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y&-.

/

y

THE

HUNTING COUNTRIES

OF

ENGLAND,

THEIR FACILITIES, CHARACTER, AND REQUIREMENTS

A GUIDE TO HUNTING MEN.

By BEOOKSBY.

Volume I.

PAETS I., II., AND III.

LONDON :
HORACE COX,
THE FIELD" OFFICE, 346, STEAND, W.C.

1882.

t^\^^ \J -k_ 1 IV ^

LONDON :
FEINTED BY HORACE COX, 346, STRAND, W.C-

Webster Family L.i. nnary Medicine

Cummings Schr -; y Medicine at

Tufts University
200 Westboro hoad
North Grafton, !\1A 01536

COl^TEI^TS.

PART I.

PAGE.

Introduction 1

The Belvoir 5

The South V/old 18

The Brocklesby 33

The Burton and the Blankney .... 40

The Fitzwilliam 55

The Quorn 65

The Cottesmore 91

The Puckeridge 107

The Old Berkeley 114

PART II,

The ISTorth Warwickshire 123

The Pytchley 130

The Woodland Pytchley 116

The Atherstone 154

The Billesdon oH South Quorn .... 165

The Meynell 173

The Bicester and Warden Hill Hunt . . 185

The Heythrop 200

The Old Berkshire , . 208

The South Oxfordshire 217

The South Nottinghamshire 223

The East Kent 234

The Tickham 241

CONTENTS.

The Vine .

The South Berkshire

Mr. Garth's

The H. H. .

The Tedworth .

Lord Ferrers'

The Warwickshire .

PAGE

250
257
265
271
278
287
293

PART III.

The Dulverton

The Stars of the West

Mr. Luttrell's

Lord Portsmouth's ....

The Essex and the Essex Union .

The Hertfordshire

The Whaddon Chase . .

The Yale of White Horse .

The Cheshire and South Cheshire

The Blaokmoor Vale

The Cambridgeshire ....

The Duke of Grafton's

The Holderness

The Oakley

The North Herefordshire
The Duke of Buccleuch's .

The Tynedale

Lord Percy's

The Morpeth

The Rufford

305
316
325
330
340
349
356
365
371
384
392
400
407
414
422
430
438
446
454
460

THE

HUNTING COUNTRIES

OF

INTRODUCTION.

The object of tlie series of whicli this article forms
No. 1, will be to afford to liunting men some guide
in their clioice of country — whether for a visit or a
permanence. With this view it will be our endeavour
to give, as clearly and concisely as we can, some idea
of the characteristics and requirements of each country
in turn; so that the reader may learn at a glance
under what conditions he will have to open his cam-
paign— should he wish to hunt with a certain pack.

Many men are fond of trying two or three different
countries in the same season. Many more would
gladly do so, could they but learn at any moment
what they must look forward to in the country they
propose to visit next. But a work of reference, to
aid them in determining their movements, so as best
to suit their own peculiar tastes and capabilities, is
wanting. In short, a hunting tour would be a much
more common undertaking if only a book, and a map,
were always at hand — from which to learn where the

2 The Hunting Countries of England.

individual, and his stud, will find themselves most at
liome.

Army men especially are often puzzled to fix upon
the scene of their two or three months' sport. They
would frequently prefer to vary their sphere of action ;
but as their term of leave is limited, they cannot
afford the risk of disappointment in trying new
ground. Often, too, their stud is weak in numbers;
they wish to make the most of it, but do not care to
throw their lot in where, if unable to hunt every day,
they would find themselves left more or less in the
lurch. For this reason they must follow the chase
either within reach of their own neighbourhood and
connections, or within reasonable distance of their
Club and the resources of Town.

City men in the same way can seldom afford to
devote themselves for long together to the more
isolating phases of the sport. They are fain to divide
their time, in such proportion as they may, between
the two rival divinities whom they serve. The dusty
shrine in Lombard-street has as strong a claim upon
them as the sylvan grove of Faunus; and for each
hour in the merry company of the goat-like deity they
must devote two to the golden calf.

It has long been received as an apothegm, that
when you are in London you are within reach of
everywhere else ; and so, in dealing with each country,
it will be assumed that London is the base from
which the inquirer intends to start. For the route
thence to any point is a direct and easy one. To
master cross-country travel by groping through the
maze of Bradshaw and local map must be left to the

Introduction, 3

ingenuity of the explorer himself ; and thus all allu-
sions to the comparative accessibility of different
hunting quarters is to be taken with regard to
London as the starting point.

Stanford's Large Scale Eailway and Station Maps
will be taken as illustrating and fixing the topography
of the work in question. These are coloured to show
the divisions of England into hunts_, and will be found
as accurate as such frequently-shifting and often
indefinite geography can well be. Being on a scale
of three miles to an inch^ they are of sufficient size
to admit of all the principal points and features of a
country being shown ^ and yet are not over- crowded
with unnecessary names. They are in twenty-four
sheets — each sheet being 28in. by 20in. The price
of each sheet is — plain Is., mounted in case 2^. 6c?. ;
coloured Is. Qd., in case 3s. The coloured ones, mounted
in case, are much to be preferred for our purpose.

As we have inferred before, our object will be to
sketch out a menu, from which men may choose as
their appetite prompts.

It is not every one who enjoys the presence of a
crowd, who loves the rush and scramble of three or
four hundred people struggHng for a start, or who
even cares for the thrill of a dashing burst over the
grass. Nor, again, is it every one to whom the sight
of hounds picking* their way over a cold fallow is a
thing of joy, nor does every one appreciate the crash
of a woodland or the blind plunge down a deep ride.
Yerily some men hunt to ride, some ride to hunt, and
others, thank heaven, double their fun by doing
both. Chacun a son gout. Let us try and show where

B 2

4 The Hunting Countries of England.

eacli of you can suit his taste, liis weight, his nerves, his
age and his purse — and yet not go into a barren land.
Most vital contingent and condition of all is the
purse. Carry one you must, and always either have
a coin in it or imagine you have. This done, its
variations need have a less general and arbitrary
effect upon your sport than would be imagined. If
it be at a low ebb you cannot of course (honestly)
buy as many horses as you might otherwise do ; and
you can^t hunt as many days per week. In these
ways the ill-filled purse has, it is impossible to deny,
a most depressing and confining effect. But beyond
these its influence is by no means as strongly felt as
the other conditions enumerated — at all events in the
main point under consideration — choice of country.
If your taste, weight, age and nerves are right, go
into a good country while you can — and with all con-
fidence. Make yourself other pursuits there to fill
up your interim time ; or else, as discussed above, let
your choice light within reach of your main occupa-
tion. Eailways have brought good countries enough
within reach of London : and almost every other
great centre can boast of the same advantage. For,
we would argue, a horse eats no more in a good
country than in a bad one ; hotel and stabling charges
vary on quite other principles (we know not what)
than those of locality ; in no country are you likely
to ride a worse horse if you can afford a better; the
best saddlery is everywhere economy; and you ought
to have (Why on earth donH you ?) good leathers,
decent boots coat and hat vjJierever you hunt.

The Belvoir.

THE BELVOIR.*

OtTE first sketch deals witli wliat is undoubtedly a
good country in every sense of tlie term ; and one
wliicli, perhaps, of all others, admits of an individual
enjoying and sharing in hunting of the highest class
without necessarily binding him to great extravagance
of either time or money. The magnificent Belvoir
pack is open, on the one hand, to the Meltonian —
with the extensive stud that is almost a sine qua non
to the residence in Melton — or is still more constantly
and readily available to whoever may choose Grantham
as his resting place. Grantham is a neat little town
of about 5000 inhabitants, situate in the very midst
of the Duke of Rutland^ s Hunt and replete with
every convenience for the hunting man. It lies some
six miles from the beautiful Castle of Belvoir, and
consequently from the Kennels ; while almost all the
meets are within a radius of ten or a dozen miles. In
two hours and thirty-five minutes from King^s Cross
the Great Northern Eailway (according to Mr.
Jorrocks, the best covert hack in England) will land
you at Grantham; but unless you are hardy and
vigorous enough to leave London at 5 a.m., you will
find it more convenient to employ the iron horse to

* Vide Stanford's " Railway and Hunting Maps," sheet 10.

6 The Hunting Countries of England.

convey you down to dinner over-niglit, ratlier tlian as
a covert liack in the morning.

The Belvoir hounds are quite one of the oldest
packs in the kingdom — their kennel books dating
back as far as 1756 — and certainly they are at the
present time the most striking pack in England at
the covertside. Their beautiful uniformity of colour-
ing, their high class_, and their wonderful evenness in
appearance are quite unapproached elsewhere. It
might be thought that these qualities could not have
been brought to such a pitch of excellence, without
sacrifice of other more practical attributes, did we not
know that nearly a century and a half has been
expended in reaching this standard, and that each
year as many as a hundred couple of puppies
(occasionally even more) are sent out to walk. With
such a choice of new material there can be little
difficulty in filling up the gaps — or even to maintain
a standard so unyielding. It puzzles an outsider to
imagine how the kennel men ever learn their hounds
by name — so extraordinarily similar are they in mark-
ing and contour. Every hound has the black " saddle-
mark^^ on his back; every hound has his "Belvoir
tan^^ head ; while the groundwork of each skin is
purest white. To draw them hj name, when standing
with their heads all in one direction, would indeed
seem an almost hopeless feat. On their pedigrees
and history we do not propose to enter here. These
have been discussed at length in the columns of
The Field ; and have no immediate connection with
our present purpose. But we. say it with emphasis,
"Who has not seen the Belvoir at the covertside

The Belvoir. 7

has missed a siglit sucli as no other pack can
afford/^

With sixty to sixty-five couple of hounds in kennel,
they hunt five days a week — which is quite as much
as a huntsman can do without over-taxing his strength
or destroying his energy. Indeed^ in such open
seasons as the two last the strain upon the huntsman^s
physical powers must have been immense — bearing in
mind that two months of cubhunting (itself a tiring
experience) precede November^ and that a huntsman
must ever be the last man home.

No country presents a greater variety in itself than
the Belvoir. Within its confines you may ride over
small grass meadows^ broad grazing grounds, light
heath and heavy plough. Thus it is impossible to
sum up its characteristics in a sentence or two ; but
they must rather be left to make themselves apparent
as we go on to classify the different sections of His
Grace^s kingdom.

On Mondays and alternate Saturdays the meets are
fixed for the neighbourhood of the Castle — and these
are Belvoir (for the home woods), Three Queens
(whence a gallop over the light plough and easy
fences of what they term their *''' heath country" may
generally be looked for), Denton Hall and Harlaxton
Hall — the two latter being about midway between
Grantham and the kennels. This portion of the
country you may well choose for schooling your
young horse or for trying your last purchase. But
when you get into the Belvoir Vale — a part of which
is also comprised in the Monday-and-alternate-Satur-
day district — you must take out a hunter not only

8 The Hunting Countries of England.

powerful but well bred ; one that can gallop through a
deep plough and lift you over a strong fence out of it.
For round Plungar, Scrimshaw^ s Mill, Bottesford,
Elton Manor and Staunton — also Allington Hall (all
about due north of the Castle) the farmers till their
land to the uttermost depths, and gird their fields
with stake-and-bounds of the strongest and with
ditches dug wide and deep.

On Tuesdays and Fridays hounds are out on their
Lincolnshire side — west of Grantham. The best of
this is round Folkingham, where there is a wide
extent of grass and two capital gorse coverts, called
respectively Folkingham Gorse and Heathcote^s Gorse.
Other famous strongholds in these parts are the
Sapperton and Newton Woods, always full of foxes
ready to run far and run straight — and the surround-
ing country being strongly fenced, and carrying a
good scent, a bad hunter is of little use here, albeit
you have none of the crowd of the Leicestershire side
to com^Dete against. A timber jumper is a sine qua
non to safe conveyance, as post-and-rails are much in
favour for hedge-repair. With a fairly good and fast
hunter you may see as much sport hereabouts as any-
where in the Duke^s country ; for there are no rivers
(uor for that matter any hroohs — so you may save the
water jumper of your stable for elsewhere), no canals,
and at present no railway to hinder the progress or
divert a fox^s course. Lenton Village, Weaver^s
Lodge and Newton Bar are the most likely fixtures.

In the southern portion of this Lincolnshire country
are fine large woods, which in former days swarmed
with foxes and were thought of in connection with

The Belvoir. 9

little else. Nowadays there is usually a fox ; but tlie
pheasants crowd Eeynard out terribly ; and the tube
of iron gives a more welcome sound to the native ear
than the horn of brass. In nearly every other part of
the Belvoir country there is a good stock of foxes.

An eastward boundary is formed by the fens of
Lincolnshire — an unhuntable tract running up to
Boston — but on the north of Folkingham and still in
close propinquity of Grantham come Aswarby (Sir
Thomas Whichcote^s)^ Culverthorpe, Dembleby Thorns,
and Haydor Southards — places full of foxes wild and
good. Long runs are the rule rather than the excep-
tion j for these foxes travel well_, and take some catch-
ing over the heavy ploughs which characterise the
neighbourhood. And yet, when thoroughly wet,
these ploughs maintain a good scent.

Still more to the north we get to Rauceby, where
foxes are also well cared for. From Eauceby to
Leadenham is again heath land, divided by stone
walls into fields of from fifty to one hundred acres.
Its scent lies best on it when dry — and with a scent
on it hounds can often run clean away from horses.
So here your requirements in the matter of horseflesh
are again diversified, and blood becomes more an
essential than bone.

Leadenham is one of the boundary marks between
the Belvoir and the Blankney, and Colonel Reeve finds
foxes for both. Dipping into the lower country west
of Leadenham we find ourselves in as strong a grass
country as it is desirable to ride over ; and from
Stubton Gorse the Belvoir have scored as many nice
gallops of late years as from any covert in the hunt.

10 The Hunting Countries of England.

Stubton is a favourite meet^ as Mr. Neville, though
not hunting himself, takes a delight in providing sport
for others. From Stubton Gorse to Wellingore is a
line of which foxes are fond. Take out a big jumper
or you will not ride it !

Other meets between Leadenham and Grantham
are Belton Park, Syston Park, Hough-on-the-Hill,
Caythorpe Hall, and Fulbeck Hall — and for the
last two you want a horse that can travel the Stubton
country.

Turning to the Melton district, other conditions
have to be considered, other essentials to be borne in
mind and other requirements to be set forth. We
have spoken hitherto only of what we may designate
as the home country of the Belvoir — and we use this
term by no means in a depreciatory sense, but yet as
implying scene and surroundings totally different but
to many minds preferable, to that found in the district
with which we are now about to deal. Real sport —
and nothing but the sport — being the primary object,
we are inclined to concede (if only by way of fore-
stalling argument) that such is more likely of attain-
ment on the Lincolnshire than the Leicestershire side
of the Belvoir country. For in the former division the
ground is, at least here and there, equally favourable ;
the hounds are the same, while the foxes are un-
doubtedly better. In the one you have a local field,
of reasonable dimensions and less ardent aspiration;
the huntsman has every chance, hounds every facility,
and the unambitious man every opportunity of seeing
all that is to be seen. In the latter you have a
swollen field, a jealous — no, let us say, a zealous —

The Belvoir. 11

crowd; your horse sliould be a little faster, your
heart a trifle harder_, and your eye a moment quicker,
than your neighbour's. Presuming that you possess
these advantages,, can persuade yourself you have
them, or can make up for their want by cunning
strategy of movement — then the Gilead of the Melton
neighbourhood has indeed balm for you. Without
these desiderata or their apology you will never pluck
the fruit which hangs so temptingly, except in a
second-hand sort of way which may content but is
more likely to rouse a sense of disappointment and a
return to a less exciting and less invidious sphere of
action. For here you enter a competition which from
its very popularity prevents success to every can-
didate. There is not room for all in the front, the weak
must be crowded out, and only the stouter and
swifter can attain a share in the prize. It is not that
the country is in itself more difficult to ride over, or
that to live with hounds would be a less easy matter
here than elsewhere — had you always room to pick
your own place, in your own time, and at your own
pace. But when hounds fly, with the lightning speed
so common to them over this quick- scenting grass,
there ensue a rush and a stampede from which only
superior quickness, nerve, and decision can extricate
a man, and allow him to pass in safety through the
whirlpool to sail on over the smoother water beyond.
The aim of every rider to hounds is (perhaps we had
better say, should he) to see a run and every run if he
can (though, again, the question naturally suggests
itself — lulio can ?), being all the time on such terms
with the pack that he may watch and follow all that

12 The Hunting Countries of England,

the J do from start to finisli. Of three liundred men
at tlie start from a covertside, possibly half are
imbued with this desire. Lucky the hounds and the
huntsman, if they are allowed to get clear — before
the thundering mass bursts forward in pursuit, and
dashes itself against the first fence. In this fence
there may, with luck, be half a dozen practicable
openings. Half a dozen men are over in no time,
two dozen more are over in fair time, while ten dozen
others — taking their turn, as they can, with courtesy,
snatch it — are over by the time hounds are well out
of view. The same scene, in a modified or, it may be
concentrated, form, repeats itself at the next fence
and at others in quick succession — till soon the half
dozen are sailing along as near the pack as they can
be, or ought to be ; and a moiety of the next two
dozen are close enough in their wake to obtain an
occasional glimpse of a tail hound. Of the eleven
dozen, a few have fallen, some have funked, many
have taken a false turn, and the rest follow on — either
complacently ready to chime in again at a first check,
or dismally conscious that they have seen nothing of
what they came out to see. How many then of the
three hundred can fairly be said to have been with
hounds in this fifteen minutes^ burst ? Six are there
to pull up when a first check occurs ! But the dozens
of raging sportsmen in pursuit know nothing of the
check, till, in their joy at having caught the leaders,
they sweep round and pass the hounds ; and unless
the huntsman is quick and decided the chances are
that these fifteen minutes constitute the whole of the
run.

