SPORT ANCIENT AND MODERN joined by Mr. Paiiton. Mr. John Calvert succeeded to the hounds, keeping them till about 1794, when they became a subscription pack. Mr. Calvert and his fellow committee- men however appear to have borne most of the expenses themselves, for I find in a news- paper of 1795 that "the subscription list does not fill, as the country does not attract strangers." ' This outline is tolerably correct, for we have clear evidence that the pack, which for many years was called the Hertfordshire or Mr. Calvert's Hounds, is one of the oldest in England. Mr. Hanbury had in his possession in 1827 an earth-stopper's card 100 years old ; and at that period it was the recog- nized thing after dinner to propose the toast of 'The Puckeridge Hounds, 100 years old.' Further details of the early years of this pack are as follows: About 1725 a few gentlemen on the eastern side of the county joined together and formed a pack of fox- hounds. It is quite likely they were at first a trencher-fed pack, as the first kennels at Cheshunt are not mentioned until some years later. Mr. John Calvert of Furneaux Pelham was ' put at the head ' of the pack. He is described as ' one of the finest sportsmen that ever rode after a pack or ever cast his eye over a country, or ever devoted a mind to the per- plexities of scent and the characteristics of hounds.' A short time after the hounds were ken- nelled at Cheshunt we hear of hounds being kept at Redbourn, where the Duke of Cum- berland, of Culloden notoriety, had a hunting establishment in 1751. It is probable that hounds were kept at Cheshunt for hunting the eastern side of the country, and at Red- bourn for hunting the western side, as it would have been quite impossible for one pack to have hunted all the country from either place. The hounds kept at Redbourn probably hunted the same country which was afterwards hunted by Lady Salisbury who maintained the 'Hatfield Hounds' from about 1793 to 1828. Mr. Calvert was master for many years, and had Crane as his huntsman. During that time a curious instance of the well known homing instinct of foxhounds occurred. A relation of one of the subscribers was master of the Cumberland Foxhounds, and he sent two dogs and a bitch into Hertfordshire. One day, after a good run, one dog and the bitch disappeared, and shortly afterwards they turned up at their old kennels in Cumber- land. Crane was succeeded by his whip Tom Hubbard, who remained huntsman for twenty- two years (from 1780 to 1802), and showed excellent sport. During his time the hounds had many good runs, one great one being from Clavering : time, four hours ; distance, thirty-five miles. Tom Hubbard was an excellent huntsman, and does not seem to have lacked a hunts- man's characteristics, obstinacy and self-will, for we read of a scene between him and Mr. Pan ton, at that time (1796) joint master with Mr. Calvert, which might certainly rival, if it is not indeed the origin of, the well known incident in Jorroch that took place between James Pigg and his employer. It was after a fine run that Mr. Panton observed Tom to be making what seemed to him a wrong cast. He shouted out, ' You fool, Tom, hold the hounds round that head- land.' Tom, with the usual and indeed necessary independence of his class, quietly blew his horn and cast his hounds in quite another direction. ' If you don't turn back, I'll discharge you to-morrow.' ' Discharge be blowed ! ' was the calm rejoinder. ' Before that I'll kill this fox my own way.' Needless to say the fox was killed, and the huntsman kept his situation. In 1799 Mr. Sampson Hanbury of Poles became associated in the management of these hounds, and a couple of years later, on becom- ing sole master, he bought the hounds of Mr. Cox Pigott, who had hunted a portion of the East Essex and Essex Union countries. He had kennels at Standon for a short time, and in 1802 (as stated above) built the new ken- nels at Puckeridge. Mr. Hanbury was a popular master and a fine judge of hounds. He hunted the coun- try for more than thirty years, and during his mastership strangers were attracted to the country, and many of the best known sports- men of the day came from London to hunt with his hounds ; Mr. Richard Gurney, one of the best known men of the shires, often said that a fourteen mile run with the Puck- eridge was the best run he had ever seen. Mr. Gurney on one occasion refused an offer of 1,000 for one of the horses (by name 'Sober Robin') he rode with these hounds. Mr. Hanbury was absolutely devoted to fox hunting, and took the greatest possible interest in hound breeding. The story goes that he refused Sir Richard Button's offer of i oo guineas for Columbine, one of the Puck- eridge hounds. His retirement in 1828 was much regretted, particularly as the last season of his mastership (1827-8) was productive of extraordinarily good sport. 353 A A
