SIR, MY STAG HUNTING. Y letter to NIMROD, which was written in despair of his writing on deprecating the traffic in foxes as destructive of all sport, having been thought worthy a place in your Magazine, determines me to again address you on staghunting a diversion which NIMROD has never thought worth his consideration. Where men can have as much fox-hunting as they wish (which I suppose is his case), I do not wonder at their not hunting with stag-hounds; but, though I agree to that position, I cannot go so far as some friends of mine, who say they would rather not hunt at all than hunt stag. As that is not the case with us all, and I feel convinced some few will agree with me, that when foxhunting is not to be had, and when there is only a middling or bad scent, and hounds cannot go too fast, there is pleasure in staghunting, I shall send you a few remarks on the Royal establishment at Ascot. As I shall presume to remark on some points in which improvement might be made, and sport thereby increased, it is but justice to say, that no person who has not seen it can believe the improvement which has taken place in the kennel management, and consequently the appearance of these hounds, since His Majesty was pleased to appoint Lord Maryborough master of the buck-hounds, and Mr. C. Davis huntsman; be fore which time there was scarcely a sound hound in the pack (in consequence of the dampness of the lodging houses), the cause of which, though known, the late master took no trouble to remove. Since his Lordship's appointment the floors of the lodging houses have been laid on arches; and every one must congratulate him on the success of his plan, as it has not only prevented the lameness, but much improved the appearance of the hounds. These hounds also, from the attention to the breeding, are every year improving, being much better on their legs and stronger in their loins than formerly; so much so that a friend of mine, who is a judge of hounds, on visiting the kennel some months since, said he had no idea they would bear looking at so closely (it was then three years since he was before in the kennel), for they were now a fine pack of hounds, and most of the puppies very good. But, Mr. Editor, there has always, since the old stag-hounds were disposed of, and fox-hounds introduced to hunt stag, been an objection to this establishment, and one which, under the present good management, is become more fatal than ever-it is, that no man in England was ever able to ride to these hounds when there was a good scent, even when most of them were lame: and now the hounds are sound, and so much improved in every point, going to them is become more impossible than ever. I know many will laugh, and some perhaps be angry at this objection, and exclaim, What stuff!why there's Lord A. B. and C., Captain D. E. F. and G., Messrs. H. and I., and many others (each slyly hinting at one other whom modesty forbids him to name), who can ride to them when going their best pace. So they may to some of the last of them; but what I call riding to hounds is going alongside the first six couple in all practicable countries, commanding the leading hound, seeing the struggle for the scent, the hits, and all other the beauties of hunt ing, which no one, unless keeping such a place, can see or know any thing about; for, though he may get a good gallop, and be quite satisfied with himself and his horse, he might just as well be at home for all he sees of the hunting. I refer those who fancy they, or any one else, can ride to these hounds, to Charles Davis-who is well mounted, and who is as good and steady a rider, and one who will make as much of a horse, as any man I know-if I am correct in saying no man can so ride to these hounds with a good scent. If they get a view, those who do not wish to kill a horse had better pull up at once; indeed, they had better do so for another reason, and that is, there is no sport in what follows until the stag gets out of view; till which happens all that is to be seen is not equal to a bad course. It is, however, the present system never to stop these hounds, even when they get a view; the consequence of which is, the fastest hound leads, followed by the others in two's and three's, according to their speed, leaving a tail a mile long: and this, until stopping is the order of the day, no management in the huntsman can prevent. We all know, even in fox-hunting, hounds seldom carry a good head with a straight-running fox and a burning scent, and can there fore form a good idea how much worse this must be in stag-hunting; as with a scent there is no work to stop, and the fastest hounds must lead; and we instantly see that suffering the hounds to run views will inevitably destroy all sport. I know, Mr. Editor, many men get to the end of long runs (the very length of which shews the im possibility of any horse going the ground with the hounds as a hunter should do): this is only effected through the assistance of Mr. M'Adam, who, though much called on by stag-hunters, is abused by nearly all. For myself, I take this opportunity of acknowledging the many obligations received; and I trust, when attempting to ride to stag-hounds, I may always meet him once in every ten minutes, and oftener if the hounds go the pace. Having declared myself a lover of hunting in all its branches, I