DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.70302#0296
262
LIFE OF JOHN ELWES, ESQ.
casions, under any hedge where grass presented itself for
his horse, and a little water for himself, he would sit down
and refresh himself and his beast together.
On the death of his uncle, Mr. Elwes went to reside at
Stoke, in Suffolk. Bad as was the mansion-house he
found there, he left one still worse behind him at March-
am, of which his nephew, the late Colonel Timms used
to relate the following anecdote :—A few days after he
went thither, a great quantity of rain falling in the night,
he had not been long in bed before he found himself wet
through, and found that the rain was dropping from the
ceiling on the bed. He rose and moved the bed ; but he
had not lain long before he found that he was just as
much exposed as before. At length after making the
tour of the room with his bed, he retired into a corner
where the ceiling was better secured, and there he slept
till morning. At breakfast he told Elwes what bad hap-
pened. “ Aye, aye,” said the old man seriously, “ I don’t
mind it myself; but to those that do, that’s a nice corner
in the rain.”
On his removal into Suffolk Mr. Elwes first began to
keep fox-hounds, and his stable of hunters was, at that
time, considered the best in the kingdom. This was the
only instance of his ever sacrificing money to pleasure;
but even here every thing was managed in the most frugal
manner. His huntsman led by no means an idle life :
he rose at four every morning, and after milking the
cows, prepared breakfast for his master, and any friends
he might happen to have with him; then slipping on a
great coat, he hurried into the stable, saddled the horses,
got the hounds out of the kennel, and away they went
into the field. After the fatigues of hunting, he refreshed
himself by rubbing down two or three horses as quickly
as possible; then running into the house, he would lay
the cloth and wait at dinner. This business being dis-
patched,
LIFE OF JOHN ELWES, ESQ.
casions, under any hedge where grass presented itself for
his horse, and a little water for himself, he would sit down
and refresh himself and his beast together.
On the death of his uncle, Mr. Elwes went to reside at
Stoke, in Suffolk. Bad as was the mansion-house he
found there, he left one still worse behind him at March-
am, of which his nephew, the late Colonel Timms used
to relate the following anecdote :—A few days after he
went thither, a great quantity of rain falling in the night,
he had not been long in bed before he found himself wet
through, and found that the rain was dropping from the
ceiling on the bed. He rose and moved the bed ; but he
had not lain long before he found that he was just as
much exposed as before. At length after making the
tour of the room with his bed, he retired into a corner
where the ceiling was better secured, and there he slept
till morning. At breakfast he told Elwes what bad hap-
pened. “ Aye, aye,” said the old man seriously, “ I don’t
mind it myself; but to those that do, that’s a nice corner
in the rain.”
On his removal into Suffolk Mr. Elwes first began to
keep fox-hounds, and his stable of hunters was, at that
time, considered the best in the kingdom. This was the
only instance of his ever sacrificing money to pleasure;
but even here every thing was managed in the most frugal
manner. His huntsman led by no means an idle life :
he rose at four every morning, and after milking the
cows, prepared breakfast for his master, and any friends
he might happen to have with him; then slipping on a
great coat, he hurried into the stable, saddled the horses,
got the hounds out of the kennel, and away they went
into the field. After the fatigues of hunting, he refreshed
himself by rubbing down two or three horses as quickly
as possible; then running into the house, he would lay
the cloth and wait at dinner. This business being dis-
patched,