec. 23 : Hurworth at Hurworth. Hurworth Moor Whin
blank. Lingfield and all the Burdon and Sadberge country
blank. Found at Lozzy's Whin. Ran down the hill and went
to ground near Neasham Hall. Tried all the country by
Blackbanks, &c., and found no more, when I left, it being nearly
dark. They, however, persevered, and whipped up a fox in a
ploughed field and had a run such as daylight afforded.
Finished the day by a ball at the Squire's.
Dec. 28th : Hurworth at Dalton Wood. In consequence
of offence given to Capt. Allan, at Mr. Wilkinson's ball, Mr.
W. was discharged from hunting over the Captain's and George
Allan's property. Instead, therefore, of trying Dalton Wood,
we went to Eryholm, which was blank. Found at Beverley
Wood, did not get on to the best fox and did nothing. Found
again at Blackett's Whin. Had a quick burst by Hornby
Grange and back to Beverley Wood. He crossed the river
into Pettals and went to ground in Lozzy's Whin.
The Season 1848-49. 93
March 23rd, 1848 : Hurworth at Croft. Went to a drain
at Mr. Allan's, at Blackwell, and found in it a brace of foxes.
After two hours bolted one and could not run him a yard.
[Note. — Evidently " the discharge " from Mr. Allan's pro-
perty had been withdrawn and friendly relations re-established.]
29 : Duke of Cleveland at Newsham. Burford Wood,
Westwick pastures, Hawkesley Hill, and all other covers blank
to Raby Park. Found near the scene of the murder of Shirley,
the first whip, and after running entirely round Staindrop lost
him at Gainford Great Wood. A severe storm of thunder and
lightning during the run.
April 4: Entercommon country, and nth Croft Bridge,
blank days with Hurworth.
Nov. 25th, 1848 : Hurworth at Croft Bridge. A message
came from Capt. Allan desiring Mr. Wilkinson not to draw his
coverts.
[Note. — This was probably because of shooting arrange-
ments only, for hounds found a brace in Capt. Allan's Whin on
the 5th of December following and " ran one as if for Pepper
Hall Low Plantation, but the Bedale meeting there on Friday
and the scent being wretched hounds were taken oflV]
April nth, 1849 : Bedale at Exelby village. Found one
of a number of foxes, that a farmer said was always " giming "
at him, in an open field and had a quick good thing to Theak-
stone, then over Snapemire to Camp Hill, where we found a
fresh fox, and, after running up and down those interminable
woods for some time, I left.
[Note. — " Girning " is a Yorkshire word for " grinning,"
showing the teeth, leering in a contemptuous way. A dog is
said to " girn " when it shows its ivories prior to a " set to."
—Ed.]
94 The late Mr. Roper's Diaries.
November 13th, 1849: Hurworth hounds at Hurworth.
Found at Hurworth Moor Whin but made nothing of him.
Went to Lingfield Whin where we got on to a fox which had
stolen away at a fair hunting pace to Little Burdon, where he
turned up wind, and they flew after him past the Fighting Cocks
to Dinsdale Wood at a tremendous pace. Here he turned, ran
past Fighting Cocks and past the Duke of Cleveland's whin,
given to the Hurworth, and was lost near little Burdon. Mr.
Wilkinson had a bad fall.
19th : Missed a fine hunting day owing to being obliged to
sit on a bastardy case which occupied from twelve to half-past
seven o'clock.
20th : Hurworth at Welbury. Found for first time in the
Whin and ran a merry ring to Deighton, where a fresh fox
went away and ran to Hutton Bonville Whin, whence (I think)
a fresh fox broke, and after running to Danby Wiske he was lost
close to Hutton Bonville Hall. Tried Deighton Whin again —
blank, and most of the field having departed after the fox was
lost hounds went home.
30th Nov., 1849 : Duke again at Winstone Bridge. The
frost gone but a very thick fog. About half past one the
hounds were put into covert and two or three foxes were soon
afoot. After a little while ran one to ground about a mile from
the bank, where the Duke amused himself by digging for the
rest of the day. Fog so thick you could not see 100 yards
before you. I left them digging.
Dec, I ith : Hurworth at Dalton village. Tried and found
at Eryholm and killed immediately. Whilst eating the victim,
a fox swam across the river to our side and broke thro' the
gardens of Eryholm village and ran straight for Entercommon,
thence as if for Pepper Hall Plantations, but, turning to the
The late Mr. Roper's Diaries. 95
right, he crossed the Entercornmon road near the railway
bridge and ran for two miles parallel to the railway, leaving it
on his left. He then crossed it and went straight for the young
larch plantation, on to Mr. Chaytor's estate and thence to
Halnaby, where he was killed close to the hall.
Dec. igth : Hurworth at Deighton. Found immediately
in the whin. He ran as straight for the hills as he well could
-and was killed a mile beyond Osmotherley. A ride home of 26
miles.
Jany. 21st, 185 1 : Entercornmon. Found in W. Allan's
Whin. He broke as if for Pepper Hall but turned over
Wilkinson's farm and down to Beverley Wood, straight through
it and to Longroofed House. Here he took the line of the stell
straight to Picton Plantation, thro' them and without a check to
the Leven banks. This was a brilliant run ; the country very
deep and only 6 of us saw it.
Dec. 22nd, 1852 : Croft Bridge. Dalton Wood blank.
Found at Eryholm. Ran him to G. Allan's plantations, when
he turned to the right and ran over Emmerson's farm to Allan's
Whin and then to the railway bridge, on the road from
Straggleton Gate to Entercommon, over the railway and
Richmond line and over the main line again to Dalton. Here,
having cast a shoe, I left, the run to this point having been
good. The hounds afterwards crossed the river, ran to near
Darlington, back by Blackbanks, over the river again and killed
a fox with a half brush. Mr. Wilkinson said he had known
him for two years.
Nov. 29th, 1853 : HurAvorth at kennels. Most desperate
wet day. For two hours the gentlemen sportsmen waited,
drinking cherry brandy in Mr. Wilkinson's dining room, hoping
for better weather, but in vain. At last they started in defiance
96
Northallerton Races.
of weather, and when my horse was brought out he was lame
so I rode my hack home. No sport.
Dec. 20th : Hurworth at Welbury. Found in the whin.
He broke and ran in the direction of Northallerton and went
two or three miles beyond and turning was lost near the race-
The Old Grandstand on Northallerton Racecourse,
now removed.
[Note. — It may be interesting here to say a few words
regarding Northallerton Races, which were at one time a
popular fixture in the Hurworth country, but which, like
Richmond, Stokesley, Durham, Middleham, Malton and other
local meetings, have gone to the wall. I fancy I am correct in
saying the meeting had its birth in 1765, the fixture lasting
three days and being held in October.]
T. C. White, in his History of the British Turf (1840),
says :
" The Races take place toward the middle of October and continue
two days.
" ist Day — Sweepstakes of 10 sovereign each, with 20 added for two
years old colts and fillies — T.Y.C.
Northallerlon Races.
The Town Plate of ;^5o, for maiden horses ; heats, two miles.
97
" 2nd Day — The Gold Cup, value lOO guineas, b}' a subscription of lo
sovs. each, for all ages ; two miles.
"Silver Cup, value ^50, by a subscription of 5 sovs. each, for maiden
horses, etc.; heats, two miles.
" 3rd Day — Plate of ^50 for all ages; two mile heats.
" These races, like many others, are most unnecessarily protracted to
three days — the list of sport being barely sufficient for two."
" The Druid," in Silk and Scarlet, writes :
"About 1807, Shepherd, Jackson, Billy Peirse and Ben Smith had all
the best of the Northern Riding Jackson, who only yielded to Bill
Scott in the number of Leger victories, had a rare start with Mr. Hutchin-
son's stable, which he knew right well how to use. He had the prettiest
seat of the four, .... No man was ever more honest and respectable ;
but, although he had been able to ride 7 st. 7 lb. almost to the last, he had
t>ut little left when he died. Before he took to his inn at Northallerton, he
held the race-course farm, and the horses made the turn just below his
front door. On both afternoons he was wont to keep open house for his
friends ; but his kindness was sadly abused, and scores who scarcely knew
him by sight used to be found deep in his beef and beer."
The racecourse was situated near the railway station, the
new County Hall being built near where the old grandstand
stood. The final fixture was held early in the eighties, and if
my memory serves me aright, the winner of the last great North
Riding Handicap, value £^0 (the " big race "), was Mr. John
Osborne's " Evening Chimes," distinguished as the dam of
" Matin Bell " (the Northumberland Plate winner of 1888),
owned by the late Mr. C. Perkins, trained by Harry Hall, and
ridden by Seth Chandley. — Ed.]
r- ^> :>,-/^^ V. vf^ \ii- ' '' '-va
SEASONS 1855 TO i860.
WILL DANBY AND MR. T. WILKINSON.
Mrs. A. C. Wilkinson now begins to keep the Hurworth
Hunt journals, and her first record is with reference to Will
Danby :
2nd October, 1855. — Sockburn : Danby's first day as hunts-
man. Killed a cub. Rode " Quaker."
Of Will Danby, " The Druid " writes in Silk and Scarlet:
" The former [Tommy Hodgson, of Holderness fame] has hung up
his horn for years, but Will Danby, his equally famous whip, is just enter-
ing upon his fiftieth season of his life in scarlet ; and although the grey
hairs may be seen straggling under his cap, he is a wonderful instance Of
what a hardy Yorkshire constitution, good temper and rigid temperance can
efiFect for a man in * these degenerate days.' Will is quite a key to York-
shire hunting history ; but tiles have, of later years, become his thorn in
the flesh. • This draining,' as he emphatically observed to us, when we
took counsel with him near the Hurworth kennels, * is just the ruin of
scent ; T wish they'd be done with it ; when I was a boy we could hunt
from morning till night.* He was born near Hornby Castle ; and the ruling
passion with him was strongly fostered at fourteen (in 1809), when one of
the farm houses, included in his father's lease, was converted by the Duke
of Leeds into a kennel for his hounds. This was the crisis of his fate, and
henceforward he devoted his attention more to helping the feeder to walk
the hounds about than to grounding himself in the elements of agriculture.
His expressed views on drainage would, in fact, have militated so strongly
against his advancement that it was well he established himself in the good
graces of Kit Scaife, the huntsman, and found a more congenial outlet for
energies."
After acting as whip in the Badsworth and Scarborough
countries, Will Danby went to the Holderness, as first whipper-in
WILL DANBY.
Mjs. a. C. Wilkinson's Diaries. gg
and kennel huntsman. He had his last day in this country on
May 3rd, 1837, and next season went to the York and Ainsty.
In 1853 the ill-fated Sir Charles Slingsby became Master of
the York pack, and, as he wished to hunt hounds himself, Will
retired with a testimonial. He could not settle down, however,
to a boundless, huntless life, and in 1855 became huntsman to
the Hurworth. There is an excellent oil painting of him in the
Yorkshire Club, at York, by I. W. Snow, bearing the date 18 15.
After this introduction to Will Danby, the Hurworth
huntsman of the epoch under consideration, let us glance at the
sport he showed as recorded by our diarist.
6 th November. — The kennels. P'ound at Burdon.
" Quaker," who was very fresh, pulled very hard over two or
three fields. Thomas scolded because I could not stop him.
i6th November, Friday. — Went to see the Raby Hounds,
Mansfield. A very cold ride to cover, being white frost.
Herbert rode " Gannemede." Crossed a very awkward beck,
or gully, with high banks, several times. Poor sport.
30th November. — Went to meet Durham County Hounds
at Newbiggin. Run 30 minutes, the fox lay down in a hedge
bottom and was killed close to Mr. Farrer's Whin. Rode
" Batchelor." Said afterwards fox was shot by a poacher, but
this was not known till months after.
22nd March, 1856, Saturday. — Low Middleton. Found at
Mr. Farrer's Whin, three foxes in cover. Ran to Newsam
Banks. Hounds divided. Pack much bothered with a great
bloodhound that Mr. Strother's stupid son had brought out.
Back to Mr. Farrer's, blank. Found at Mr. Sutton's ; ran
towards Elton. Hounds dreadfully ridden over. Bad scent.
