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1830-1850.
HAD Mr W. R. Ramsay, who, as
has been shown, succeeded Mr Hay in the mastership in 1830, not been born
the sportsman he was, he could hardly have escaped becoming one in the
circumstances which attended his upbringing. In the care of a mother for an
only son there would naturally be embraced an endeavour to impart a liking
for the sport which the father had loved, and in this, doubtless, she would
not be unaided by the father's friends. Possibly it was with the view of
developing such a liking that Mr Stirling of Keir presented to Mr George
Ramsay's soil, whilst the latter was as yet little beyond his cradle-days,
the beautiful old hunting-horn, a photograph of which has been reproduced.
The possession of large landed estates lying in a hunting country, also,
would not be without its influence, and the fortune which Mr Ramsay had
inherited from his father, and which must have increased very materially
during his long minority, would render the indulgence in any form of sport
an easy matter. Thus, within a few months of his having attained manhood, Mr
Ramsay came to occupy the position of master of the Linlithgow and
Stirlingshire Hounds, and to enter upon that period in the history of the
Hunt during which— the country being almost entirely pastoral or
agricultural and uninjured by mineral workings— sport was probably at its
best. Born on the 29th of May 1809, he succeeded, on the death of his father
in the following year, to the estate of Barnton in Mid-Lothian and to the
properties of Sauchie and Bannockburn in Stirlingshire. He married on the
4th of August 1828, the Hon. Mary Sandilands, only daughter of James, tenth
Lord Torphichen; represented Stirlingshire in Parliament in the years 1831
and 1832; and was subsequently member for Mid-Lothian from 1841 to 1845. On
the 9th of January 1832 he was admitted a member of the Caledonian Hunt.
Nimrod entitled his
well-known work 'The Chase, the Turf, and the Road,' and although each of
these subjects seems to have occupied Mr Ramsay to a considerable extent, it
is possible that, possession of large landed estates lying in a hunting
country, also, would not be without its influence, and the fortune which Mr
Ramsay had inherited from his father, and which must have increased very
materially during his long minority, would render the indulgence in any form
of sport an easy matter. Thus, within a few months of his having attained
manhood, Mr Ramsay came to occupy the position of master of the Linlithgow
and Stirlingshire Hounds, and to enter upon that period in the history of
the Hunt during which— the country being almost entirely pastoral or
agricultural and uninjured by mineral workings— sport was probably at its
best. Born on the 29th of May 1809, he succeeded, on the death of his father
in the following year, to the estate of Barnton in Mid-Lothian and to the
properties of Sauchie and Bannockburn in Stirlingshire. He married on the
4th of August 1828, the Hon. Mary Sandilands, only daughter of James, tenth
Lord Torphichen; represented Stirlingshire in Parliament in the years 1831
and 1832; and was subsequently member for Mid-Lothian from 1841 to 1845. On
the 9th of January 1832 he was admitted a member of the Caledonian Hunt.
Nimrod entitled his
well-known work 'The Chase, the Turf, and the Road,' and although each of
these subjects seems to have occupied Mr Ramsay to a considerable extent, it
is possible that, had he and not Nimrod been the author, the order of
precedence given to them in the title might have been somewhat different.
For "his heart was in the Defiance and the Tally-ho,"' and probably he was
better known to the racing world of his time than he was in the hunting
field. Many of the old Barnton papers were destroyed some years ago, with
the view of clearing away what was deemed to be useless matter, and although
it is of no avail bemoaning what cannot be undone, it is nevertheless a
matter for regret that such an incident should have taken place. Had these
papers been preserved, how much information might not they have thrown upon
Mr Ramsay's tastes and predilections, how much lighter might not the task
have been in respect to this particular period of the Hunt's history?
Captain Barclay of Ury, by
whom the Defiance coach was instituted in the summer of 1829, and Mr Ramsay,
are said to have been partners as regards its management during at least a
portion of its existence; and so anxious was the latter to encourage
travelling by it, that he would sometimes take passengers free of charge.
"It is possible that some of
my readers may not have heard or read of the renowned Defiance coach from
Edinburgh to Aberdeen—the Wonder of Scotland-which rightly indeed may it be
called. Any person, however, who may chance to be at Edinburgh, and to step
into the coach office of the Waterloo hotel, will see announced, amongst
many others, though this stands first on the list,— 'The Defiance Coach to
Aberdeen, matchless for speed and safety, at half-past five o'clock every
lawful morning.' And 'matchless' no doubt it has been in this part of this
world. . . . So complete are its arrangements; so respectable and civil are
the servants employed upon it; so well does it keep its time—in addition to
the honour of very often being driven by the Captain himself—that the first
people in the country are, or were, found in and about it, including even
the late Duke of Gordon himself, who would frequently be seen in it on his
road south, although some of his own carriages might have been on the road
on the same day."'
Mr Ramsay as well as Captain
Barclay frequently drove the Defiance, a circumstance which probably tended
very much to support and maintain its popularity; and even the gravest
Edinburgh professors liked to see the Ramsay coaches with their rich
brass-mounted harness, and the scarlets and white hats, when the dashing
young owner, who appears to have had a preference for two bays and two
greys, cross-fashion, was on the box. Whether "the Barnton hat" was
originally used by Mr Ramsay to cover him on the box-seat or in the saddle,
is not clear, —probably he wore it on all occasions, - but its outline, tall
and straight with an absolutely flat brim, is still familiar to many, and
for bug it will he associated with the Squire of Barnton as "the Fife hat"
will be with the late Laird of Charleton.
