# The Victoria History of the County of Lincoln/The Burton Hunt

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THE BURTON HUNT
Though it is not possible to specify the actual date when the Burton Hunt was originally organized, there is sufficient documentary evidence amongst the family letters at Burton Hall to prove that the first Lord Monson had a pack of hounds in the old kennels at Burton in the year 1731, and that from that date these ​hounds were regularly hunted for nearly eighty years by the Monson family. Unfortunately no great care seems to have been taken to preserve the early records of the hunt. A cursory examination of the papers, however, has disclosed some points of interest. The huntsman from 1732 to 1735 (and possibly later) was Robin Cave, who was assisted by two whippers-in. In 1758 the huntsman's duties were fulfilled by one Penney, who was evidently a well-known character, as witness the following verse from an old hunting song:
   In seventeen hundred and sixty and three. The third of December I think we agree, At eight in the morning by most of the clocks We rode out of Lincoln in search of a fox. There was jolly Ned Wills and Hobart so keen, And Lawrence in scarlet with capes (sic) that were green, With Penney and Raley, those huntsmen so stout, Lords Bertie and Monson, and so we set out.
It would appear from the family letters that the best sport was obtained on 'the heath.' This heath, as will be seen from the old maps, included all the land on the cliff north of Lincoln to Kirton, and south as far as Corby. All the northern portion was enclosed by the end of the eighteenth century, but that to the south of the city, especially the areas nearest to it, remained open heath until a later date.
The second Lord Monson appears to have been far more assiduous in his duties as master than his father, whom he succeeded in 1748. Indeed, his mother, Margaret Lady Monson, complains in a letter that 'he spends too much of his time hunting with his hounds down in Lincolnshire.' It was this Lord Monson who added to Burton Hall in 1769, mainly with the view of increasing the accommodation for his hunt breakfasts. The hounds were then removed to kennels at a greater distance from the house, and they occupied this new site until transferred at the special request of the sixth Lord Monson from Burton to Reepham by Lord Henry Bentinck between the years 1842 and 1845. From the time of the construction of the new kennels in 1771 until 1810 better care was taken of the hunt records. For this we are possibly indebted to that most capable huntsman John Evens, who had charge of the pack during most of this period. Very fairly complete annual lists and pedigrees of hounds are still extant. Perusal of the history of the Brocklesby Hunt will show that the Burton blood was much sought at this time by the Brocklesby, Belvoir, and other celebrated hunts. To give an idea of the sport enjoyed we may well quote here from one of the many old MS. note books. We read that: 'For the seven years from 1781 to 1788 377 foxes were killed.' In November 1809 the fourth Lord Monson died, leaving as his heir a son nine months old. There were in the kennels at this time 47 couples of hounds. It is probable that the prospect of so long a minority brought about the sale of the pack, for shortly afterwards, in 1810, it passed into the possession of Mr. Osbaldeston. The stud in the stables also disposed of. The sale took place on 13 January, 1810, and the 35 horses realized £3,821 6s. Although from this time the mastership of the hunt passed from the Monson family, their interest in it cannot be said to have ceased. When, in 1816, Mr. Walker desired to return to the mastership, the following clause was inserted in the agreement between him and Lady Monson:
   If desired by Lady Monson Mr. Walker can be accommodated with walks for sixty (60) young hounds, and it is presumed that Mr. Walker will have no objection to the hunt being styled the Burton Hunt, and all notices of the days of hunting headed with this title.
This rule has been adhered to up to the present day, and the first meet of the season is invariably held at Burton Hall.