Goosepool blank. Rode chestnut. A number of ladies and
girls out, namely : Mrs. Maynard, Mrs. Waldy, Miss Hammond,
lOO Last day with Mr. Mark Milbank.
Miss Scurfield, Miss Stowell, Miss Neasham, Amy and Sally.
26th March, 1856. — We all went to Pepper Hall to see
Bedale foxhounds for last time. Very wet morning, rain and
sleet, a large field. Found a bag fox close to the Hall. A
short ring and lost. Found at Hutton Bonville, fast for a few
fields, headed by a woman in a paddock, back through the
cover, difficult hunting about railway, over the Wiske and lost.
Rode chestnut ; Danby out on " Quaker."
[Note. — At the end of the season 1855-56, Mr. Mark
Milbank, son-in-law of the Duke of Cleveland, gave up the
Bedale Hounds. He had been master of the country for 24
years, having formed what is now the Bedale territory in 1833,
when the Duke gave up hunting owing to failing health. The
author of The Bedale Hounds, says (page 60) : He
" had got plenty of good whin coverts made, which were all well stocked
with foxes, and had shown some capital sport and killed an average number
of foxes A successor to Mr. Milbank was found in Mr. Duncombe
(now the Earl of Feversham), who took up his residence at The Leazes.
He started the formation of a new pack by buying the Forfarshire Hounds
from Lord Dalhousie, a few from Mr. Milbank, and also a good draft when
Capt. Percy Williams sold his Rufford Hounds."]
27th March, Thursday. — Croft Bridge. Found in Allen's
Whin, half an hour in cover, ran to Dalton, killed on the Scar,
close to Rockcliffe, fox lost in river and sank. A very pretty
kill. Major Williamson was fishing in the river for salmon and
after we left dived for the fox many times without success.
Found in Mr. Allen's Plantations and ran back to Mr. Allen's
Whin, where hounds were stopped, fox being too long gone and
scent bad. Rode " Quaker." Amy, Sally and uncle out.
15th November, 1856. — Entercommon. Rode chestnut,
who was quite sound. Beverley Wood blank. Found in Mr.
Allen's Plantation several foxes. One broke and went away
Season 1856-57. loi
very fast to Eryholme where he went to ground. There were
three new earths Jack Dixon had never found. Tried Dalton
Wood, etc., blank ; found instantly in Allen's Whin (a fox had
been seen going towards the cover from Eryholme half an hour
before), fast to Emmerson's Plantation, a check, then lost near
Beverley Wood. Danby went back, and hounds crossed the
river to a halloa from Entercommon. Saw the run fox cross
the fields towards Hornby Grange. Could not make Danby
hear, so we went home rather vexed.
23rd December, Tuesday. — High Worsall Toll Bar.
Found in Green Lane cover a very fine large fox, which ran
straight to the Cleveland hills, where the hounds were stopped.
Did not know the names of the places we passed, except Mr.
Nightingale's (Faceby Lodge). Came home through Crathorne.
Enjoyed the day very much. Frosty and cold coming home,
and my habit having been wet and dirty was frozen stiff.
loth Jan., 1857. — Croft Bridge. Found in a small plant-
ation, Blackwell, near Angel Inn, ran to the Cirange, back over
road near Blackwell village towards Connisclitre, over the road,
and a few fields turned short back through Blackwell, in front
of the Grange, over road. Killed near the Skerne. Brush
given to Masttr George Scurfield. Tried Pilmore blank.
Found at Mr. George Chapman's, in the Gill, ran to Hurworth,
Pilmore, etc., by our old cover towards Sockburn, but found
there were too many scents near Mr. Grace's hind's house, so
Danby blew his horn and stopped them. A frost till
20 Jany. — The Kennels for Fighting Cocks, as usual were
long in cover, people riding about the lane, etc. Ran to
Barningham and to Lea Close, where probably the fox went to
ground — an hour and a quarter slow hunting. There was a
long check near Sadberge.
I02
Mrs. Wilkinson's Diaries.
Feby. 29th, 1857. — Croft Bridge : A very fine warm day.
only one red coat (Mr. Waldy), a small field, everyone having
gone to Middleton Tyas. Blackwell, etc., blank, there having
been a good deal of pigeon shooting. Found at Sockburn. A
ring and fast to Neasham, through Mr. Jackson's garden, lost
near Mr. Gre3^'s plantations. There had been several foxes on
foot, and one having gone to ground, we took " Patch " (a
favourite black and grey fox terrier) and went back to Bolton
Park. " Patch " behaved valiantly and drove a fox on among
the tree roots in a gully. George and John dug away the soil,
and at last the fox was pulled out dead and *' Patch " much
bit on her nose. Tom, who had ridden about Sockburn on
" Bob," with John behind, enjoyed the digging out very much,
and was very proud of '' Patch."
nth March. — Went to see the Raby Foxhounds. Waited
more than an hour near a farm house (the wind very cold)
before the hounds came, a quarter past twelve. To R. Allen's
%cvd^ I fhetuJ^ II :^
Miss H. Chaytor.
Season 1857-58. 103
Whin blank, ditto Birch Carr and Halnaby Whin, rather odd
after the grumbhng we have heard from Mr. Wilson Todd
about so many foxes. Mr. Scarth also told us the Duke pays
rent for the cover. His Grace had a very bad cold, and looked
very ill. Heard a fox had just been seen at Atkinson's farm
house, ran nearly to Stapleton banks, through the cover, back
nearly to R. Allen's Whin, came home. Thomas rode" Solo-
mon," I rode "Wilful." We were much amused to see Miss H.
Chaytor running over the fields with a large stick, and in :i
curious costume. Several hares were killed in Halnaby Whin,
and the hounds looked very bloody when they came out.
Mem. : There is likely to be trouble about Blackett's Bridge.
17th Nov., 1857. — -^ most disappointing day, a good
many strangers out : Sir Marshall Wallace, Mr. Deighton, etc.
Allen's Whin blank (Dick Wood, the Hurworth poacher,
shoots there every day, and no one dare order him away for
fear he might injure their lives or property). Went to George
Allen's plantations, wishing to have a good chance for a run.
Thomas placed the field, who behaved very well, up the lane
towards Enterconimon, where, as it turned out, we could hear
neither hounds or horn. They found immediately and crossed
the river, and we never heard Danby's signal, so we rode up
and down the lane quite lost. Danby, George, and three or
four others had a capital run, and stopped them at last near
Worsall Gills. Thomas dreadfully vexed. He rode "Wilful."
15th Dec, 1857.— Deighton Village : A lovely morning.
They found immediately, and a few fields from cover Danby's
horse, " Peter," fell over a rail. He was thrown quite clear of
him, but that wild man from Newcastle, Mr. Samuel Parker,
was close behind, and leapt on him, injuring him severely. He
was brought home in a gig. Mr. Easby came to see him. He
I04 Will Danby.
had one rib broken and his left leg much bruised, his watch
perhaps partly saved him, it was bent in and stopped immedi-
ately (it is a double-cased, strong, silver hunting one). They
had a good day's sport, to ground in Dinsdale Lane.
[Note. — A writer at the time referred to Danby and his
accident thus : " Will says that Mr. Thomas Wilkinson was a
first-rate master, and no man could care more for or take a
^-^ A^^^^ (%r/
y,!^ ^ /y^/yC^^^I^^
Facsimile of Will Danby's signature.
greater interest in his servants, but poor old Will got lamed
from his horse jumping on him, breaking three of his ribs, so
that, in his own words, he ' could no longer straddle a horse,'
but his master said, most kindly, ' Well, Will, we'll never part
to the end of the chapter.' "]
Thomas Wilkinson, Master.
November 23rd, 1858.
Weight of St. lb.
Thomas Wilkinson 13 o
Mrs. A. C. Wilkinson 7 13
T.L.Wilkinson 3 4
A. F. Wilkinson 2 10^
" Patch " (the terrier) (?) ,
Height of ft. in.
Thomas Wilkinson 5 g^
Mrs. A. C. Wilkinson 5 i\
T.L.Wilkinson 3 i of \ young son and
A.F.Wilkinson 3 ']\\ daughter.
Mr. A. Davy 6 i^
CHAPTER VI.
MR. T. WILKINSON'S
AND MR. THOMAS PARRINGTON'S ERA.
i860— 1861.
ARRINGTON is a name written large in the
early history of the Hurworth — albeit of sport
and agriculture generally. A writer in Baily
for 1872 thus referred to his succeeding Will
f"^J Jl^/p Danby as huntsman to the Hurworth :
I ' " He [Will Danby] was succeeded in i860 by Mr.
Thomas Parrington, whose father originally farmed the
whole of the Middlesbrough Estate. He was well known as a very keen
sportsman,* who thoroughly knew all about hunting and also a good rider
with all the neighbouring packs, and as an amateur whip to the Cleve-
land as well as the originator of the Cleveland Hound Show, of which
he managed till 1861, and he himself bred some very good horses. On
becoming huntsman to the Hurworth he mounted himself and had a stake
in the concern. He was at first assisted in the field and kennel by George
Dodds only, then for the last season also by George Robinson, a fine lad,
who came from Sir Charles Slingsby, and who went to the Lanark and
Renfrew and died there in 1866. Under Mr. Parrington's regime fresh
kennels were built and some capital stables, which, without being showy,
are as good as I have ever seen, but he understands all this thoroughly, as
he is a capital manager in all that appertains to horses and hounds. In
the field few men are keener or know how and when to gallop better."
Mr. Parrington's first season as huntsman to the Hurworth
(i860) was a disastrous year for farmers, worse even than the
memorable summer (courtesy title !) 191 2. Cub hunting could
*For full biography of Mr. Parrington see England's Oldest Hunt, by the present writer.
io6 The Season 1S60-61 .
not be started until October 13th, and half the corn was not
cut then and never was reaped. Apropos of this Mr. Parrington
tells a story to the effect that cutting being delayed he was glad
to get anywhere to exercise hounds, and one morning set off
from Hurworth and went to Catterick, then through the fields
to call on Mr. John Jackson, at Oran. En route he passed the
land farmed by the Outhwaites (who were good farmers and
bred many famous shorthorns at Bainesse), and saw them
cutting corn next to a field of standing beans. This was on
October 4th and the beans were not lead in the following
January, and eventually fold yards were built in the field and
pigs were turned in.
The same year Mr. Mark Milbank was speaking at a
political meeting, in favour of his son's Parliamentary candid-
ature, and advocated some measure which did not meet with
the approval of Mr. John Outhwaite, who called out " If you
had your way you would soon bring farming to an end." Old
Mr. Milbank at once replied : " I fancy that was the voice of
our friend John Outhwaite, who farms in such a thorough
manner that it takes him three years to grow a crop of beans."
There was then a great laugh against Farmer John.
Hounds and horsemen that same season frequently galloped
through fields of corn which were never reaped and had event-
ually to be ploughed in.
Mr. Parrington found they had a small pack, not in the
best of condition, but containing some very useful hounds,
especially two lemon-pies, which Squire Wilkinson had by
some means got from the Duke of Buccleugh's. They were
called " Trueman " and " Terrington," and were at their best
when Mr. Parrington first went to Hurworth. They were very
savage, and so keen for blood that it was almost impossible to
Peculiar Hound Traits. 107
get a bit of a fox when hounds killed. " Terrington " invari-
ably had a good share of the carcase, and then marched off
with the mask, and carried it about for half-an-hour or so after.
One day at a kill Mr. Parrington tried to drive " Trueman "
off the fox and gave him one or two sharp cuts with his whip,
in return for which " Trueman" came for him and tore a piece
out of his breeches. The feeder of this epoch dare not touch
either of these lemon-pies, and Mr. Parrington discovered that
" Terrington " would not wait till he was drawn, so the follow-
ing morning he went along to the kennels armed with a useful
" long tom." When the doors were opened and the feeder
began drawing his hounds to feed " Terrington " m^ade a dash
and nearly knocked Mr. Parrington down. He caught him
by the stern, however, and gave him " sike a leatherin' ez he
lo8 Duke of Cleveland's Hounds sold.
weean't fergit fer a bit " (as the feeder put it). The hound
was then taken to the empty yard, and left there to ruminate
and lick his swellings. When he had fed all the remainder,
Mr. Parrington went to see " Terrington," and found him
looking very demure and penitent in the corner of the yard.