Although it would be out of
place to enter into any description here of Mr Ramsay's many victories on
the turf, the names of some of the more or less famous horses which he owned
or which carried his colours—the straw jacket, green sleeves and cap - may
be mentioned. Perhaps the best known were The Doctor, Inheritor, Despot, and
last, but not least, Lanercost, winner, as a four - year - old, of the first
Cambridgeshire (1839); while Queen Mary, celebrated later as a brood mare,
was his property, and ran in his name when she made her only appearance in
public. Thomas Dawson and William I'Anson trained them, and while they
underwent their preparation at Gullane or Middle- ham, they were usually
wintered at Barnton. When they visited any of the classic race-grounds, they
performed the journey in a sort of stall on wheels, drawn by cart - horses.
The first vehicle of this kind was made by a firm in London, who patented it
as an invention, and on Mr Ramsay getting' the estate carpenter at Barnton,
James Bell, to construct for him a carriage on similar lines, the builders
of the original brought an action against Bell for infringement of the
patent, and many of the estate people employed in its construction gave
evidence on his behalf. The case does not seem to be reported, but it is
said that the raisers of this action were unsuccessful - the home - made
conveyance being held to be of a different mould from the original, and
wanting in the essentials necessary to constitute infringement.
Mr Ramsay was a fine judge of
a horse, and his stud of hunters was the envy of many equally rich sportsmen
who, somehow or other, never seemed to get the right sort. The Squire, a
chestnut—the horse which he is depicted as riding in Chalon's picture
- Repeater a dapple grey, Binks the Bagman a chestnut, Rocket a black or
brown, Round Robin a bay stallion, Lambton and Jack Sheppard, are handed
down as having been famous hunters in their day; and old Inheritor, after
winning two Liverpool cups, in the latter part of his career carried his
owner well.
As has been mentioned, Mr
Ramsay engaged Christopher Scott as his huntsman, the whippers- in being
Torn Rintoul and James Robertson; and the late Colonel Anstruther-Thomson
could just remember the hounds passing through Edinburgh on their way from
Duns Castle to Barnton in the autumn of 1830.
"Mr Ramsay has been lucky in
his choice of a huntsman; he is a respectable man, and perfectly master of
his business. In the field he says little, but when his hounds are getting
near their fox, he cheers them on to the death in first-rate style.
The hounds are in beautiful
condition, under the most perfect control, pack well together, try the
strongest whin most determinedly, never throw up their heads to catch a
view, and while they stick to their game like trumps, are at the huntsman's
heels at the least tout of the horn."
Rintoul, whose life with
hounds began in 1817, had come to the Linlithgow and Stirlingshire country
in 1826 as second whipper-in to Knight. His father was head gamekeeper to
the Earl of Elgin, and Torn was born either in Fife or Kinross- shire in the
year 1801. "His career began in the racing stable along with Torn Dawson,
under Dawson senior, about the time when John Osborne was hunting groom to
Mr Taylor of Kirton, Tom was never 'put up' and, therefore, his life was not
like that of the well-known Scottish rider about that time, whose
difficulties in wasting were so great that he travelled from Ayr to
Carlisle, leading a mare, on four halfpenny biscuits and two-penny-worth of
Epsom salts."' After acting as second whipper-in for four seasons, he was
first whipper - in for nine, and finally, huntsman for twelve,-thus
eventually completing a record of twenty-five years' service with the pack.
Where and when Mr Ramsay
commenced his first season is not recorded, but the following verses may
possibly have been written with the view of commemorating an "opening day"
on Linlithgowshire side of the country.
During the first few years of
his mastership Mr Rainsay hunted, besides the country proper, part of
Dumbartonshire, the western part of Mid-Lothian, and the north-eastern part
of Berwickshire, while the Duke of Buccleuch overtook the southwestern part
of Berwickshire, Roxburghshire, and the bulk of Mid and East Lothian. In
1833, a portion of the Lanarkshire country having been lent by Lord Kelburne
to Mr Ramsay, the latter relinquished Berwickshirel Berwickshire in favour
of the late Earl of Wemyss, then Lord Elcho, to whom the Duke, at that time
had given up East Lothian.' The home country and the Dumbartonshire and
Mid-Lothian districts were worked from the Laurieston and Barnton kennels,
the Berwickshire country probably from kennels at Duns Castle, and the
Lanarkshire district from kennels at Newmains. The hounds hunted three and
sometimes four days a - week, and many long and severe runs are recorded.
Early in the season of 1830, when in Berwickshire, they had a hard day from
Preston near Duns, and accounted for a brace of foxes. After what is
described as having been "a beautiful burst of eight miles without a check
across the hill country," at the end of which the fox took refuge in the
dairy at Cockburn and was killed, Scott proceeded to draw the covert at
Prestonhill. From this a good fox went away, and hounds ran well over the
Preston Stanshiel, winding round the base df the hill, and pointing for the
low country. When near Cockburn mill, however, they swung left-handed, and
continued by Preston towards Lintlaw. There, the fox being headed by some
ploughmen, they again swung left-handed, went on over Lintlaw bill, through
Buncle wood, crossed the road a little to the east of Marygold, and bending
slightly to the right, reached the strong covert at Greenburn. There was now
a burning scent, and the pace was consequently tremendous. Leaving
Greenburn on their right, and
passing close to Warlawbank, they drove forward towards Swans- field, and
thence up the glen of the Eye water nearly to Houndwood inn. Crossing the
water a little below Horslie, they attained the Brockholes, and heartened on
by Scott's cheer, ran into their fox in the the midst of a flock of sheep.
Although the point appears to have been little more than five miles, the
distance covered could not have been less than from twelve to fourteen. Iii
the home country, also, there was sport. On the 28th of February, after
meeting at Riccarton in Mid-Lothian, a good hunt took place from Bonnington
plantation, from which hounds went away northwards towards Dundas, but
turning reached Norton, and eventually ran to ground near Riccarton. On the
5th of the following month Calder wood provided a fox which stood up before
the pack for some ten miles, the line lying over the rough grass country
between Midcalder and the Cairn hills, the pace being tremendous, and
without a moment's check.