The Belvoir. 13

That this picture is a true and fair sample of what
constaiitly_, though by no means invariably^ occnrs, we
could give countless instances to prove. But having
sketched it for the double purpose of making the
stranger aware of what he must be prepared to meet,
and of showing (in all charity towards our neigh-
bours^ self-estimate and our own) how impossible it is
for the very keenest of us to be always " luith hounds/'
in the thorough sense of the term — we may add that,
for men by habit and constitution fitted to take their
part in such a scene, there are few things in life
more enjoyable than the short sharp scurries of the
Belvoir, over the closely fenced meadows of their
Melton country.

Take Coston covert, and the grass line (for there
are two oft-travelled and widely differing routes) to
Woodwell Head ! Seventeen more cheery minutes
never sweetened existence ! Turn from the southern
extremity to the northernmost of this the more
fashionable section of the Belvoir territory, and ride
a twenty minutes from Mr. Sherbrooke^s covert to
the Curate ! Be fortunate enough to pick a plum on
either of these occasions ; and your palate, once
treated to such fruit, will be greedy for a return to
the exhilarating food — nor grudge a score of failures
in the quest !

To leave generalities and turn to detail. From
Grantham, then (for at present we are only consider-
ing Melton indirectly, and from such a light as its
vicinity and attributes may affect the visitor to
Grantham), you will find yourself every Wednesday
and each alternate Saturday, wending your way

14 The Hunting Countries of England.

either straight towards the little metropolis^ or meet-
ing its contingent at some point a few miles north or
south of the road between the two places. On these
days Croxton Park, just midway from either town, is
the meet nearest to Grantham. Waltham village,
being only half a mile away, may be taken as virtually
the same fixture — the same coverts being commanded
by each. To specify absolutely which coverts are
drawn from any particular meet of the Belvoir is a
thing not to be attempted. Could we do so we mighty
at the very least, expect a hat sent round for us at
Melton alone — in that many a double five-mile trot
would be saved to a band of men who have suffered
long. A rule, well grounded, is in force with the
Belvoir, that their meets never designate any special
or foreknown draw. Not many years ago they lost
some valuable hounds by poison, laid down in a
covert, which we may now leave unnamed, by the
fiendish hands of one who took the opportunity of
their meeting close by, to wreak his malice thus.
Since then they invariably meet wide of the coverts
they propose to draw. After this lapse of time there
can be no indiscretion in linking with the leading
places of rendezvous those coverts which we have
more often seen visited in connection. Thus from
Croxton Park and Waltham (the adjacent gorse of
Croxton Lings and the wood of Bescaby Oaks being,
as a rule, left for the afternoon) hounds are generally
taken Melton-wards to try Stonesby Gorse, Newman^s
Gorse, Freeby Wood, and Brentingby Spinneys.
Freeby Wood is not more than a fifty-acre strong-
hold, the others are quite little coverts, and it is not

The Belvoir, 15

often that more tlian two have to be searched in
succession for a find. Merry spins, pre-eminent for
pace, delightful in country, but too often deficient in
distance, are constantly witnessed from these spots.
Foxes from hence seldom make a wide point; men
know this well, and lance themselves forth with a
will for a flying race — while the Belvoir pack drive
their game with such venom that even a stout
fox could scarcely keep his head straight for
long'.

Or, again_, you may hear the word given for Mr.
Burbage^s Covert or Melton Spinney^ which Mel-
tonians would perhaps rather see drawn than any
other coverts in his Grace^s Hunt — by no means on
account of theirpropinquity to home. Mr. Burbage^s
famous covert lies close beside the river Wreake, a
mile or so from Melton, and from it foxes have the
pick of some of the prettiest of the Quorn, Cottes-
more, and Belvoir countries — the covert being placed
in a loop where the boundaries of the three hunts
touch. By crossing the river (at the ford convenient)
a fox often pierces by Great Dalby into the Quorn, or
by Stapleford or Burrough into the Cottesmore
territory. From Melton Spinney a bad fox may lead
you a short turn over plough, or a good one take you
far afield over good grass right or left of Melton.
Either case must be conditional on your not being
left behind at t^lie covert, with the hundred or so who
invariably are, and on your horse being just bold
enough for the Melton brook — a little stream that a
polo-pony might jump without difficulty, but yet is
often full of the highest-priced horses in England.

16 The Hunting Countries of England.

To return to Bescaby Oaks — an evening fox is always
found there when applied for : and in most instances
he will carry you towards your Grantham dinner-
table. A light soil which is but little worse going
than grass, and fences of the easiest, would carry
you down to Stoke Pasture, or you may find your-
self at Buckminster Park with some fine grass between
you and Skillington.

Stonesby is most frequently the meet for Sproxton
Thorns and Coston Covert. Goadby Marwood may,
or may not, mean Goadby Gorse or Goadby Bullamore
and Scalford Bogs. From Piper Hole, the coverts
overhanging the Yale of Belvoir are drawn, com-
mencing either with the plantations stretching along
the Harby Hills, or with Piper Hole Gorse, or
Clawson Thorns. From the last-named, or from
Hoi well Mouth (neutral with the Quorn), often results
a pretty gallop over the Vale — here in its greenest
and most tempting form. Saxelby Spinney and
Grimston Gorse are also neutral; and when once
again relieved from the desolating presence of the
swarms of navvies at work on the new railway, will,
as before, open the way to the heart of the Quorn
Monday country.

In the Vale itself, Hose Grange and Harby are
meets leading to the two small coverts that belong to
these villages respectively. From these a westerly
wind may, literally, treat to the ignominy of sending
you to Jericho across a deep and miry tract. To find
ourselves in its neighbourhood has usually been suffi-
cient to turn us homewards. But Mr. Sherbrooke^s
Gorse Covert^ situate in the extreme corner of the

The Belvoir. 17

Yale_, has every charm of position. From here to
Holwell Moutli^ to Dalby Wood, or over the deep and
terrifying Smite to the Curate — each of these lines is
superb; each should be done, even with slight
divergence on the way, in from twenty to thirty
minutes ; and each and all of them, on a scenting
day, demand a horse that is bold and quick and
stout.

Indeed, to sum up all we have said on the subject
of the horse to carry you with the Belvoir hounds, it
may be written that you want a good one to live with
them anywhere — but especially must you have a good
one, and ride him straight and quick, if you would be
with them in their Melton country. Moreover, as the
Duke of Eutland in his generosity offers you your
sport for nothing, you may well afford to give an
extra fifty pounds for your Wednesday horse — and,
out of gratitude to his Grace, to abstain from riding
over his hounds.

18 The Hunting Countries of England.

THE SOUTH WOLD.*

Proceeding witli the Hunts of Lincolnsliire (a
county termed by a good liound- authority the " home
of the foxhound '') we may next take the South
Wold. If not a fashionable country^ it is at least a
sporting one. Perhaps^ too_, its fame suffers rather
than benefits from the fact of its position being in
such close contiguity and comparison with packs like
the Brocklesby, Blankney, Belvoir_, and Fitzwilliam.
In the maintenance of a country, the development of
its pack and of its resources generally, an autocracy
(and, more than all, an hereditary autocracy) has
ever been more successful than any representative
style of government. A country that has for genera-
tions been a cherished heirloom, is sure to enjoy and
retain a reputation, far more distinguished than any
" Subscription Pack/-* however highly supported, may
hope to become permanently possessed of. Fox-
hunting admits of a republic, where oligarchy cannot
be obtained ; but it thrives better where the reins of
government — and with them pride of possession and
system of management — are passed down from father
to son. Under a committee seldom, under an indi-

* " Stanford's Railway and Hunting Map," sheet 10.

The South Wold. 19

vidual vested with temporary authority often, it may
be brilliant for a time — for a generation, perliaps.
But as a Mastersbip lapses, radical changes of
management naturally follow. No traditional and
well tried code survives. The newcomer inherits
none of the interests of his predecessor ; has no
object in carrying out his half- completed reforms,
follows not his aims, and possibly disagrees in toto
with his ideas. In all probability he has never been
brought up to, or even initiated into, hound- work or
the mysteries of kennel ; the management of a country
is a book into whose pages he has never been called
upon to dip (if its very existence ever occurred to
him before) ; while as to the tact and diplomacy
required at the hands of an M.F.H., he has at starting
neither conception nor natural aptitude. For the
Master of a Subscription Pack is, more often than
not, one who, by accident of birth or virtue of
acquirement, has already wealth (most likely county
property) to recommend him to his neighbours, and
to whom the further advantage of being looked up
to as the Master of their Hounds has an irresisti-
ble charm. The distinction is well worth the few
hundreds, which a liberal subscription leaves as a
yearly deficit ; and so, not necessarily with any single
better recommendation, he becomes, as opportunity
offers. Master of an old-established pack of Fox
Hounds. It does not take him a year or two to find
that the rosy-looking bed into which he has cast him-
seK is not without thorns many and sharp — while the
buzz of disturbed prejudices and the sting of local
jealousies show him that there are mosquitoes round

20 The Hunting Countries of England,

his couch of which he never dreamed. So holding
up his head bravely, as if unconscious of disappoint-
ment, he fulfils his duties with much outward satis-
faction, till such time as he can advance a plausible
reason for relinquishing them ; then shifts his load
on to another^s shoulders, just as he had begun to
learn how it should be carried. The same process is
enacted in the person of his successor; and so a
Subscription Pack is bandied from hand to hand
every few years. Huntsmen seldom remain long to
serve a succession of masters ; and under the vicissi-
tudes of variety of regime and frequent change of
system, hounds can scarcely be expected to improve,
or even to maintain a fair standard once acquired —
still less can each of these short-lived Masterships
sustain a fresh pack, of respectable quality, where
the country possesses no hounds of its own. Fox-
hunting confessedly lives on its traditions and by
sufferance. But its traditions are a stronger power,
and offer a more solid foothold, where for generations
past they have been linked with the fortunes of a
leading family, whose name is indigenous to the soil.
In such case sufferance has been so long and so
unhesitatingly granted as to have become a fixed
principle, which it would be considered the rankest
heresy to call into question — much more to disturb.
But the opposite case is open to contingencies so
numerous and diversified, that they are beyond our
space and present object. Every Master of a Sub-
scription Hunt must have been brought into unplea-
sant contact with many of them, and will probably
find it no difficult task to amplify his list day by day.

The South Wold. 21

These few remarks should, however, in some degree
support the opinion that a Subscription Country has
scarcely the same chance of permanent distinction
as one whose progress is co-existent with, ruled
and supported by, the hereditary leaders of local
society.

The South Wold is an instance of an old-established
Subscription Pack, which — though long and well-
established — has not acquired (or at all events has
failed to retain) a name of note comparable with that
held by its more eminent neighbours. It can boast
-of advantages of soil and situation more than equal
to theirs (the Belvoir excepted) ; but while they have
gone on steadily flourishing, the South Wold has had
many a struggle for bare existence. With the ups
and downs of its past career we have nothing to do.
In this year of ^78 its present is vigorously cared for,
and its future promises well. And now we may
proceed to tell you how to reach it, if you have a
mind to hunt with the South Wold, and convey
some notion of what you will find when you get
there.

North and north-west of the Belvoir the upper
portion of Lincolnshire is hunted in something
approaching to a square by the four packs, the
Brocklesby, the Burton, the Blankneyand the South
Wold. Of this square the Brocklesby monopolise
nearly the northern half. Of the remaining half the
Burton and Blankney take the west between them,
the South Wold all the east (as will be seen by
.Stanford's Map).

The geological features of this square of country

22 The Hunting Countries of England.

have so direct a bearing on its foxhunting — though
the statement sounds neither amusing nor credible —
that they must be briefly set down before proceeding
further. In fewest words^ then — All up the east
coast runs the " Marsh" — a wide strip of rich deep
land reclaimed from the sea_, and whereon grow alike
turnips big as pumpkins and sheep that might have
been imported from Brobdingnag. Nearest the sea
thousands of acres are devoted to development of the
latter form of food supply; but the fine turf will
never spring to the hunter^ s hoof — for, like other fen
country it is crossed, traversed and cut up by wide
open drains which no horse could successfully combat.
More inland, where it obtains the name of Middle
Marsh, it is chiefly arable (except just above Grimsby),
carries a good scent, is in every respect quite rideable,.
and is much in favour with both Brocklesby and
South Wold. Next to the Marsh, and also running
north and south, are the Lincolnshire Wolds — high
land stretching (approximately speaking) from Brock-
lesby to Spilsby, and varying from ten to fifteen,
miles across. A general idea of the extent of the
Wolds may be obtained by taking the line of the
Great Northern Railway, from Boston to Grimsby,
as the eastern boundary, and by then running the
eye still along the railway, from Grimsby round by
Brocklesby to Market Rasen. For this distance —
quite three parts of the whole — the railway will be
founded depicted as running immediately beneath the
outline of the Wolds.

The soil of the Wolds is strong loam on a sub-
stratum of chalk, limestone, or marl. Most of their

The South Wold. 23

extent is devoted to tlie plough. — witli the result that,
though fair going enough when not too wet, they are
deep and holding when much rain has fallen. And it
is^ as usual, under the latter condition that they carry
the best scent.

Parallel again to the Wolds (though we are for the
moment going beyond the South Wold Country in
order to finish what we have to say of North Lincoln-
shire generally) runs another range of hill forming
the westward boundary of the county. This is
known as the Clrff, and is separated from the Wolds
by a narrow plain coming from the Humber south-
wards. The Cliff is of nothing like the same breadth
as the WoldSj varying from three or four miles across
in the north (where it touches the Humber near
Wintringham) to some twelve or fourteen, where it
opens out south of Lincoln to embrace the Lincoln
Heath, and stretches down to the neighbourhood of
Sleaford and Grantham.

The Cliff, again, is a limestone formation ; is lighter
going than the Wolds ; and does not, as a rule hold
so firm a scent. The vale between the two tablelands
is flat and of a stiff clay soil : and it is generally con-
sidered that hounds can carry a better head across it
than horses. It will thus be seen, to sum up our
geological sketch, that North Lincolnshire contains
four distinct sorts of ground, divided as parallel
sections north and south — to wit. Marsh, Wolds, Cliff,
and the low Intermediate Plain between the two
latter. And, with the map still in front of you, you
will observe that the bulk of the South Wold country
^s situate, as it name implies, on the Wold section.

24 The Hunting Countries of England.

For, though coloured down to the sea, only a com-
paratively small part of the Marsh is available for
hunting purposes.

