Memoirs of a Foxhunting Man · Chapter
At the Rectory explained
George Sherston travels to Hoadley Rectory to visit Stephen Colwood and join the Ringwell Hunt.
What happens
George Sherston travels to Hoadley Rectory to visit Stephen Colwood and join the Ringwell Hunt. He reads about the hunt in the Southern Daily News, meets Stephen at the station, and they drive to the rectory discussing their shared love of foxhunting and Surtees novels. At the meet, George is introduced to various hunt characters, including Arthur Brandwick, Nigel Croplady, and the Rev. Colwood. He later purchases the horse Cockbird and returns home, where Aunt Evelyn generously finances the purchase by selling a ring.
Themes in this chapter
Sport as a Way of Life
Foxhunting dominates the chapter, from reading hunt reports to participating in the meet and purchasing a horse, reflecting its central role in George's identity and social life.
Friendship and Male Bonding
George's friendship with Stephen is deepened through shared interests, inside jokes from Surtees novels, and joint participation in the hunt.
Financial Instability and Social Pretense
George's £600 a year is magnified in jest to £10,000, and Aunt Evelyn sells a ring to fund his horse, highlighting the tension between appearances and actual means.
Characters to notice
- George Sherston
Travels to Sussex to hunt with the Ringwell Hounds, buys Cockbird, and receives financial help from Aunt Evelyn.
- Stephen Colwood
Meets George at the station, drives him to the rectory, and introduces him to the hunt. Shares a love of Surtees novels.
- Arthur Brandwick
A boisterous, optimistic doctor who mistakes George for Stephen's brother Jack at the hunt meet.
- Nigel Croplady
A dandified, snobbish hunt member who complains about foot people and is overly concerned with titles.
- Aunt Evelyn
Supports George's hunting by selling a ring to provide money for Cockbird and the hunt subscription.
- Cockbird
The horse George purchases; performs well in hunting and impresses Dixon.
Key passages
“I had bought that unpretentious paper in order to read about the Ringwell Hounds, whose doings were regularly reported therein.”
George purchased the modest Southern Daily News specifically to follow the activities of the Ringwell Hounds.
Shows George's deep engagement with foxhunting culture.
“We adopted and matured a specialized jargon drawn almost exclusively from characters in the novels of Surtees; since we knew these almost by heart, they provided us with something like a dialect of our own.”
George and Stephen developed a private language based on Surtees' novels, which they knew intimately.
Illustrates the bond between the friends through shared literary references.
“She placed a cheque on the arm of the chair. 'It's your Christmas present,' she explained. It was so unexpected that I almost forgot to thank her.”
Aunt Evelyn gave George a cheque for the horse and hunt subscription as a Christmas gift, surprising him deeply.
Highlights Aunt Evelyn's generosity and the financial strain she bears for George's hobby.