Mr Ramsay's second season was
characterised by brilliant sport, and it was generally admitted that the
Linlithgow and Stirlingshire had a greater number of fine runs, particularly
in the Buns country, than any of the other packs in Scotland and, moreover,
scarcely ever failed to kill their fox.4 Although the veins of sport which
ran through this season were wanting in the following one, the 20th of April
1833 must have been long remembered by those who took part in the run which
then befell. The fixture was Harburn, the seat of Mr Alexander Young, and
after several of the coverts belonging to him had been drawn, hounds were
taken to to Auchinhard. Near it they found at once, and forcing their fox
away, took a fine line of country over grass. On coming to the river Almond,
they forded it close to the village of Blackburn, and leaving that on their
right, ran on to Sir William Baillie's coverts at the Cappers. Thence they
continued to the Bath- gate and Airdrie road, which they crossed a little to
the west of Armadale toll-bar, and running three miles farther, still mostly
over grass, reached the high ground west of Bridge Castle, where the chase
ended in the death of the fox. The distance as the crow flies is stated to
have been not less than tell ten miles, and as hounds ran sixteen, with only
one check, while the pace, the whole way, was such that none but good horses
in the best of condition could live with them. How this performance on the
part of his hounds must have delighted Scott can easily be imagined, for in
addition to killing their fox at the end of so fine a hunt, were there not
up at the finish, fourteen and a half out of the sixteen couples which had
left the covert at Auchinhard! But "coining events cast their shadows
before," and this day's work was but an omen of the good sport which was to
follow.
In the immediately succeeding
season, Living- stone wood held a fox which provided two capital runs. The
first of these occurred on the 14th of November (1833), when hounds ran
straight to Dechmont at racing pace, crossed the Edinburgh and Bathgate
road, and bending to the left, pointed for the Bathgate hills,—one of the
highest points of which, the Knock, was reached in twenty- five minutes
time. There, a slight check occurred owing to the fox having been headed,
but the line being recovered, they turned sharp south and, continuing at the
same pace, pointed for the low country, recrossed the Edinburgh and Bathgate
road about three miles to the west of the place at which they had first
crossed it, and ran their fox to ground at the Inch. The distance as the
crow flies from Livingstone to Dechmont, thence to the Knock, and thence to
the Inch, is six and a half miles—perhaps between seven and eight as hounds
ran-while the time, according to two accounts, was forty minutes. Some weeks
afterwards the same fox was again found in Livingstone wood. Again hounds
went away hard at him, and ran very much the same line of country as they
had done on the previous occasion, until the Knock was reached. This time,
however, the fox was not headed there, and they drove straight ahead as if
tied to the scent, and at a tremendous pace, killing him on the Bathgate
hills above Wallhouse in forty-six minutes from the find. Few of the field
who saw the fox found were able to last to the finish, - but Mr Ramsay,
Major Shairp, and one or two others distinguished themselves highly. The
whole of the line lay over grass, and had the fences not been "moderate,"
the pace was so tremendous that no horse could have got to the end. One
other run which took place during this season is deserving of mention. It
occurred on the 5th of February, when hounds met at West Binny. There had
been a hard frost in the morning, and perhaps, in consequence, some delay in
drawing; for it was not till after mid-day that a fox was found in Riccarton
(Longmuir) covert. In about five minutes time hounds broke, taking the now
old and familiar line over grass, but through deep and, in places, boggy
ground to Bangour, from which they ran to Binny plantation, i.e., Binny
cottage or Craighinning, and thence, with scent breast high, to Binny craig.
From that they continued by the Braes o' Mar to Champfleurie, and after
crossing the Union canal went on towards Carriden. When near Walton farm,
however, the fox, being headed by a boy with a sheep-dog, turned as if for
Kinneil wood, but that he was not destined to reach, and hounds pulled him
down near old Bonhard House at a quarter past three, just one hour and three
quartet's from the time of finding.
The season of 1834, also,
produced some fine runs. On the 22nd of October the hounds met at Stonebyres,
in Lanarkshire, when, finding in the glen at Craignethan, they went away at
once for the Avon water, turned, crossed the Nethan for Stonebyres bill, and
again vent away at a great pace to Dillar hill. From that, although hard
pressed, the fox managed to carry on to Dumbreck where, through the strength
of the gorse, he was enabled to dwell for a short time. Refinding him,
however, they forced him away "at a death pace" across the Carlisle road,
beyond which he faced the open country, apparently without any point, for
miles, turned to the right across Fauldhouse Flow, and back along the
Carlisle road for his own country. But he was unable to regain it, and they
ran into him in a cowshed at the end of "a trying run of two hours and
fifteen minutes." In the afternoon of the 11th of December, after meeting at
Binny craig, a long run took place from a small gorse covert near the Braes
o' Mar, from which hounds threaded their way to the Linlithgow road. From
that they wheeled, and skirting the covert iii which they had found, pointed
for Binny craig, sank the hill, passed the farms of Hangingside and
Oatridge, and leaving the village of Ecclesmachan on their right, traversed
the Tar hill to Hillend. Thence they ran the banks of the Niddry burn but
turning right-handed from Bell's mills went on by Niddry Mains and East
Mains, and across the Edinburgh and Bathgate road to Drumshoreland. it was
now getting late and scent was failing, but they worked steadily up to their
fox in that large covert, and once more compelled him to break, running him
by Broxburn village and Kilpunt to the Almond, which they crossed a little
above Bird's mill before marking to ground on the banks of the river at
Cliftonhall,—" an hour and forty minutes without anything like a check."
