Experience taught the Squire the importance of a principle now more generally acted upon, that of selecting the qualities required in the hounds he bred from; and by this means he obtained developments of swiftness and scent that made his pack one good horses only of that day could keep up with. He prided himself much upon the blood of his best hounds, knew every one he had by name, and was familiar with its pedigree. Portraits of four of his favourites were painted on canvas and hung in the hall, with lines beneath expressive of their qualities, and the dates at which the paintings were made. The Right Hon. Lord Forester takes great care of these, as showing in what way the best dogs of that day differed from those of the present; and through his kindness we have been enabled to get drawings made, of which his lordship was pleased to approve, and we fancy there is no better judge living.
Three of these are shown in our engraving at the head of this chapter.
Pigmy, the bitch in the group nearest to the fox, is said to have been the smallest hound then known. Underneath the portrait are the following lines:—
“Behold in miniature the foxhound keen,
Thro’ rough and smooth a better ne’er was seen;
As champion here the beauteous Pigmy stands,
She challenges the globe, both home and foreign lands.”1773.
The one the farthest from the fox, is a white dog, Pilot; and underneath the painting is the following:—
“Pilot rewards his master Rowley’s care,
And swift as lightning skims the transient air;
Famed for the chase, from cover always first,
His tongue and sterne proclaimed an arrant burst.”1774.
The dog in front, with his head thrown up, is Childers; and underneath the picture are these lines:—
“Sportsmen look up, old Childers’ picture view,
His virtues many were, his failings few;
Reynard with dread oft heard his awful name,
And grateful Musters thus rewards his fame.”1772.
The following letters from Mr. Forester to Walter Stubbs, Esq., of Beckbury, afterwards of Stratford-on-Avon, where he became distinguished in connection with the Warwickshire Hunt, show how particular he was in his selection. It would seem that whilst admiring the Duke of Grafton’s hounds, which under the celebrated Tom Rose (“Honest old Tom,” as he was called), who used to say, “a man must breed his pack to suit his country,” gained some celebrity, he not unnaturally preferred his own. We give exact copies of two of his letters, they are so characteristic of the man. In all the letters we have seen he began with a considerable margin at the side of the paper, but always filled up the space with a postscript:—
“Willey Hall, March 15, 1795.
“Dear Sir,
“I beg leave to return you my hearty thanks for your civility in sending your servant to Apley with three couple of my hounds that run into your’s ye other day. Could I have returned compliment in sending ye three couple, that were missing from you, I should have been happy in ye discharge of that duty, so incumbent on every good sportsman. I hear you are fond of the Duke of Grafton’s hounds. It’s a sort I have ever admired, and have received favours from his Grace in that line, having been acquainted together from our infancy up; and on course, most likely to procure no very bad sort from his Grace’s own hands. I have sent you (as a present) a little bitch of ye Grafton kind, which I call Whymsy, lately taken up from quarters, and coming towards a year old. She’s rather under size for me, or otherwise I see not her fault. She’s, in my opinion, a true Non-Pareil. Your acceptance of her from me now, and any other hound of ye Grafton sort, that may come in near her size, will afford me singular satisfaction; as I make it a rule that no man who shows me civility shall find me wanting in making a proper return.
“I am, dear sir,
“Your obliged and very humble servant,
“G. Forester.
“P.S.—Next year Whymsy will be completely fit for entrance, but rather too young for this. The Duke’s hounds rather run small enough for this country. I see no other defect in them. They are invincibly stout, and perfectly just in every point that constitutes your real true fox hound.”