Again the members of the Hunt use the term woJd
as distinctly applying by no means to the whole of
this high land, but only to the very open and
undulating miles of arable that from Louth (the
northernmost point of their country proper) is
found right and left of the Louth-and-Horncastle-
road, to within three miles of the last named
town.

Horncastle is quite the most central base of opera-
tions from which to hunt with the South Wold
Hounds, being near the middle of their country,
about four miles from the Kennels, and within easy
reach by road of all their meets. It is a town of
some 5000 inhabitants, is 130 miles from London, and
attainable by the Great Northern Railway in four
hours and a half. Hotel and stable accommodation
are to be found in full.

Spilsby and Alford (on the east of the Hunt) are
almost exactly a similar distance from London by the
same line of railway. Louth is another half hour's
journey, is a larger town than either of the other
three ; and is a capital place for anyone wishing to
divide his hunting between the Brocklesby and the
South Wold.

The kennels (which, with the hounds, are the pro-
perty of the Hunt) are built beside the Louth and
Horncastle Road, opposite the village of Bletchford;
and stand there in unsheltered solitude as if to remark
to the passer-by how bleak and lonely is this wild

The South Wold. 25

wold tract. Within them are some five and fifty-
couple of hounds, with which to hunt four days a
week.

These four days we may classify as pertaining to
their Louth, Horncastle, Hainton and Spilsby districts
respectively ; and treat them accordingly.

On Mondays they are in their Louth country (the
river Withern being held as separating it from their
Saturday, or Spilsby, country) — and some of their
chief meets are Tothill, Burwell, Haugham- Guide-
post, Belchford, Kenwick and Elkington. Of these
Tothill is a meet for the large woods adjacent which
overlook the Marsh (and similar woods, it may be
remarked, are to be found southwards all along the
edge of the wold). Burwell, Haugham, and Maltby
here form a chain of woodland from which it is often
difficult to drive a fox ; though now-and-again hounds
get away eastward towards Carlton in the Middle
Marsh (over a fair sporting country) or westwards
over the open wolds on the Withcall side.

Belchford and Kenwick are for the Wolds pure and
simple, where foxes swarm and are to be found even
more easily in the pits and turnip fields than in the
coverts themselves. For the latter are small planta-
tations and gorses ; and foxes, a few times disturbed,
are apt to show a preference for the open. The
farmers soon discover their haunts ; and a large pro-
portion of their good runs have been to the credit of
outlying foxes. With hounds running fast over these
trying hills, your horse must be able to gallop and
stay, even if he cannot jump ; and blood is the first
desideratum. The same remarks apply to the Wold

26 The Hunting Countries of England.

country all round Louth — that about Elkington being"
neutral with the Brocklesby, as we shall have to
notice farther on. Ploughed fields of many acres,
hills of considerable gradient, and fences of little
moment are the most prominent characteristics of
the true wolds throughout.

To continue with detail which, purely local in its
character and necessarily of little interest to the
general reader, must yet make up the chief bulk of
what is intended as a work of reference — we enter
upon the Homcastle district. This is hunted on
Tuesdays and has a greater variety and perhaps
pleasant er features than the high wold country of
which we have just spoken. It touches the latter at
the Kennels and Oxcombe, which we may take as the
northern points in the Tuesday circle, of which
Horncastle is practically the centre. The coverts of
Oxcombe, with Manvers' Gorse at Belchford may,
likely enough, from the above meets, keep you on the
open wolds all day. But, proceeding southward we
come to Fulletby, West Ashby (with its gorse and
spinnies), Greatham and Winceby — the coverts to be
drawn being chiefly small natural plantations and
copses, with a gorse here and there. The country
immediately round West Ashby and Horncastle ia
some of the best in the Hunt — all, or nearly all,
grass, divided into little fields by strong thorn fences..
And here you must have a horse, who can jump big
and be quick on his legs to jump again. A long
striding horse would be out of place, where a short-
backed animal would dip lightly in and out of the
narrow meadows, as a fishing smack makes little of a

The South Wold 27

chopping- sea. Below Horncastle we liave Moorby
and East Kirkby (for Revesby) . From Revesby com-
menced the best day^s sport of the season ^77-^78 —
embracing two fair kills in the open^ the one after
an hour and twenty minutes from Revesby Park via
Enderby and Raithby to Hundleby, the other (with
only half an hour's breathing time) after fifty minutes
from Keal^ via Eresby Mount, Hundleby, and Saus-
thorpe round to Enderby. These two runs took place
over ground good enough for any shire of higher
name : for the line was on grass nearly throughout,
the fences were big and fair, and the pace was great.
The previous season their best run was also from
Keal — being an hour and twenty minutes and a kill,
and covering an immense amount of ground in the
time. On that occasion they went by Enderby, past
Lusby, crossed the Horncastle and Spilsby road
between Hackworthingham and Horncastle, and after
a wide sweep almost to South Ormsby ran into their
fox below Sutterby. The point from find to finish
was nearly eight miles and whole line quite thirteen
or fourteen. But these runs in reality all took place
in their Friday (Spilsby) district, though we have
mentioned them incidentally in connection with
Revesby which supplied the material for the one
first- quoted.

Working round south of Horncastle we may note
the meets of Tumby Gate and Martin Railway Bridge
— for the woods of Highall Bracken and Waterloo.
From Bracken Wood hounds occasionally run across
a stretch of moorland and into some better country
round Tattershall. From Horsington Mill they draw

28 The Hunting Countries of England.

the same horseshoe- shaped chain of woodlands back
to Martin Railway Bridge. These woods are admi-
rably preserved as regards pheasants : and for that
matter ground game (with the single exception of
Reynard) is thoroughly encouraged. When he is to
be found, you should be on a hunter ; for, though on
most days you may afford to lounge about the
woods on a pony, if by chance hounds run into the
open you will meet with wide ditches and strong
fences.

West of Horncastle Thimbleby is a favourite meet,
with a view to drawing Edlington Scrubs and the
Edlington and Wispington Plantations, which lie in
the midst of a very pretty, but limited, range of
grass country. The fences hereabouts are mostly of
thorn, neatly trimmed and (as is the case over the
bulk of Lincolnshire) usually set on a narrow bank,
only a foot or two in height — but all that height
additional.

Thursday is the day on which they hunt their
northern, or Hainton, district — most of the meets
being for the neutral woods between Louth and
Market Rasen. These great coverts really belong
to the Brocklesby; but during the late Lord Yar-
borough's life, permission was given to the South
Wold and Burton to draw them (in some measure to
relieve the strain from the Brocklesby due to the
wide extent of their country). Of the meets in this
district Donnington Brick Yard is in the South Wold
proper; but Hainton, Boucherest Arms, Six Hills,
Legsby, and Gersby are all for the neutral woods.
Hainton Duck Ponds, Legsby Wood and the woods

The South Wold. 29

of Linwood — North Wood, Bleasby Wood, and
Eleanor Wood are tlie cliief of these, and lie on
sandy and hilly ground. The neutral zone extends
by Grersby, South Elkington, Welton, and North
Blkington, the easterly portion consisting, as before-
mentioned, altogether of open wold.

On Fridays the South Wold are in their Spilsby
district. Owing to fen and marsh they are shut off
from hunting at any distance from that town to the
south or east : consequently all their Friday meets lie
north or west of it. If we commence on the west-
ward, these are Enderby Cross Roads (or more
frequently Raithby) for the plantations of Enderby
and Keal and Raithby Grorse — and a fox from any of
these three should adopt as pleasant a line as in the
runs just instanced. Harrington is a meet, and the
Harrington and Langton Coverts might hold foxes
enough to allow it to be almost a weekly one. Of
late years a speedy adjournment has usually been
made to Mr. Burton^s two coverts at Somersby,
known as New England and Burton Gorse, and which
have been quite the saving clause of this part of the
country. Ormsby is the rendezvous for Ormsby
Wood and Dryby Carr, whence hounds generally
draw on towards Thoresby and the big woods over-
looking the Marsh. Ulceby Cross Roads is chosen as
a usual fixture for the woods of Well Vale, Rigsby
and Haugh. From Well Yale foxes almost always
persist in running into Welton Wood, a covert of 300
acres in extent, from which they may sometimes be
persuaded to break on towards Gunby and Boothby.
Greenfield and Woodthorpe are for the lower woods

30 The Hunting Countries of England,

of Greenfield and neighbourliood, whence tliey hunt
over the Middle Marsh as far as the dykes will
allow.

It was round and about these woods that^ towards
the end of last season hounds ran uninterruptedly
from 5.30 till 8.45 — the last hour and a half being of
course in complete darkness, and their followers only
reaching the hounds when suddenly and inexplicably
the music ceased. The pack were found all together
a field from Greenfield Wood and reached the kennels
at 11.30 that night. Welton Guide Post and Gunby
Cross Koads are for Welton Wood and the Gunby
coverts just above the Marsh, and for the Boothby
plantations on the lower ground. A strong covert at
Halton Holgate would utilise a very fine piece of
grass country now seldom ridden over; and would
often induce foxes to take a line under the hills to, or
from, Welton Wood on the one side and Keal on the
other. But as there is little likelihood of any man of
wealth coming forward to purchase the land for the
Hunt (which is itself by no means rich), and as no
one has yet discovered a substitute for gorse or black-
thorn that in its growth will pay its own rent, Halton
New Covert as yet scarcely takes rank as an imme-
diate probability.

This Friday country possesses a great stock of
foxes in its woodlands, where the shooting interests
might with more reason be expected to clash with
those of foxhunting, but which, on the contrary,
put to shame certain manors in the centre of the open
country, whose proprietors would rather their few
acres of covert should hold twenty pheasants and no

The South Wold 31

fox, tlian nineteen pheasants and fun for tlieir neigh-
iDOurs.

It should be concluded from what we have said that
the South Wold is, on the whole, a very sporting
country. Given a sufficient rainfall, it seldom fails to
carry a scent, whether in the open or the woodlands.
Though chiefly plough, there is here and there a
twenty minutes^ patch of grass, over and above the
deep drained stretches of the Marsh. And, by the
way, that foxes have now and again run for their
lives wide over the tracts of fen and marsh, we have
proof in a letter now beside us, which takes us back
to the days when Sir Richard Sutton hunted both the
Burton and South Wold. We learn that ^^ nearly
fifty years ago" hounds once ran from Keal straight
across the fens and killed their fox at Sibsey within
four miles of Boston. Jack Shirley was the hunts-
man, and was left haK way in one of the open drains
Only three men rode to the finish. One of these was
Mr. Short of Edlington, who jumped every practicable
drain in the line — his horse being still fresh enough
to bring him home that evening.

In conclusion, a bad horse will neither do for the
South Wold nor for any other part of Lincolnshire ;
for, though you may see a certain amount of sport on
an indifferent one — fences, as a rule, being easy, and
the field not big enough for individuals to get much
in each other^s way — yet when hounds really run, you
ought to have both blood and bone under you to live
with them. The farmers are fully alive to this — and
though, apparently, they breed nothing like the
number of horses fo7' sale that they used to, they still

32 The Hunting Countries of England,

take care, in most instances, to keep thorouglibrecL
ones for their own riding. In twenty minutes over
the Wolds your steed will surely tell you, in unmis-
takable language, if his grandsire's name was Smiler
(as Custance so aptly put it) ; for only a clean, or
nearly-clean bred one can climb the hills or breast the
plough till hounds run into their fox.

The Broekleshy. 33

THE BEOCKLESBY.*

So many o£ tlie previous remarks as to conformation
and requirements of country apply equally to tlie
Brocklesby as to tlie Soutli Wold^ tliat^ instead of
repeating tliem^ it will merely be necessary to point
out en passant those to wliicli we refer. It will be
remembered that we described the Marsh and the
Wolds as running side by side up to the Humber.
The Brocklesby country includes also the other two
parallel sections in the formation of North Lincoln-
shire, to wit, the Cliff and the Intermediate Yale.
But wide as is its extent on paper, its hunting area is
in practice virtually narrowed to little more than the
Wold and the Marsh. For down the centre of this
Intermediate Yalley, between the Wold and the Cliff,
runs the Ankholm Eiver or New Navigation Canal ;
and westward of this hounds are seldom advertised
to meet — Kirton Station and Grayingham being
among the exceptions. Again, the North East
portion of the vale — near the mouth of the canal, is
rendered unserviceable by the presence of large open
drains.

What has already been said regarding the character

* Vide " Stanford's Railway and Hunting Map," sheet 10.
D

34 The Hunting Countries of England.

of tlie wold and marsli country farther south, applies
equally to this Hunt as to the South Wold ; and on
these points description would be but repetition.
But, as ranking highest in historical fame and pride
of position — not only in Lincolnshire but among all
England — the Brocklesby tower over their neigh-
bours. Longer even than the Belvoir have they been
the care and cherished property of one family; and
each Lord Yarborough in turn has done his utmost
to keep the famous Brocklesby blood from losing
anything of caste or high degree. History has to do
with our present subject only in its results : and so
we may limit allusion to the past to the fact that this
constant hereditary care has produced a pack of
hounds, worthy of a journey twice as long as to
North Lincolnshire — if only to look upon them in the
Kennel. To hunt with them go to Louth ; or better
still, secure stabling at Limber Magna, which is
quite close to the Kennels.

Louth is some five hours from London (by Great
Northern Railway), and, though at first glance it
would scarcely appear to recommend itself as an
accessible hunting quarter, the journey is really no
more difficult or tedious than to Melton Mowbray
— man and beasts being conveyed almost without
stoppage to their journey^s end. Once there, you are
in a position to command a choice of hunting and a
very first-class pack, without any of the inconveniences
incidental to a more fashionable centre.

By road and easy rail, the Brocklesby and South
Wold offer five or even six days a week between them
— their respective days being as follows : On Mondays

The BroeUeshy, 35

tlie two packs will often embarrass you by botli meet-
ing in the neiglibourliood of Loutli — under wbicb
circumstances you must just " gang yer ain gait^'' and
follow your inclination. On Tuesday you bave tbe
Soutb Wold in their Horncastle district. On Wed-
nesdays you may take train to Grimsby and liunt with
the Brocklesby in their country between the kennels
and that town. On Thursday you may ride the
glades of the neutral woods about Hainton with the
South Wold. On Friday you may possibly find
yourself in the same merry woods with the Brocklesby^
or be following them over their West A¥old country —
or^ again, you may, if you wish, start from home an
hour earlier to jog your hunter (half an hour to
gallop your hack) towards Spilsby to hunt with the
South Wold. On Saturdays you must either take
train up to Brocklesby, or stay at home to make up
your accounts.

Should you fix your headquarters at Limber Magna
(on most maps anglicised to our comprehensions as
Great Limber) you will have to confine your operations
altogether to the Brocklesby^, save when now and again
you take the ferry over the Humber and throw in your
luck with the Holderness. Great Limber is four
miles from Stallingborough Station — about 5-J hours
from London, by way of Grimsby and the Great
Northern Eailway. From here you would follow
hounds to covert four days a week without having to
make use of the train. Take with you the same
class of horse already noted as suitable to carry you
with the South Wold ; be quick at getting away when
the Brocklesby are once on to their fox ; and_, if you

D 2

36 The Hunting Countries of England.

mean business, you will see a great deal of sport
without having to ride desperately. Tlie country is
mostly plough — a great part of it wold (in the full
sense of our previous definition). There are few
woods of any size, except the neutral ones between
Louth and Market Rasen ; but the coverts generally
are small and foxes seldom hang long in them. The
number of resident gentry in the Brocklesby country
is curiously small, and the bulk of the field is made
up of farmers well-to-do, well mounted and thoroughly
fond of the sport. Some seventy couples of puppies
are every year sent out to walk, all or nearly all of
which are taken by the tenants of Lady Yarboro\
Never, it should here be remarked, have the pack and
the country been an object of greater solicitude than
to Her Ladyship — their present ruler; who, besides
always riding well to the front and watching her
hounds in the field, has made them a study in the
kennel, and so gains a double pleasure from being
able to discern each individual of the pack as he
develop es at his work and in appearance.

