A HISTORY OF KENT about fifteen couples of Mr. Armstrong's hounds, the rest of which were secured by Mr. Arthur Whieldon, of the Vine ; and having built new kennels at Wrotham Heath, close to his residence at Addington Park, he continued to preside over the destinies of the hunt until 1862, when the Honourable R. P. Nevill of Birling Manor, second son of William, fourth Earl of Abergavenny, joined him. Two years later Mr. Stratford withdrew, and Mr. Nevill continued alone. To Mr. Ralph Nevill, than whom no better man with hounds ever existed, must be given the credit of having set the West Kent upon the firm footing which it has enjoyed ever since his day. To George Bollen, too, a capable huntsman, who was with Mr. Nevill for a dozen years or more, must also be awarded some acknow- ledgement of the good work done and the good sport shown during that long period, while another good huntsman, Tom Hills of the Burstow, a son of Tom Hills of the Old Surrey, must also be mentioned. The West Kent never had a more popular, or a more capable master than Mr. Nevill, and the farmers of the country showed their appreciation of his worth by presenting him in 1892, soon after his retirement, with a portrait of himself seated upon a favourite grey with some of his pack around liim. The picture, the Avork of John Emms, hangs at Birling Manor, Mr. Nevill's seat in Kent. Mr. Nevill had previously (at the end of his seventh season) been the recipient of a piece of plate, presented by members of the hunt. His mastership of the pack lasted from 1862 to 1 89 1. It was during the early years of Mr. Nevill's mastership that the West Kent had that good sportsman, Mr. Richard Russell of Otford Castle, familiarly known as ' Dick of Otford,' as secretary of the hunt. After he had reached the age of seventy Mr. Russell was taken seriously ill, and his life was despaired of. The occasion prompted Mr. Nevill to pen some spirited verses, of which two stanzas run as follows : — Then fill up your glasses, for ne'er shall we see At Otford a sportsman so thorough as he ; Be it fox, be it stag, a drag or a hare. Whatever the chase he was bound to be there. Then fill up your glasses, and drink, my boys, drink, Long life to Old Richard, nor e'er let us think His days are yet numbered, though sixty and ten Is the limit of summers allotted to men. ' Dick of Otford ' got better, and the wish of his impromptu bard was gratified. .-Ynother wish, Mr. Russell's this time, was that a piece of ground might be consecrated in the wood at the top of the hill at Otford, and that he might be buried there, so that when hounds or fox came by they might pass near his grave. But this hope of the old sportsman was never gratified, and he lies buried in the churchyard at Sevenoaks. In 1 891 Colonel Warde, who was then member of Parliament for the Mid-Kent division, became master of the West Kent, and was succeeded in the following year by Mr. R. Stewart-Saville. The latter stayed till 1895 when Lord George Montacute Nevill, third son of William, first Marquess of Abergavenny and a nephew of Mr. Ralph Nevill, came from the Eridge, of which hunt he had been master from 1880 to 1887, and taking over the hunt, continued with it till 1900. George Bollen, Mr. Nevill's old huntsman, had remained with each successive master, but in 1896 he was succeeded by Eli Skinner, who came from the Worcestershire ; and later by Wesley, of the Old Surrey. George Bollen returned to his old post after a lapse of two or three seasons, but left again in 1901 during the mastership of Mr. W. Baker White, vho came from the East Kent in 1900, when Tom Darch, from the Essex, took Bollen's place as liuntsman. Mr. Baker White stayed with the West Kent until 1904, when the present master, Mr. William Gore Lambarde of Bradbourne Hall, succeeded him. The country hunted by the West Kent comprises an area about seventeen miles square, apart from the territory recently occupied by the Hundred of Hoo Hunt. This part of the county was formerly regarded as belonging to the West Kent, but it was given up about the year 1896 as unmanage- able under the existing establishment of that hunt. On the west the Old Surrey country marks the boundary ; the Burstow and Eridge are to the south ; and the Tickham to the east. The country is chiefly pasture with a fair proportion of woodland, but very little plough, and there is not much wire. Some forty-five couples of hounds constitute the pack, which is kennelled at Otford near Sevenoaks. The Hundred of Hoo Hunt no longer exists. It was established in 1896 to hunt that part of the country vacated by the West Kent, and Mr. Whitebread, who was the instigator of the movement, got a scratch pack together for the purpose. He himself acted as master until 1900, when he was succeeded by Mr. H. Gibson, who stayed two years. 484