send you, Mr. Editor, the above remarks on the Royal hounds, and on the present system of hunting the stag with them, in the hope that it may possibly lead those under whose command they now are to observe the manner in which these hounds are ridden after; and, if they find the above account correct, endeavour to adapt the speed of the hounds to the of the horse, or at any rate not to allow the hounds to run views. powers as To such sportsmen of the once Royal Forest of Windsor find pleasure in stag-hunting, this is a subject of importance, as I fear, from what I have seen and heard, fox-hunting in it is nearly at an end; for though His Majesty is known to have always been a lover of the sport, foxes have for a long time, and now are (no doubt without His Majesty's consent or knowledge), destroyed on all that now remains to the Crown of that once truly Royal domain, the Forest of Windsor; viz. Windsor Park, Bagshot Park, the Plantations round Blackwater College, and the Royal HUNTING LODGE, Swinley. I think, Mr. Editor, I hear you exclaim, Credat Judæus Apella, non ego! but you may judge from the following not only prevent the sport of hundreds, but materially injure the agricultural part of the community by destroying hunting—which would give employment to hundreds, cause demand for the pro duce of the land, and increase the demand for, and consequently the breed of, horses-the falling off in which will not be fully known till we are called on to produce a body of cavalry equal to that which England had in the field of Waterloo. VENATOR. fact to what an extent this foxkilling spirit in those acting for His Majesty is known to exist: -A dead fox was carried to the Royal kennel, and money asked at the house of the Royal huntsman, as a reward for the destruction of the animal. Unfortunately the huntsman and whips were out with the hounds, or the fellows would have been well ducked; in which case His Majesty must have heard of the fact, and would no doubt have been graciously pleased to issue a command, that foxes should be no more killed on the Royal property; and thereby not only added to the esteem and respect FEEDING HORSES WITH BARLEY. entertained for him by all sportsmen, but, by thus becoming the patron of sport in his Forest, given a great example to the many Nobles of the land, who, for the sake of recording how many pheasants they kill in a season (in very large properties, say ten days' shooting), London, July 29, 1827. SIR, Wish to call the attention of your readers to the discussion of the question of feeding farm horses with steeped barley instead of oats. Mr. Coke, of Norfolk*, has practised it for these two years, and *We copy into our pages, for the benefit of those readers who may not have fallen in with it in the public Journals, what passed on this subject at the late Thetford Wool Fair: Mr. Coke entered into a detail of his application to the Board of Excise, in consequence of some barley wetted for feeding horses, or bursted barley, as it was called, being seized by the officers upon the premises of Mr. Seppings, and a penalty of 2001. levied. Mr. Herries laid the case before the Commissioners, and afterwards informed him that part of the money should be returned, but that the wetting of barley was against the law. He (Mr. Coke) however, insisted upon the whole being returned, and went before the Commissioners, who said this instance should be overlooked, but any future case would be carried into the Court of Exchequer. He then urged the importance of using barley for horses, and contended that the barley was not malt unless it were dried. The Excise Solicitor, however, pronounced vegetated barley positively malt. He (Mr. Coke) then applied to the Treasury, and Mr. Canning inclined to the opinion of the Excise. He then produced the statement furnished by Mr. Seppings, which went far beyond what he was before aware of, as it shewed a saving in the keep of 33 horses for the year of no less than 1971. reckoning oats at 16s. and barley at 20s. He urged that if in years of bad crops it was not in the power of the farmer to consume his bad barley, to talk of free trade was all nonsense. As a wellwisher to the present Government, he desired that they should have the merit of inserting a clause in the new Act to authorise the use of bursted or wetted barley. After various deliberations, in which the Commissioners of Excise expressed their fears that the position would open a door to fraud, he at length proposed in the House of Commons a clause, not drawn according to his own principles, but such as he thought would be carried, giving the Excise the power to enter outhouses to see what was going forward. Mr. Herries, however, objected to this clause, and said instructions should be given to the officers of Excise to abandon the information against Mr. Seppings, and not to interfere in future. Mr. Spring Rice stated, that the discussion of this subject had created a sensation in Ireland of which they could form no conception, and the decision would be of the greatest value to that country. The meeting knew that when horses were 12 or 14 years old they lost their teeth and could not eat oats, but with this food they would last some years longer." has had an interview with Mr. Huskisson regarding the duty upon barley used for this purpose. It is a highly-important subject if found to answer. When will NIMROD furnish his disciples with the important hints" he promised in the construction of loose boxes?