During these earlier seasons
of Mr Ramsay's mastership, the field, for that of a provincial country, was
often a large one, more especially on occasions when the hounds met within
easy reach of Edinburgh. Amongst others, the following are mentioned as
having been out hunting: - the Earl of Caithness, the Fail of Hopetoun, the
Earl of Morton, Lord John Scott, Captain the Hon. James Sandilands, Sir
Joseph Ratcliffe, Sir William Scott of Ancrum, Mr Ainsworth, Mr Burrell of
Broomhall, Northumberland, Captain Christie, Mr Dundas of Arniston, Mr Earl,
Mr Forbes of Callendar, Mr Gatacre, Mr W. Gibson-Craig of Riccarton, Mr,
afterwards Sir, Francis Grant, Mr Hare of Calderhall, Mr Hay of Duns Castle,
Mr R. Lindsay, Mr Maxwell, Mr Hay Mackenzie, Captain Makepeace, Mr Mayou, Mr
Place, Major Rickaby, Captain Richardson, Captain Russell, Mr Shairp of
iloustoun, Mr R. Spiers, Mr Stewart, Dr Wardrop, Mr Archibald Wilkie, and Mr
G. Williamson; while no less a personage than Nimrod graced the field with
his presence in the season last referred to (1834).
Nimrod,' who had hunted from
his boyhood, was at this time an accepted authority on all matters connected
with the chase. His writings, which possess a considerable charm of style,
and are among the best of sporting classics, afford much interesting
information concerning many of the more famous hunting establishments of the
day. His 'Northern Tour,' written as the tour was made during the hunting
season of 1834, contains a description of the different packs of hounds in
Scotland at that time, including the Linlithgow and Stirlingshire. But
Nimrod's appearance with the pack took place under unfortunate
circumstances, for the weather was stormy, and consequently the hounds were
not seen to advantage. On December the 6th, the first of the only two days
on which he was in the field, the fixture was Ormiston bill. He was then
mounted by Mr Ramsay, and from him we have an account of the day's
proceedings.
"Our first scent was on a
disturbed fox which we could not hunt up to, to do any good with, so went to
try for another. We found in Calderwood, the most extraordinary, and the
most romantic place, save one, that I ever saw a pack of fox-hounds thrown
into. In fact, it was a place that appeared to me like a forlorn hope; but
owing to a combination of circumstances, for instance, all in the day, and
the exertions of the men, . . added to the steady working of the hounds, our
fox quitted this wild ravine, and boldly faced the open country. But I shall
not soon forget the crossing of this ravine, or the rocky bottomed brook
that was roaring in the hollow, or the narrow path by which we gained the
opposite side. The scene was really an imposing one. The clatter of the
horses' feet among the stones, as they scrambled, as it were,
'Up the margin of the lake,
Between the precipice and brake,'
with the cry of the hounds,
beautifully re-echoed from the deep and winding valley which was below us,
gave a wildness to the scene seldom experienced in fox-hunting, and
requiring an abler pen than mine to describe. When once clear of this
awkward and perplexing defile, a good country presented itself; the pack
settled down to their fox, and I thought we were in for a second East Gordon
clipper, as these out-of-the-way-looking places generally produce those that
can fly for their lives. At the end of a mile and a half, however, the
hounds came to a check in a road which would have been a fatal one but for
the following circumstance. As Lord Hopetoun and myself were in the act of
leaping a low wall into the road, his lordship exclaimed to me,
There is the scent,'—catching
with his eye, what escaped mine, namely, two couples of hounds carrying it
down a strip of plantations, on the opposite side of the road. Clapping
spurs to my horse, I gave Scott the office, and he instantly brought the
body of the pack on the line, but they soon threw up again. Having an eye to
his point, however, he persisted in pursuing the line, even beyond what
appeared to me to be warrantable, as not a hound even feathered on a scent;
but he was rewarded for his perseverance. He had the pleasure of seeing his
hounds take up the scent all at once through a gate, into a grass field, and
never quit it till they ran into their fox at the end of forty minutes, an
hour in all, over a fine scenting country."
Nimrod's comments on the
hounds and Hunt servants too are interesting, and while he does not seem to
have been favourably impressed with the appearance of the former as a pack,
he nevertheless casts no aspersions on their working qualities, but rather
extols these.
"The general character of the
Linlithgow pack may, I think, be summed up in a few words. They are not
hounds to strike the eye, or exactly perhaps to please the eye of a nice
observer of form and points. It is evident, indeed, that in the breeding and
the drafting of them, appearances have not been allowed to preponderate much
in the scales. There are some coarse hounds among them; nevertheless they
are a very business-like looking pack, taken as a whole, and the character
they bear is highly creditable to them. It is indeed from character, from
report chiefly, that I am enabled to speak of their performances; for, with
the exception of the finish to the first day's run, no circumstances could
be more untoward than those under which it was my ill-fortune to see them."
Of Scott, whom he describes
as "rather over- topped, but not looking much amiss in his saddle, with a
ruddy, but healthy-looking face, and some- what of an intellectual eye,"
Nimrod says "his condition I thought good; but it is in the kennel that he
is considered to shine. As a huntsman he labours under disadvantages—not
those of age, for although he has the honourable appellation of 'Old Scott,'
there is nothing against him on that score. But no man of his form can ride
forward enough to see hounds in all their work, over any country that I have
yet seen, much less over his, which is strongly fenced and deep. . . .
Scott's long experience and general knowledge of bounds and hunting, make
him often quoted in Scotland as authority ; and, moreover, he has been the
theme of many a good joke. In short, he is what is called a character, as
the following anecdotes will show. Being some distance behind his hounds one
day when they were running very hard, Mr Maxwell —the son of his first
master, Sir William--passed him, with the hope of being able to catch them.
'It won't do, sir,' holloas Scott to him; ''tis no use your haggrivating
your horse in that manner; you was on a Iieagie you would not catch 'em.' On
another occasion he missed some hounds after a long run in a wild country,
and they were eventually lost. On some one condoling with him upon what most
huntsmen would consider rather a serious bereavement, Scott replied with a
smile, Oh, it's nought worth thinking about; it is a poor concern that can't
afford to lose a hound or two.'"
