Old Sports and Sportsmen

In Short

John Randall’s Old Sports and Sportsmen is a vivid regional chronicle examining the deep-rooted hunting traditions of Shropshire, centered around the life and era of Squire George Forester of Willey. Blending local history, antiquarian lore, and personal anecdotes, the work traces human engagement with the Shropshire landscape from prehistoric hunters and ancient royal forests down to the fox-hunting squires of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. It endures as a warm, detailed portrait of rural English life, preserving the eccentricities, landscape evolution, and community bonds of a vanished era.

The Story

The narrative unfolds as a historical and cultural journey through the wilderness and sporting estates of Shropshire. It begins in deep time, reflecting on how primitive humans first entered the scramble against wild beasts to survive, utilizing bone harpoons and horn arrow-heads in primeval forests. As civilization advanced, the vast woodlands—once covering a third of the country and harboring wolves, bears, and red deer—were shaped into royal hunting grounds like Morfe, Shirlot, the Wrekin, and the Clee Hills. Over the centuries, these forests cultivated a distinct lineage of landholders and foresters whose very names and identities were bound to the woods and the chase.

Transitioning from medieval forest courts and ancient boundary markers to more recent generations, the book focuses its narrative heart on Squire George Forester of Willey and his colorful circle. Squire Forester embodies the vigorous eighteenth-century squirearchy—men who rose before dawn, managed their ancestral lands with rustic pride, and dedicated their days to field sports. The author detailedly recreates life around the Willey Kennels, chronicling legendary fox hunts over rugged terrain such as Tickwood, Benthall Edge, and the Clee Hills. The narrative captures the raw energy of these chases, celebrated in local ballads, where stubborn foxes like "Old Tinker" led pack and horsemen across miles of countryside until horses dropped and only the hardiest survived.

Beyond the chase itself, the story delves into the vibrant social world of Willey Hall and its surrounding villages. It depicts a tight-knit society where class boundaries softened under shared pursuits, whether in the hunting field, the local tavern, or the town hall. Great evening gatherings bring together country gentlemen, visiting artists like Charles Dibdin, and local clergy, often devolving into practical jokes and late-night revelry. Yet this community is equally defined by duty and patriotism. When national alarms arise from threats of French invasion, Squire Forester steps forward to lead the local Wenlock Volunteers, while nearby ironworks under John Wilkinson thunder day and night.

As the chronicle draws toward its close, it shifts into reflection and legal squabbles over local landmarks, such as the Squire’s contentious fight to protect parishioner access in Barrow Church. The narrative concludes by weaving together genealogical records of the Forester family, notes on ancient British entrenchments, and historical appendices, cementing the legacy of a landscape and its people.

How It Unfolds

The ancient wilderness The book opens by establishing humanity's primal instinct for the chase, tracing local history back to prehistoric bone caves and the five royal forests of Shropshire.

Boundaries and forest laws The text details the historical extent of Morfe and Shirlot forests, describing medieval landmarks, assarted lands, and the lucrative duties of early foresters and verderers.

The lineage of the chase A focus on local genealogy demonstrates how families like the Foresters derived their name and identity from woodland custody, clearing historical misattributions along the way.

Life at Willey Kennels The narrative moves into the eighteenth century, highlighting the early-morning hunts, beloved hounds, and the tireless routine of Squire George Forester and his famed whipper-in, Tom Moody.

Legendary runs and songs Great sporting exploits are recounted through local lore and ballads, including the legendary chase of the cunning fox Old Tinker across the Shropshire hills.

Eccentricities and evening revels Social life at Willey Hall takes center stage, illustrating merry pranks played on figures like the Rev. Michael Pye Stephens, alongside music from visiting composer Charles Dibdin.

Patriotism and wartime tension The threat of invasion turns old sportsmen into volunteer commanders, contrasting Squire Forester's fierce loyalty with ironmaster John Wilkinson’s controversial casting of weapons.

Preserving the local heritage The final chapters present the Squire's battles over church pews, detailed family trees, and antiquarian surveys of British camps, closing the historical record of the region.

The People

• Squire George Forester: The central figure of the book, representing the classic English country squire. Driven by a deep love for nature and field sports, he desires a life of robust health, local leadership, and untamed outdoor pursuit. Standing in his way are modern effeminacies, encroaching legal abuses, and wartime threats, yet he remains an unapologetic, fiercely loyal patriarch who commands the affection of his entire neighborhood.
• Tom Moody: Squire Forester's devoted whipper-in, whose existence is entirely consumed by the hunt. He lives for his horses, hounds, and field calls, decorating his world with trophies of the chase. Though bounded by a simple view of life, his skill and intense dedication make him a legendary figure among Salopian sportsmen.
• The Rev. Michael Pye Stephens: The colorful Rector of Willey and relative of the Squire. Torn between his clerical duties and his love for good liquor, sport, and late-night antics, he frequently finds himself the target of the Squire's practical jokes, yet remains a beloved fixture of the local circle.
• John Wilkinson: The formidable local ironmaster whose industrial ambition conflicts with the Squire's strict code of loyalty, particularly when his ironworks supply foreign powers.

In Its Own Voice

“Driven by instinct or necessity to supply wants the whole creation felt, his utmost ingenuity was put forth in the chase...”

This observation frames field sports not as a mere luxury, but as an ancient human drive shaping survival and physical vigor across centuries.

“Salopians every one, / Of high and low degree, / Who take delight in fox-hunting, / Come listen unto me.”

These opening lines from a popular local ballad illustrate how the excitement of the hunt bound rural communities together across social classes.

“His conversation had no other course / Than that presented to his simple view / Of what concerned his saddle, groom, or horse...”

This verse captures the single-minded devotion of Tom Moody, whose whole identity was wrapped up in the sights and sounds of the Willey kennels.

What It's Really About

At its core, Old Sports and Sportsmen is an investigation into how landscape and tradition shape human character. John Randall argues that physical environment—specifically the dense, wild coverts of ancient forests—exerts an enduring influence on the habits, health, and spirit of a region's inhabitants. The book explores the transition from primal survival to structured rural sport, suggesting that field pursuits preserve a vital, natural vigor in humanity that modern indoor luxury threatens to erode. It also examines the nature of rural English community, portraying a world where shared outdoor passions, local pride, and mutual obligations forge a strong social cohesion across different ranks of life.

Why Read It Today

Readers who enjoy micro-histories, British folklore, and classic country lore will find Old Sports and Sportsmen a charming, evocative window into eighteenth- and nineteenth-century provincial life. Randall writes with an antiquarian’s affection for detail, filling his pages with forgotten place-names, dialect songs, and warm personal anecdotes that make the Shropshire countryside come alive. Reading it feels like sitting in an old timbered hall listening to an articulate local historian unpack centuries of neighborhood memory.

The book is not without its period difficulties. Modern readers will encounter archaic spelling, detailed genealogical digressions, medieval land boundary lists, and an uncritical acceptance of eighteenth-century hunting practices that may clash with contemporary sensibilities. However, for those willing to navigate its leisurely pacing and regional specificity, the reward is an unvarnished, authentic portrait of English squirearchy. The vivid depictions of pre-industrial forests, eccentric parish characters, and the fierce local patriotism of the Willey estate leave a lasting impression of a bygone epoch deeply rooted in the soil.