-Pray remind him of it. I remain, Sir, your most obedient servant, A SUBSCRIBER. London, July 17, 1827. SIR, GLENARTNEY. As a very old subscriber, though a very young contributor, to your valuable Magazine, I take the liberty of making a few remarks on that now well-known horse Glenartney. A LOSER has asked whether he could have won the Derby; and, if so, whether he ought not to have been permitted to do it? These two questions have been ably answered by OBSERVATOR. A LOSER's third question, I am sorry to see, has not been answered. JOHN LAWRENCE observes that there must be secrets on the turf. I grant it, there must be some. If a friend of mine tells me that one of his horses, engaged in a certain race, is by him considered the best, though not generally thought so, I think myself as perfectly justified in making use of the information, as he is in not communicating it to the public. But if my friend tells me, that a horse of his, which has run well, and is known to be a good horse, is not to start, though perfectly sound and well at the day, I consider myself as inexcusable in betting against him, as his owner is in not starting him. If the turf is only to be hindered from becoming a dead flat by such secrets as these, the sooner it becomes one the better. But a very short time ago such a case would have been commented on severely; now, I suppose it is quite fashionable, and so of course quite honorable. Let this once be established as a legitimate secret, and all farther discussion on the subject of turf honour will be saved. I know too well the system of the present day. Owners of horses resort to these methods to pay their expenses; and I only regret, there are so few left on it who do not require such assistance. When do we hear of the Duke of Grafton's, Lord Fitzwilliam's, or Lord Egremont's horses not starting if well? I may back their horses freely and safely, knowing that death, disease, or accident alone can hinder my opinion} being put to the test. We boast that the turf is on the increase: it is so in number of horses, races, and size of stakes: in honour and integrity of its members, I am afraid, it is rapidly decreasing. A YORKSHIREMAN. Magazine, you will greatly oblige your obedient servant, A FRIEND TO FOXES. Derby, July 14, 1827. P.S. My friend told me that Lord Anson bolted a fox from this drain last season, and had a capital run with him. NOTTINGHAM RACES. SIR HAPPENING to be on a visit in the neighbourhood during Nottingham race week, and knowing that you are always ready to give a place in your Magazine to any racing communications, I sit down, in accordance with the flattering wish expressed in your last Number, to send you a few observations on the subject, and shall always be happy to do so when an opportunity presents itself. The company on the stand, though small, was highly respectable, and the unfavorable state of the weather on the last day rendered it less numerous than on the preceding ones; but the sport was decidedly superior to that on the former days. Mr. Mytton's Ellesmere won the first race, beating Sir W. Wynn's filly Effie, after a severe race, by a neck only. The Sherwood Stakes were won in a canter by a beautiful filly of Mr. Charlton's beating Mr. Houldsworth's Gift. I am sorry to observe that the latter gentleman has been almost uniformly unsuccessful this year; which is the more to be regretted, as a more straightforward and liberal supporter of the turf does not exist : but I hope that the flattering prospects he has before him in his promising young stock will be fully realized in every future year. The next race was a Macaroni Stakes, gentlemen riders, which was won by a gelding belonging to Mr. Musters, after a very severe race, wholly, I think, in consequence of Captain White's superior jockeyship. The last race of the day was won by Mr. Whitwick's Va tican beating Leda and Rosalis cleverly at two heats. The Wednesday offered few races, but they were of great interest. Mr. Mytton's Lark beat Blaze easily. The winner is a fine filly, and strongly resembles her sire, Rubens; but I am inclined to think she is better calculated for a light than a deep course. grand attraction, however, was the Cup, for which three horses only started-Brownlock, Camellia (the winner of the Sherwood), and Little-Bo-Peep. They came in, in the order I have placed them. Brownlock had many fanciers, from his previous good running, while others considered him a stale horse. But he had that very first-rate jockey, Will Scott, on him, who was perhaps more than usually interested in the success of his horse, as it was understood that his father-in-law, the owner of Brownlock, had made over to him his horse's winnings at Nottingham. Little-Bo-Peep looked her best, and was much admired; while Camellia, from her fine running on the previous day, gave her owner sanguine hopes of success. She is a very improving filly, and I hope yet to see her win a Nottingham Cup. She made all the running the greater part of the way; but Brownlock passed her about two distances from home, and won very easily by three lengths. The Twoyear-old Stakes were carried off by a very pretty filly, by Magis trate, beating Mr. Houldsworth's |