Nor does Nimrod forget to
bestow a word of praise on R.intoul. "The activity and science displayed by
the first whipper-in delighted me; he was a perfect Mungo, here, there, and
everywhere, telegraphing with his hand and whip when he could not be heard,
and giving the office with his voice when he could"; while he proceeds to
relate that Mr Ramsay rode a very clever hunter—a chestnut, with a blaze of
white down his face,— that Lord Hopetoun was also splendidly mounted and
rode well to the hounds, that Captain Peter Hay of Mugdrum House, in Fife,
went "as usual" on his celebrated old horse Coroner, and that "that noted
old sportsman, Major Shairp of Houstoun," also went well on a weedy
thorough-bred mare, jumping a very wide place from a stand.
If, as has been suggested,
hunting did not occupy the foremost place as regards sport with Mr Ramsay,
he was nevertheless fond of hounds and a hard rider, for The Druid mentions
that Lonsdale blood was Mr Ramsay's delight," and that " when he did get a
lead over a strong country, he was very bad to beat."' But Beaufort as well
as Lonsdale blood had a charm for him, and his list for 1834 includes
Bedford, 5 years, by the Duke of Beau- fort's Brusher —Dairymaid. Bedford,
who in colour was red or red-pied, seems to have been an excellent hound,
thoroughly to be trusted in chase or in a difficulty, and the progenitor of
some good and hard workers. His son Bracer' was remarkable for his power and
symmetry, and when H. B. Chalon painted the picture of Mr Ramsay and the
pack, Bracer was made one of the chief hound studies. The painting of this
picture occupied nearly a year, during which time Chalon stayed at Barnton,
but the canvas is a large one, and the work embraces, besides the portrait
of Mr Ramsay, portraits of Scott and the whippers-in, Rintoul and Jim
Harrison, and also those of many of the hounds, among which are Bedford,
Monitor,' and Bracer—the hound next but one behind the terrier.
And now joy and gladness
reigned throughout the length and breadth of the land on the occasion of the
ascension to the throne of Queen Victoria. Possibly Mr Ramsay may have bent
before his youthful sovereign whilst in London on his parliamentary duties,
but it is probable that Court functions were not much to his liking, and
that as soon as it was possible for him to leave town, he might be seen
hastening northwards to his quiet home in Mid-Lothian, surrounded by its
beautiful park and tall trees, where the rooks circled and cawed and the
wood-pigeons softly repeated "tak' two coos Davy." For at Barnton there was
almost everything that the heart of a sportsman could desire—a pack of
foxhounds whose kennel, with huntsman's house adjoining, lay within a
stone's throw of the mansion-house; a riding-school which hounds and horses
could be exercised in the severest of weather; race-horses with suitable
accommodation, for them, hunters, hacks, coach-horses and coaches, with
stabling and coach-houses which would almost have met the requirements of a
prince. Thus could Mr Ramsay with ease, as the spirit moved him, hear the
rattle of the splinter-bars, the thunder of his thorough-breds' feet upon
the turf, or the cry of his own hounds. Naturally, in the hunting season,
the hounds would receive most attention, and that they could then delight
the ear may be accepted as certain, for as already indicated, many of them
were either of Beaufort or Lonsdale blood, each of which was noted for
tongue. Indeed, from the nature of the country, abounding as it does in
strips and woodlands, it is more than probable that the Linlithgow and
Stirlingshire pack has never been altogether an unmusical one, although the
quality may have varied in degree From time to time. There could, however,
owing to the pace, be but little music from the pack in It run such as that
from "Drumshorlan to Mar" described ill verse, and handed down under the
title of "A West-Lothian Song."
the line of this run, it
would seem that the distance covered might quite easily have been fifteen or
sixteen miles.
Shortly after the close of
the season of 1838, Scott retired. He had talked of doing so for some little
time previously, for his weight had been increasing, and he was no longer
able to ride up to his hounds as he had done. This much may be gathered from
the West-Lothian song alone, for while it was he who, "with his heart in his
eye" put hounds into covert and cheered them when drawing, it was Rintoul
who at the end of the run held the fox "aloft in air." The time had come,
according to his own statement, when Rintoul, whom he knew was well worthy
of the huntsman's place, should have it all to himself. Some three. years
before, he had been entertained to dinner at Falkirk, by a number of those
then hunting with the pack, and presented with a piece of plate in testimony
of their respect for him as a man and their admiration of his talents as a
huntsman. After his retirement he took a small farm called The Camphort on
the Monreith estate in Wigtownshire; but as a farmer he does not appear to
have been more more successful than his his predecessor in office, George
Knight, and he finally moved into the Burnside cottage at Monreith, where he
died of paralysis on the 5th of February 1865. On his death-bed he left to
the present Sir Herbert Maxwell a silver hunting-horn, which he apologised
to the late Sir William for not leaving to him, saying, by way of excuse,
that the horn would be of more use to his son, who was "beginning a sporting
career!"
What happy days those
immediately following the 28th of October (1839) must have been at Barnton,
for was not Lanercost's victory at Newmarket an accomplished fact! "His
four-year-old labours that September and October were equal to those of a
Hercules . . [but] as his five races had been mere exercise gallops, and he
seemed to get tone every day, I'Anson determined to put his head Heath -
wards for the Cambridgeshire on the 28th. Between Dumfries and Annan his
troubles began, by the breaking clown of one of the horses of his three -
wheel van, which was hardly big enough for him when he was travelling night
and day. For the last seventy miles he grew so weary that he stood on his
toes with his heels up against the door, and propping his loin as he could.
Hence when he reached Newmarket he was so paralysed that be 'could hardly be
abused into a trot,' and to coax him out of a trot into a canter was quite
out of Noble's power. There was nothing for it but to cover him up from nose
to tail in his box, till the sweat fairly poured off him, and he was so
fresh two or three clays afterwards that he positively 'wanted to go
shopping on his road to the course, and not through the shop-door either.
