SPORT part of the county produced more harm than good the promoter of this pleasant little meeting was obliged reluctantly to abandon his good endeavours towards the promotion of steeplechasing in West Kent. As honorary secretary the West Kent Hunt had in Mr. Russell a good friend and a faithful honorary servant, and no one could carry out more happily than he those unpleasant duties connected with ' passing round the hat ' which fall to the lot of every man in his position. His name is one which will live long in the history of Kentish sport and in the memory of those of his contemporaries still living. Many an anecdote is told of ' Dick of Otford,' as he was familiarly known, and a quaint character he was in his way. He is said to have been a distant relation of the famous ' Parson Jack,' and his possession of the true sporting instinct rather favours the contention. The Hon. Ralph Nevill, a former master of the West Kent, wrote some verses having ' Dick ' for their subject, and many a time have they been handed round for inspection at jovial gatherings of sporting men in the district. A couple of the verses run as follows : — Let the sound of the horn, when reynard is found The tally ho ! forward ! the cry of the hound, Bring life and new vigour, with hearty good cheer To Richard of Otford for many a year.
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But when the time comes, as to all it must do For saying ' good-bye ' and bidding adieu, To ground he must go, and with many a sigh, We'll holloa ' Who-hoop ! ' and in peace let him lie. Most of the meetings of the 'sixties and 'seventies were under the management of Mr. Marcus Verrall ; but the East Kent Hunt had also at the head of affairs, in the person of the seventh Earl of Guilford, a man who was something of a ' character.' One year, however, he undertook more than he bargained for. Desiring to bring about a cessation of the many abuses of sport then in existence, his lordship took over the entire management of the meeting, and his butler, gardeners, grooms, and, in fact, his entire retinue of house servants were pressed into the service. Upon his lordship's arrival, he found the ring in possession of a fair com- pany, and turning to the butler, who was in charge at the entrance, asked him how much money he had taken. The occupants, it appears, had taken advantage of the butler's inexperience to persuade him that they were members of the press and had thus obtained free admission 1 Lord Guilford, however, was a fine sportsman and expended a con- I 497 siderable sum of money in the provision of amusement for soldier and civilian, and great was the regret felt when the news arrived of his fatal fall while hunting with the Cattistock, near Crewkerne, 19 December 1885. Kent stiU retains some of its National Hunt fixtures, and of those now existing we have the pleasant annual outing at Eridge close to the Marquess of Abergavenny's picturesque seat at Eridge Castle, and the Wye meetings, held three or four times annually. Enjoyable enough as these latter fixtures are, they shine only with the reflected glory of an earlier day when Wye was in the heyday of its prosperity, and racing took place on the other side of the little town in the vale of Fanscombe. Those were the days of such notable owners as Lord Conyngham, Lord St. Vincent, Mr. C. S. Hardy, Sir John Honeywood, Lord Maid- stone, and many other famous sportsmen. These earlier Wye meetings were famous the county over, and were described by the ' Van Driver ' of Baily's Magazine as being a subject worthy of any artist in search of a lively scene for his canvas. ' The sight from the hill,' he wrote, ' would delight a Linnell or a Maclise.' With regard to this meeting the same writer refers to an ancient custom adopted by the young bloods of the neigh- bourhood who decked their caps with coloured paper shavings, and no local celebrity at the races was entitled to be considered a village dandy without such adornment. Kent has always been so intimately con- nected with the British Army that we are not surprised to find that races for military and gentlemen riders were usually a strong feature of the county's racing, whether on the flat or across country. The support afforded by the garrisons at Canterbury, Dover and Shorncliffe has already been alluded to, and during the last half-century Woolwich Garrison has contributed sub- stantially to the sport. One of the chief annual events in connexion with that garrison was the Royal Horse Artillery Gold Cup, and at Eltham, Plumstead, and Bromley the military element was always strongly in evidence both upon the card and among the spectators. The Royal Horse Artillery have now drifted to Aldershot, but their long connexion with the county of Kent has caused them to leave behind the records of many brave gunners of the past, and of one or two still living among those who figured between the flags. Of the latter may be mentioned the name of Captain Annesley, while two of those who have joined the great majority 63