Proceeding now to specify some of their meets and
consequent draws — we have to repeat that on Mon-
days the Brocklesby are usually in the southern part
of their country, between Louth and Grimsby, which
is all either wold or Middle Marsh. On the wold they
meet at Elkington, Wyham, Cadeby, Binbrook, Thor-
ganby. Wold Newton, &c. All these are within half
a dozen miles of Louth, and all have good coverts
handy — Elkington being for the plantations surround-
ing and Agthorpe Wood ; Cadeby and Wyham for
^Vyham Gorse and Hell Furze ; while Binbrook,

The Broekleshy. 37

Thorganby and Wold JSTewton liave Wold Newton
Gorse^ Tliorganbj Covert, Croxby Pond and Grorse,
&c. In tlie Middle Marsli (wbicli is mucli heavier
going than the wolds, and is bere almost entirely
plough) there is Brackenbury and its covert, Utterby,
Grainsby, and, farther north, Bradley and its woods.

On Wednesdays hounds are out in the upper part
of the Middle Marsh — in fact, their country on this
day is included within the points of New Holland
(on the Humber), Brocklesby, Swallow, Barnetby,
Grimsby, and the sea coast. And the Middle Marsh
here developes itself into their best country, in the
form of rich pasturage and stiff fences — over which
a hunter of hig'h class, and only such an one, will
carry you.

Grimsby, by the way, is another base you might
choose for your sport with the Brocklesby — though,
unless you happen to be much interested in docks, or
wish to follow a second pursuit in the shape of sea
fishing, it is scarcely a quarter we should recommend
to a hunting man. New Holland, Thornton College,
Newsam Lodge, Aylesby ]\Iill, Immingham, Weelsby
House, Laceby, and Barnetby Beck, are included in
this day^s meets ; and the coverts are chiefly small
(such as Houlton Covert near Immingham), though
exceptions, such as Eaxton Wood, are to be found.

On Fridays they more often hunt on the west of
their wold country, or work the southern woods
which as above-mentioned, have been thrown open
also to the South Wold and the Burton. Moortown,
Normanby, and Stainton-le-Hole are meets on the
edge of the wolds, and Swallow is a village on the

38 The Hunting Countries of England,

centre of tlie higli ground wliicli is often named as a
rendezvous. From tlie former places a clioice is had
of either drawing the upland coverts of Stainton
(plantations), Swinhope Gorse, Rothwell, &c., or of
dipping into the lower country for Normanby Clump,
Claxby Wood, and the Usselby and Osgodby Planta-
tions. On the flat below are Owersby, Kingerby, &c.,
with a wood near the latter place; while Linwood
Warren and Gersby Manor are among the most
common fixtures for the big neutral woods. The
pleasures of woodland hunting are measured entirely
by the accident of individual taste ; and call for no
comment at our hands. Supposing you to possess a
fondness for this, the wilder and more classic phase
of foxhunting, you may here indulge your predilec-
tions to the full — leading an almost forest life under
the joint auspices of the Brocklesby, South Wold
and Burton. With foxes enough for all, these glades
and dells are ringing every other day to the stirring
sounds of hound and horn.

Farther westward, and beyond the New Navigation
Canal, hounds are taken occasionally to the neigh-
bourhood of Kirton and Grayingham — for Graying-
ham Gorse and Blyborough Covert, &c. North of
these places are various woods ; but the fixture-card
seldom points in their direction. The lower country
is of a rather deep character (being stiff clay) ; and
carries a good scent. Above Kirton you get on to
the Cliff — an inferior scenting tract, and lighter
going.

Saturdays are generally employed in working the
country round, and to the north of Brocklesby. In

The Broekleshy. 39

the neiglibourliood of tlie Park are numerous planta-
tions, and Hendel Wood, close by, is of considerable
size. Wootton Hall is a favourable meet some four
miles northward, and all up tlie wold to the Humber
they have a great deal of sport. By no means one of
the least merits of the Brocklesby country is that it
is well stocked with foxes almost throughout. The
foxes are wild and ready to travel, and there are few
parts of the country which do not carry at least a fair
scent.

40 The Hunting Countries of England.

THE BUETON AND THE BLANKNEY.*

Not only may Lincoln be set down as tlieir common
centre ; but we may go so far as to add tbat no other
available base offers itself_, from wbicli to hunt in
either country. Again, the area of each being limited,
all the meets of both are within reach of the cathedral
town ; and you will find excellent hunting on all
sides. Both possess hounds of high repute ; both are
well stocked with foxes ; and both are well and
liberally managed. The Burton hounds claim a
strong relationship with the Grove while taking thlfr
foundation from a pack brought from Mr. Chaplin
some half dozen years ago. The Blankney, with a
variety of blue blood in their veins, have been bred
to a type which stands quite alone. For fashion and
class Mr. Chaplin^ s present hounds shine out as
distinctly apart from ordinary packs, as racehorses
among hunters. Blood and breeding are relied upon
as the root and source of all needful qualities ; and
it is claimed on their behalf that in the field they are
wanting in none of the virtues possessed by coarser
bred hounds. Moreover, that when a more plebeian
class begins to tire in the late afternoon, these are

Vide " Stanford's Railway and Hunting Map," sheet 10.

The Burton and the Blankney. 41

only at tlieir best. It is argued^ iu fact, that to the
hound as much as to the horse applies the aphorism
that an ounce of blood is worth a pound of bone.
To what extent this may be successfully carried, we
do not pretend to say. Certain it is that the
experiment is here a high one : and so far from any
failure being' recorded, the theory is maintained to be
proved. It is asserted that no virtue has been lost,
no power of wear and tear sacrificed ; but that, like a
thoroughbred horse, a hound of this type has twice
the endurance of one of meaner blood and more
cumbrous build. Bone, ho7ie doicn to the feet, has
been the common kennel cry of late years ; and every
hound-show has seen the judges more exacting than
before on this point. But you would go to the
Blankney kennels rather to look upon beautiful heads
and necks, to fill your eye with clean-cut shoulders,
and to see hig-h breeding* typified. Drive and dash
are, perhaps, their most conspicuous characteristics in
the field ; though, that selection has not induced these
qualities only, to the extinction of others equally
important, may quickly be gathered by watching
them on a cold-scenting afternoon. That is the time
to which their admirers point, as proving the truth
of the principles on which the pack has been built.
" That is the time,'' they say^ " which shows how
blood can stay ! '^

Both kennels are within easy riding distance of
Lincoln — the Burton at Eeepham, a station on the
Manchester, Sheffield and Lincoln line, four miles to
the north-east ; the other ten miles to the south-east,
at Mr. Chaplin's seat at Blankney. The two countries

42 The Hunting Countries of England.

were long hunted as one : and^ while this was the
case Lincoln was almost always chosen as the head-
quarters of the master. Sir Richard Sutton lived
there during his term of office ; so did Lord Henry
Bentinck ; and so did Mr. Chaplin, when he kept two
packs and found eight days sport in the week for the
country. Indeed, whether as master, or as one inde-
pendent of all ties of place or position, it would be
difficult to point to any other spot to pitch your tent
with a view to hunting with the two packs.

Lincoln is less than three hours and a half from
King^s Cross. Be careful how you handle Bradshaw
when you meditate a first visit there : or the Great
Northern may entice you an hour further round by
Spalding and Boston. Your way is by Peterboro
and Grantham, and by this route you may practise
your eye all the while over a hunting country, before
coming once again into more active contact with
the half -forgotten fences. Thus may you brush off
much of the six months^ rust that have accumulated
on your perception, sharpen again the instinct
that was before so keen, revive your memory,
and reanimate the spirit that for months has lain
dormant.

The Burton and Blankney countries are in many
respects very similar. The high tableland known as
the Cliff runs north and south through both of them ;
and so does the stiff clay valley between it and the
wolds. Light plough, divided by stone walls into
fields of many acres, covers the limestone of the Cliff,
which is much narrower in the Burton country (in
parts only three or four miles across) than where it

The Burton and the Blankney. 43

opens out in tlie Blankney country into tlie Lincoln
Heatli. As a rule tlie lower ground carries a better
scent tlian the Cliff. Both countries have also a fair
sprinkling of grass^ especially (as we may have to
notice by and bye) the Blankney_, where west of the
Cliff they border on the Belvoir.

The map will show you at a glance that the Burton
hunt north of Lincoln, the Blankney to the south —
the Eiver Witham being more or less the boundary
between the two, and the Trent limiting both on the
west. The map, however, as at present issued, fails
to show that the Wragby woodlands are virtually
neutral ground — forming a great stand-by to both
Hunts. They always contain a supply of the material,
generally carry a hot scent, and their rides, as a rule,
are quite as good as big woods can be expected to
contain.

The whole chain of the Wragby woodlands and the
country as far west as the river Langworth and as
far north as the Lincoln and Homcastle road, is
hunted at the present time by both packs (with the
exception of Vyner^s Gorse and the few coverts in
the neighbourhood of Gautby). There are Southery^
New Park, Austacre, Hatton, Chambers^, Stainfield_,
West, Keyes, and Bullingdon Woods, and Newbold
Common. The Blankney hunt them one day a week
(usually Wednesday), the Burton sometimes two
(Mondays and Tuesdays). Keyes A¥ood and West
Wood are often deep after rain and when well trodden;
but on the whole, every care is taken that riding
through these woods should be a feasible and, as much
as possible, a pleasant matter — which, as hounds ever

44 The Hunting Countries of England.

go tlirougli tliem witli a determined head, is of some
importance.

Friday is tlie only day in the week on whicli neither
pack is out. For tlie others, the Burton hunt Monday,
Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday ; the Blankney
Monday, Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday.

The Burton are on Mondays, as we have said, often
in the Wragby woodlands. Often, however, they
advertise for the extreme north of their country,
where Magin Moor and Caenby Corner are two of
their favourite meets. From the former they have
Yawthorpe, Harpswell, and Glentworth Coverts, whilst
from the latter they have Caenby Wood, Toft Newton,
Spridlington Thorns, and Lord Brownlow^s Covert.
From this last, in Mr. Chaplin^s first year of master-
ship, they had a great run, which ended in the field
being entirely beaten off and the pack remaining' out
all night. This was on a Tuesday, and the last
hound came in on Saturday morning. They killed
their fox by themselves in a covert called Doglands,
where at eleven o^clock a keeper found them sleeping
round the remains of their quarry — an intrusion they
resented by driving him and his lantern away. The
5th milestone on the Spital Eoad is not an uncommon
fixture. From it they can draw eastward to Hack-
thorn and Dunholme Gorse, or westward for Carlton
Gorse, Brattleby Thorns or Scampton. Brattleby
and Fillingham are also often included in Monday^s
meets ; though no hard and fast rule is laid down for
this day or Tuesday ; and Wickenby Station, for the
famous covert of Wickenby Wood and Holton and
Torrington Gorse, occur on the former day. From

The Burton and the Blankney. 45

Wickenby Wood some years ago they liad_, on
successive Saturdays^ two of tlie best days on record
in tlie annals of Lincolnshire. The one contained a
run with a point of eighteen niiles^ nearly up to
Caistor. On the second they had a gallop of extra-
ordinary pace : and it is said that hounds covered an
eight-mile point in thirty-two minutes ! And it is
further related as a fact that^ in the last field their
fox turned back stone-blind from exhaustion^ and
cantered right in among the hounds. Some of the
trysting places in the woods of the Wragby neigh-
bourhood are (on either Monday and Tuesday) Clay
Bridge, for Stainton Wood and so on; Stainfield
Hall, Apley, Langworth Bridge, ^ewbold Common,
&c. On Tuesdays^ too, they often meet quite near
Lincoln. Greetwell is frequently chosen; as from it
they can either draw Fiskerton Long Wood or north-
wards to Barhngs, Sudbrooke and Dunholme Gorse.
At Stainton is a wood celebrated for the stoutness of
its foxes. From it the Burton had, last season_, some
of their longest and best runs ; and not unfrequently
found themselves carried to the far extremity of the
Wragby woodlands. In fact, they had nothing better
than on one snowy day, when the ground appeared
barred against hunting, and only one or two men
attended the meet. Yet, with scarcely a check, they
ran from Stainton Wood, past Wragby, just clear of
the big woods, and killed at Edlington — only the
second whip and one other rider accomplishing the
line taken by hounds.

North of the Wragby woods is a fine wild open
country, including a good deal of grass, chiefly in the

46 The Hunting Countries of England.

neigHbourliood o£ Holton and Torrington — a ricli
grass vale stretcliing from Stainton Wood by Holton
and Torrington^ to Hainton in the Soutli Wold; and
this, although a narrow strip, is a line often taken by
foxes. Torrington Gorse is a never-failing find. In
the season ^76-^77 it was drawn not less than thirteen
or fourteen times, and always held a fox. It forms,
moreover, a link between the Wragby and Linwood
woodlands ; from one to the other of which both the
Burton and the Blankney are constantly running. If
they hit off the Torrington valley they may be on
grass most of the way; otherwise the journey is
over deep plough. But the whole is a wild sporting-
country; foxes must make a good point; and hounds
can go a great pace over it.

On Thursdays the Burton are almost always on the
west of their country — in or near the valley of the
Trent. This district was at one time entirely grass —
little of which, however, has been allowed to survive.
Some little remains all along under the western edge
of the Cliff; but the bulk of it has been sacrificed
to the plough — and, worse than all, to the steam
jilough. To make it more difficult, too, the great
thorn fences and wide ditches of the old pastures still
exist; so your horse must combine great jumping
power with ability to make his way quickly through
dirt. And this, indeed, holds good with regard to
your mounts for the Burton country throughout.
You must ride strong horses, clever horses, and well-
bred horses — ^horses that can travel fast and yet aro
temperate and powerful withal at their jumps. The
country is essentially a deep one — being nearly all

TJie Burton and the Blanliney. 47

stiff clay except the narrow stretcli of lieatli on tlie
Cliff. It is in parts strongly fenced; and^ being a
good scenting soil, puts a severe test on a liorse as
compared with hounds. Among their Thursday meets
are Torksey Station, for Brampton Holt and the Fox
Covert ; Thonock and Lea Hall for the Gainsborough
Woods. It should be remarked that the drain
running from Torksey to Saxilby is here the boundary
between the Burton and the Blankney — leaving
Kettlethorpe in the latter country, and not as shown
in Stanford's map.

Saturday is generally on the east of the country —
Wickenby Station^ Linwood, Torrington, and Panton
being frequent meets. When at Wickenby they have
the above-mentioned celebrated covert, of that name.
When at Linwood, they usually draw the big wood in
the morning, falling back on Holton and Torrington
Gorse for their afternoon fox. From Panton they have
the coverts round the house, the Hatton Plantations,
&c. — all certain finds. Hungram Gorse, drawn by both
Burton and Blankney, gives a very good instance of
the merits of an artificial earth. The latter pack had
many runs from it last season. If the gorse was
drawn blank, a terrier was put into the earth, and
without fail there issued a fox — often two, and some-
times three.

The woods of Linwood, though neutral between
the Burton, Brocklesby and South Wold, and fre-
quently rattled tbree times in a week, never fail to
show foxes and sport. With a wild country all round,
hounds huntsmen and foxes have here a fair field,
and are pitted on their merits. Saturdays are thus

48 The Hunting Countries of England,

frequently marked by long runs into tlie South Wold
countiy; and Mr. Foljambe bad, during* last season^
a great deal of sport on this side — though his field,
never of great dimensions, is by no means at its
fullest when the woodlands are to be drawn.

The Blankney country presents a much greater
variety than the Burton — embracing, as it does, a
less amount of deep plough, a much wider tract of
heath, and a more liberal allowance of grass. It will
be noticed that fen runs round the north and east of
the country. Xear this there is solid arable till the
vicinity of Blankney is reached. Then comes, con-
veying its own character, the Heath (or, as we have
designated it, the Cliff) ; while further westward your
taste for grass may often be indulged to the full and
your love of jumping more than fairly tried.