He called him by name and thought the hound looked rather
pleased, so walked straight up to him (as Rarey used to do
with the most vicious horses), patted him on the head, and
then gave him a good feed. Never afterwards did he attempt
to come out to feed till his name was called.
Regarding the peculiar trait of " Terrington," in that he
invariably took possession of the mask of a fox after it had
been broken up, Col. R. F. Meysey-Thompson relates a similar
case in his book A Hunting Catechism. He says :
" In the early sixties a hound, " Layman," in the York and
Ainsty pack, had the habit of always seizing the fox's head,
when one was killed, and either carrying it till another fox was
found or else taking it home to the kennels — for at that time it
was not the custom to attach the fox's mask to the whip's
saddle. " Layman " continued the practice until a son of his,
" Villager," a very fine hound, was admitted into the pack, and
the latter, being possessed of no filial respect, proceeded to
usurp his sire's prerogative, and ever afterwards carried the
head himself."
Lord Middleton gave Mr. Parrington some hounds, and
when the Duke of Cleveland's pack was sold at Tattersall's,
Mr. Parrington and Squire Wilkinson went up and bought 15
or more couples. The former crossed London early in the
morning with these to King's Cross Station, to the astonishment
of those astir. He put them all in a horse-box and set off with
the hounds northwards, travelling with them in the box. He
Some more Hunting Parsons. 109
recalls that they fought the whole way home. Of these about
eight couple proved useful. Mr. Parrington did much to
improve the pack by introducing fresh blood, and when the
Duke of Cleveland's subscription of ;/^500 a year came in his
(Mr. Parrington's) second season, they had a little more money
to work with.
For the first two seasons Mr. Parrington lived in rooms at
Hurworth, and the other two he had a furnished house. The
Spa, at Croft, at this time was at the height of its popularity,
and the Spa Hotel was full of water-drinkers and hunting men,
all " jovial fellows," more fond of wine, fun, and good dinners
than water drinking, and still retaining some of the wildness of
the old Tom and Jerry days. There was a dinner party every
night, and Mr. Parrington and Squire Wilkinson often went
down. Squire Wilkinson and several of the others drank the
strongest, blackest port, and did not stint themselves either.
As the evenings advanced, and the dew of vintage had fallen
pretty heavily, it was a regular practice to see who could put a
champagne or port bottle on his head, and, by stages, lie down
and rise up again with the bottle still in position. The result
was that there was a good deal of broken glass on the floor.
These were the days of " the Merry Past," the days of many
bumper toasts, and " no heel taps." If they took their liquor
at this day they also took any amount of exercise as an antidote
— no travelling in motor-cars to the meeting place, and none of
the ease and luxury of this epoch !
They had a number of sporting parsons with them in the
Hurworth field at this period. There was Parson Dyke, of
Long Newton, whom Mr. Parrington describes as " a most
handsome man and a good horseman." Then there was
Parson Gooch, of Stainton-in-Cleveland, and the Rev. John
Newton, of Kirby-in-Cleveland, who divided his affections
no TJie late Rev. C. Slingsby.
between the Cleveland and the Hurworth Hounds. Mr.
Parrington considers Mr. Newton was " the best man I ever
rode with ; quiet, determined, rarely taking the lead, but never
shaken off; never seeming to hurry or bustle, but always well
up."
In the adjoining Cleveland hunting country about this
period they had still existent a Friendly Society, whose rules
contained a clause to the effect that they were no enemies to
" fox hunting, hare hunting, harriers, cocking and smocking."
To the encouragement of these allegiance had to be sworn with
a hand laid on a hunting horn. The clergy, however, were to
be excused from " smocking," but were expected to support
the sports of venery. They used to have a parson in the
Bedale country so keen on hunting that the song was sung
specially of him :
Here's a health to the parson despising control,
Who, to better his parish, his health or his soul —
(On my honour I think he does each) —
Five days in the week follows reynard and hounds,
On the sixth duly goes his parochial rounds,
And on Sunday devoutly can preach.
The Hurworth still have their chaplains, and I have seen
four out on one single day on two separate occasions. One
was the Rev. Mr. Heigham (Vicar of Wilton, whose brother
hunts the Holderness as gentleman horn carrier) ; another was
the Rev. D. Slingsby Atkinson (Vicar of Kirby Sigston), a
cousin of the famous Sir Charles Slingsby, of York and Ainsty
fame and brother of the late Rev. C. Slingsby, who was killed
whilst following the York and Ainsty Hounds on Nov. 15th,
1912. The fixture was at Skip Bridge, and on a fox going
away from Red House Wood the deceased sportsman took a
foremost place in the van. As his horse alighted after jumping
The late Rev. C. SHngsby.
Ill
a fairly stiff fence it stumbled and unseated Mr. Slingsby, who
fell on his head and was killed instantly, his neck being broken.
Sir Charles Slingsby.
The deceased gentleman for some years lived in the Hurworth
country, as Vicar of Kirby Sigston, and out of respect to his
memory the Hurworth did not hunt on the day of his funeral.
He was sixty-nine years of age, and for part of his life had
ridden, and ridden well, to hounds. The son of the Rev.
Thomas Atkinson, Rector of Kirby Sigston, he assumed the
name and arms of Slingsby upon inheriting the Slingsby
estates on the death of his cousin. The family has ever seemed
to have a Nemesis overshadowing it, for if one goes back to the
earliest days we find John de Slingsby died from wounds
received at Flodden Field. Another member of the family lost
his head in support of the Royalist cause in the Cromwellian
epoch. A descendant, Thomas Slingsby, was drowned in the
River Nidd. Sir Charles Slingsby, an uncle of the late sport-
ing parson, lost his life in the terrible ferry-boat disaster on the
river Ure, in 1869, which followed a fixture at Stainley House.
112 More ''Gentlemen in Blacks
A fox was found in Monkton Whin, and was hunted away to
Newby Park, where the fox swam the river into Lady Mary
Vyner's grounds, the hounds quickly following. When the
leading horseman came up the ferry-boat was hastily boarded,
eleven men and their horses starting on their journey to the
opposite bank. Sir Charles Slingsby's horse became restless,
jumped into the water and in a moment the flat-bottomed boat
capsized. Sir Charles was drowned, as were Mr. E. Lloyd, a
fine swimmer, Mr. Robinson, of York ; and Charles Orvis, the
first whipper-in and kennel-huntsman.
Let us now return to Hurworth hunting parsons of to-day.
They also include the Rev. Mr. Wilford and the Rev. J. L.
Kyle, M.A., the Church-building, farming, public-housekeeping
Vicar of Carlton-in-Cleveland, who has the faculty for enjoying
his days with hounds be the sport what it may. It is well when
the pleasure of having a good horse underneath one, and of
being out in the open with congenial spirits and with hounds is
appreciated on an otherwise bad day. Unfortunately, at the
present day, there are comparatively few who can enjoy a day
without it is comparatively full of galloping and jumping. One
regrets that the number of hunting parsons is decreasing, for
they were a robust, healthy minded set of men with much in
common with their flocks and, as a general rule, most approach-
able and beloved.
To revert to Mr. Parrington's epoch ; amongst others who
hunted with the Hurworth in his day was his friend, the famous
John Jackson, known as " Jock o' Oran," and later as "Jock o'
Fairfield." He was born some say at Tunstall, others at
Oran, and was numbered amongst the wild " hell-for-leather "
sportsmen of his day, who lived every day of their lives, punct-
uated them with much rough horse-play, were forgiven much
''Jock o' Orany 113
because they were loved much, played the game all round and
died early, having had a real good time and saying with their
last breath :
I have lived my life, I am nearly done,
I have played the game all round,
But the best of my fun, I freely admit,
I owe it to horse and hound.
— Whyte-Melville.
A foxhunter, a bold horseman, a wonderful judge of a
horse, a breeder of blood stock, and a leviathan member of the
betting ring, he was the son of a small farmer, and, being a
Yorkshireman and born in an atmosphere of hunting and racing,
he took to both quite naturally. His father owned some smart
racing ponies with which he won many local events, and it is
related that the young Jock's first bet was of half-a-crown on
" Inheritress," on Middleham Moor, where races were held
years ago. Coursing, fighting, and cricket all claimed his
attention in his youth, and we are told " by the time he
attained man's estate, ' Jock o' Oran ' was regarded as a hero
in the district." Withal he was a generous, good-hearted
fellow, ever ready to indulge in a wager on any sporting event.
He won ^"27,000 over " Ellington's " Derby, and, it is said,
more over " Blair Athol." He was the owner of "Saunterer,"
" Sneeze " (which ran second for the Oaks, in 1857), " Tim
Whiffler " (a wonderful stayer), "Elland" (with which he won
the Liverpool Cup and afterwards sold to Mr. Sutton, who the
following year won twelve races with him), and others. His
life was a short one and a merry one, and " The Druid " thus
referred to his death in The Sporting Life :
" Yorkshire had two John Jacksons, of no small Turf renown. One
rode seven St. Leger winners, and counted ' Beningbrough ' and ' Altis-
dora ' among them ; and the other who was only a lad of eleven when the
old jockey died, nearly blind, at Northallerton, became the noted 'Jock o'
114 ^^ Jock o' Orany
Fairfield,' breeder and owner of racehorses, a leviathan better at 'The
Corner,' on a carriage top, or in ' any place set apart for that purpose;' a
mighty Nimrod with the Bedale and Sir Charles's, and an 'all-round ' man
as far as any sport was concerned. That life, with all its curious and often
misdirected activities, was closed at five p.m. on Tuesday last (last week
of January, i86g). The doctors were anxious that he should winter abroad,
but, when they were fain to confess the sad truth that there was no hope,
Mr. Jackson calmly determined to await the end in his own home at
Fairfield, and among his own kindred, and, for months, he had worn away
imperceptibly, like snow in a thaw. He had had only been downstairs
once since his last sale The funeral is fixed for Tuesday next, at
Catterick, the scene of his early life, where his brother still farms the
paternal acres."
There is, in the churchyard at Catterick, a red Aberdeen
granite monument on a freestone base to his memory, bearing
the following cold and bare inscription :
In memory of John Jackson,
of Fairfield,
Who died January 26, 1869,
Aged 41.
Before quoting from Mr. Parrington's journal, which he
has very generously placed at my disposal, I must acknowledge
my great indebtedness to him for so kindly giving me inform-
ation regarding early days and early doings in connection with
sport in the North Countree. Mr. Parrington is as keen a
sportsman to-day, in his 95 th year, as he was when he consented
to help Mr. Thomas Wilkinson with the Hurworth, over half a
century ago. His memory is as clear as ever it was and he can,
without hesitation, quote the day of the month and the year, as
well as almost every point made by foxes in the course of the
great hunts enjoyed by him in many countries. He tells us
how, in his day, the question asked when homeward bound from
hunting was not "how many have you killed?" but " have you
had a find?" and is of the opinion that not only were foxes
Mr. Parrington and Hound Shows. 115
stouter half a century ago but also the topographical conditions
were far more productive of sport. It is interesting to note that
it was Mr. Parrington who founded hound shows and introduced
jumping at agricultural shows. The season following the first
leaping competitions Mr. " Billy " Williamson met him and
asked " What are you going to invent next for shows Parring-
ton ? " and the reply was " classes for foxhounds." Mr.
Williamson replied " What Masters of hounds will send entries
to a dog show ? " and Mr. Parrington retorted "It wont be a
dog show it will be a hound show. Mr. Mark Milbank has
promised to be one of the judges and I want you to be the
other. Will you agree ? " Mr. Williamson promised, though
he had little faith in the innovation, and on the very morning
of the show said with surprise " Well, I declare ! if old Tom
Sebright hasn't brought a couple of hounds." Mr. Parrington's
residence at Kirbymoorside is the rendezvous of Sinnington
sportsmen, whose M.F.H. Mr. Parrington was for some seasons,
and not an evening passes without the toast " Fox-hunting —
long may it flourish ! " being heartily drunk by the veteran
sportsman and such of his friends who have foregathered
round his hospitable board. In an article by Mr. A. W.
