The Dorset County Express and Agricultural Gazette.
Dorchester, Dorset, England, 1858-05-18 00:00:00

I remain,
Faithfully yours,
J. J. FARQUHARSON.

To the Editor of the Doreet County Expreee and
Agricultural Gazette.
Stock House, May 10th, 1858.
SIR,

In Mr. Farquharson's address,
published in the Sherborne Journal and the Dorset
County Chronicle of the 6th of hlay, he adverts in
the subjoined terms to a statement which was made
at a meeting of the members of the Blackmoor Vale
Hunt, held on the 16th of September last, at the
Henstridge Ash Inn, "Mr. Yeatman was under
an error when be stated thai Stock Wood, with the
consent of Mr. Farquharson, was allowed to con-
stitute a part of the B. V. cauntry when first estab-
lished in 1826." There is an inaccuracy in this ob-
servation of Mr. Farquharson's, as the assertion to
which he alludes was made by myself, and not by
Mr. Yeatman, who was not present at that meet-
ing.
In answer to the above charge of "ERROR," per-
mit me to observe that I made the statement to which
that charge is applied on the strength of the follow-
ing facts :—When the Blackmoor Vale Foxhounds
were established in 1826, that circumstance was an-
nounced to Mr. Farquharson, who was then on a
visit toStock House, and a request was made by Mr.
Yeatman that he would afford the B. V. Hunt a
few days' sport in his outlying covers, and especially
in the CAUNDLE HOLTS ; to which Mr. Farquharson
replied "You will have but little assistance from me,
but of course I cannot object to your drawing your
own covers." At a later period, viz., on the 28th
of March, 1828, Mr. Farquharson attended a meet
of the B. V. Foxhounds at Stock House, thereby
showing that he still adhered to his first voluntary
cession of those coverts to the B. V. F., and on
the same day, when the Stock Wood fox was killed,
Mr. Farquharson, as a further proof that he still coun-
tenanced the proceedings of the B. V. F., gave them
a draw in his covers of Plumlef and Hanover (see
the B. V. Hunting Journal, page 33).
The Stock coverts, then, having been ceded to the
B. V. F. in 1826, we find by a reference to the care-
fully kept records of the hunt, that Mr. Far-
quharson tacitly consented to their transfer, with the
other covers of the hunt, to LORD PORTMAN in 1831,
to HR. HALL in 1834, and to Mn. DRAX in 1837,
and no claim to them whatever was made by Mr.
Farquharson until 1853, when the B. V. Hunt
had held uninterrupted and undisputed possession
of them for 27 years, and had therefore established
an incontrovertible claim to them, according to the
opinion of "Scrutator," who says, in the 124th page
of his well known work, 'Covers may become
lapsed by any master discontinuing to draw them for
SEVEN years, or by his allowing another pack to hunt
; them without remonstrance or interference for that
' period.
With regard to the following words in Mr. Far-
quharson's address :—" I have letters in my posses-
sion from three late masters of the B. V. 11., as well as
the present master, Major Stanley, acknowledging I
my right to that and other covers," permit me to
observe that Major Stanley was one of those "three
late masters," who were joint-masters at one and the
same time, and, therefore, the inference which
might be drawn from the wording of the sentence
that the letters referred to were written by four
several and distinct masters would not be correct.
Whether the facts which I have above adduced, and
the very forcibly expressed opinion of Scrutator
which I have quoted had been taken cognizance of
when the above mentioned letters were written, I
will not here inquire, but rather direct attention to
the following circumstances, for the purpose of show-
ing that the three joint-masters had neither the
power nor the intention of invalidating the incon-
testible claim of the B. V. Hunt to the covers in
question. In 1837, at a general meeting of the hunt
it was unanimously resolved to place all the covers of
the B. V. country which were described nominatim,
"including the Stock Woods," in the hands of a
"Committee of Management." and in the hands of
that committee only, "in trust for the members of the
Hunt." It follows therefore that the correspondence
between Mr. Farquharson and the three joint-masters
of the B. V. Hunt was, on their part, a private com-
munication only, and merely an expression of
individual opinion by gentlemen whom the hunt
had elected to the honourable post of conducting the
hunting establishment, while it had vested in another
and distinct body, viz., the " Committee of Manage-
ment," everything relating to the covers, limits, and
boundaries of the country. Still further to prove
the private nature of the correspondence, it is only
necessary for me to quote a letter which was written
with reference to it, immediately after it had taken
place, by one of the above mentioned joint-masters
on behalf of himself and his colleagues, in which he
says, "We worked independent of the Committee,
and eon, not to compromise them in any way what-
ever." . . .

I next have to observe that immediately the hunt
became aware of the correspondence above alluded
to, a general meeting of the entire hunt was con-
vened by public advertisement at Wincanton, on
the 16th of May, 1853, at which, under the Chair-
manship of the late Honorable Colonel Boyle, M.P.,
a resolution was unanimously passed for the express
purpose of disclaiming all participation in the said
correspondence, and entirely dissenting from the
"admission" contained in it In the first part,
therefore of my letter I have advanced the sub-
stantial facts and grounds oa which I based my
statement in September last, "That Mr. Farqu-
harson consented to the transfer of Stock Wood ;"
an l by the resolution unanimously passed at Win.
canton, on the 16th of May, 1853, to which I have
referred, I have proved that I expressed, not only
my own individual opinion, but also that of the hunt
generally, supported by the authority of Serattator,
when I stated that the Stock NVoods, and the other
covers claimed by Mr. Farquharson in 1853, after the
lapse of 27 years, constituted au integral part of the
Blackmoor Vale country.
I remain, sir, yours faithfully,
MARWOOB S. YEATMAN.