The King King Hunting Diaries

Nov 1st.  The Queen’s at Ascot.  Very thick fog changing to brilliant sunshine.  Uncarted near Red Lodge, ran another fish hook shaped ring nearly to the Jolly Farmers, & back thro’ the worst jungles in the world to ride thro’, coming out at last by the Ascot Hotel, down the road some way & took in a grass field a bit to the right of it.  About an hour.

Rode  Skene Dhu

Nov 5th.  The Queen’s opening day at Salt Hill.  Uncarted on  Cantrell’s Farm.  Deer mobbed as usual, ran over the country a bit nearly to Black Park then on the Uxbridge road, turning to the left & being taken in the spinney above Denham Water splash at 1 pm.  No end deer so home.  Very poor day & bad for horses legs.

Rode  Peregrine

Nov 7th.  The Ripley & Knapshill Harriers.  Mr Beners master & huntsman at Sunningdale Station.  Found at once & ran over heather and one turnip field pretty well ----- rings for home, 2 hours and lost.  Found again after a long draw over Chobham Common.  The hare squatted repeatedly and of course made no point & was neatly killed after some 50 minutes.  A very pretty pack of 20 ---- foxhounds.  But I hardly call it hackhunting!

Rode  Skene Dhu

Nov 8th.  The Queen’s at Maidenhead Thicket.  Uncarted close by Heywood Lodge or some such name.  The deer turned left about & hounds ran really well for say 20 minutes up to the Gt. W. Ry. & checked.  A hare caused some riot & loss of time.  Crossed the line & hunted on over the Bath road thro’ either B---y Hill & the other covert like it (I think the former), out again & on for the Thames a mile or more above Marlow, where I being wet thro’ left them.

Rode  Peregrine

Nov 11th.  The Quorn at Kirby Gate.  Not so very big a field f--- b---- but ground soft eno’ now.  Found in Gartree Hill, & killed a fainthearted cub between it & Burton Grange.  Found again in Burdett’s Covert, ran up Burrow Hill to the Punchbowl & ringing thereabouts, & killed in the covert unluckily.  Found again in Adam’s Gorse.  Came away over the old steeplechase course with a brace in front of us (hounds dividing) then thro’ Burrow Hill Wood & away for Gt. Dalby where I believe they lost.  Scent wretched all day.

Rode  Valiant
           Strategy

Capt. Joynes    Sanctity
Miss -----fall    Skene Dhu
With Garth

Nov 12th.  The Queen’s at the Cricketers, Bagshot.  Uncarted by the Jolly Farmers, ran a ring in the forest, then down the road for Aldershot.  Hill on the road with intervals of unrideable wood, on to Pirbright Common.  By the c----ments & Brockwood -----, mostly on the road to (I believe) Woking.  Took at last near Chertsey after I had left.

Rode  Peregrine
           lost a shoe

Nov 15th.  The Queen’s at Brick Bridge.  Ran I don’t quite know where with an indifferent scent, a left handed horseshoe & took the deer rather under an hour near Maidenhead Thicket.  Country very deep.

Rode  Skene Dhu

Nov 19th.  The Queen’s at Gerrard’s X.  Foggy morning wh. spoiled the turn out, the deer being mobbed & running a short ring into Duke’s Wood.  Round & thro’ this beastly jungle we went till I was sick of it, & went home.  They got away however & ran to Colnbrook where they took the deer, but I must have been a horrid line to ride.

Rode  Peregrine

Nov 22nd.  The Queen’s at Wokingham.  Uncarted by Mr Denley’s place, & ran a right handed ring very fast, some few hounds being close to the deer, by Bear Wood, Hurst etc, & soiled in a pond at Billingbear, 45 or 50 minutes, very fast but too much road.  The deer came out & went on to Binfield where it was taken near the Stag & Hounds.

Rode  Skene Dhu

Nov 23rd.  The OBH West at Redhill Denham.  Nice little field, goodish pack, nothing wanting but weather & country.  Beastly wet & blowing a gale.  Drew a lot of hasty woods, full of pheasants.  Found at last (the keeper found him!) ran after a most indifferent fashion to Duke’s Wood about a mile from where we found & up wind.  The fox Bi--- turned left handed, or the hounds lost him as I heard no more of them, making it a practice to retire from Duke’s Wood, unless they come out on the home side & under my horse’s nose.  Glad to make a short day.

Rode  Peregrine

Nov 26th.  The Queen’s at Bracknell.  Uncarted near Easthampstead a stag who went among some cows & stayed there.  Uncarted a 2^nd at Caesar’s Camp:  ran straight back to the paddocks “to ground”.  All over long before one o’clock.

Rode  Peregrine

Nov 29th.  The Queen’s at Hawthorn Hill.  Uncarted on the course:  ran up to the Hages.  Deer hung there a bit, got away at last with 2 hounds at his haunches.  Ran a right handed ring very fast, somewhere Hawthorn Hill way again, & then I don’t know where.  Saw Haines Hill on the right, then passed Binfield, & ran up to our deer with 4 couple in Billingbear Park.  Here the party consisting of Co---s, self, & 5 others, all disinclined to race & stop the leading hounds, Co---s went back for his pack, letting the deer & hounds go on:  a rest for us.  Arriving with the body he hunted the others on for say 2 miles, or less, to where the deer had run into a farmyard.  An hour & ten minutes.

Rode  Peregrine

Capt. Ch.....  Sanctity
With the hounds