Coaten, appearing some years ago in Badminton, the following
quotation from a letter from Mr. Parrington was given :
" As a foxhunter I may certainly claim the title of ' veteran,' as I
was blooded in 1825, and have been following hounds in one way or
another up to the present time — for the last twenty years on wheels, I
regret to say, owing to sciatica. I have, of course, seen many remarkable
runs with hounds, having hunted with all the Yorkshire packs, and many
of the neighbouring packs in Durham and Lincolnshire. To detail them
all would fill a volume. I am often asked which was the best run I ever
saw, and I always reply, it was on January 21, 1859, when with the South
Durham Hounds, with a fox that jumped out of a hedgerow in view of the
pack, ran over a fine country at a tip-top pace for one hour and eleven
minutes without the slightest check, and a brilliant kill in the open. This
ii6
A Great Run and Evolution.
run was over the Sedgefield country, formerly hunted by Ralph Lambton
— and I believe I am the only man now living who hunted with Mr.
Lambton, who gave up his hounds in 1838.
" As to my opinion of fox-hunting, past and present, I may say the
sport is not on the whole so enjoyable as it was, say, fifty years ago, and
for the following reasons : —
1. Hounds were not bred for appearance and pace only so much as
they are now.
2. Fo.xes were wilder and more natural.
3. Hounds were not so pressed on by crowded fields of riding men
and women.
4. Many countries were not so thickly populated, and railways were
not so numerous.
5 and lastly, Scent was, I think, more in evidence then than now.
I mean that good-scenting days were not so few and far between
as at the present time. As to scent, I am bound to confess that
I know nothing about it."
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CHAPTER VII.
MR. T. PARRINGTON'S DIARIES.
Season i860 — 1861.
'ONDAY, Oct. ist, i860.— Left Normanby for
Hurworth, accompanied by John Chapman and
three horses, having James Carlton in advance
with baggage. Arrived all safe at our journey's
end at 6 o'clock p.m.
Oct. 13th. — Started cub hunting. Met at Aislaby at 11
and tried some standing beans blank. Found an old dog fox
in Mr. Farrer's Whin and killed him after two or three turns
in cover. Did not find any cubs there as all the earths were
open. Found a second fox in Aislaby Gill, ran him at a
tremendous pace over the open to Newsam Banks where we
changed foxes and did no more good. A fine day but bad
scent. Had 23 couples of hounds out, all of which behaved
admirably. Rode " Lady Bennett," John [rode] " Chance
Shot." Messrs. Wilkinson, Waldy, Scurfield, Colling, J.
Waldy, J. Garbutt, G. Stonehouse, R. Colling, Temple, Lister,
H. Fowler, T. Harrison, etc.
Nov. 3rd, i860.— Met at High Worsall Toll Bar at 11.
Found an old fox in the Whin Covert. Hung in cover some
time, at length broke on the East side and ran parallel with
the lane for some distance, then crossed the lane and right
away to Moor Bank, where he headed short back along the
margin of the river to Worsall Gill, then, turning South, ran
straight across Worsall Moor to Dobbin's farm house, where
they checked, and as all the field were thrown or beaten by the
ii8 Season 1860-1861.
pace much time was lost, and though eventually the line was
hit off through Picton Plantation, yet the fox was too far gone,
so gave it up after a very pretty run of 43 minutes. Found a
second fox beautifully in Worsall Gill, ran through the Muir
Cover, then a ring towards Fardenside and back to the Gill,
then broke away to the South across Worsall Moor to the Toll
Bar Cover, just through a corner of it, and then away to
Waldy's Plantations and forward to Moor Bank, through it,
and then turned back to Falkland's Whin, through it and
Waldy's Plantations again and back nearly to the Toll Bar
again, then right away to Worsall Gill Cover again. Here
three foxes were on foot, and two broke together, running
coupled for some distance and then split, one with 14 couples
of hounds running East, the other going West, and followed by
seven couples of hounds, and as no one was with them they
lost near Beverley Wood. The 14 couples rattled their fox
away to the Toll Bar Cover, and then forward to Waldy's
Plantations, where he dodged for some time, but at last they
made it too hot for him, and fairly forced him into open, and
killed him in fine style, after running hard for one hour and
three-quarters without even a check of any moment — a cub
bitch fox. A very fine, sunny day, moderate scent, had 21
couples of hounds out. Rode Mr. Scurfield's grey horse, and,
being short of work for such a hard day, he compounded, I
then got on to Mr. Jno. Waldy's chestnut horse, and he soon
cried " enough," and lastly I was splendidly carried to the
death on Mr. Rowe's grey horse — a very hard day for horses,
hounds and men. Out : The Squire and Mrs. Wilkinson,
Messrs. T. W., Ed., and John Waldy, H. Fowle, A. Rowe,
Temple, J. Colling, R. White, T. Harrison, G. Brown, G.
Stonehouse and L. H. Parrington, who was charmingly carried
Season 1860-1861. iiQ
through this severe day on his Httle bay mare, and carried a
well-earned brush into Cleveland with him.
Nov. 6th. — Met at Welbury at 10-30, our opening day.
There were out on this day Sir M. Wallace, The Squire
Messrs. T. W. Waldy and Son, J. Waldy, T. Garbutt, J.
S. Sutton, J. Colling, C, E. Simpson, A. and F. Rowe, Wm.
Stephenson, W. Fowler, H. Holt, Geo. Browne, etc., etc.
Mr. Parrington adds : " All much pleased with the day's
sport. A capital day for taking the ' shine ' off new coats."
Nov. 13th. — Dalton Village. The field included the
Squire and Mr. Wilkinson, Rev. Mr. Smith, Messrs. J. Colling,
Marshall, G. J. Scurfield, A. Rowe, J. S. Sutton, H. Fowler,
C. Simpson, T. Garbutt, R. Colling, Ed. Scarth, Wrightson,
G. Brown, Ed. Waldy, D. Thomas, Rev. C. Gooch, and
Robert Brunton (of Cleveland fame).
Nov. 27th. — Young Robinson, of Rushford, out to-day
and rode admirably. I never saw a more promising " young
'un."
Jan. 22nd. — Met at kennels. Gutters full of snow and lots
of ice on the road. Nevertheless, at noon threw of at Mr. Sur-
tees' Plantations ; found instanter. Ran very hard for two hours
backward and forwards in these and Sockburn Plantations.
At length a fresh fox crossed the Tees at Girsby Scar, and
went straight to Worsall Gill, past the Church, then away to
Falkland's Whin and forward to Salter Gill where we again
changed foxes, our fox being then dead beat. Stopped the
hounds near Hetson. Had 22^ couples of hounds out. Fair
scent. Rode " Lady Bennett." Out: The Squire, Messrs.
G. J. and R. Scurfield, T. W. Waldy, Ed. Waldy, Capt.
Hardinge, G. Brown, J. Colling, etc., etc. A very hard day
for horses and hounds. Not less than half-a-dozen foxes on
foot at Sockburn.
I20 Season 1860-1861.
Jan. 26th. — Entercommon. Blackman and Entercommon
Whin and 40 acres blank. Found in the West end of Bever-
ley Wood ; broke at South side. Away to Hornby Village.
Left it on his left, then skirted past the North end of Hornby
Whin away to Staindale, across Worsall Moor to Worsall
Gill, then to Fardenside away forward to the Fishlocks Cover,
through it, on to Girsby, then crossed Staindale pointing for
Beverley Wood, wheeled round by Long Roof'd House point-
ing for Fardenside, but crossed by Rose Hill and back to the
Fishlocks Cover again where he went to ground dead beat.
Time, i hour and 55 minutes, an exceedingly good run, at
times very fast then again beautiful hunting. Hounds behaved
remarkably well. Had 20 couples out. A beautiful day and
fair scent. Rode "Catterick," was beautifully carried. A
large field out amongst whom were the Squire and Lady, Miss
Neasham, Messrs. Gilpin Brown, Cradock, G. J. Scurfield, R.
Scurfield, T. W. Waldy, W. H.Williamson, Capt. Marshall,
J. Waldy, Ed. Waldy, C. E. Simpson, H. Fowler, Geo.
Maughan, J. Colling, Col. Colling, J. Wilson, W. Hopkins,
and several others I did not know. Three and a half couples
of hounds got away with a fox from Staindale this day and
killed him at Bedale, in the Bedale country. I had a bad fall,
severely spraining my right arm. W. H. Williamson, better
known as *' Billy," was out this day, also my brother John.
March 30th. — Hurworth : This day I had a bad fall, and
dislocated my right arm at the shoulder. I sent all the hounds
home with George, except Sparkler, who would not leave me.
[Note. — Apropos of this accident the following appeared
in a sporting paper some time afterwards : —
" Will Danby yance tell'd us when Tom Parrington ewsed ti hunt
t' Horwuth Hounds, he brak his ame and sat doon on t' top ov a bank at
t' sahd ov a yat stoop whal sum yan com and fetched him yam iv a chaize.
Season J 86 7 -7 862. I2i
George gat t' rest o' t' pack away all bud Sparkler an' t' dog wadn't leave
his maister, bud followed t' chaize ez far ez t' kennels, an' ez it didn't ton
intul t' yat, bud kept gannin' on ti Horwuth, poor Sparkler c'u'dn't niak'
oot w'at it meant. He knew his maister alius tonn'd in there when he
com'd yam frev huntin', seea he thowt he c'u'dn't be i' t' chaize 'at he'd
been follerin' all t' tahm, seea when t' dog gat intul kennel-cloas an'
leeaked aboot him, he hoonded back a mahl ti t' spot wheear his maister
had brokken his ame, an' when George went ti' leeak for t' awd dog at neet,
there he was set at t' varra pleeace where it happened. Next mornin'
when t' maister put his heead thrufF t' peep-hooal an' spak tiv him, by
gum, you s'u'd 'a'e seen how pleased t' awd dog was ; an' when t' maister
got intiv t' feedin' house ther was neea sike a thing ez hoddin' him (ez t'
saayin' is), an' poor awd Sparkler stuck ti Tom ivver efter 'at he gav up
huntin' t' Horwuth, an' he noo ligs berry'd under a lorrill in t' garden at
Normonby (near Ormesby), seea you see that's end ov a grand awd dog."]
Season, Sept. 2Ist, i86i, to April 4th, 1862.
Nov. 7th, 1861. — Piercebridge : A large field including the
Duke of Cleveland out.
November gth, 1861. — Met at High Worsall Toll Bar.
Found in the Whin ; broke at the north end away for Worsall
Gills, which he left on his right, and running a ring over
Worsall Moor brought us to Picton Plantations ; right through,
leaving Picton village on his right, and also Kirklevington Mill,
ran down it to a drain near Yarm, which he found stopped ; at
this point the hounds had a moment's check, after running
their fox for thirty minutes at a most terrific pace, and scatter-
ing the field all over the country. Our fox struggled on to
Scarfit Hill, where a lot of fresh foxes came to his rescue ; the
hounds divided, and eventually we lost him. Found again in
Worsall Gills, broke away past Fardenside, pointing for
Girsby, then wheeled round and away as the crow flies to
Worsall Toll Bar Cover, which he passed close by, running
forward for Kirklevington, turned for Picton, and ran a ring
122 Season 1861-1862.
back to the Toll Bar Cover (time to this point forty minutes).
Our fox now hung in the cover for nearly an hour ; at last he
was compelled to quit, and broke away to Mr. Waldy's
Plantation, thence to Mourie Bank, along by the margin of the
Tees to the railway at Yarm, then to the right of Kirklevington
Lane, crossed the railway, and pointed to Mr. Meynell's
Woods, but, as he had not strength to jump the boundary
wall, he turned back across the railway past the brickyards,
where the hounds caught a view, and ran into him on the edge
of the Tees, after a magnificent run of two-hours-and-quarter —
a splendid old dog fox. A fine crisp morning, and a good
scenting day ; had nineteen couples of hounds out. Many of
our field went home satisfied after the first run. There never
was a better day's sport than this with hounds.