The days selected for these various conditions, and
the places of meeting for each, are much as follows.
On Mondays they are out on their Xewark side, in
which term is comprehended all their country north
and north-west of the Eiver Witham as it runs up to
Lincoln. Kettlethorpe, Thorney, Doddington (for
Skellingthorpe Big Wood and Mr. Jarvis^ coverts)^
are among their most frequent meets : as is also the
seventh milestone Newark Road, for Tunman^s Wood
and Eagle Wood. The last-named was one of the
late Sir Richard Sutton^s favourite coverts, and is
equally valued nowadays. For the same wood they
meet at Eagle Hall ; the preference however, if any-
thing, being for the Seventh Milestone as entailing
a less journey for hounds. Occasionally too, on a
Monday, they go to Aubourn Moor, for an afternoon

The Burton and the Blankney. 49

fox on their way back to kennels. Stapleford Moor
is another fixture^, and this brings hounds among the
larg'e fir coverts and high heather which mark Lord
Middleton^s property in this neighbourhood. From
here, too, they draw the Norton-Disney woods_, to
both of which the Hunt are very partial^ on account
of the likehhood of crossing the river into the
Broughton district and getting upon the grass towards
Welhngore. Very valuable also might these woods
be for cub-hunting — but that hounds are not allowed
to enter them till late in the season.

Between this point (Norton, &c.) and the River
Trent is an apparently nice sporting country (chiefly
small grass enclosures) ; but, owing to the unfriendly
disposition of various petty freeholders, there has of
late years been much difficulty with regard to foxes,
and in consequence hounds are seldom seen there.

The surface soil of the Monday country in the main
consists of gravel or sand, which often holds a scent
when hounds cannot run a yard over the clay of the
lower ground. Such an inconsistency may now and
again be noticed^ when, on an otherwise perfect
hunting day, a loaded or frosty surface causes the
heavy plough to '^ carry,^-* and scent to be completely
annulled — when a change to the lighter soil perhaps
sets hounds running furiously. Wide ditches, small
hedges, and rotten banks, are the leading features of
the fences ; varied often by a wide dug drain.

The Blankney Wednesdays may be set down as
belonging to the Wragby Woodlands. Of these
Key^s Wood, West Wood, and Chambers^ Wood are
perhaps the most popular, as being on the borders of

50 The Hunting Countries of England.

the fine open country to tlie north : and Tile House
Beck_, Southery^ New Park Wood and Chambers'
Wood are tlie leading meets. These woodlands are
so regularly worked by both the packs under notice
that the foxes from Wragby are always on the
stir^ and finding no peace in the Burton coverts at
Wickenby are always ready to fly between one quarter
and the other. Consequently either seldom fail to
give out at least one good fox per diem when called
upon : and from the Wragby Woods he always runs
northwards, and away from the Blankney Kennels —
never crossing the Witham to the south. Stainfield
Wood is almost always drawn by the Blankney on
Ash Wednesday : and in Lord Henry Bentinck's day
was noted as having_, several years in succession,
commemorated that day with a run of high merit.

Their Thursdays, are generally somewhere in the
immediate neighbourhood, or to the east, of Blankney.
The chief meets on this day are Blankney itself,
Scopwick, Ashby, Nocton — these lying in the deep
country between the Heath and the fens (which will
be noticed as here stretching down to Boston).
Occasional meets on the Heath itself are Temple
Bruer (a former possession of the Knights Templar),
the Green Man, or now and again Canwick. The
Nocton and Blankney Woods are fine coverts ; while
working southwards we come to the gorses of
Blankney, Kirkby Green, Digby, and Bloxholm — all
trusty places and almost certain finds. The Bloxholm
Coverts are neutral with the Belvoir, which pack also
draw Mr. Chaplin^s thorn covert at Temple Bruer
(known as Crow Bottom). On the Heath days they

The Burton and the Blankney. 51

have the Green Man Coverts, Bartholomew's Gorse,
and the Ashby Coverts (the latter being on the
borders of the low ground) ; while, further west, are
the coverts of Temple Bruer and Griffin^s (in the
centre of the Heath).

In the eastern vale you will ride for the most part
over plough, with here and there some grass to
stretch your horse. Bound Digby is steam plough,
and much of it. Round Blankney the farmers have
been content to keep the grass intact (and this year,
if ever, they should believe that the shorthorn will
repay them rather than the ploughshare). As is
right, they build their fences frequent, stiff, and
honest, and they like to see hounds leading quickly
over them.

Below Lincoln the Heath spreads out fan-shaped,
till at Temple Bruer it is about its widest. Light
plough, stone walls, and no ditches are among its
characteristics, to which may be added the fact that,
with a real scent, hounds can beat horses over it.
This is more likely to happen when after rain the
ground has become holding even here. In such case
horses are hampered, while hounds can go their best,
flying the walls as they come, without a moment's
stoppage. Then indeed you want blood under you —
as you have highest blood racing before you. Yet,
taking months and years throughout, the Heath is
not a great scenting country.

But Saturday is par excellence the day of the
Blankney. Keep your best horse for it; and smoke
one less cigar over night than is your rule. For the
meet will surely be for the Wellingore Vale; and

E 2

52 The Hunting Countries of England.

your liead must be clear, your lieart must be bold,
and your liorse wortliy of tbe task_, if you would
cross it in comfort. For a fair country there can be
no stiffer in England ; tliougli to compare it witli Mr.
Tailby^s Yale of Skeffington or with the Pytcbley
district of Oxenden, would be inapt, inasmuch as a
good man and a good horse can ride over Wellingore,
while no combinations of virtue will carry a rider
systematically to hounds over the other two. A big
and determined jumper you want here, and a galloper
too ; for the Wellingore Yale (all excellent scenting
ground) is still mostly grass — at all events towards
Leadenham and Broughton, and along under the
Cliff. The most common meets are Wellingore,
Coleby, Aubourn, Carlton-le- Moorland, and Brant
Broughton (which in Lincolnshire they pronounce as
Bruton, not as we hear it at the Leicestershire end of
the Yale of Belvoir). Wellingore Gorse is perhaps
the most famous covert in the Yale ; but there are
also good thorn coverts at Broughton and Aubourn,
and two good gorses at Coleby and Harmston).
From Coleby Gorse two years ago hounds scored an
extraordinary performance. In twenty-two minutes
they covered a five-mile point (their actual course
being nearer seven) — then dashing over their fox as
he lay down, they went on with a fresh one, and,
running him some miles beyond Leadenham, got
clean away from huntsman, master, and field, who
were scouring the country for hours before coming
upon them again. Boothby Park (belonging to Mr.
Marfleet) is a certain find, though its sole pretence at
covert consists of the laurels round the house, two or

The Burton and the Blankney. 53

three miniature copses^ and an artificial eartli. In
most of these vale coverts Mr. Chaplin has instituted
artificial earths with the greatest success. The
system is further continued by having a '^fox keeper"
(as he is termed) ^ and his terriers,, always out with
hounds — then if the covert be drawn blanks the
grating of the earth is removed^ the terriers put in^
and a fox usually bolted. This plan has been found
to work admirably. A line frequently taken by the
Wellingore foxes, and much in favour with the field,
is along under the Cliff to Leadenham and then
across to Broughton or Stubton (the latter in the
Duke^s country). Of very grand character is this
Saturday country — the only drawback to it being its
limited size. Foxes, consequently, are easily driven
out of it, generally to mount the less favoured Heath
above. The vale is intersected by the well-known
Brant — a stream which, though jumpable in a few
places, has usually to be forded. Men have learned to
recognise the fact fully, and now seldom ride at it.
The fords, too, have been put in order ; and getting
through the water is no longer the difiicult task of
days gone by.

The only addenda that occur to us are that the
Blankney owed what was perhaps their best run of
last season to Tunman^s Wood. Hounds had much
of it to themselves, and killed their fox in the open in
an hour and twenty- six minutes — a thirteen-mile
point. And, on the subject of the Burton, we ought
to have mentioned, in speaking of Hackthorn Gorse
and Carlton, that these beautiful coverts were as the
apple of his eye to Lord Henry Bentinck — who was

54 The Hunting Countries of England,

wont to speak of the latter as " tlie fox^s model
lodging house.-'' It is made of blackthorn — laid and
plashed as level as a bed of verbenas.

We should now have shown how five days a week
are to be had from Lincoln, with the Burton and
Blankney — each day's meet being within an extreme
radius of fourteen or fifteen miles. It should also
have been gathered that much sport is to be met with,
and that, though essentially good horses are wanted,
a hunting man's establishment need not be on the
exaggerated scale necessary for the requirements of
the more crowded shires.

The FUzwilliam. 55

THE EITZWILLIAM.*

That this great pack lias been a handred and five
years the property of the Fitzwilliam family is no
little to say of it. But present merit has more to do
with our subject than past history ; and it is more to
the point to be able to add that_, in the field or on the
flags^ none of its younger rivals can give it the go-by.
Witness the Hound Show at Peterborough (July 1878)
— when none but an even older kennel_, the Brock-
lesby, had any chance with it — endorsing what we
have always held^ that confirmed excellence must belong
ever to private than to subscription packs. The
Fitzwilliam or (as it is even better known in kennel
parlance) the Milton bloody has — like the Belvoir and
Brocklesby — built many a pack, but suffered no
deterioration in the process. Eefreshing itself now
and again with a slight infusion from other sources —
chiefly from the two just named — it has ever kept
itself not only vigorous but steadily improving. And
that good looks and good work should — and with
them do — go together, is proved by their system of
breeding only from the best working hounds. Indeed,

* Vide "Stanford's Railway and Hunting Map," sheets 10 and 16.

56 Tiie Hunting Countries of England,

their winners at tlie sliow were all tlie progeny of
famous workers. With tlienij a hound faulty in the
chase is not good enough to keep, still less to breed
from — a summary system upon which a younger
kennel can seldom afford to act rigidly.

Their country is essentially one for bringing hounds
out to advantage; and, while offering them every
opportunity and encouragement, will quickly make
patent any radical failing. There are large tracts of
woodland for cubhunting, schooling, and practising —
wild straight foxes and an open country elsewhere —
the scent seldom strong enough to carry hounds out
of reach — and few difficulties to part them from the
huntsman and his attendant lictors. There was a
time, the natives say, when all the Fitzwilliam
country was grass — and wild wet grass on which
scent hovered naturally. Now the bulk of its broad
acres are condemned to grow wheat that does not
pay for sowing — and, easy though it is to root up
pasturage, farmers cannot afford the lengthy process
of restoring it. And so is it, in more or less degree,
all over England. Farmers cannot compete in the
corn market against importation ; their crops scarcely
cover the needed outlay; and thousands of arable
farms are consequently going begging. But if tenants
have seldom either capital or inclination to lay down
herbage in place of the unremunerative ploughland,
landlords must do it soon — or be content to see their
farms unoccupied. Then will grazing resume its
sway — we shall ride over grass everywhere — and
Ware wheat will be a cry unknown ! That such a
consummatioh would be desirable in the Fitzwilliam

The FitzwilUam. 57

country its most ardent admirers would find it difficult
to deny. Tliey don^t trouble themselves much about
ivare ivheat there — or they would never go a-hunting
at all — but they would be glad, no doubt, to ride
on a sounder surface. The fences, in much of the
best of the country, fully bear out the theory
that they were grown to separate cattle, rather than
to mark the boundary between one field of cereal and
another; for they are of blackthorn of high rank
growth, often quite impervious and impracticable.
The only way to combat them, then, is to ^' go
round.^^ There is usually a comfortable hole in one
corner, which the old hands know as readily as a
hare does a smeuse. This kind of fence is especially
the rule all over the south and south-west of the
Fitzwilham country — a district into which you must
take a horse as strong and well-bred as you can afford
yourself. Before purchasing', just give him five
minutes at his best pace through a deep fallow with
the reins laid on his neck, and you will know pretty
well if he is suited to carry you from Barnwell Wold.
It is much to be wondered at that more hunting-
men do not run down — if only for an occasional day —
to these hounds. The kennels are at Milton Park,
only three miles from Peterborough; and Peter-
borough, where the best of accommodation may be
had, is only about one hour and three quarters from
King^s Cross. Indeed, for a man whose occupation
only allows him two or three days of liberty in the
week (and who aspires to something a little wilder
than one of Her Majesty^s bucks) a much better
position at which to station a few horses could not

58 The Hunting Countries of England,

be chosen. Once^ or sometimes twice,, a week lie
might even leave London at nine o^clock, and be in
time for the meet of this, one of the greatest packs in
England. Or^ again, with the railway at the door of
his hotel, he may at any time throw in his luck for
the day with the Cottesmore, or even run down for
an occasional gallop with the Quorn or the Belvoir.

Huntingdon, twenty minutes nearer London on the
same line, is another place from which to hunt with
the Fitzwilliam, and from here the other days of the
week may be filled in with the Cambridgeshire and
the Oakley. But Peterborough, as being the point
from which hounds start in the morning to return in
the evening, may be taken as the special base of
operation with a view to the pack in question.

It is rather a severe country for horses — the
distances being long, the ground deep, and the woods
very trying. It sometimes happens that hounds
have as much as thirty miles to journey back to
kennels ; and, though you may occasionally find your
way home by train, your lot may at any time be the
same as theirs. So, start with sound horses and
strong ones ; and be prepared to fill up a gap in the
stable should a casualty demand it.

The meets of the Fitzwilliam are regulated as
follows — on a system that would appear not only to
have been adopted by the present Master, the
Marquis of Huntly, but to have been in vogue for
many years past. Wednesday and Saturday, being
market days at Peterborough, are chosen for the more
distant meets in the south of the country — while
Monday and Thursday are reserved for the north.

The Fitzwilliam. 59

whicli is all within easy ride of Peterborougli. Friday
is very frequently a bye-day; and is generally at no
great distance from kennels.

Monday is more essentially a Peterborougli day;
and no effort is spared to render it as good as
possible. It will be observed tbat tbe river Nene,
after running all down tbe south- west boundary of
the country, works across from Oundle to Peter-
borough. In so doing, it divides the Monday from
the Thursday district — the meets of the former being
all to the south of the river, those of the latter to the
north and north-west.

Some of the chief fixtures for Monday are Al wait on,
Chesterton, Ashton Wold, Elton Hall, Washingley,
Shark^s Lodge, and sometimes as far south as Holme
Station. As regards coverts, the nearest to Peter-
borough are those of Orton and Thompson's Thorns,
Jones's Covert, Chesterton, and Alwalton Hills.
Haddon Nursery is a very thick newly- planted covert,
part of which at one time lay near the North Road,
and was much exposed to disturbance. This objection
was got over by grubbing up a certain portion, and
planting three or four acres more remote from the
road — with the best result. Lord Carysford's Coverts,
Elton-New- Close, Stock Hill, and Elton Firs lie next
— with Lord Huntly's beautiful new gorse at Water
Newton, which has already proved very attractive to
foxes. There is some fine grass country to the east
of Elton,, when foxes can be persuaded to take it:
and all the Monday district, though much of it is
plough, is pleasant riding ground.

Turning to the Thursdays, we find ourselves on

60 The Hunting Countries of England.

the other side of the Nene, either in what is known
as the Soke (as the land just beyond the river is
termed), in the Forest, or in the vicinity of Stamford.
Some thirty years ago an unbroken line of woodland
existed from Milton right across to Deene (the
residence of the Cardigan family) and Bulwick, and
formed a continuation of the Rocking-ham Forest.
Much of this woodland has been cleared away; but
large woods still exist to the west of the Nene ; and
here the chief part of the cub-hunting, and hound
education generally, is carried on. The two greatest
strongholds in the Soke — among others too numerous
to enumerate — are the Bedford Purlieus (as its name
would imply, the property of the Duke of Bedford)
and Castor Hanglands. This large covert belongs to
the Ecclesiastical Commissioners, who for years have
let it to the Fitzwilliam family — sufficient guarantee
that all desiderata for a schooling ground for hounds
are duly forthcoming. In drawing these woods —
as indeed may be said of hunting the whole country
— the rule is observed of working homewards from
the most distant coverts. Near Stamford the country
becomes lighter and more open. Lord Exeter has
considerable coverts ; but foxes apparently find their
welcome at Burghley a colder one than they were
accustomed to under a previous generation. Lord
Kesteven-'s little coverts are better favoured. Lawn
Wood and Hilly Wood, and, before the Great
Northern Railway pushed across here, there were
other coverts down towards Burrough Fen. Now^
however, under the multiplied dangers of the rail-
ways this part is not regularly hunted. Walcot Hall

The Fitzwilliam. 61

and Stamford Eacecourse are two of tlieir most
northerly meets ; wliile^ moving on to the woods^ we
have Thornhaugh, Wansford^ Nassington^ and Cotter-
stock Hall (the hunting residence of the Marquis of
Huntly). If the supply of foxes appears to admit of
it^ Friday generally supplies a second day in the
woods.