Mr. George Osbaldeston, who appears to have held for a brief period the mastership of the South Notts before he came to Lincolnshire, may be said to have served his real apprenticeship as a master of hounds in the Burton country; he resided at the Palace, Lincoln, where he kept up a large establishment. He showed excellent sport, hunting five days a week; once, when for five weeks he took the pack to the Wragby Woodlands, he had hounds out six days a week. So well educated were the foxes that he laid a wager with a friend that two or three would face the open directly they heard his voice. The friend took up his position, the squire went into covert and began to cheer an imaginary pack of hounds when out bounced several foxes at different points, and he won his bet. He was assisted in hunting hounds by his friend Mr. John White. In after years he bought many hunters out of the Burton country, and the little 14.3 mare which he bought in the hunting-field after seeing her jump a big place at the end of a run, he offered to run against anything in England over four miles of country, for a thousand a side. James Wilson, who had been second whipper-in to Evens, remained as first whipper-in to Mr. Osbaldeston, who hunted the pack himself, his second whipper-in being Tom Sebright, who came from Carter, Sir Mark Sykes's huntsman, with the character of a capital horseman, and very honest, but stupid. Under Mr. Osbaldeston this 'stupidity' was soon transformed into very superior talent. Mr. Osbaldeston ​held office until 1813, when he resigned, receiving from the hunt a silver salver in token of appreciation. He always retained his regard for the blood of the Monson kennel. The 'Squire' was succeeded by the Mr. Walker already referred to. This gentleman only remained one season, in 1814 giving place to Mr. G. S. Foljambe, who in 1816 was succeeded by Mr. Assheton Smith. This famous hunting man brought with him a good many followers from the Quorn. The eight seasons he spent at Burton were marked by the best of fox-hunting, but the friends who had followed him from Leicestershire dropped away one by one to return to their old haunts, until at last Sir Harry Goodricke and Captain Baird only remained. Possibly they did not appreciate the east-country dykes. On one occasion Mr. Smith found near the kennels a fox which went away over a dyke called the Lilla. The pack and master followed, but fourteen Meltonians got a ducking, and not one of the field got over safely. Mr. Smith once jumped from a narrow bridge over the Fosdyke on to one parallel to it, because a high gate on the former was locked, and the one on the other was open. While at Burton he bought some of 'John Warde's jackasses,' very big hounds, with the nose of beagles, but no pace. Mr. Smith had at various times some of the most skilful hunt servants in England; among them Jack Shirley (who had been huntsman to Lord Sefton), Dick Burton, Joe Harrison, and Tom Wingfield. 'Jack Shirley,' says Dick Christian (Silk and Scarlet), 'was one of Mr. Meynell's whips; he was an owdacious fellow, big and stout, with a rough voice.' Mr. C. J. Apperley (Nimrod) says he was a fine rider over a country, and that his nerve and pluck were wonderful. He used to ride young horses at 10s. a day when he whipped-in for Mr. Smith; permission to do this was always granted provided they did not kick hounds. Tom Wingfield was very good in his casts. He had been with Mr. Meynell, and Joe Harrison had hunted the Quorn for Lord Foley. Mr. Smith hunted six days a week, and took no subscription. He rode as hard in Lincolnshire as ever he did with the Quorn, his object being always to get into the next field, with or without a fall.
Sir Richard Sutton succeeded Mr. Assheton Smith in 1824, buying the hounds and keeping on the huntsman, Jack Shirley. Shirley continued to hunt the hounds for one season, after which the new master carried the horn himself, save for a season when he was incapacitated by a broken thigh. Sir Richard's term of mastership lasted until 1842, when he left to take the Quorn. His resignation threatened a great blow to sport in the Burton country, but a new master was found in Lord Henry Bentinck, whose acceptance of office was felt to be a high compliment in view of the fact that he had at the time the option of taking the Quorn. Lord Henry Bentinck's reign, 1842 to 1862, was a most brilliant one. As already stated, the new master early in his career transferred the hounds to new kennels at Reepham, where there was also built a covered ride and a Turkish bath capable of receiving eight horses at a time. Lord Henry hunted six days a week, and to meet his requirements he had sometimes one hundred couples of hounds on the benches and a hundred horses in the stables. He would sometimes have two packs out on the same day. He was particular to the last degree about the horses he rode; he bid £1,500 for The Colonel, winner of the Grand National, to ride as a hunter; he also gave £600 for a horse called Shropshire, and allowed the former owner £100 a year as long as he rode him. He was a fine horseman and a good huntsman, but did not often carry the horn himself, though no one better understood and appreciated hound work. He never allowed hounds to be interfered with, and any huntsman who tried lifting them was speedily discharged; indeed, he seldom kept one more than two seasons. He always made it a great point that every hound should get away from covert with the fox, and always kept well away from them until they had been some minutes at check. Lord Henry had a great opinion of Mr. Foljambe as a fox-hunter, and thought highly of his hounds, using the blood freely. He considered Mr. Foljambe, Mr. Musters and Will Goodall the three great hound-men of the day. Lord Henry Bentinck's stallion hounds soon became famous; and Contest, Tomboy, Comus, and others