Nov. 29th. — Killerby. Found handsomely and ran a very
quick ring to Hilton Blackthorn, then broke to the Tarn and
headed back again to the Blackthorn, through the cover, and,
after a clipping 23 minutes nearly straight and all over grass,
he beat us into a drain near Streatlam. Found again a
splendid fox in Dobson's Whin. Away in a moment and
without a check eastwards to the Heighington Road. Headed
short back and away to Trunnlemire, through it, and away as
the crow flies to Brussleton Folly, which we passed close on
our left, then ran a ring pointing for South Church and leaving
Redworth on our left and Toy-top on our right, and running
as if Greystones was now his point, but again he turned, setting
his head homeward, and within two fields of Limekiln Bank
Cover we stopped the hounds, it being then pitch dark, our fox
being dreadfully beaten, and a little more daylight must have
sealed his fate. Time, 2 hours 30 minutes. This was in truth
a splendid run, being at times very fast, at other times beauti-
ful hunting. Most of the field compounded at Trunnlemire,
Season 1861-1862. 123
and only half-a-dozen were forthcoming at the finish, viz.,
Huntsman and whip, Mr. J. Hett, Mr. Cadman, Mr. Catterick,
and Mr. Heslop, of Denton, who kindly refreshed us on our
way home.
Nov. 30th, 1861. — A cold, squally day, wretched scenting,
a large and most unmanageable field.
[Note. — It is quite refreshing to read that even in Mr.
Parrington's time there were fields which were unmanageable,
and that over-riding and pressing hounds is not altogether the
product of the last few decades.]
Dec. 17th. — Croft Bridge. Blackman Cover blank. Had
a splendid find in 40 acres ; broke at the South West corner,
away as the crow flies to Cowton Plantations, through them to
the railway, was headed, made a short turn and crossed the
line pointing for Astley Hill, then to the right across the
Richmond branch and right away to Halnaby, from thence
forward to Clervaux Castle, where our fox, being hard pressed,
turned short back, leaving Halnaby on his right, to Warmire,
where almost in view of the pack he took shelter in a small
drain, from whence he was quickly dislodged and killed, after
a most magnificent run of i hour and a ^ over a grand country
and without a check of any moment. A beautiful day, capital
scent, had 17 couples of bitch hounds and one couple dogs
out. Rode " Dolly," carried to a charm. Messrs. Taylor,
Maynard, Garbutt, Scurfield, Sutton and Fowler went well.
I never saw a finer run.
Dec. 28th. — Low Middleton. Did not hunt in conse-
quence of the death of Mr. Wilkinson.
[Note. — Mr. Thomas Wilkinson was only 56 when he
died. He had been out hunting on Dec. 7th apparently well
124
Season 1S61-1862.
and hearty. His reign was a short one but he had shown the
same affection for the sport and the Hurworth country as had
his three sporting uncles, and had made himself very popular
in the district.]
After the kill !
MR. COOKSON'S FIRST MASTERSHIP AND
SOME OLD-TIME FOLLOWERS.
1862— 1864.
A successor to the late Mr. Thomas Wilkinson was found
in Mr. James Cookson, of Neasham Hall, who retained the
services of Mr. Parrington as huntsman. Mr. Cookson had
for some time been one of the most substantial supporters and
most prominent followers of the pack, he was esteemed as a
first-rate sportsman, a typical country gentleman of the old
school, and one born to master hounds. The Hurworth sports-
men seemed to look naturally to him to fill the vacancy caused
by the death of Mr. Wilkinson, and in succeeding years, when
ever there was any difficulty regarding the finance or control of
the pack, they seem to have turned to him. Speaking of him
and his time, a sporting writer in Baily said :
" In 1862 Mr. James Cookson took the hounds with a subscription of
/900 a year, of which the Duke of Cleveland gave half. He is a quiet
good-natured man, and I am told a perfect wonder on the violin, and
runs Paganini to half-a-stone. As a breeder of bloodstock he is well
known, and he bred the two cracks, Dundee and Kettledrum, who made
such a memorable finish for the Derby in 1861. With the Hurworth at
this time was Capt. Temple, of Saltergill, as good a sportsman as ever lived,
and also another mighty fiddler. Mr. "Billy" Vaughan, of Middleton St.
George, and of Fairfield, where he has a breeding establishment ; Mr.
Tom Garbutt, of Yarm, who can gallop and holloa with any man living,
who always has some good weight carriers and says he will stick to the
Hurworth as long as he lives ; Mr. J. W. Sutton, of Elton Hall, a staunch
fox preserver both in this and the Durham country ; Mr. Arthur Rowe, of
Stockton, and Charhe Simpson, both land owners ; Mr. Taylor then lived
at the inn at Croft, who afterwards went to hunt with Lord Wemyss ;
J. Wrightson, of Darlington, a good welter-weight, to whom the Duke of
Cleveland occasionally gives a horse."
126 The Cookson family.
In the same journal for Dec, 1883, a biographical sketch
of the Hurworth M.F.H. appeared, which I give in extenso :
" The Cooksons have been familiar names in the North of
England for some generations. Writing of a cadet of the
family, a few months ago, in this magazine, we spoke of them
as an old stock in the counties of Durham and Northumber-
land, who had fought for Church and King, and given and
received hard knocks in the days when
They should take who have the power,
And they should keep who can,
was the lawless creed. But they have always been sportsmen
since sport was a fashion in England ; and assuredly the
subject of our present sketch has not only trod in the steps of
his forefathers, but has diverged into other paths that they
knew not of. Mr. Sawrey-Cookson has been, and is, keen to
hounds, and good with the gun ; but he has done the State
Service, as well as followed the bent of his inclinations. He is
one of the comparatively few Englishmen who have made
breeding their study, and he has done much — no man, perhaps,
more so — to improve the breed of the English thoroughbred,
by bringing to bear upon the subject a practical knowledge
and judgment second to none.
" It would be out of place, in the limits of a brief
biography, to enter into the full details of Mr. Cookson's large
breeding establishment from the day when he gave what he
himself calls ' the ridiculous price of three hundred guineas for
" Sweetmeat,'" at a Doncaster sale by auction, in 1848. This
will, we hope, be done at an early date in this magazine by a
pen more qualified than ours to treat of the subject. We may
mention, however, that, at that time, the nucleus of what was
to be the famous Neasham stud was one mare, though Mr.
Cookson very soon after became possessor of two, destined to
The Cookson family. 127
be very distinguished matrons, ' Hybla,' the dam of 'Kettle-
drum,' and ' Marmalade,' the dam of ' Dundee.' The list of
Neasham sires, those ' future fathers of our kings-to-be,'
include 'Fandango,' 'Buccaneer,' 'Marconi,' 'Lord Lyon,' and
* The Palmer,' the latter horse bought from Sir Joseph Havvley
for ^1,200, and subsequently sold by Mr. Cookson to Count
Lehndorff for £y,ooo — a good investment indeed. The list of
Neasham winners is a lengthy one. ' Hybla's ' first foal was
' Mincemeat,' the Oaks winner in 1854, and 'Kettledrum' and
' Dundee' were first and second for the Derby in 1861. Since
then ' Regalia,' ' Formosa,' ' Brigantine,' ' Pilgrimage,' ' Paul
Jones,' 'Jenny Howlett,' have helped to swell the roll, and the
amount of public money taken by Neasham winners reaches
very nearly, if it does not exceed, ;fgo,ooo.
" Mr. Cookson considers that his success as a breeder has
been chiefly owing to the fact of his never breeding from any
mare deficient in speed. We remember talking with him one
day last year about ' Robert the Devil's ' wonderful perform-
ances, bred as he was, for his dam, ' Cast Off,' was, we
believe, only a half-miler, and Mr. Cookson saying that ' Cast
Off' was just the sort of mare he would have liked to breed
from. He mentioned, also, that he had bought mares which
had not shown speed in public — and he instanced ' Lady
Audley,' the dam of ' Pilgrimage,' which had been tried at
home quite good enough to win the Oaks, but was so often
lame, her trainer knew not where, she never could be got out.
He much disliked big horses and big mares, but he equally
disliked animals that had not sufficient frame, for underframed
ones, however speedy, are not weight-carriers. Whenever he
could pick up a mare which could carry 8 stones 7 lbs. in good
company, albeit she could barely get four furlongs, he bought
her.
128 Mr. Sawrey-Cooksoii's Stud.
" Mr. Cookson is a Graduate of Trinity, Cambridge (1839),
and has been a hunting man from his earhest days. He was
master of the Hurworth first in 1862 until 1865, when Major
Elwon took them for two years. Mr. Cookson then resuming
the mastership, which he held to 1872, when Lord Castlereagh
came to the head of affairs ; he, in his turn, to be succeeded
by Major Godman, who finally, in 1879, resigned the office
in favour of the old master.
*' Some forty years ago, there was no better man across a
country in the North of England than the master of the
Hurworth, and he still, on a horse that knows his work, is to
be found in the same field with the hounds. Not alone with
his own pack either, but men who hunt with Lord Zetland,
the Bedale, and the South Durham, know well his good seat
and fine hands. In his younger days, too, he sported his
colours on the flat, and could hold his own against some of the
great men who wore silk, both north and south of the Trent.
" There is no better-known man in the North of England
than Mr. Sawrey-Cookson, and very few so popular. He is
fond of the racecourse, as he is bound to be ; but his chief
enjoyment is among his mares and yearlings of Neasham. He
is the most genial of companions, with a Turf lore that makes
us envious as we listen to him. Long may his years be at
Neasham, and often may we meet him in the paddock at
Doncaster, or on his hospital coach at Stockton or Redcar,
and then, if a home-bred one has won the Champagne or the
Hardwicke, or taken the Great Foal Stakes, we know the
grasp of his hand will be warmer, and there will be in his voice
a cheerier ring. So may it be."
Mr. Cookson's Stud.*
" ' Kettledrum ' (1861), good horse though he no doubt
* From The History and Romance of the Derby.
^^ Kettledrum.'" 129
was, owed his victory in the Derby to the ill-luck that befel
Mr. Merry's candidate, ' Dundee.' Both colts were, as
yearlings, within an ace of becoming the property of Colonel
Towneley, and his estate agent and racing partner, Mr.
Eastwood. They had been sent up from Doncaster for sale
by Mr. Cookson from his stud at Croft, near Darlington, and
' Dundee ' followed ' Kettledrum ' in the ring. Oates, who
trained for the Towneley-Eastwood confederacy, was in a
state of great anxiety until he had persuaded his employers to-
make a determined effort to secure ' Kettledrum ' (he was
knocked down to them for four hundred guineas), and was
frankly disappointed when they declined to bid for the other
lot as well. . . . ' Kettledrum ' was by ' Rataplan,' out of
' Hybla,' by ' The Provost,' out of ' Otisina,' by 'Liverpool.'
The breeding theory on which Mr. Cookson chiefly relied was
that the sire should return to dam the best strain in her
pedigree. ' Hybla,' in accordance with this theory, required
the 'Whalebone' cross, and this, of course, ' Rataplan' duly
supplied. As a yearling, ' Kettledrum ' was somewhat heavy-
topped, and for that reason, several people looked askance at
him in the Doncaster sale paddock. When put into training,
he consequently required rather careful handling, especially as
he was a delicate feeder. It was not until the end of the July
of his two-year-old days that he was subjected to any strong
gallops. Nevertheless, at York, the following month, he
managed to win a race, but was beaten the same week, and
ran indifferently in the Champagne Stakes at Doncaster. In
truth, he was only partly trained ; and, the following season,
his preparation for the Two Thousand Guineas was interfered
with by dentition trouble. He was not, therefore, able to
display his powers to the full in the big race over the Rowley
Mile, for which he started second favourite, and finished
130 ^^ Kettledrum'' s'' Derby.
second, three lengths behind * Diophantus,' with ' Klarikoff '
(the favourite, trained by John Scott) third. ' Kettledrum '
was then taken to Lambourn, where he was quartered in
Prince's Stable, and there he completed his preparation for the
Derby, under the care of Gates. When Matt. Dawson got
* Dundee ' to Russley, he was not long in discovering that his
chief had picked up a rare bargain. The colt, which was a son
of 'Lord of the Isles,' won six races as a two-year-old, and was
only beaten once — the first time out, at Liverpool spring
meeting. He was then put by for the Derby, for which he was
strong favourite during the winter. He was a light-fleshed
horse, with powerful thighs, and very sound in his wind, but,
like his sire, was upright in his fore joints. That defect was
his undoing. Two or three days before he went to Epsom,
there were indications of weakness, and both owner and trainer
were very apprehensive, though hoping for the best. Mr.
