From my visit to the Suffolk which I have to say had most impressed me, it was off later that Sunday morning to the Puppy Show of my family pack, the Puckeridge. These hounds have been in the hands of the Barclays since 1896 when my Great Grandfather, Edward Exton Barclay took them on after the Hunt had been embroiled in the most bloody row which had split the country, quite literally down the middle. The Goslingites and the Swindellites had come to blows and were not only at war which other, they both had formed their own packs of hounds. It was reputed that when the Goslingites went to draw certain coverts, the Swindellites would be waiting for them, disguised in the bushes and as they arrived would launch into attack with sticks and staves. This would seem to make hunt rows of the 21st Century relatively calm affairs! Eventually, after intervention from the Masters of Foxhounds Association, peace was restored. Great Grandfather had at one time worked in the Bank but had become totally disillusioned with that world and decided to keep his own private pack of Harriers at his home in Roydon, which is now very close to the northern proximity of London. At the same time he hunted with the Essex and the combined experience was just what was required to take on the Puckeridge in their hour of need.
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