Still he settled down at the post, and if Mickleton Maid had not mettled him
up so tremendously by the pace she made for Hetman Platoft to whom he gave
11 lbs., Noble could never have driven him in a sharp finish with such a
speedy customer as 'Bowes's Bay.' This was the maiden year of the two great
stakes, and although some high weights and those three-year-olds have run
close up for them since, neither of them has been won, [except by Lanercost],
at 8 st. 9 lbs. Lord George might well say, 'What a wonderful animal he is!
he neither sweats nor blows!'
Two years later Lanercost was
sold by Mr Ramsay to Mr Kirby, and while the evening of his days was passed
at Chantilly, it is said that his bones lie at Barnton. A most devoted
friendship existed between the horse and a dog, which kept him company in
his stall at I'Anson's. Before the Doncaster meeting of 1841, the pair got
separated, and although he had never been there before, the dog found out
Lanercost's box from among all the others in the different yards at Pighurmi,
and an affecting meeting took place. The fox which a too confident hostler
would pitch against him, and the gentleman who would have another peep at
Lanercost in the van as the horse was crossing the Mersey to Chester, did
not forget this sentinel very easily, and his dog opponents seldom survived
their engagements."
Lord George Bentinck, the
"Lord George" referred to in connection with Lanercost's victory, well known
as a sportsman and statesman, seems to have been a friend of Mr Ramsay, and
about this time to have been hunting with the Linlithgow and Stirlingshire
Hounds. He forms one of the group painted, probably about the year 1840, by
Mr Benjamin Crombie, whose 'Modern Athenians' are so well known in book
form. The scene of this picture is the inn at Broxburn, at which the members
of the Hunt used to put in after hunting, and which was then kept by one
Fraser, who had been butler to the Lord Torphichen of the time. The figures,
taking them from left to right, are, Professor Lizars, surgeon, brother of
the engraver, Sir Alexander Gibson-Maitland of Cliftonhall, Mr John Wood, a
Leith merchant, Lord George Bentinck - on near side of table, Mr Ramsay, Mr
'John Tod, nick-named " Toddy Boy," Mr Walter M'Culloch of Ardwall, Mr
William Sharpe, Hocldam, Mr inglis of Torsonce, the poet, Mr George Dunlop,
nick-named "Gogar," and Captain the Hon. James Sandilands—in doorway. On the
wall hangs a card intimating that Mr Ramsay's Hounds will meet on Monday, at
Drumshorelan Moor; on Tuesday, at Torphichen Bridge; on Thursday, at
Riccarton Wood; and on Saturday, at Broxburn.
Although Mr Ramsay may be
looked upon as having been a resident proprietor, spending his money in the
country hunted, it would seem that he was not, at this period, afforded the
support which might naturally have been considered due to him. One
proprietor appears to have objected to have his lands ridden over; another
to have destroyed foxes and taken every means to spoil sport; while the
farmers were not over warm in the good cause, and satisfactory walks for
puppies were somewhat scarce. The season of 1837 was the last in which the
Fife Hounds hunted Forfarshire, and Mr Ramsay, influenced no doubt by the
state of matters then existing in his own country, in the following season,
Scott's last, took the hounds into that county for a time, hunting most
probably from the kennels near the loch at Forfar, which the Fife Hounds had
previously occupied.' It was then that old Bedford, who was wont to contend
with Rivers for the honour of carrying home the fox's head, had a great day
on his own account, account, notwithstanding the fact that his hunting
career was drawing to an end. One day, at Kincaidruin, a covert of Heaven
knows how many hundred acres, they found a fox; but, as of course he did not
break too soon, Scott's ear discovered that old Bedford was well tied to
another; so leaving his brother veteran to his own devices, he pressed the
pack's fox out, and got away. At night, old Bedford was missing, and no
tidings, until going into the same country a few days after, a farmer came
up and said 'You have a red and white hound worth his weight in gold; he
forced that fox out of Kincaidrurn after you left; was seen by many running
him ten miles over the country, and killed him just by my place. I did all I
could to get him but he went off. Scott went away sorrowing. Old Bedford got
on the road home, and made it out as far as Perth, when he was picked up and
sent to the Kilgrastori kennels, where Scott, visiting Hall, found him to
his no small delight. Bedford is nine years old and almost blind; were he
mine - I speak it under favour-lie should not only live all his days until
the stern huntsman Time gave his who-whoop, but . . . should have a monument
and an epitaph, and a better one than this, which must serve in the
meantime—
'Who single-handed
Killed his fox,
Though blind and old
Right orthodox.' "
After the close of the season
of 1840, during which, as well as the immediately preceding one, the hounds
had again visited Forfarshire, Mr Ramsay gave up the home country entirely,
and in the following winter hunted Forfarshire only; while the Fife Hounds,
under an arrangement come to through Major Shairp, visited Linlithgowshire
for about five weeks in the spring, when they were kennelled at Uphall. The
Forfarshire country, which at this time was considered one of' the best of
those in the north, was an extensive one, and embraced much of Lord
Panmure's property, upon which were situated most of the favourite coverts.