Merry had backed the colt with his usual freedom, and the
public followed suit, so that ' Dundee' started a slightly better
favourite than ' Diophantus,' which, as an easy winner of the
Two Thousand, had a host of friends Custance used
his whip twice, ' Dundee ' bounded to the front, and came
about two lengths ahead of ' Kettledrum.' The race appeared
to be all over. ' Dundee ' was already hailed as the winner.
The crowd, who were thus shouting themselves hoarse, little
knew that one of his fore legs had given way ! With a game-
ness that has probably never been equalled, 'Dundee' struggled
on. He was winning the Derby on three legs, and triumphant
he most assuredly would have been if those three had remained
sound. The crisis came a few seconds too soon. When eighty
yards from home, the colt's other fore leg gave way. Again
'Dundee' faltered, and this time his courage and determination
were of no avail. He could not withstand the final challenge
Mr. Cookson's first mastership. 131
of ' Kettledrum,' which beat him by a length. ' Diophantus '
was third, beaten by a head, and ' Aurelian ' fourth, a long
way behind. ' Kettledrum's ' next race was the St. Leger, for
which he started favourite at six-to-four, though he had been
slightly out of sorts just before the Doncaster meeting. At the
distance. Colonel Towneley's horse seemed to have the prize at
his mercy, but, a hundred yards from home, he was caught by
' Caller Ou,' a sixty-six-to-one chance, and, after a desperate
finish, William I'Anson's mare won by a neck. The same
week, ' Kettledrum ' easily won the Doncaster Cup, beating
' The Wizard,' which was an even-money favourite."
Let us now turn to the sport enjoyed during Mr. Cookson's
first mastership, as recorded in Mr. Parrington's diaries :
Saturday, February ist, 1862 : Met at High Worsall Toll
Bar. Found in the cover instanter, and away he went pointing
for Picton plantations, which he left on his right ; then forward
to Picton village, and on to the railway, which he did not cross»
but ran parallel with it nearly to Kirklevington drain ; then
turning he ran for the cover again at the Toll Bar, which he
did not enter, however, but left it short to his left and pointed
for Worsall Gills ; but swinging to the left he ran over Worsall
Moor, crossed Staindale, and away leaving Appleton Wiske on
his right, to Welbury village, which he left suddenly on his left,
and turned away for Deighton ; and still bending his course, he
again crossed the Wiske, and, running over the pasture in front
of Hornby Grange, he made the best of his way apparently for
Beverley Wood, but, strange to say, he turned away from it
when within half a field, and running for Smeaton village,
which he passed close on the east end, he again got to the
Wiske, and struggled on to near Hornby Grange, where he was
killed, after one of the best runs ever known in the Hurworth
132 sport in Mr. Cookson's era.
country, of one hour and forty minutes, very fast from end to
end. Barring a slight check soon after he left cover, there was
no sobbing time afforded for anyone, consequently, the horses
were dreadfully beaten, and were left planted all over the
country. The style in which the bitch pack did their work was
most excellent ; they ran with wonderful head from end to end,
and only one hound (old "Marigold") was wanting at the
finish. I may particularly mention " Timely," " Music," and
" Dewdrop " as always being in the van. Amongst the sports-
men who were lucky enough to be out to-day, I may say
Messrs. Cookson, Williamson, C. Simpson, and Garbutt went
very well for the first twenty minutes, but at the end of an hour
they were all more or less beaten. I was lucky enough to have
a second horse, and, changing near Deighton, I managed to
keep with the hounds to the finish. A remarkable fine old dog
fox ; had eighteen couples out, including three dog hounds.
This run I now think the best I had during the four seasons I
hunted the Hurworth.
March i8th, 1862. — Neasham : . . . Found a third fox in
the Fettles Plantation, ran for Mr. Dent's, then headed back
away to the West Wood, through it and to Mill Wood, then to
Sockburn Bridge and across the river. Left Beverley Wood
on the right and turned away to Staindale, across it and
forward, leaving Girsby Grange on the left, to Fardenside to
the Tees and across it, and here we discovered we were running
our Saturday's fox home again, as he ran precisely the same
track back from the river to Farrer's Whin, which he did not
enter but passed the east side of it and away to Early Nook,
then across the railway and away for Burn Wood, but heading
short round ran back across the railway again and right away to
Trafford Hill, where the hounds checked, and as the huntsman
sport in Mr. Cookson's era. 133
and whip were both (together with a large portion of the field)
beaten off, the fox was again lost although dead beat before
the hounds. Time, 3 hours and a quarter, over a tremendous
deep country, had 17 couples of the dog pack. Rode a mare I
bought only yesterday of Thomas Harrison, which died from
the effects of the very severe day's work.
Season Sept. 30TH, 1862, March 31ST, 1863.
Oct. 6th, 1862. — Entercommon : Killed a fox which went
to ground in the river bank opposite Sockburn. In breaking up
the fox this day, a young hound, " Comet," broke his neck by
his resolute tugging at the fox.
Nov. gth. — High Worsall Toll Bar : A very good day.
At the death I blooded Charlie Wailes.
Dec. 4th. — Fighting Cocks : A magnificent find. Every
hound at him round the cover. Two old foxes went away but
could not get the hounds. Presently we discovered that a
whole litter of cubs were in the cover, and so the hounds ran
them, first one and then another, for 2 hours and 35 minutes
and all the time very hard, but as none of the hounds would
leave we called off and tried fresh ground. Found a splendid
fox in Mr. Grey's Plantation which broke away for Darlington,
then pointing for Haughton, and crossing Burdon Moor and
the railway went direct to Fighting Cocks cover. He did not
enter it but passed close by the north end. Presently, after
the fox was headed by some drainers, we had a check, soon
recovered the line again and ran him very prettily to Goosepool
Plantation, where a stupid fellow gave a false holloa and lost
us our fox after a clipping run of an hour. The first half
capital. A wet day, pretty good scenting. Had 19 couple of
the large pack out, all working admirably.
134 Sport in Mr. Cookson's era.
Dec. 23. — Killerby : An immense field out, a great part of
whom were not sportsmen.
Thursday, November 6th, 1863 : In spite of a very dense
fog, we threw off at noon at Blackman cover. Found directly ;
broke at the north-west corner, and, running north a couple of
fields, turned to the right across the turnpike road, and away
to Briar Flat Wood ; then turned sharp back up the river side,
and crossed to the Batts, ran their whole length, and then
re-crossed into Dalton Wood, and passing Dalton village went
to ground in a drain by the railway side, after a clipping burst
of twenty-four minutes, most of which was only seen by myself
on account of the fog. After a good deal of dela}' in procuring
a terrier, the fox was bolted, and went away pointing for Cler-
vaux Castle, which he left on the right, and then pointing for
Halnaby, ran a ring back to the railway and crossed the line,
running for Blackman cover, which he ran past, and crossed
the road, going direct for Forty Acres ; but, after getting within
a couple of hundred yards of the cover, he suddenly changed
his course, and, wheeling round to the right, he ran close past
Blackman House and then away for Cowton Plantations.
Most unfortunately the hounds divided at the railwa}^ one half
running up the line, and the other half crossing to the west,
which I followed in order to get the hounds off the line, and we
lost at Cowton village. We afterwards discovered that the
other half of the hounds, with the run fox, went straight up the
railway to the earths near Cowton Station, where they ran their
fox to ground. In their chase up the line they unluckily met a
train, and one of them, " Dainty," was run over and killed on
the spot. This run, from the drain to the point where the
hounds divided, was exactly one-hour-and-five-minutes, and
was undoubtedly first-class from beginning to end. The pace
was tremendous all the way, and only four of the field kept
" Lady Bennett " and ''Joe Bennett." 135
them in view, namely, the Master on his brown horse. Col.
Scurfield on " Sambo," young Mr. Fowle, of Northallerton, on
a chestnut horse, and myself on " Lady Bennett," and never
during the whole chase were we able to see more than seventy
or one hundred yards ahead of us, on account of the fog.
[" Lady Bennett " (by " St. Bennett," dam by " Lord
Collingwood "), mentioned in this run, was the dam of Mr.
Robert Brunton's famous horse, " Joe Bennett," which won
prizes all over England, and was mysteriously poisoned and
found dead in his stable. " Lady Bennett," ridden by Bob
(who, in these days, frequently came out with the Hurworth),
beat all comers at the Middlesbrough Show, in 1859, for the
jumping class, when there was considerable competition for the
event. Mr. Parrington thought he had a chance, and Mr. Jack
Booth also thought he was in the running. However, Bob
beat them all, and repeated his victory at the Durham County
Show, held a few days later. He sold the mare to the Rev. T.
Duncombe Shafto, and, in the spring of i860, when Mr.
Parrington took the Hurworth, he was in want of some good
horses, and received a letter from Mr. Shafto saying that he
was giving up hunting, and if Mr. Parrington could find him a
useful horse to go in harness he would "swop " him for " Lady
Bennett." At that time John Hunter was at the " Vane
Arms," at Stockton, then the sporting centre of the district, at
which the race dinners, etc., were held, and he had a smart
mare, which Squire G. Sutton, Mr. Harry Fowler, and the
" young bloods " of that day very frequently hired to drive
out. She was a high mettled mare, and the aforementioned
" sports " were continually having accidents with her, and the
wonder was none of them were killed. One day, Mr. Harry
Fowler and Mr. Arthur Rowe were driving from Redcar, and
the mare ran away with them down Ormesby Bank. There
136
The late Bob Bninton.
was an " up-skelling " at the bottom of the bank, Mr. Rowe
being thrown on to the hedge, and Mr. Fowler into the next
room. They were no worse, however, and called on Mr.
Parrington, at Normanby, on their way through (they had been
staying at Redcar). After this, Mr. Parrington went to Jim
Hunter, and bought the mare "dirt cheap" for ^40, and wrote
to Mr. Shafto, who asked him to meet him at Peterborough,
each to bring their respective horses, and adding they would be
sure to come to " a deal." They did so, and "Lady Bennett"
carried Mr. Parrington well during the season. He was event-
ually sold to Mr. Smart Atkinson, of Beaumont Hill, near
Darlington, and amongst other useful produce was her first
and best foal, " Joe Bennett," which the late Bob Brunton
The late Bob Brunton.
Bob Brunton and the Fowler family. 137
purchased in 1868, when the Cleveland Show was at Yarm.
He won many prizes and beat 47 entrants in the four-year-old
class at the Yorkshire Show, and later came off with flying
colours at the same fixture at Hull. The end of " Joe
Bennett " was a mystery, he being found dead in the paddock
at Marton. Bob Brunton often expressed the opinion to me
that he had been poisoned and he had a feeling that there had
been foul play. *' Tally-ho Bob " — and he could halloa when
the dew of vintage had fallen upon him — was one of the old
style of sportsmen and a great character. He died on Sept.
17th, 1907.]
The Fowler Family.
The name of the late Mr. Harry Fowler has been
mentioned, and it may here be recorded that it was at one of
the Stockton race dinners that John Jackson got up and said :
** We ought to have a Stake in connection with the Stockton
Races to keep the memory green for ever of that excellent
sportsman, and our good friend, Harry Fowler." The result
of this was the Harry Fowler Plate, which is still in existence.
Mr. Parrington christened the Great Northern St. Leger at the
same meeting, and is the only one now left of the old Stockton
Race Committee.
Mr. Marshall Fowler, now of Otterington House, North-
allerton, was at one time a familiar figure with the Hurworth.
He was born at Preston Hall, just on the Durham side of the
River Tees, and began hunting when very young with the
Durham County Hounds, with the Hurworth, and with Col.
Hildyard's Harriers. So long ago is it since this veteran began
to ride with hounds that he cannot speak with certainty as to
the exact date, but he knows he was hunting in 1843 and has a
diary with frequent entries of " went out hunting," dated 1845.
