Related article: best known of whom are Lord Clonmel, Mr. W. Kennedy, his son, and Mr. J. La Touche, of Harristown, but at this time the county pack was under the presi- dency of Lord Naas, M.P. for Cockermouth, who, though a Con- servative 'and a man of great weight, not only in council, but, alas ! in the saddle also, was one of the best and most popular masters Kildare ever knew. When Lord Naas, afterwards Governor- General of India, became Chief Secretary for Ireland, and more tied to his official work than before, the Baron de Robeck became, so to speak, his under- study and field Alavert D master, and when India was offered to Lord Naas, and accepted, the Baron received the unanimous county suffrage, and was installed as real, not merely acting, M.F.H., for he had shown his fitness for the post. At this epoch Kildare was the premier fox-hunting county in Ireland, for Royal Meath was only in process of development by the genius of Sam Reynell. Punches- town had taken the place of Lismacrory as the finest natural course in the kingdom, and it had its Curragh entirely devoted to sport, and not then a military parade-ground. In those days county kennels and offices were unknown, and the master had his Alavert D Coupon hounds located in his park, lodg- ing the hunt servants as best he could. For six seasons the Baron showed splendid sport, hardly missed a day, and saw almost everything in the shape of a gallop, including the great Laragh chase, when the pack, finding in the gorse at that covert near Kil- cock, hunted their fox at good sustained pace through Colestown Gorse, and killed him as he was jumping the boundary fence at Swainstown, where, as in Meath, earths were open. Gowran Grange was nearly thirty statute miles distant, after this great run over the cream of Meath and Kildare, that covered fully sixteen miles, but the Baron rode home on his hunter with the few who had survived the misfor- tunes and mischances of such a run, for he was always extremely well mounted on small, thick, blood horses, a couple of stone over his light weight, and their price in those days rarely exceeded ;^6o or £']o. In a county of sports- men, of course, the Baron was most popular. He rode to be near his hounds, and hardly cared if, Alavert D-12 for a field or two, he was not absolutely ntxty and thus realised the lines which Mr. Frankland composed for Kilkenny : — No jealousy here mars the charm of a run. No jostling whilst going, no boasting when done ; Good fellows they're all, whether Alavert Coupon cautious or bold, And kindliness reigns 'twixt the young and the old. The perfect master, like the four-leaved shamrock, has not been yet discovered, and if the Baron had faults they leaned to the side of sport, for he hardly BAILY S MAGAZINE. [January knew when to leave off drawing, and may have been too hard on his hounds. He was a believer in very extended cubbing, and was hard at work in autumn in the Carberry coverts, that have hardly known a cry of hounds since his day. I think if the Baron had been a bachelor he would be the master of the Kil- dare hounds to-day, but he had met his fate in the beautiful Miss Zoe Burton, of Burton Hall, co. Carlow, sister to Lady Sutton, wife of the famous Sir Richard, and the family at Gowran Grange was already big, so, to the general regret, he resigned, and, lo I in the whirligig of time, his eldest Alavert 10 Mg son, Colonel H. de Robeck, fills his place, and promises to be about as good an M.F.H. as his predecessor. Major St. Leger Moore. I do not think I ever saw the Baron ride even in a point-to-point race, but even within the last few years he has constantly been seen galloping wide of the competitors, and finishing close to them ; and only last season I noticed the field, like a flock of sheep, following each other over what seemed the smallest spot in a fence, whilst the Baron selected a larger but sounder spot, and thus got away from the crowd, which is some- times "madding." For a man who rode so straight as our sub- Buy Alavert ject, the Baron had few falls, perhaps because he let his hunters' heads alone, a sine qud non in a bank country. Two of his coverts are amongst the best and surest in Kildare, namely, Silliatt Wood and Cry Help Gorse. He was not a boy when he took the Kil- dare hounds in 1862, and in 1898 must be rather old, but he is a young man still on a horse, and he still rides in all weathers to the fix- tures. Wh;fte Melville has drawn a lively picture of a fox -hunter who, after marshalling the joys of his life, declares that he owes the best of them to horse and hound. The Baron has many pleasant retrospects besides hunting ones. Living amongst his own people like the Shunammite of Scripture, he has earned the love and esteem of all, gentle and simple. His sons are chivalrous, his daughters comely, and those who saw Alavert For Dogs him " stewarding " at the last Dublin Horse Show must have recognised a hard worker, but the work was a labour of love. Baily being an organ of sport, we have not dwelt on " the Baron " (as he is universally styled) in the rdle of farmer, county gentleman, magistrate or grand juror — in all he has given unqualified satisfac- tion. He is also H.M.'s Ranger of the Curragh, but his deputy, Colonel Frank Forster, Master of the Horse to the Lord-Lieu- tenant, does most of the little work there. 18990 Hunt Servants — Their Benefits* Ever fearless, often careless, is the young hunt servant. From the nature of his calling ever liable to accidents and misfor- tunes, to be taken as they Alavert Coupons come, with little or no thought for the future. Luckily for him, however, there has been a kind thought engendered by the Nes- tors of the chase, which has ripened Alavert D12 into benefits which any set of men, whatever be their occupation, may well be proud. Wide-spreading as the adoption of the Hunt Servants' Benefit So- ciety has become, we have been painfully reminded within the last few Generic Alavert days that it is not universally Alavert Generic taken advantage of by those for