"From one end of the country to the other was fully eighty miles, and it is
a precious memory with the [Rintoul] that one week they 'hunted it down,'
and killed four brace."' But before another summer had passed, the troubles
at home had either ceased altogether or diminished very considerably, for in
1843 the hounds were again hunting the home country, and also the Carnwath
country in Lanarkshire and Peeblesshire. Sport,
too, must have been as good
as ever it had been, for Rintoul received from various hunting friends quite
a succession of little gifts, presented, for the most part, as mementos of
particularly good runs, or of days upon which he and his hounds had
distinguished themselves. From Captain Peter Hay of Mugdrum there came a
silver snuffbox (1843), and a silver cigar-case (1844); from Sir Alexander
Maitland, a silver-mounted hunting- crop (1844) ; from Lord Valentia, a
silver cup (1845); from Mr Ramsay, a silver hunting-horn (1846); and from
the members of the Hunt, "as a mark of the sense they have long entertained
of his merits as a huntsman," a silver tea-service (1846). The most
noteworthy of the runs recorded about this time are two which took place in
the Carnwath country. The first of these occurred on 17th of April 1843,
when, meeting at Huntfield, about two miles to the north-west of Biggar,
hounds immediately found a fox which, though twice headed, persevered in
making his point. Away went the pack, racing ahead in a north-easterly
direction as if for the distant covert of Penicuik, until at the end of an
almost absolutely straight fourteen miles, accomplished in one hour and
twenty minutes, with only one very trifling check, the fox could no longer
stand up before them, and the pack, "led by the gallant Brusher," running
from scent to view, killed him in the open.' Captain Hay describes this as a
brilliant and first-rate run, ultra pace all the way," while the 'Sporting
Magazine' bears that considering the extreme severity of this extraordinary
run," Rintoul was well with his hounds, that Messrs Finlay and Bowman were
also fairly placed, and that one other horse of Mr Ramsay's stud enabled his
rider to see the finish. The second of these runs, which, as to distance and
time, is somewhat similar to the first, came just about a year later, on the
20th of April 1844. Newholm, near Dunsyre, on the borders of the counties of
Lanark and Peebles, was the place of meeting, and hounds found directly on
being thrown into covert, the fox breaking all but in view. Unfortunately,
no details as to the line taken are forthcoming, but it would seem that
owing to the severity of the pace, the fox was forced from one point after
another, and that several parishes were run through; while the distance as
the crow flies is stated to have been twelve miles at least, and as hounds
ran, sixteen.
The pace was tremendous, the
country undeniable, the fences large, and this gallant pack, headed by old
Brusher, ran into their fox from scent to view, in the open, after going
without a check—excepting a little cold-hunting over the ploughs at the end
of the run—in one hor and twenty-five minutes: not a hound missing at the
death. Of the select few who saw this most brilliant day's sport, I must
mention Captain Hay upon his well-known horse Selim, who with Rintoul, the
huntsman, on Rocket, were never headed; Messrs G. Dunlop, Annesley,
Maitland, &c., all went well, not forgetting the sporting Professor, whose
delight was unbounded."
The brushes of the foxes
which provided these two capital runs are now at Calder House, and although
nearly seventy years have elapsed since the day on which Rintoul handled
them, their state of preservation is perfect. The brush of the Newholm fox
was given by Mr Maitland, above mentioned, to Mr Ramsay's son, who at the
time was only two months old, much in the same way as the old hunting-horn
referred to at the beginning of this chapter, was presented to Mr Ramsay.
Notwithstanding the fact of
his having bought a considerable number of hounds at the Cottesmore sale in
1842, Mr Ramsay purchased Lord Kintore's pack, which was advertised to be
sold shortly after Lord Inverurie's death from an accident when hunting with
the Pytchley in December 1843. It would seem, therefore, that Mr Ramsay was
at this time increasing the number of hounds in the kennel, and the reason
for his doing so probably lay in this, that he was now hunting, or about to
hunt, a new tract of country, without relinquishing any part of that which
he had previously overtaken. Lord Elcho having in 1843 agreed to hunt the
Northumberland and Duns countries, the East Lothian district became vacant,
and was, with the approval of the Duke of Buccleuch, taken up by Mr Ramsay,
who in the same year obtained the Duke's permission, as far as his Grace was
concerned, to draw all the coverts lying to the west of the road from
Edinburgh to Linton, passing by Morningside between Comiston and Morton
Hall, by Lothian Hall, Bogliall and Woodhouselee, as far as the Logan House
water. Four years later (1847), also, Mr Ramsay got leave from his Grace to
draw the Penicuik coverts, and when the Fife Hounds were sold to Sir Richard
Sutton and went to the Quorn kennels, in 1848, he arranged to hunt the west
of Fife district in place of the East Lothian country, which was then
resigned.
It was probably about this
time that the hounds had the fine run in Stirlingshire mentioned by The
Duid, "from West Craigs beyond Bathgate, eighteen miles straight, and killed
in a wash- house near Denny." Mr Forbes of Callendar, the present master of
the Hurvorth Hounds, says that, as far as he can remember, the fixture on
this occasion was Armadale toll-bar, that hounds found at West Craigs, ran
towards Armadale and back to West Craigs. Then they went away across the
moors to Elirig, ran on as if for the woods at Bonnymuir, and thence towards
Larbert, eventually killing in a building rather nearer Castle Cary than
Denny. Mr Forbes asked Rintoul if it was the finest run he had ever seen.
Rintoul said "No"; he recollected two better— one over Tinto, when he rode
the Rocket horse,' and another from Hallyards, near Kirkliston. Mi' W. D.
Gillon having died in 1846, Wall- house passed to his eldest son, the late
Colonel Gillon, who was then about twenty-three years of age. In the
following. year Colonel Gillon began to hunt with considerable regularity,
and from his diary 1 some interesting details may he gleaned. It alludes to
the inconvenience in getting away from Calder wood caused by the Caledonian
line to Carstairs, then newly formed, "21st October [1847]—The Caledonian
railway much sworn at and abused"; to Mr Ramsay's being in the field, 30th
October, - Mr Ramsay out and rode fir- ward"; to the hunting of the East
Lothian country, " 8th November,—The hounds go to East Lothian till Tuesday
23rd"; and to the practice of "capping," "20th December,—No kill today and
no capping." The diary also records some good sport. It shows that on the
23rd of December, from a fixture at Polmont, hounds found in Callendar wood,
ran west to Bonnymuir, and thence across a very heavy country, till they
were whipped of at half'-past two, after having traversed about eighteen
miles, the pace being slow at first, but faster iii the afternoon, when,
with a threatening of frost, scent probably improved. And a short spell of
hard weather appears to have followed, for the next entry records a good day
with "a burning scent after the frost."