138 Mr. Marshall Fowler.
He and his elder brothers came of a good sporting stock, their
father being well known with the Hurworth and Mr. Ralph
Lambton's Hounds,
" Amongst other gentlemen (says Jack Bevans in his Sontli Durliam
Hunt Reminiscences) hunting with us at this time was Mr. Marshall Fowler,
who seldom missed a day, and had a very nice stud of horses. His father,
who was a terror to all poachers and wrong-doers, preserved foxes well at
Preston Hall, where we ran occasionally, but it is in the Hurworth country.
Mr. Marshall Fowler had a wonderfully good grey horse ; also a chestnut
and a bay which carried him well. Later on he had some very smart hunt-
ing cobs of a grand stamp, and up to weight on short legs, which must
have taken a good deal of finding." To the foregoing Mr. R. Ord adds a
footnote, as follows : " Mr, Marshall Fowler had some good horses in his
time; notably a black horse by ' Sir Hercules,' that carried him from 1867
to 1875 without a fall. Dick Christian rode this horse with the Hurworth
Hounds and used to say that he never rode a better horse across country.
Another good horse of his was ' Pug-dog,' an extraordinary water jumper,
that carried his owner wonderfully well in a noteworthy run with Lord
Fitzhardinge's hounds over the Severn Marshes, when, out of an enormous
field, only six horsemen saw the kill."
Mr. Fowler recalls that in his day at Preston Hall there
was generally a litter of cubs and one, frequently two, on the
Yorkshire side of the Tees, just opposite the house, which he
and his brothers used to watch as they ran races with each
other and frolicked in the delightful kittenish way young foxes
do. Sir Robert Ropner bought the Preston estate from Mr.
Fowler in 1882. He continued to hunt in the district until
1894, when loss of health and of an arm compelled him to
relinguish the saddle. He is often to be seen on wheels with
the Hurworth and Bedale Hounds, and his knowledge of the
country enables him to see a great deal of sport.
Squire J. S. Sutton. 139
Squire Sutton, of Elton and Faceby.*
Another well known Hurworth Nimrod about this time
was Squire J. S. Sutton, of Elton and Faceby, who is still in
the flesh. He began to hunt with the Hurworth in Danby's
era, and for several seasons had as his groom Tom Salmon,
who had been with his father as second groom for some years,
but who had left Elton to hunt Col. Hildyard's harriers. On
the Colonel's death he had a season or so as huntsman to the
Hurworth, and then returned to Elton to the young Squire
(who had succeeded his father in 185 1) and remained in his
service till his death. Peculiarly enough the Hurworth Hounds
killed a fox on his grave ere he had been laid under it many
weeks. Squire John Staplyton Sutton was born on Nov. 23rd,
1832, and married on April 26th, 1855, Sarah Jefferson, the
youngest daughter of John Charles Maynard, of Harlsey Hall,
He now resides at Faceby, having sold the Elton estate, of
which his father — a poet of no mean order — wrote on Oct.
17th, 1833:
Elton ! I love thy quiet shady grove,
Speak to my heart, to my remembrance call
Days of my childhood — happy halcyon days —
When, as a thoughtless and light-hearted boy,
I roved among thy daisy-spangled meads !
Thy rough-cast front — thy long and lowly roof.
Thy chimneys tall — thy court yard and thy bell
(Deep toned and full — the labourer's monitor)
Bring to my view the friends of early youth,
Alas I now tenants of the green church-yard :
—My children when I'm gone shall love thee too,
And thou will still be, what thou art —
Sweet Home.
In 1843, we find Squire Sutton hunting with the South
Durham as ** a kid on a pony," and in Squire Ord's History of
*See Life in a Yoykshire Village, by the present author.
140 Squire J. S. Sutton.
the South DurJiam Country, there are frequent allusions to him.
In January, 1878, no fox being found at Oxeye, —
" the master then gave the word to go over and give Squire
Sutton a call at Elton, and see if that magnificent specimen of
the old English sportsman had a fox in his preserves. We had
hardly entered the genial Squire's park when a welcome halloa
was heard. In 1881 he was appointed one of the managers of
the South Durham Hunt. When at Elton he preserved foxes
for both the Hurworth and South Durham, both Hunts having
a covert thereon, and not only did he hunt with these two packs
but he also had an occasional day with the Bedale, apropos of
one of which Mr. Park told me a story. The Squire had two
very good bay mares, on which he was invariably to the fore.
One day he went to have a look at the Bedale. He didn't
know a yard of the country, so elected to follow Mr. Jack
Booth, the Bedale M.F.H. Each fence Mr. Booth jumped
the Squire of Elton followed him, and at last the welter Bedale
Master determined to shake him off, and took some fast posts
and rails which took a bit of doing. Squire Jack, however, was
not to be out-jumped and followed him, and Mr. Booth so
admired his horsemanship he went up and enquired to whom
he had had the honour of being pilot, and when he heard it
was " Jack Sutton " he said "If I'd known I shouldn't have
tried to have shaken you off."
Fond of shooting, and a prominent promoter of the
Stockton Race Meeting in the early days, Squire Sutton was an
all round sportsman and one of the most popular of men. He
was ever ready to help a lame dog over a style and probably
has not an enemy in the world to counter-balance the host of
friends, whose ranks become smaller and smaller as the Pale
White Horseman year by year beckons with relentless hand.
The Squire still takes a deep interest in everything sporting,
More Cooksonian era rwis.
141
still enjoys his day with the gun, and is our ideal of " a good
old English gentleman; one of the olden time." His autograph
is reproduced here and will no doubt prove of interest.
Let us now continue the records of sport in the season
1862-63, as given in Mr. Parrington's journal :
January 3rd, 1863.— Met at Yarm : After a cherry brandy
with our friend Mr. Garbutt, we trotted away to Farrer's Whin
and found immediately, and our fox soon broke away at the west
end of the cover, first pointing for the railway, and then bear-
ing away to the left went away for Middleton St. George, but
leaving Church House on his right, he crossed the valley to
Bowl Hole, but finding no shelter this time he went forward as
straight as a line to the river, opposite the earths, in Worsall
Gills, and there crossed, and no doubt went to ground, but a
fresh fox jumping up, the hounds went forward to High
Worsall Toll Bar, The fox did not enter the cover, but bore
away for Kirklevington, then turning went to Faulkland's
Whin, through it and down Saltergill, then turned to the left,
crossed the Yarm lane and went away to Scarfoot Gill, through
it and across the Holmes to the river opposite Aislaby village,
where he was pulled down after a magnificent run of i hour
and 20 minutes — a cub dog fox. No man ever saw a more
brilliant run than this was, from the find to the river — 25
minutes — without a pause, and at a racing pace all the way.
The country being very deep, only a select few could live with
the hounds, the majority of the field being spread-eagled all
142 Great runs in 1863.
over the country. A very fine morning and capital scenting.
Had 18^ couples of the small pack out, and every hound there
to eat him. All worked hard for the fox. Rode "Lady
Bennett" to the river, and was never more charmingly carried;
afterwards " Wasp." A glass of sherry at Mr. Garbutt's on
our way home wound up this capital day.
Feby. 7th, 1863. — The Kennels: Found in Surtees'
Plantations, ran very fast to Fettles Scar, where our fox went to
ground. After trying round Sockburn and Mr. Wilkinson's
cover blank, we trotted away to Fighting Cocks, where " Blem-
ish " presently told us he was at home. With all the pack at
his brush he broke away at the north-east corner, and setting his
head straight went to Fox Hill cover. Here he hung a trifle,
and a fresh fox went away, and at the same time he bolted and
went direct on to Barker's Plantations, which he entered at
the west side and left at the north-east corner, then away
forward till headed by some ploughmen, and then turned across
the lane to Sandy Lees cover, through it, then forward to
Oxeye cover, through it, across the lane, and away pointing
for Red Marshall, but turning to the left he ran up wind to
within a field of Longstaffe's Whin, then again turned to the
left and back to Barker's Plantations. After two or three
turns in it he again left at the same point as before, running
north for some distance and then turning eastward. Went on
in a tolerable straight line, passed Red Marshall and Carlton
on the right to Mr. Grey's Plantations, near Norton Junction.
Here he again turned to the right, and in a second attempt
(after being headed in the first) crossed the Stockton Lane,
and then shaped his course for Hartburn cover, which he
passed within a dozen yards, on his left, then away westward
across the back lane pointing for Elton, but again changing his
course he turned to the right and away northward to Oxeye
Great nms in 1863. 143
cover, through it, and leaving gradually to the left, ran back
again to Barker's Plantation, and after a few dodges in cover,
which, with the foiled ground, did him good service, he again
broke away northwards and went to Longstaffe's Whin,
through it, and forward for a couple of fields, and then turned
sharp back and retraced his steps to Barker's Plantation, right
through there, across the Stockton Road, and wheeling to the
left ran to Sandy Lees cover again, right through it, and out
on the east side, pointing for Oxeye again, but it being now
quite dark, and every horse more or less beaten, we called off,
and left this gallant and truly wonderful fox to live and "fight
another day." Time, 3 hours and 35 minutes — distance, as
measured on the Ordnance Map, 23 miles, but much more as
the hounds ran. The pace from the find to Barker's Planta-
tion, the first time, very good, the hunting until the second
time through Oxeye then very fast to Barker's Plantations the
third time, and it was owing to the fact of the fox getting a
third time into that much foiled and strong cover that saved
his life ; for the last 20 minutes our game fox managed to hold
on just ahead of the hounds, it was an even match at last
between fox and bounds, and darkness put an end to the
conflict. Had 18^ couples of the large pack out, and only one
hound wanting at the finish. I may mention that during the
severe run, " Blemish," "Clinker," "Fencer," " Terrington,"
" Trueman," "Starlight," "Spinster," "Prowler," "Diligent,"
"Sifter," "Sportsman," "Watchman," "Countess," " Chaunt-
ress," "Traveller" and "Royal" particularly distinguished
themselves. Rode " Marcian " only. Was splendidly carried
up to the end of the second fast burst, when he cried "enough."
George rode " Shamrock," and he also got to the bottom of
his horse. Among the field undoubtedly the Master was the
best man at the finish, riding his Farnham mare. All the
144 Great runs in 1863.
others compounded at different points of the river. Among
those who tried to see the finish I may mention E. C. Lowndes,
T. Garbutt, A. Rowe, Esq., and Messrs. D. Thomas, T.
Hunter, J. Graham, J.Harrison, J.Wrightson, R. &J. Bamlett,
etc., etc. As a thorough good sporting run the one this day
may have been equalled, but never surpassed.
Feby. 28th. — Neasham Village : It is impossible that any
run with hounds could have been more thoroughly sporting
and excellent in all respects than the one to-day. Although
the fallows were white and as dry as brick-bats yet the scent
was almost all that could be wished for, and the pace was
excellent from end to end. On the Ordnance Map the run
measures 24 miles, and the time from the find to the earths at
Black Banks was 2 hours and 30 minutes. Many gentlemen
rode hard and were well carried. I may particularly mention
the Master, on the chestnut horse and the bay mare ; David
Thomas on the Raby horse ; T. Garbutt on the chestnut
horse ; G. Maughan on his bay ; and Col. Scurfield on that
thorough game animal " Old Sambo."
March 31st, 1863. — Bintree Toll Bar : . . . Passing Ketton
on his left and again crossing the Skerne to Skerningham,
where the hounds ran their fox from scent to view and killed
him in the open, after a glorious run of an hour and ten
minutes, the last half hour being particularly good. Although
the day was as fine as summer and the ground as dry as bricks,
yet the scent was most excellent and the hounds could abso-
lutely race even over the driest fallows, and this fine old Grey-
stone's fox had to succumb on a day which, to all appearance
was much in his favour. A large field out and although rather
riotous at first were not " in the way" at the finish. A breast
high scent, the hounds could run in a cloud of dust half a field
from the line of the fox.
Season 1863-64. 145
Season September iqth, 1863, to April 20th, 1864.
Oct. 31st. — Preston Junction : A wild day, and wild and
most unmanageable field out.
Nov. 1 2th. — Dalton : "Chaunter" hung on returning to
kennels for hanging on the line. [Poor " Chaunter " ! Truly
a case of " tit for tat."]