To the widest meets of Wednesday and Saturday
hounds have to be carried by rail — no slight yearly
addition to the expenditure of the master. With a
railway^ however, running southward on either side
of the country — to Higham Ferrars and Huntingdon,
the inconvenience of the journey is minimised as
much as possible ; and, under the system of always
drawing in the direction of the kennels, hounds
always return on foot.

Wednesday is in what is decidedly the best of the
Fitzwilliam territory — their Thrapston country, as
applied to include their south-west border, touching
upon the Pytchley and the Oakley. As neither the
last-named pack nor the Cambridgeshire are out on a
Wednesday, large contingents gladly lend their
strength to the Fitzwilliam. Accordingly the train
brings numbers from Cambridge, and even New-
market, when hounds are advertised for Lilford,
Clapton, Thrapston Bridge, Bythorne Tollbar, or
Catworth Guide Post. From Lord Lilford-'s park,
they invariably get a strong good fox and a run,
either over the grass along the riverside, or far over
the wild open country by Barnwell and Weston — ■
sometimes even down to Kimbolton. For the other
meets mentioned above there are Barnwell Wold, a

62 The Hunting Countries of England.

splendid wood of tlie Duke of Buccleugli^s, wherein a
few years ago lialf a dozen foxes miglit be seen to
cross a ride in succession,, and where it is promised
tliat tlie same shall be seen again; Thorpe Gorse,
Titchmarsh Warren (from which foxes must take a
good line), George^s Thorns, Denford Ash, Eaunds-
Old- Meadow, Stan wick Pastures, with Catworth
Gorse and Hunt^s Closes at the extremity of the
country. All these, except Barnwell Wold, are com-
paratively small thorn or gorse coverts — where a fox
is glad to lie but not to stay when found. To the
north again, Oundle belongs more to the Thursday
country, as from it all Lord Westmorland's woods and
Cotterstock Wood (forming the extremity of the
Soke country) are often drawn — though in the other
direction it has Baron Eothschild's excellent covert
Ashton Wold to depend upon.

Saturday is more especially for the Huntingdon side,
and its meets are, as a rule, to the east of the Oundle
and Thrapston Eoad — though Wednesday and Satur-
day are looked upon as belonging so much to one dis-
trict that the rule is anything but an absolute one, and
such fixtures as Barnwell Castle, Alconbury Hill,
Abbott's Eipton, and Buckworth Village are as often
told off for one day as the other. Very little hunting
is to be done on the east of the Peterborough and
Huntingdon Eailway (coloured though it is on Stan-
ford's Map — Sheet 16) ; for you are in the Pens
almost immediately. And it may here be noted that
the Pitzwilliam southern boundary line runs from
Kimbolton to Graffham and from Graffham straight
across to Huntingdon, instead of along the river Ouse,

The Fitzwilliam, 63

west of Huntingdon — as shown on that map. Holme-
wood House^ Gidding Windmill,, Sawtiy Tollbar^
Aversley Wood and Luton Village are other meets
in Saturday's country; and from Barnwell Wold
westward there are excellent gorses and coverts
of every description, such as Gidding Grove, Hem-
mington Spinneys, Little Gidding Gorse, Gidding
Cow Pasture, and Sawtrey Gorse. They had a
great evening run from the first-named covert about
the middle of February last. Eather than score
a bad day^s sport, the Master decided on putting
hounds into covert once more at 4.20 p.m. For-
tunately, their fox put, and kept, his head straight
for kennels. They ran right to Alwalton ; and at six
o^ clock were glad to whip the hounds off — though
one of the field, only a short distance away down
wind, was striving in vain to signal them to where
their fox was barely crawling across a road. Wash-
ingley Coverts too, are very good; but belong more
to the Orton, or Monday country. More to the south
are Solom Wood, Flittermere Gorse and Buckworth
Woods. Nearest to Huntingdon are Ellington Gorse
and the large coverts belonging to Lord Chesham —
MouFs Wood (over 1000 acres), Archer^s, Copping-
ford, Upton, and Aversley Woods, where foxes are
wild and good. Game is not allowed to shoulder them
out; and, towards the end of the season especially,
good runs from here are frequent. Holme Wood
(Mr. WelFs) deserves special mention as a strong-
hold. Foxes from this covert have of late taken a
great fancy for running down into the fens, where it
is next to impossible to follow them for any distance.

64 The Hunting Countries of England,

The great feature of all tlie soutliern portion of the
Fitzvnlliam country is the strength and distance
apart of its coverts. Take, for instance, Aversley
Wood, Barnwell Wold, and Ashton Wold. Foxes
are almost always on the spot ; and, once disturbed,
they must travel long distances to reach a second
refuge. With the Fitzwilliam you will always see
sport, and see foxes well hunted — and killed.

The Quorn. 65

THE QUOEN.*

HoNOUEED and renowned in history, and with its
prestige never higlier than at the present time, the
Quorn takes first rank among subscription packs. It
derives most of its support from Melton Mowbray,
which is, ]par excellence, the fashionable hunting centre
of England; and apart from its time-honoured and
intimate association with that place, and beyond the
fact that its maintenance and well-being has ever
been the foremost care of Meltonians_, it has such
advantages of positioii and country as few other
Hunts can claim.

To hunt with the Quorn, " there are three courses
open to you." If Melton seems suited to you, hy all
means go there. ^Tis a hunting man^s paradise. But,
we would add, before labelHng yourself and your
belongings for Melton, take stock of yourself, your
proclivities, your capabilities, and above all, the
sphere which you have hitherto chosen — or which has
chosen you. Melton is not intolerant of the outer
world ; neither is it rigorous towards its own. In-
stalled and accepted there, no stern censorship will

* Vide " Stanford's Raihvay and Hunting Map," sheet 9.
F

66 The Hunting Countries of England.

note your tastes or pounce upon your shortcomings ;
your horsemansliip or your nerve will not be harslily
judged^ nor even your adaptation of ethics be roughly
criticised. But (verhum sap.) do not go to Melton to
be a fish out of water — even to find yourself not the
only one gasping on the bank.

As a quarter the Metropolis of Hunting (as it has
long been justly termed) is unrivalled; but though,
if at Melton, you would naturally become a member
of the Quorn Hunt (and probably give the price of a
horse towards its funds), yet your sport would by no
means be restricted to that pack. The Quorn country
is but limited. The best of it — viz., the Melton side,
and generally termed the grass country, in contra-
distinction to the Forest — is only sufficient for two
advertised days a week (Mondays and Fridays), to
which the master usually adds a Thursday byeday.
Tuesdays and Saturdays are held on the west of the
country (totally different ground, and but little
worthy of a place in the Shires) — Tuesday in Charn-
wood Forest and its neighbourhood, and Saturday in
a well-tilled wilderness north of Loughborough.
These two days are better reached from the latter
town, or from Leicester : the Melton men preferring a
more favourable scene, nearer home, with the Cottes-
more and Belvoir, even to hunting with their own
pack.

It is by no means one of the least advantages of
Melton Mowbray that hounds are close at hand every
day in the week. With the variety offered by three,
or even four, packs, it seldom happens that the ride
to covert is more than ten miles — and the average

The Quorn. 67

may be taken as nearer six. Better still, hounds
almost always leave off equally near at home — and
so, from every point of view, hunting may be done
as comfortably from Melton as from any place in the
world. Standing, as it does, a central point in a sea
of grass, in a country where foxhunting is all in all,
and where squires, farmers, and even keepers, have
been reared to worship the little red animal, the best
meets of each pack are those in the neighbourhood
of Melton. The Quorn, Cottesmore, and Belvoir
countries all run up to a common apex in the town of
Melton Mowbray; and arrange their meets so that
each day one or other of them shall be in its
neighbourhood. To breakfast each morning at 9.30
(with still a marginal half hour for the sluggard), and
yet be in good time at the covert- side, is not given to
many hunting quarters — and might well encourage
the late hours which, whether devoted to society or
to tobacco, seldom fail in the end to make their mark
on the hardest and the boldest. But men who belong-
to the latter class know this too well. They know,
too, that they have come to Leicestershire to hunt
and to ride ; and that, if their power and zest to do
this once fails, the land will be but a desert to them
— and so they go to bed early, leaving those to sit up
to whom the chase offers nothing more sterling than
another school for scandal, another field for small
talk. The canter to covert, too ! That " it is better
fun riding to covert in Leicestershire than hunting
elsewhere ^^ is as solemnly true as ever, albeit the
gallant author has been beguiled into another county.
Mile upon mile of swinging turf — if only you know

F 2

68 The Hunting Countries of England.

your way_, and how to avoid the muddy, fresh granited
roads. Geography is not — may we be pardoned for
saying ? — the strong point of the Meltonian. Each
has his own way to covert ; but it by no means always
happens that he has one to take him home. It does
not chime in with his creed to know the country —
and the creed is not altogether an unsound one.
When hounds are running, he will ride best to them
who can attend solely to what they are doing, and
blind himself to the direction the fox may be taking.
Thus will novelty never be wanting, and enjoyment
reaped where others are grumbling because they have
ridden this line before.

Melton, then, commands the Quorn on Mondays and
Fridays, and on Thursday there is either a byeday
with that pack, or the Cottesmore are in reach, or
else Mr. Tailby is in the north of his country. On
Tuesdays the Cottesmore, and on Wednesdays the
Belvoir, are always at hand; while on alternate
Saturdays these packs take it in turn to be close to
Melton. Thus, it will be seen, the six days are pretty
well occupied ; and, unless you wish to have Melton
all to yourself for a day, you must have horses enough
to carry you on all six. Half a dozen thoroughly
seasoned, and conditioned, hunters will see you through
the winter, with luck ; especially if a fortnight's frost
comes at the time you could best do with it. But
with this number, and with everything in your favour,
you will often have to come home early in the day
and miss many an afternoon gallop. Two horses a
day (besides the hack who, from some extraordinary
combination of virtues, is able to come out nearly

The Quorn, 69

every day) are almost indispensable to tlie thorough
enjoyment of hunting in Leicestershire. In the
crowd and confusion of the morning you are not so
hkely to see sport ; but it is all one horse's work to
keep moving on with the ruck. In the afternoon
there is generally a run — and for this you want a fresh
horse. The crowd have gone home ; hounds have a
fair chance, and the master has kept his best covert
for the evening draw. The sun has disappeared ; the
wind, maybe, has fallen ; the glass is rising, and
scent is a moral certainty. Your fox is only too ready
to go ; hounds get away at his brush ; all the choicest
spirits are there, full of ride ; and the country is the
Twyford Vale. To be on a tired horse is misery —
and perhaps grief to you both. You ought not to
ride bad ones at all (at least within hail of Melton) ;
but we all get them occasionally, and have to make
the best of them — wrapping the secret of their vile-
ness in our own breasts. If obliged to bring such an
one to the covert side, ride him in the morning. If
necessary, trot the brute about the roads, keeping
your own counsel, and letting the world think, if it
chooses, that you are not so keen and hard as you
used to be. The world — at all events the morning
world — will not take half as much note of you as you
fancy. But, as you value your pleasure (and your
reputation), don't ride the said brute in the after-
noon. Send him home with a thanksgiving ; and get
on your trusty one with a chuckle. He is bold, and
swift, and stout. Your heart bounds ; your blood
warms ; you feel you are as good as your neighbours;
you mutter something in his ear that you would not

70 The Hunting Countries of England.

for a thousand should be overheard — and, if hounds
run, you will ride none the worse for that morning^ s
abstinence.

The first of the three courses by which you may
hunt with the Quorn being to take a six- days a- week
stud to Melton; the second is to establish yourself
at Leicester or Loughborough, the third is to take a
hunting box in the country. We have already made
some allusion to the first-named plan ; and further, in
treating of the grass side of the Quorn, shall consider
that part of the country in connection with Melton.
On the merits of the other plans we shall have some-
thing to say as we continue.

As regards its position from London, Melton Mow-
bray is a little more than three hours^ journey from
St. Pancras, by way of Leicester. Leaving London
at 3.30 p.m., you are landed anywhere in Melton
before 7. But it is only attainable on the morning
of hunting by taking the mail train at 5.15 a.m. —
with all the miseries consequent on such an hour in
December or January.

Monday and Friday being, as we have said, the
two days on which the Quorn are out on their Melton^
or grass, side, we will take them first in order. A
glance at the map (sheet 9 of Stanford's series) will
show the river Wreake running from Melton to
Syston, where it joins the river Soar on its way from
Leicester. North of the Wreake, then, is the Monday
country of the Quorn, while south and south-east of
the two rivers is the Friday country. The Midland
Railway has cunningly chosen the valleys of these rivers
for its course; and close parallel to them runs the

The Quorn. 71

Leicester and Melton turnpike road — whereof tlie
story lias been told for a century tliat two Meltonians
of coacliing fame^ wagering to name the best fifteen
miles of coach road against each other, handed their
respective judgments on paper to a referee ; the
papers being opened, the one had written "from
Leicester to Melton/"' the other ''''from Melton to
Leicester/^

Once a year the Quorn meet at Melton Mowbray
itself — usually at Egerton Lodge, the hunting-box of
the Father of the Hunt, Lord Wilton. This, however,
is generally a sequence to the races of Croxton Park
or the Steeplechases of Burrough Hill, and an imme-
diate prelude to the break up of the season. The
nearest covert to Melton is Welby Fishponds, planted
by Lord Wilton for the Hunt — an excellent little
covert of gorse and osiers, and in ordinary times
fruitful of fine runs. For it is too small for foxes to
dwell j and beyond a couple of ploughed fields imme-
diately adjoining, there is a wide area of strong
scenting grass in every direction. In ordinary times,
we said advisedly — for look at those strings of red
dotted lines festooning the map on every side of
Melton ! What are these but railways in progress ?
Kail ways in being are hateful and sport- spoiling
enough ; but railways in progress are to a hunting
country as the Colorado beetle to the potato. To the
iron rails and the pufiing engines foxes get used. To
the indignity of galloping a mile round to a bridge
(where we were wont to strike a free bee line as we
chose) we can become blunted. But not only are
railways in course of construction bristling all day

72 The Hunting Countries of England.

with gangs of shouting workmen; but the honest
navvy cares not to work more than three or four days
in the week^ preferring to take his pleasure in snaring
in solitude, in rabbit digging with a chum after his
own heart_, or in openly beating the fox-coverts in
force. If the hounds are out they have mustered, a
noisy hundred, at the covertside, an hour or so before
the pack is thrown in. Yes, lamentable and dis-
figuring as those red lines will still look on the face of
this fair country, they will be welcome when drawn
continuous and finished, in comparison with the state
of progress and devastation conveyed by their present
dotted length.

Asfordby is another meet for Welby Fishponds and
the useful little copse of Cantos Thorns adjoining.
Hounds are also sometimes brought to Ab Kettleby
for the same ; but more often for the coverts neutral
with the Belvoir, to which we shall come immediately.
Ragdale is for Shoby Scholes and Lord Aylesford^s —
two splendid coverts almost touching each other. The
former is a thickly wooded dell, overlooking which the
field have to stand on the grass hills on either side the
wide hollow. Their fox, likely enough, breaks down
the valley; then, with a rare country, and a quick
scenting one, all round, it is a ride to be with hounds.
Over the brow is Lord Aylesford^s — a grand gorse
and broom covert ^of twenty or thirty acres, where
more foxes were found last season than anywhere in
the Monday country. A free loan it is, too — and a
loan right well appreciated.

Further to the left along the roadside is Eatcliff-on-
the-AYreake, the widest Monday meet in this direction.