"Monday, 3rd January
[1848].—Met at Champfleurie gate —a very small field out. Drew all the
coverts there blank. We then went on to Riccarton— also blank. Found a
strong fox at Cockleroi, ran him to Lochcote, then over the hill towards
Riccarton. Hounds then took a southerly direction to the Byres, and from
that right west to the covert above Bathgate. Skirting this, they went down
to the east of Kirkton, crossed the Edinburgh road, and then niade right
south to Livingstone, where we lost him. This run, the best certainly this
season, was the fastest thing I have ever seen, as we never but once drew
bridle all through—horses and men knocked up. The distance run over must
have been fourteen miles, fortunately over grass. The fencing all through
was severe. 'A burning scent after the frost.'"
Some description of the great
run to Slipper- field, which took place in or about the year 1849, must not
be omitted. It fell upon a Saturday —the 24th of the month -when the hounds
met at Shieldhill, in Lanarkshire. Hitting the line of a travelling fox,
they ran a ring round the young plantations on Quothquhan Law and swung
south. Then, skirting Huiitfield coverts, they went on to Edmonston, and
through that to a covert at the (bot of the Black Mount, up to which point,
although the pace had been tremendous, hounds had run together in the
closest order. Now they turned sharply to the left, and carried the line up
the steep slope of the Black Mount, and right over its highest point; Mr
Ramsay on Lambton lying nearest the pack, and lie, Captain Balfour Ogilvie
and Rintoul being the first over the hill by a long way. But the Black Mount
was too much for many. Sir Alexander Maitland's horse burst a blood- vessel
-lie had been going brilliantly up to this time-and Mr Hay, Letham, got into
grief and saw no more of the run. Once over the summit, hounds drove forward
with renewed vigour to Garvald, where the field were stopped by the march
fence—the horses being too much distressed to get over it without a
considerable delay—and Major Woddrop, riding a young black mare named the
Kitten, joined in, and went on alone with hounds to near Mendick. There
Major Douglas, who had ridden through the whole of the run, overtook him,
and hounds ran on over the moor opposite West Linton, turned to the left
towards Slipperfield, and ran into their fox at the top of Slipperfield
moor. The distance from point to point is stated to have been fourteen
miles, and as hounds ran, twenty; the time, two hours and ten minutes; every
hound up at the finish. Sir William Maxwell was well-carried by a very
promising young chestnut horse; Major Douglas was well placed in the latter
part of the run, and so was Captain Falconar.
In a former chapter, allusion
has been made to the fact that during the period in which the Hunt has been
in existence, the hounds have hunted no fewer than twelve counties, but it
is even more remarkable that as many as ten of these were hunted during Mr
Ramsay's mastership alone, and that in the five seasons immediately
preceding the relinquishment of East Lothian in 1848, the country overtaken
was infinitely greater in extent than at any other time, either before or
since. Although some idea of its dimensions may be gathered from the
statement that in these few seasons it embraced, besides the shires of
Linlithgow and Stirling, parts of Perthshire, Dumbartonshire, Mid - Lothian,
East Lothian, Lanark, and Peebles, it is difficult at once to form an
accurate conception of the magnitude of the area hunted over, without
reference to a map of these counties. At this time, as in the days of Lord
Elphinstone and Mr George Ramsay, the country was triangular in shape,
although nearly four times as large, for it now stretched from Dunblane in
Perthshire on the north, almost to Cockburnspath in Berwickshire on the
south-east, and to Lead- hills in the most southerly corner of Lanarkshire
on the south, and must have consisted of an area of many hundred square
miles. This much has been said concerning the extent of the country hunted
by Mr Ramsay, with the view of bringing out more clearly than at first sight
appears, the labour and responsibilities then connected with the mastership;
for the greater the country, the greater the toil and expenditure involved.
And while, no doubt, much of the detail of the arrangements connected with
the hunting of the country at this period devolved upon others, the
responsibility and the burden of the cost rested mainly with the master.
And now the curtain must fall
on this long act in which Mr Ramsay has played the principal part. "The
bright name which his sire as a sportsman has gained," had become his by
succession, and in his keeping had remained an inheritance untarnished,
since for twenty years Mr Ramsay ruled the Linlithgow and Stirling- shire as
a sportsman, maintaining the proudest traditions of the old Hunt,
faithfully, liberally, and manfully. But a lifetime, scarcely greater than
that allotted to Mr George Ramsay, was to be accorded to his soii, and
before the latter had completed his forty-first year, the country had lost
its master, and Barnton its "Squire." Mr Ramsay's death took place at
Barnton on the 15th of March 1850. "The sphere of his influence and position
brought him into close contact with many and various classes of men, and his
amiable disposition, gentle and courteous bearing, his cheerful manners, his
kind and affectionate heart and liberal hand, endeared him to all. ...
He was beloved by every
tenant on his own estates, . . . and in the counties of Mid-Lothian, West
Lothian, Stirling and Lanark—the districts which were hunted by his pack of
hounds—he was universally respected and esteemed by the farmers. . . . His
numerous dependants regarded him more as a kind protector than as a master;
he was a devoted husband, a fond father, and a fast friend; . . . and there
are few private individuals indeed who will be more widely, deeply, and
justly lamented."'
"'The Turf, the Chase, and
the Road' all drooped in Scotland when 'Mr Ramsay and the Hounds' ceased to
be a toast in Mid-Lothian, when his Lanercost or Inheritor were not under
cup orders for Ayr, and when his mail-coach team, with himself or his good
friend from Ury in command, no longer stepped gaily down Leith Leith Street
towards cannie Aberdeen. He had his summons when he had barely lived out
half his time, and only last autumn [1850] the crape on the Caledonian Hunt
scarlet, and the words of sorrow to his memory, told that one still more
radiant element was wanting in the great gathering of Scottish sportsmen."' |
