Page:VCH Hertfordshire 1.djvu/420

A HISTORY OF HERTFORDSHIRE gentleman coachman of his day, and his three teams of grey, black and cream were admitted to be unsurpassed by any in England ; he it was who taught George IV. to handle the ribbons. Some idea of his expenditure on his stables may be gathered from the fact that after his death ninety-five of his horses and ponies were sold at Tattersall's. Mr. Delm6 married a daughter of Mr. Radcliffe of Hitchin Priory, and his son, who took the name of Radcliffe, was the author of Noble Science. Mr. Delm Rad- cliffe's first venture as a master of hounds was with a pack of harriers on his large estates at Hitchin Priory, which had been granted to his ancestor by Henry VIII. after the sup- pression of the priory. Mr. Delm6 Radcliffe subsequently sold this pack of harriers to Sir James Flower, and himself became master of the Hertfordshire foxhounds in succession to Mr. Thomas Sebright. Sir John Sebright, father of Mr. Thomas Sebright, had also a celebrated pack of harriers with which he hunted the country round Beechwood prior to his son taking the mastership of the foxhounds ; these harriers were all well marked black and tan, and were sold for a high price to the duke of Brunswick. In 1852 the late lord Brownlow estab- lished a small pack of six couples of beagles at Ashridge to hunt in the park and home farms ; and in 1854 Mr. Fernie, who was the field master, bought a pack of harriers from Parson Jack Russell. And with this pack came Richard Rawle as huntsman, he having whipped in with his father to the famous parson who hunted his own hounds in Devonshire. Lord Brownlow kept this pack at Ashridge until ill health compelled him to give up hunting, and the hounds were removed to the kennels on Berkhampstead Common. The grand sport that they showed for several years was enjoyed not only by visitors at Ashridge but by the farmers and hard-riding sportsmen in the Vale of Ayles- bury, some of whom still remember it with pleasure. These harriers were hunted by Rawle up to the year 1867, when they were sold, and Rawle purchased Sir Clifford Con- stable's Staghounds. Many other packs of harriers have been kept in Hertfordshire, as for instance Mr. Cheshyre's pack, which was hunted by him for a great number of years in the neighbour- hood of Hertford until 1888, when Mr. Abel H. Smith of Woodhall became master. This country has not been hunted by harriers since he retired, after many successful seasons. The Aldenham Harriers, which still exist and hunt the district round St. Albans and Aldenham, were established by Mr. George Gibbs. He was fortunate enough to get on well with the farmers in the Elstree neigh- bourhood, where the best of his country lay. He was succeeded in the mastership by his cousin, Mr. Herbert Gibbs. In 1885 Mr. Herbert Gibbs resigned and presented the hounds to the country. They have since been called the Aldenham Harriers. Mr. Lionel Rickards, one of the editors of the Harrier Stud Book, succeeded as master, and he and his successor, the Hon. C. Bampfylde, brought the pack to such perfection that the champion prize has several times been won at the Peterborough Show with hounds from the Aldenham kennel. The hounds are now hunted by Mr. H. Bailey of Cuckmans, who is very popular with the farmers. Harriers have also been hunted by Mr. Barnes at Rickmansworth, Mr. Heysham at Staganhoe, Mr. Alfred Taylor at Hochrill, Captain Fair- man at Bishop Stortford, Mr. Cox, West Mill, and Mr. Archer at fiendish. STAG HUNTING There are two packs of Staghounds that hunt in Hertfordshire the Berkhampstead Buckhounds and the Enfield Chase. The Berkhampstead Buckhounds were es- tablished in 1870, and were the successors of a well known pack of harriers kept for about twenty years by the late Lord Brownlow at Ashridge, which were much appreciated by the hard riding farmers in the vale of Ayles- bury. Mr. Richard Rawle became huntsman to the Ashridge Harriers, but these hounds were sold in 1867 and were replaced by a pack of Staghounds. The Staghounds and the deer were bought from Sir Clifford Constable, and were established at the kennels on Berk- hampstead Common. At first these hounds hunted buck, which were taken to the meet in a crate on a van. The sport became popular in the neighbourhood, and very soon red deer were used for hunting instead of bucks and many very good runs were enjoyed. Mr. Richard Rawle, whose quaint figure was well known to all visitors at ' Tattersall's,' became master and hunted the hounds for many years. He still occupies the post of 358