The Quorn. 73

Cossington Gorse from here (more of tliorn than gorse
in its composition^ by the way) is a covert of happy
memory and glorious connection. It stands by the
side of the old Roman Fosse Eoad, which (well cared
for to Six Hills_, afterwards a deep wild track such as
would do credit to the New Forest) runs from Leicester
to Newark, as any map will plainly tell. A Cossington
fox must either break westwards into a country whose
style is more befitting a Saturday draw ; or he puts a
very different colouring on the proceedings by cross-
ing the road and embarking on ground almost sacred
in its associations — the Hoby and Thrussington lord-
ships, to wit. That is the country to test the best of
men, and the best of horses, even of Melton; for the
fields are forty acres apiece, and the fences are to be
jumped — but nothing more. Hounds, on fair terms
with their fox, can fly over them on anything like a
scenting day; and we maintain it is a pleasanter
country to cross quick than to crane over — for the
fences will not bear too much looking at. From
Cossington Gorse past Thrussington and Hoby villages
to Shoby Scholes is a twenty-five minutes^ enjoyment
not to be surpassed even in the Shires — provided
always that you are riding a horse fit for the journey.
A good horse is essential to comfort anywhere — but a
superlatively good horse is needed for Leicestershire,
not only to accomplish the country, but to combat the
crowd. He should be as nearly thoroughbred as you
can get him, or he will not live the pace or jump when
he is half beat. He must be bold, and yet be tractable.
Believe not what is often broadly stated, that riding
over Leicestershire is no more difficult for horse or

74 The Hunting Countries of England.

man than a practice gallop over a training course^ and
that the fences may be taken as they come, like
hurdles. Many men have we seen come down imbued
with this idea (perhaps we once held it ourselves), and
one and all were quickly in grief in consequence —
with the result that they either benefited by the
experience to do themselves and their horses justice,
or retired hurt and mortified. No, Leicestershire is
the last county over which to ride haphazard ; and a
Leicestershire horse should possess no common
combination of qualities. He must be able to gallop,
and he must be ready to jump ; but he must be handy
to turn, and easy 'to stop — willing to creep a bottom,
to drop his hind legs at a double, to brush a bullfinch,
or to fly an oxer. It may be argued that a four-year-
old has often been known to carry a man successfully
to hounds over the grass. True, but the credit
belongs rather to the man than the horse. The colt
has blood and courage; the man has coolness and
cleverness sufiicient to help him through his difiiculties;
and the line has probably been all plain sailing.
Depend upon it, four-year-olds (and a four-year-old
of high class is far better in the Shires than an older
torse of inferior stamp) will not carry the best men to
the front every day and all day; and to live with
hounds regularly, you must ride horses of superior
stamp, of thorough training, and, if possible, over
your weight.

Six Hills is a kind of Croydon Junction to the best
coverts of the Monday country; and, consequently^
seldom remains unadvertised two weeks in succession.
It is little more than half a dozen miles from Melton,

The Quorn. 75

and constitutes almost a central spot for tlie whole of
tlie Quorn country. Witli hounds at Six Hills it is
useless for the most practised sinner to attempt
the vice of speculating on the draw. Thrussington
Wolds is a couple of hundred yards away, Thrussing-
ton Gorse half a mile, Walton Thorns the same, Mr.
Cradock^s Spinney still less, Shoby Scholes and Lord
Aylesford^s a mile and a half, and Cossington Gorse
two miles — and any of them may be chosen as first
draw. Of these coverts Thrussington Wolds is a
snug little wood of about thirty acres ; the Gorse (or
New Covert) is sound, and thick, and well favoured,
and both overlook the fine bullock-pastures that
stretch down to the Wreake — offering every tempta-
tion to a good fox to try his luck across the open.
Walton Thorns and Mr. Cradock^s spinney are the
property of the same good fox preserver; and, in
spite of neighbouring difficulties the Thorns are
seldom untenanted, no matter how often appealed
to. Great runs are on record, and great runs are
recent, from Walton Thorns. Did they not kill the
hohtail from there — fifty-three minutes without a
check, the death at Sysonby (by Melton) and nearly
every field grass ? Twelve years ago ; but three
times twelve will not wipe it from the memories of
the few who rode that November gallop. And it was
last November again that the Quorn bitches, never
lifted or touched, ran into an old fox " as big as a
wolf,^^ in Bunny Park — fifty-five minutes from the
Thorns, and very few fields grass. Just beyond
Walton Thorns is Burton Park. It is a matter of
regret that Lord Archibald Seymour no longer hunts.

76 The Hunting Countries of England.

For years lie kept twenty horses at Melton. But he
has many nice little coverts at Burton — and of course
he is pleased to think they are full of foxes for his
old finends^ and, in all the generous feeling evolved
by foxhunting and its memories, delights in seeing
Jiounds drawing his plantations as often as they can
come. As a stuttering friend of mine responded to
one who would fain have helped him through his
half completed sentence — " N . . . nothing of the
sort_, sir! Bammey sir, nothing of the sort!!'' He
has forgotten the past.

Plunging northwards up the unkempt Fosse Eoad
from Six Hills (which after Christmas,, by the way,
no one thinks of doing if they can possibly go
round), a three-mile journey brings us to a point
opposite Willoughby Village, and about midway
between the covert of that name and Curate's
Gorse. Willoughby Village is a frequent, and — so
long as the Widmerpool country beyond was well
cared for — was a favourite meet. The covert (which
is blackthorn and gorse) is rather too close to the
village, but the inhabitants are vastly fond of fox-
hunting— so they leave it undisturbed and many a
pretty gallop accrues. If the line should be towards
Bunny or Widmerpool, you soon find yourself on
a light plough district; but immediately round
Willoughby, on every side but one, are small grass
enclosures, with neat nice fences worthy of a good
horse. Once well away from here, the country will
either be still made up of these pleasant green fields
(as is the case round Wimeswould), or degenerate
Auto plough, with fences of no size, but trappy and

The Quorn, 77

blind. Your fox must determine wMcli variety you
shall encounter ; for both phases are to be found in
any direction. A common_, and, it may be^ a good
line is to Ellar^s Grorse — a covert that has, however,
scarcely paid its rent of late years — and thence over
the Fosse to the Curate. The last named famous
gorse, with its companion Parson^s Thorns, are just
over, and on, the summit of the high ground above
the Belvoir Yale — the village of Hickling being a
mile or so beneath the Parson^ s. Indeed, the chief
charm of these time-honoured coverts is the chance
of dropping into the Yale (in its very best part) and
attaining a sharp sweet burst to Old Dalby Wood, to
Sherbrooke-'s Covert (of the Duke''s), or to the neutral
covert of Holwell Mouth. A pleasanter line cannot
be ridden than to either of these three points — save
when the Smite is encountered in an intractable form.
As we move on to Widmerpool all again depends on
the direction taken by foxes — when there are any.
It may be accepted as a general statement (not with-
out its exceptions) that all the country to the west of
the Fosse Road is very inferior to that on the east,
the Melton side. At and near Widmerpool are ex-
tensive coverts (as Leicestershire coverts go) — Roehoe
Wood and Kinoulton Corse being instances. Beyond
these are Owthorpe Borders, Wynstay Corse, and
many plantations, all which are just above the Yale
— and if a fox will run thither ^tis all you want. But
should he take you down towards Costock, Bunny,
Plumptre, &c., your fate will be a less stirring one>
and your career less exciting.

Turning now to the part that is neutral with the

78 The Hunting Countries of England.

Belvoir, we have tlie meets o£ Wartnaby (sometimes
at the Stonepits, or, better in every sense, at the
Hall) and Ab Kettleby, each about four miles from
Melton. After drawing the Long Plantation of
Wartnaby, bounds are taken, generally by their fox,
along the hill side to Holwell Mouth. Holwell Mouth
is the warmest of basin copses, and foxes delight in
it. From here a fox will more often cross the brow
to Clawson Thorns, half a mile into the Duke's
country ; and from there he will probably come back
again, repeating the operation ad lib. But frequently
he slips away into the tempting Yale, which lies
mapped out like a green chessboard below ; and in
this case he invariably leaves nine-tenths of his
scarlet- coated followers behind. The Quorn have no
covert in their slip of the Belvoir Vale ; so a Holwell
Mouth fox taking the lower ground will either lead
them to Sherbrooke's Covert of the Duke's, or mount
the Hill again to the Curate, or round to, and through.
Old Dalby Wood. The latter is a thin, but well-
placed brake ; but foxes have not favoured it, or else
have been but little favoured, of late years ; for
though they will run through it they decline to reside
there. After Holwell Mouth the next neutral covert
is Saxelby Spinney, and then Grimston Corse — the
last named a fine covert, but with a railway cutting
in course of formation through it. All round
Grimston and Saxelby is a grand stiff grass country,
as fine as can be ridden over, and generally carrying
a rich scent.

Having now completed our brief sketch of the
geography of the Monday country, we may carry our

The Quorn, 79

pen across the Wreake for a few topographical
jottings anent tlie Quorn Fridays. Kirby Gate (or
rather, the site of the old toUbar) is the first, and
nearest, meet of the season. Custom says they ought
to come there for the opening day; and so, as is
right, they do. Later on, they save three miles by
making Great Dalby the rendezvous before pro-
ceeding to draw Gartree Hill. This famous thorn
covert of Mr. Hartopp^s (adjoining the Punchbowl
and others which he provides, all equally stocked,
for the Cottesmore) is situated quite in an extreme
corner of the Quorn territory. The Burton Flat
stretches out at its feet, with Stapleford Park, the
Whissendine, and many miles of grass beyond ; just
to the right is the hill of Little Dalby, with the
Punchbowl, Burrough Hill, and the cream of the
■Cottesmore behind these. At the back of Gartree
Hill again are the great ox-fenced pastures of Great
Dalby. Little wonder, then, that, with every
:advantage of preservation and situation, such great
and frequent runs should have been booked to this
covert, and the adjacent one of Sir Francis Burdett's
— another thick thorn fastness below Dalby Hill.
After a morning h.ere, hounds may be taken on to
draw Adams' Gorse, a little covert near Thorpe
Satchville, close to the Melton Steeplechase Course,
and with the best country in the hunt within hail.
Or, without stopping here, they will be thrown into
one of the great trio of coverts — Thorpe Trussels,
Ashby Pastures, and Cream Gorse. When these are
required for morning work, the meets will probably
Le Thorpe Satchville Hall, Ashby Folville, and

80 The Hunting Countries of England,

Gaddesby Hall, respectively. A narrow cliain of
plough (some two or three fields broad) embraces all
three coverts; but once clear, either to the north or
south, you will ride, in the best of company, over a
grass country that has no superior. Thorpe Trussels
is composed of some six or eight acres of dense thorn
growth^ Cream Gorse is a trifle bigger, with Ashby
Pastures in between, a tangled wood of about fifty
acres — each being about a mile from the other. To
run down by Ashby and Twyford, perhaps to Bag-
grave, John o^ Gaunt, or the Cottesmore Woods, with
a good scent and a start, is only so much short of
Elysium as your disposition is phlegmatic and your-
self out of place.

Another meet, with an ulterior view to Cream
Gorse, &c., is Brooksby Hall. It is also very fre-
quently fixed upon for the Thursday byedays; and
it has many little spinneys in its neighbourhood, to
which the smaller field of such days are often
taken for a find and a gallop. There are two
or three similar spinnies belonging to Rearsby,
besides the well sheltered little covert of Bleakmore
by the side of the Wreake. Beyond Gaddesby there is
Mr. Cheney^s new little covert ; then Queniboro^
Spinney, a well frequented plantation by the roadside ;
and beyond it we find ourselves at the great good
covert of Barkby Holt, and the newly grown gorse
attached — the village of Queniboro^ and Barkby Hall
being the places of meeting. When Barkby Hall is
advertised, the spinnies of Barkby Thorpe, and
perhaps those of Humberston, may be drawn before
proceeding to the Holt ; and, in the early part of the

The Quorn. 81

season especially^ they are more than likely to hold
foxes. Barkby Holt has for fifty years or more been
one of the tightest strongholds of the Friday country.
It is, like Ashby Pasture, a wood of perhaps fifty
acres, with great density of undergrowth, and, when
looked after as it has been during Mr. Brooks^ time,
is a nursery and never failing reservoir of foxes. It
stands in a district peculiarly known as the Barkby-
and- Scrapt oft- country j and is perhaps more gene-
rally popular among- the Quornites than any ground
in the Hunt. The greater proportion of farms in the
neighbourhood are grass in its purest and simplest
form; and the fences, not set very far from each
other, are all not only jumpable, but '^ cry out to be
jumped '' — so fair and clean and negotiable are they.
From Barkby Holt to Scraptoft Gorse is a twenty
minutes that will teach a four-year-old, or make an
octogenarian think himself as young as ever. Next
to Barkby is Baggrave — whose energetic owner is
never content with 07ie fox in six acres. By some
magic he tempts them, till we have seen five in succes-
sion break in February, from the Prince of Wales^
Covert. Hounds away in a moment with the last,
their original choice — the brook at the bottom of the
valley, only to be jumped here and there — five
hundred horsemen and the devil to pay — for they
hate that brook and three are in already ! ^Tis as
quick a scenting country as any in the Hunt, and in
five minutes you are in the Twyford country. A long
pair of spurs, the best horse in your stable (perhaps a
luncheon at the Hall), and it will come easy to you.
Such is Baggrave. The meet at Lowesby Hall, the

o

82 The Hunting Countries of England.

find Jolin o^ Gaunt, used to be mucli tlie same thing —
only the disagreeable element was in the ascendant,
for the Marfield Brook couldn't be jumped. Happily
they have changed that, bridged the chasm, and left
the road open for the line that has made John
o' Gaunt immortal — if only the new railway does not
spoil all. We are getting into a country now that
requires control over pen and pencil. The quill
jumps as to the spur, and comment and description
fling against the bit — remembering that often of late
they have been curbed to write the clumsiness of
plough as '' good sporting country,^' and to title slow
scenting fallows as "honest hunting ground.'^
Honest forsooth ! Is not every foot of soil turned by
the ploughshare sufpressio veri in its wickedest form ?
In front of John o' Gaunt are thousands of acres
which never grew a quartern loaf or brought grist to
any mill save the grazier's and the butcher's. Hounds
can run, and horses must gallop, if a fox will cross
the Twyford Brook to Burrough Hill, or thread the
brookside to Owston Wood. There is other country
as good in the Shires — for you can't go beyond
perfection ; but we have yet to ride over, or learn of,
better. No, not even from the Coplow of Billesdon,
or from Lord Moreton's covert at Cold Newton on the
way thither, superlative as is the ride across the
nullah-broken plains to Tilton Wood, or over the
smoother acres to Norton Gorse and Kibworth.
Billesdon Coplow is, perhaps, the best memorialised
landmark in the whole Quom country. It has had
its deserts in song and say during each era of master-
ship for generations past, and is still as prominent a

The Quorn. 83

feature in the sport — and tlie scenery — of tlie Hunt as
ever. Botany Bay, as tlie covert at its base is called,
gives forth foxes and runs as freely as in years gone
by. A mile or so away is Scraptoft_, with its hall of
hospitality, and its sterling gorse — another point from
which the Billesdon country is frequently pierced.
But whichever line foxes take from the Coplow or
from Scraptoft Gorse, they have strong good grass
over which to lead a Friday field. And this Quorn
Friday field is of numbers such as would horrify — or
even crush — any other hunt. Of course every man
who wears a Q. H. button on his coat, or lives on
Quorn soil, is there. So is everyone from the Cottes-
more who is within reach, and who has a horse to
bring out. Mr. Tailby^s followers all join in; and
even some of the Belvoir for the nearer meets. It is
the great day for Leicester ; and Eugby sends a
contingent by train. Of such a multitude of course
only a small minority ever catch a glimpse of hounds
at work. But all do not care about that. The country
is so wide, there are so many places where they
can jump, and so many gates that they can go
through, that it is easy enough for all to get about
— and so they do, enjoying themselves each in
his own way. But a Quorn Friday for the man who
loves hounds is pleasanter at four o'clock than at
twelve.

Adding that Mr. Warner has given the Hunt a
very promising young covert near Willoughby (in the
Monday country) ; that Beeby, Keyham, and Quenby
Hall are frequent Friday meets (Beeby for Barkby
Holt or Scraptoft Gorse, Keyham for Foxholes, and

G 2

84 The Hunting Countries of England.

Quenby for tlie Coplow) — and we liave done witli the
grass country of the Quorn.

