Perhaps it would be interesting to some to give the opinions of the various Masters on Lock and his kennel management.
“I think Lock looks after the hounds pretty well, but a Master must show to Lock that he (the Master) intends to look after his pack, or Lock may be inclined to impose.”—A. M. Grenfell, 1892.
“Care ought to be taken with Lock, who does not look after the hounds satisfactorily, unless he is made to understand that he is not boss of the show.”—H. B. Creswell, 1894.
“As regards Lock and the hounds, I think there is not much fault to find. The hounds were always in good condition, and I think he took a great deal of trouble with them. The way to manage him is to make him clearly understand that you are boss.”—G. Sanford Hodgson, 1895.
“Lock is very pig-headed!”—G. E. F. Ward, 1896.
“I entirely disagree with many former Masters, who say that Lock looks after the hounds badly, and I am sure that no beagles could have been fitter the whole season than these were. The only thing about him is that he is a bit pig-headed and always wants to feed the hounds on ‘greaves.’”—R. Milvain, 1898.
However, it must be remembered that having no paddock adjoining the kennels was a terrible drawback, and made the task of keeping hounds fit and the kennels clean infinitely harder than it would otherwise have been.
Lock must have been an extraordinary character. He used to say to the whips as they walked along the road: “Pop your whip, Sir; pop your whip,” every other minute without any reason whatever. Another habit he had was that of accusing any rustic he met at the end of any sort of a hunt of “picking up the hare.” He used to threaten the unfortunate individual with a whip, and the more boys he had round him at the time the more insistent he was.
Here is an incident of R. A. Ward’s Mastership: