Original Typescript of an anonymous poem entitled 'The Ludlow Hunt Alphabet. An Adaptation.' ['The Ludlow Alphabet. An Adaptation.']

Author: 
[The Ludlow Hunt; fox-hunting; field sports; Sir William Michael Curtis (1859-1916)]
The Ludlow Hunt Alphabet. An Adaptation
Publication details: 
Date and place not stated. [Before 1906.]
£165.00
SKU: 9983

4to, 6 pp, with a seventh leaf carrying the title 'The Ludlow Hunt Alphabet. An Adaptation.' (The title at the head of the poem itself is 'The Ludlow Alphabet. An Adaptation.') A genuine typescript, and not a reproduction. A poem of 128 lines, divided into 32 4-line stanzas. Fair, on aged paper, with the last leaf laid down on a leaf of an autograph album, with traces of a newspaper cutting on the reverse. Consisting of playful references to members of the Hunt, arranged alphabetically. First stanza: 'A's for Allcroft, on chestnut | With frontlet of blue. | He keeps pheasants at Stokesay | And good foxes too.' Last two stanzas: 'Z is for the Zealot; | Takes smooth with the rough, | No distance too great | For he ne'er cries "enough". | We'll now say "Farewell" | To these lovers of Sport; | And drink their good health | In a bumper of Port.' The following reference dates the poem to before 1906, the year of the retirement of the Master, Sir William Curtis: 'First 'tis for Curtis, | Our Master of Hounds | He keeps both his temper | And pack within bounds.'