were in great demand by the leading kennels. His pack was originally purchased from Lord Ducie, who hunted the V.W.H. country, but thirty couples more were secured at Mr. G. S. Foljambe's sale. The Belvoir, Brocklesby, and Grove, and occasionally Sir Richard Sutton's, were Lord Henry's favourite kennels. Two years after he gave up the Burton he sold his pack for £3,500. Dick Burton was huntsman from 1843 to 1849; his master held him the best hand at entering young hounds he ever saw. Lord Henry was a very difficult master to please. He greatly disliked seeing a whipper-in turn his head when watching a ride, affirming that no man could watch one properly who did so. He dismissed one man because he turned his head seven times in five minutes. The Burton country and hounds gained much in prestige during Lord Henry's mastership. In 1862 he retired, lending his splendid pack to his successor, Viscount Doneraile. Lord Doneraile resigned in 1865, making way for Mr. Henry Chaplin, who in 1864 had purchased the pack from Lord Henry Bentinck. Mr. Chaplin agreed to hunt the country as it had been hunted heretofore; and he continued to do so until 1871, when he found himself unable to reconcile the duties of a member of Parliament with those of a master of ​hounds hunting six days a week. Unwilling entirely to sever his connexion with the hunt, he made an arrangement under which the country was divided, and with this division the 'Old Burton' hunt passed into history. Mr. Chaplin retained the southern portion under the name of the Blankney (q.v.), and the northern half of the country, known since 1871 as the Burton, passed under the rule of Mr. F. J. S. Foljambe, son of the master of the Grove, who had as his huntsman Will Dale. Mr. Foljambe soon got together an excellent pack of hounds, bred chiefly from the Grove strains, and he hunted his country four days a week, and showed admirable sport until he retired in 1880. He was followed by Mr. W. R. Erskine Wemyss, who in his turn gave way (1882) to Mr. C. P. Shrubb. Mr. Shrubb held office till 1885, when Mr. Wemyss had another turn of mastership, but with a somewhat reduced country, a portion having been lent to Mr. G. Jarvis. Both Mr. Wemyss and Mr. Jarvis retired in 1888, and Mr. Thomas Wilson took over the Burton country in its entirety. He laid the foundation of his pack by purchasing Mr. Jarvis's hounds, which boasted many of the best strains of blood, the Old Burton being strongly in evidence. Mr. Wilson, who carries the horn himself, has continued to breed on these lines ever since, going back to Old Burton blood whenever possible, and breeding only from the best working bitches and best working sires. For outside crosses of blood he has turned to the Belvoir, the Brocklesby, Lord Galway's, and the Southwold. Purchasing the estate at Riseholme, he there built new kennels, after Lord Herries's plan, with accommodation for eighty couples of hounds. There are plenty of puppy walk. He has a splendid stud of well-bred horses, and to encourage hunter-breeding in his country he gives the mares to the farmers when their hunting days are over, stipulating that he is to have first refusal of the foals.
The boundaries of the hunt were as follows: From Gainsborough on the north, by way of Springthorpe, Willoughton, Snitterby, Bishops Norton, Glentham, Toft Newton, West Rasen, and Lissington, to Hainton, on the Brocklesby borders; and southward from Hainton, with the Southwold for neighbour, by way of Sturton, Baumber, Hemingby, Waddingworth, and Southry, to Billinghay. The Belvoir boundary on the south was by way of Bloxholme, Stragglethorpe, and Barnby in the Willows to Newark. The Trent, from Gainsborough to Newark, was its western boundary. But the Blankney now hunt as far south as Sleaford, the rest of the boundary being much the same as in Lord Henry's time. A line from Kettlethorpe to Lincoln, and thence to the Southwold border, may be said to mark the division of the Burton and Blankney countries as at present. The present Burton country is some 22 miles in extent from east to west, and 16 from north to south. It is a ditch country, for the most part plough, but carrying a rare scent, and with every variety of fence. There are a few big woodlands, the Wragby Woods being the largest.
Sidney Dale (son of Mr. Foljambe's old huntsman, Will Dale, afterwards with Lord Yarborough and the Duke of Beaufort) is first whipper-in; he hunts hounds in the master's absence.
The Burton Hunt point-to-point meeting, after having lapsed for about fifteen years, was re-established in 1901. The course is at Walesby, over part of the old Market Rasen steeplechase course. In 1901 the programme consisted of a members' race for a cup given by Mrs. Wilson, wife of the master, and a farmers' race for £20. The second year an open race was added, and the next included a yeomanry race for a cup given by Mr. E. Larken. In 1905 the events were the farmers' race, won by Mr. J. G. Nicholson's Stella; the open race, won by Mr. J. D. White's Noble Bentinck; Mrs. Wilson's cup, won by Mr. W. E. Cartwright's Patience; Try Again open race, won by Mr. E. Davy's Dogger Bank. Also a sporting match of £5 a side between Mr. J. H. Bainton's Saxon and Mr. E. Larken's Bristles, owners up, 14 st. each; two miles. The race was run in twenty minutes, and the competitors between them took nine falls, Bristles winning alone. The course at Walesby has four 'made' fences, the others being natural. In 1906 the venue of the Burton Hunt Steeplechases was moved to a new course at Burton, three miles from Lincoln.
* ↑ It was upon the heath to the immediate south of Lincoln that the Lincoln races were annually held for over fifty years, until transferred to the present racecourse in 1771.
* ↑ The grandfather of the well-known breeder of Lincoln Reds, Mr. John Evens, who is still a tenant on the Burton estate.