Nov. 14th. — High Leven : Stainsby Wood and all the
covers about Thornaby drawn blank. Could not draw Hilton
on account of game, fearing it might be disturbed. Tried
Yarm Wood also blank. As we were proceeding to draw the
covers at Preston Hall I had the misfortune to meet with an
accident, whereby I was so much injured that I could not ride
on horseback, and, Mr. Cookson kindly taking the hounds home,
I was conveyed to Hurworth in a gig. A beautiful day and a
fair field out, including the Duchess of St. Albans, Lord
Falkland and Lady Diana Beauclerc.
Nov. 17th. — Wackerfield : Mr. Cookson, as huntsman,
rode " Catterick ; " George, the bay mare.
[Mr. Cookson hunted the pack till November 26th.]
Dec. 1st. — Messrs. Maynard, Cookson and J. Jackson rode
very hard.
March 5th — 8th, 1864.— Did not hunt owing to Mrs.
Cookson's death.
March 24th. — Cotcliffe Wood : Blank. Trotted on to
Upsall Whin, also blank ; then tried Cowesby Wood.
Found on Kepwick Moor, ran to Cowesby Wood. Saw
two or three foxes on foot and the hounds got divided. At
length got all the pack together and had a fresh start. Found
a fox in Whitestones, broke away almost in view, had a beauti-
ful run of 45 minutes all on the moors, running a ring round by
Hambleton End, up Snilesworth to Harker's Gate, and then
right across Black Hambieton to the place where we found
146 The Bihdale Country.
and went to ground. A most enjoyable run — so wild and
natural, the only drawback being the difficulty of riding over
such boggy ground. A warm, sunny day ; moderate scent.
We had to ride home from Limekiln House, at 5 o'clock, and
did not reach Hurworth till after 9 o'clock.
Mr. Parrington had on this day gone into what is now
Bilsdale territory. Foxes seem to have been very short in the
Hurworth country about that time, and an additional reason
may have been that be the ground never so baked in the low
country and scent never so bad, hounds can still run a fox on
the heather, or " ling," as it is called in Yorkshire, and this
was possibly Mr. Parrington's raison d'etre for leaving his own
country. At the epoch of which we write the Bilsdale pack
was at a very low ebb. Squire Bell, of Thirsk, had been hunt-
ing the Hambleton side of their country and also a portion of
the Hurworth domains from 1853, and not till 1868 did the
Bilsdale get into full swing again. In the meantime Bobbie
Dawson, who was for over sixty years the whipper-in and
Bobbie Dawson's writing and signature.
persona grata of the Bilsdale, kept one or two hounds in the
dale, and Lord Feversham, when master of the Bedale, used
to send a few of his puppies into Bilsdale to walk. With them
and Bobbie's hounds the moorland folk used to have impromptu
hunts, and so well did these young hounds enter when they
were sent in from their quarters that Lord Feversham, in 1868,
1
1 ■'
1
° g =-
ex ^
c o
II:
^ -O o en
iU 1- 3
The late Bobbie Dawson.
147
gave five couples of the Bedale hounds to the Bilsdale men to
begin regular operations again. Bobbie Dawson was one of
the quaintest hunting characters we ever met, albeit one of the
keenest. He really loved and lived for the chase, and was
tremendously jealous of the reputation of the Bilsdale. He
died a nonagenarian on June i8th, 1902, and having seen a
series of pictures of Tom Moody's funeral at Mr. F. Wilson
Horsfall's place. Potto Grange (the present joint-master of the
Bilsdale), he always expressed a wish to have similar funeral
honours. These Mr. Horsfall, and Mr. "Nimrod" Pearson
(now and for 35 years Secretary of the Sinnington Hunt)
arranged for him. A photograph of the " gone away " being
sounded at the grave side, and another of Bobbie in the flesh,
is reproduced opposite this page.
Bobbie Dawson's house, at Breckon Hill,
Bilsdale.
CHAPTER VIII.
MAJOR T. L. ELWON'S MASTERSHIP
1864— 1868.
ROM 1864 to 1868, Major T. L. Elwon had the
Hurworth, and during this period lived at Skut-
terskelfe Hall, near Hutton Rudby. He also
hunted a portion of the old Raby country, and
showed sport four days a week. A lightweight,
and really fond of the sport, the long ride to
fixtures, and oftentimes longer rides home, only
seemed to whet the ardour of the Major. He was the only
son of the late Commodore Thomas Elwon, who died in 1834,
and Elizabeth, his wife, daughter of Captain Light, of Bombay.
He was a Major in the 3rd M.B., the Princess of Wales' Own
Yorkshire Regiment, in which he served nineteen years. He
also held a commission as Major in the N.R.V. Artillery, of
which he and the late Admiral Chaloner were the founders.
On retiring from the N.R.V. Artillery, he was presented with a
sword with silver mountings, and an illuminated address. On
the blade is the following inscription : — " Presented, with an
equipment, to Major Elwon, by the members of the ist N.R.Y.
Volunteer Artillery, in acknowledgment of the energy, zeal,
and uniform courtesy he has displayed since his connection
with the corps. Middlesbrough, January 15th, 1862."
He Married Miss Mary Ann, second daughter of the late
John Vaughan, and, conjointly with the Vaughan family,
entered into several schemes for the development of the then
Major Elwon and Dick Christian. 149
growing iron industry on Tees-side. At one time, Major Elwon
was the largest producer of pig iron in this part of the world,
and almost up to the time of his death, in 1903, we recall him
coming up from Saltburn, morning by morning, to attend
'Change at Middlesbrough. After his marriage, he lived at
Redcar, in a house on the High Street (now converted into the
Queen's Hotel), and rented the ground opposite (in Dundas
Street), so that his view should not be interrupted. From here
then, he moved to Skutterskelfe Hall, on the decease of Mr. J.
Vaughan, who had leased it from Lord Falkland. Skutterskelfe
stands on the north bank of the river Leven, and was built in
1 83 1, on the site of the old home of the Bathhursts, and here
for fifteen years Major Elwon lived.
Major Elwon's first huntsman proved a failure, but for his
second he was fortunate enough to secure the services of Dick
Christian, a nephew of the famous " Dick " of that ilk. He
was a fine fellow the Major used to tell me, but would have
" the bottle." He was invariably three sheets in the wind, and
got that he could not ride without he was primed with about a
bottle of whiskey. He used to say " I can ride the heads of
most of 'em, drunk or sober," but latterly he found it more and
more necessary to take jumping powder, and, I am told by one
who knew him well, actually got a whole bottle into him before
going hunting some mornings. Mr. Parrington said to me,
regarding Dick, " I think I never saw, in all my experience, a
man so perfect in taking a horse over a fence as Dick was.
Hands, seat, figure, head, courage — all were his, and he lost
none of them despite the drink he took." '* He used to say,"
continued Mr. Parrington, " that one of the best horses he ever
rode was an Irish hunter I bought at the Christmas horse fair
at York, and sold to the Earl of Feversham, when he was
mastering the Bedale and I was hunting the Hurworth. Dick
150 Dick Christian and a story.
Christian was then with Lord Feversham in the Bedale. I
saw this horse, and liked him, and asked the Irishman with him
if he could jump water, as there was a good deal of stell-lepping
in my country. The son of Erin replied: " Wather ! jump
wather ! — Why at home he jumps the d — d places where the
ships sail up and down." On the first day of Mr. Parrington's
initial season (October 13th, i860), he put his whip, George, on
the horse, and, as they were returning to the kennels, a hound
slipped through the hedge. Mr. Parrington sent George after
him through a gate. After the truant had been sent back to
the body of the pack, George found he could not get the new
purchase through, and soon lost his patience. Mr. Parrington
said, " Be gentle and leave his correction to me." On the
following morning, he rode him himself at exercise with hounds,
and encouraged him to " try on his games." The Irish
"wather jumper " eventually did so, and Mr. Parrington cured
him once and for all, and he became a most useful horse.
To return to Dick, he went to Mr. Cradock, in what is now
the Zetland country, when Major Elwon gave up, and stayed
with Mr. Cradock till " crocked up " with consumption. His
master then waited upon him as though he had been his own
son. When the Pale White Horseman was very near at hand,
a Miss Newton, a good but somewhat Calvinistic-Puritan type
of lady visitor, called on Dick, and during the course of her
words of comfort spoke upon the enormity of foxhunting,
" Do you think," said Dick, " that because I have worn a
scarlet coat and hunted foxhounds I shan't go to Heaven ? "
Miss Newton said she hoped he would, " but she had her
doubts." " Well ! " answered Dick, " all I can say is that if
wearing a pink coat and riding to hounds disqualifies me I've
no particular anxiety to go."
THE LATE MAJOR T. L ELWON,
Master of the Hurworth and Rabv Hunts.
Major Elwon. 151
When Major Elwon gave up in 1868, he was presented
with a large picture, which shows some of the followers of the
Hurworth and Raby of that day. The picture bears the
inscription : " Presented to Major T. L. Elwon by the
members of the Hurworth and Raby Hunts in 1868."
I fancy this picture, which for long hung in his rooms at
the Alexandra Hotel, at Saltburn, is preserved at Middles-
brough. On it he is shown mounted on a chestnut horse,
" Catterick," which he bought from Mr. Cookson. The animal
had a history. In these days they had an excellent horse
show at Catterick, supported by John Jackson, the Hutchinsons,
and others ; and Mr. Parrington was at the show just before he
commenced his first season with the Hurworth. Mr. Hutchin-
son said to him, " I have a horse you should buy. Teddy
can't manage him, and won't ride him, and it's now September
and he's running out yet." Always ready for a horse deal, Mr.
Parrington said : " Then let's get a halter and a server of corn,
and go catch him." The halter and corn were taken but the
horse (which was by " Augur," and had three or four crosses of
blood in him) had a distinct objection to being caught, and try
as they would, drive him into corners as they would, get as
near him as they could he always threw his head up, "cracked"
at the nose, and trotted away at the crucial moment when the
** co-ops " and " wo he's a beauty " were the most hopeful and
endearing. However, Mr. Parrington saw plenty to make him
like the horse, and his style, and so bought him in the rough for
£100^ and had him sent on to Hurworth the next day. He was
duly "physicked," shod, and his tail and mane attended to, but
his course of " readying " was not a very long one for, as
luck would have it, the other three horses Mr. Parrington had
caught a distemper of some sort which affected their throats.
His old groom blistered them with mustard and ammonia — a
152 Major Elwon's death.
very severe, but very effective blister it proved too ! The
horses were laid off work, however, and " Catterick " had to
be put forward to work at once. The horse was restive, but
became one of the best hunters he ever rode. He sold him to
Mr. Cookson for ^"250, and he in turn sold him to Major
Elwon on his taking the Hurworth.
Major T. L. Elwon died in the August of 1903, and The
Field referred thus to him :
" A good many of the present generation of foxhunters
will probably have forgotten the name of Major Elwon, who
died the other day at the Victoria Hotel, Saltburn-by-the-Sea.
In years gone by he was connected with some ironworks in the
Cleveland district, and was always extremely fond of hunting
and racing. After the Wilkinson family ceased to control the
fortunes of the Hurworth Hunt, the late Mr. James Cookson
hunted the country for three years in the early sixties, and he
was succeeded b}^ Major Elwon, about 1865, when Martin Care,
who died not long ago, and was for so long with the Isle of
Wight Hounds, was huntsman. Major Elwon remained in
ofhce till 1869, when he made way for Mr. Cookson, who took
a second spell of mastership, after having been successful in
showing a considerable amount of good sport. The late
gentleman, turning his attention to the Turf, registered his
colours — tartan, crimson sleeves and cap — in 1865, but, in the
following year, changed them to yellow, black hoops, yellow
sleeves and cap. About the best horse Major Elwon ever
owned was "Plaudit," by " Thormanby " — "Plausible,"
which won the Cleveland Stakes, at Stockton, in August,
1866, and the Clearwell Stakes, at the Newmarket Second
October Meeting in the same year, beating " Achievement " by
a head. In 1867 "Plaudit" ran for the Two Thousand, but,
although well thought of, did very badly."
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