Of the three alternative plans for hunting with the
Quorn^ we have hitherto considered only that of a
stud at MeltoUj and written only of that part of the
Quorn country of which Melton is the principal and
legitimate base. But from Leicester or Loughborough
you may be just as staunch a Quornite, and stick
even more closely to your colours — for you will not
have the same temptation or opportunity of leaving
them, to go elsewhere. Leicester will give you a
Thursday with Mr. Tailby (if you prefer it to a bye-
day with the pack in question) _, and an occasional
day with the Atherstone. From Loughborough you
may go out (if you think it good enough to abandon
the grass on Monday or Friday) with Lord Ferrers,
in the slip of country that has been lent him by the
Quorn. But from both towns you will in all proba-
bility attend all the four, or five, Quorn meets ; and
as few people, nowadays, go to either place with
horses for six days a week, you are most likely to
limit yourself altogether to the home pack. A quarter
of a century ago the Bell at Leicester was a great
resort of hunting-men. Lord Gardner, for instance,
made it his head quarters for years, and so did many
other leading Leicester shir e men . But Leicester in those
days was a small market town, knew nothing of cotton
hose, and had no chimneys higher than that of the
hotel. Now it is like a great ever-growing octopus —
stretching its brick and mortar limbs in every
direction and daily gathering more of the sacred soil
into its unhallowed grasp, while its black breath is

The Quorn. 85

wafted over half tlie country. But you may still get
your hunting from it_, and the accommodation is no
less complete than ever. And yet, to settle down
in the midst of a manufacturing town, with a view
to foxhunting, has something incongruous about it.
It doesn^t seem natural that the first mile or two of
your journey to covert should be past factories, work-
shops and trams ; still less that the last stage of your
return home should be enlivened by narrow escapes
from hansom cabs, while, perhaps, your muddy pink
and broken hat provide jest and jibe for unsympathis-
ing ^^ factory hands."*^ Loughborough is less than
three miles from the kennels ; so as regards distances
and journeys you are no worse off than the huntsman
(besides having the pull over him of being able to
choose your own pace). Loughborough is a quiet
little town — though yearning to swell itself out after
the manner of its big brother. Both are on the main
line of the Midland Railway — Leicester about two
hours and a quarter, Loughborough some three hours,
from St. Pancras.

The third alternative — viz., to take a hunting box,
away from the towns — recommends itself to many
people, especially such as, while wishing to spend
their season in a good country, are unwilling to bind
themselves down to hunting every day in the week.
A man must live somewhere ; so must his wife — and
children. And setting aside the mere accident of
his taste, surely the green lanes of Leicestershire are
to be preferred, for these others, even to the " salu-
brisome^' vicinity of Great Coram Street — still more
to the unhealthy miasma of upturned arable. He puts

86 The Hunting Countries of England,

it to himself (with the most satisfactory results)
whether his other half will not find an unlimited
source of enjoyment in the Shires. She does
not ride much, it is true ; but then she can drive to
the meets, and see as much society there in a morning
as she could elsewhere in a week. The advantage
is so evident, that he does not hesitate to appeal to
his cara sposa to endorse his conclusion, and is rather
startled to find that her delight somewhat hangs fire.
So he probably remembers that this is the very moment
he ought to have been out of doors with a cigar;
and a week afterwards has learned from his agents
that they cannot possibly find him a house elsewhere,
and that it would be madness to lose such an oppor-
tunity as the ^^ bijou residence within a few miles of
the Quorn kennels/^ &c. So of necessity he moves
down to Leicestershire for better — or for worse, if, a,
stranger to the country, he has been beguiled by
his agents into the depths of Chamwood Forest, as
being "in the heart of the Quorn country." If he
has avoided the latter fate, he is now on the spot, to
hunt according to his means — or beyond them. The
measure of horses he allows himself, eat no more here
than in an inferior country, while they give him in-
finitely more fun. As for the days he stops at home,
he is to be pitied if he cannot find occupation in the
resources at his command. At Melton, on the other
hand (at all events as an unprotected bachelor), a.
day's absence from the hunting field — the weather
being open — will not only be prolonged agony in
itself, but an evening among more fortunate comrades
cannot but oppress and mortify the spirit — kindly^

The Quorn. 87

thougli they may strive to ignore the happy bursty
with which they are glowing still.

Tuesday and Saturday are essentially and re-
spectively the days for Leicester and Loughborough
only. Leicester often sends out a strong representa-
tive body — chiefly citizens, for Leicester has com-
paratively few visitors now; and these citizens are
of various degree, the variety being more broadly
marked as the meet is nearer the burgh. The haute
nohlesse of the city is well mounted, fairly caparisoned,
and anxious to be " High Leicestershire '' in all its
prowess and appointment. The middle ten, and
squires of lower degree, make up a field that will
challenge comparison unabashed with that of the other
side of the county — and, doubtless, when meeting
near the town, Tom Firr has instituted more than one
happy comparison, under his breath. It is at one or
two of the best Tuesday fixtures that Leicester is
most fully represented. A wedge of country runs
southward from Leicester, cutting in between the
Atherstone and Mr. Tailby ; and with excellent gTass
on either side. Narborough Cross Eoads is the best
meet in this outlying strip ; and from the osier bed of
Narborough Bogs, whenever a fox can escape the
joint difficulties of road, river, and railway, a capital
gallop is to be had. Erom Cosby Spinnies, too (the
southernmost point of the Quorn country), many a
good Hne has been struck into the neighbouring
countries ; and the same may be said of the Enderby
Spinnies. After drawing these they have no choice
but to move on by Braunston towards the Forest.
In this direction (west of Leicester and bordering on

88 The Hunting Countries of England,

the Atherstone) are meets at Kirby Muxloe, Eatby
Burrows,, &c., from wliicli tliey draw Martinsliaw
"Wood and a cliain of woods northwards — tlie best
result that can ensue being a trip into the Atherstone
kingdom. Failing this they probably find themselves
amid the ruins^ rocks, and rabbit holes of Bradgate
Park, or the woods and quarries of Swithland. If
Charnwood Forest now exists only in name, its former
whereabouts is unmistakeable. Nothing but forest
has a right to occupy those wild rugged hills that
run from Bradgate nearly to Grace dieu. Clearly
they must have been a landslip from far Derbyshire
into Leicestershire, for they have no place in a county
that the world generally believes to consist of flat
grass. Rather we expect to see Charnwood Forest
again when we hunt with the wild stag in Somerset-
shire. And yet Firr^s horn sounds not less merrily
here than in the open; nor do hounds dash after
their game with diminished vigour. Foxes are killed
here more certainly than under the baffling presence
of a crowd. The same good hounds and the same
good horses take their turn as on the grass ; for Mr.
Coupland hunts the better country and the inferior
with impartial hearty earnestness. And yet in ad-
vising the [stranger, we shall not err much in saying
that fifty pounds will carry him nearly as well in the
Forest as a hundred and fifty — except that, if hounds
slip over the border to the Atherstone, twenty
minutes may possibly put that hundred pounds
difference them and him. The Forest is a fine scenting
ground, and invaluable for educating hounds — at
least in such parts as are available for the early

The Quorn. 89

Imnting. Bradgate Rmns, Newtown Linford, Ansty
and Grooby Pool are three meets all with one intent;
then we have Swithland Slate Quarries, Woodhouse
Eaves, Ulverscroft, &c. — all in the Forest. Copt
Oak is for Bardon Wood and Charley Wood, and
thence on into the Outwoods — Lord Ferrers^ holding
beginning where the Forest ends. Beaumanor is the
meet nearest to home, except the kennels themselves,
which have Quorn Wood as a standing dish close by.
The Quorn Saturdays range from immediately
round Loughborough northwards to the Nottingham
end of the country. The scene is laid on ground
that, though apart from the Forest is on the other
hand blessed with but little of the Leicestershire
specialty, turf. Here and there a smattering is to be
found, but on the whole this district is very Notting-
ham-like in character and appearance. It contains
many good coverts, is well preserved and vigorously
hunted, but as a country to ride over it's uninteresting
— dull, in fact, as dry bread on a thirsty morning.
Hounds travel well over many parts; but the chief
merit of its cold ploughs lies in the necessity of
their putting their heads down — thus eradicating any
ill effects consequent on a previous day's temptation on
the grass. Down the valley of the Soar there are indeed
some very pretty meadows, over which, when meet-
ing at Cotes Tollbar (just outside Loughborough)
a fox may possibly travel from the spinney between
river and railway. If they do not find there, Stan-
ford Park is usually the next order — and here they
are sure to find game. On the other side of Lough-
borough they have Hathern Turn and Dishley Grange,

90 The Hunting Countries of England.

for Oakley Wood and Piper Wood ; Garendon Park,
too, with Burleigli Wood close handy. Prestwold
Park generally has foxes in it; while the meets of
Rempstone and Wymeswonld refer to Hoton Spinney
and the New Coverts for their first fox. Wysall on
the cards means Bunny Park and the wooded ridge
adjoining — and a prayer that the wind will not blow
you over the Leak Hills. Widmerpool^ though we
have included it in Monday^ s meets has frequently
been named for Saturday — in which case more than
one Meltonian will forsake the Belvoir, on the chance
of " the Curate '' in the afternoon.

The Cottesmore. 91

THE COTTESMORE.*

For the truest sporty tlie straightest foxes^ for per-
fection of country, for long runs and fast runs,
commend us to tlie wild pastures of tlie Cottesmore,
A wide spread region scarcely inhabited; ground
that carries a scent in all weathers ; woodlands which
breed a travelling race; and mile upon mile of un-
tracked grass,, where a fox will meet nothing more
terrifying than a bullock — no wonder, then, the
finest runs of the season are with the Cottesmore ;
that more hard riders and grand horses are present
when Eanksboro^ is drawn than are ever mustered
elsewhere; or that the Punchbowl and Stapleford
are names to make us stir in our chairs, even in this
listless early August. Surely, if the hunting field
can ever claim comparison with the field of chivalry,
if ever the doings of the chase can be reckoned with
the daring deeds of tournament or joust, it is when
three hundred of the best men of the present day
sit down to keep the Cottesmore bitches in sight on a
scenting morning. Head and hand, heart and horse-
flesh, are the first requisites. Some practice, and

♦ " Stanford's Railway and Hunting Map, "sheets 9, 10, 15, 16.

92 The Hunting Countries of England.

much, self-confidence, are almost as necessary. Depend
upon it, tlie leaders liave all tliese ; with, a keen eye,
a quick pulse, and no little enthusiasm (perhaps a
shade of ambition) besides. But the present articles
are meant to form a matter-of-fact, and doubtless
dry, directory; so our sketch of the Cottesmore must
be cut in as clear and naked outline as we can.

First of all, it is necessary to tell you that, if you
are to look at the country through the medium of
Stanford's maps, you must provide yourself with no
less than four sheets (Nos. 9, 10, 15, and 16), as the
Cottesmore have the misfortune to fall at the junction
of the four. Another shilling will give you one of
W. H. Smith's Reduced Ordnance Maps of Leicester,
or Peterboro', and its environs; and five minutes
work will suffice for inking off the boundaries of the
Cottesmore as pourtrayed (more, or less, correctly)
by Mr. Stanford's draughtsman. The gentleman in
question, it will be noticed, after getting safely over
the Whissendine, stopped short at the little stream
under Leesthorpe, and declined to include even
Stapleford Park, Berry Gorse, and Mr. Hartopp's
riverside plantations. If we mistake not, the Piver
Eye (lower down being the Wreake) carries the
boundary of the Cottesmore to Melton Mowbray, to
meet the Belvoir and the Quorn. At any rate in th.e
corner between the Melton and Oakham Poad and
the Piver Eye you will go with no other hounds,
unless on a marauding expedition.

The Cottesmore country is not exactly easy to
describe and classify. Perhaps we may best divide it
as follows, viz., into three longitudinal sections, terming

The Cottesmore. 93

them respectively the Melton country, tlie Oakham or
middle country, and the woods. For two days and
the best two days in their week Melton is an admirable
base. Oakham is in the very middle of the country
and commands every meet; while if some vagary of
fancy should prompt you to take stabling at Stamford
you are on the spot for the woodlands. Concerning
Melton we have already spoken. Oakham is held by
its patrons to be facile princeps as a centre for sport ;
for, besides holding' good all the Cottesmore meets,
it is within reach of a Quorn Friday, an occasional
Belvoir Saturday, and a day once a fortnight with
Mr. Tailby. But it is, of course, essentially in con-
nection with the Cottesmore that Oakham recommends
itself — offering such a fill of wild and varied hunting
that a man need go no farther afield, in quest of
change. The Cottesmore country, indeed, is the one
of all others where a hard riding well mounted lover
of foxhunting may best enjoy himself. It is here
that foxhunting is to be seen in its wildest truest
form ; but to see it a man 77iust ride hard, and to ride
hard (and successfully) he must, as we have said, be
more than fairly mounted. As regards Stamford, we
doubt if any one ever fixes upon it as a hunting
quarter, though it is about as near London as either
Melton or Oakham, and commands as much of the
Fitzwilliam as it does of the Cottesmore. All three
places are situate on the line between Leicester and
Peterboro^, and can thus be reached either by the Mid-
land or Great Northern, in three to three and a half
hours. All three, also, are quiet market towns. Apart
from hunting, they were evidently of more importance

94 The Hunting Countries of England.

in coacliing days thaii now ; and all are replete with
accommodation for man, and for beasts to any
number.

The western half of the Cottesmore territory (in-
cluding what we shall term the Melton, and most of
the Oakham country) is not only the better moiety,
but in our opinion reaches a higher standard than
any tract of ground we know. There are woods of
manageable size providing the stoutest of foxes in
fullest abundance, while, on every side alike, hill and
plain offer the same staunch scenting grass, and a
bold fox cannot choose a bad line. Exception is
sometimes taken to the severity of the hills in certain
parts, such as the neighbourhood of Tilton, Launde,
Lodington, and Tugby. They certainly test a horse ;
but we have never seen hounds run over them so
quickly, but that well bred horses could live with
them. And, again, foxes seldom cling long to the
higher and rougher ground — preferring rather to go
for their lives over the smoother country. Then it is
that the grand flying runs of the Cottesmore take
place. It seldom happens that there is not scent
enough to carry hounds along ; and so, once in the
open, on fair terms with their fox, they are pretty
sure to make a run, of merit more or less. "An old
and well established pack, they have had great
attention paid to them of late years. Quick, deter-
mined, and persevering, they can burst a fox or work
him to death, as scent and circumstance allow.
And theirs is a country in which they have scope
to do it.

It is on Tuesdays and Saturdays that they are in

The Cottesmore. 95

what we liave denominated tlieir Melton country,
"being tlie westernmost strip, running down from
Melton and Stapleford till it joins Mr. Tailby^s at
Skeffington and AUexton. (Curiously enough, tlie
river Eye marks for a short distance this northern
"boundary, while the Eye Brook marks the southern,
from Allexton to the Welland.)

On Thursdays, too, they are often attainable from
Melton in their middle country, from Market Overton
southwards.

In treating of the geography of the country, we
will take the meets and coverts in order, more in
regard to their distance from Melton and Oakham,
than in connection with the day of the week to which
they belong. For Tuesdays and Saturdays often
point to a similar district, while the Saturdays
alternate between the extreme south and north of
this Melton country — the Cottesmore and the Belvoir
taking it in turn to hold their Saturday close to the
metropolis.

It has to be noted, too, that Mr. Stanford's topo-
grapher painted his boundaries previous to the re-
claiming by the Cottesmore of their loan to Mr.
Tailby, whose country may now be described as
coming no further north than Skeffington, Allexton
and Stockerston.

The nearest meets, and almost always chosen for
this last-named day, are Wyld's Lodge, Stapleford
Bedehouses, and Leesthorpe. Wyld's Lodge has the
little covert of Berry Gorse close at hand, with Mr.
Hartopp's plantations to follow, and Stapleford Park
as ih.Q jpiece de resistance; and Stapleford Bedehouses

96 The Hunting Countries of England,

jnsLj be said to offer the same memc in inverted order.
The former meet is between two and three miles
from Melton ; while Stapleford Bedehouses and Park
is about four. In the Park is the Pond Plantation,
fertile of good runs, but requiring every sense on the
watch for a start. A minute^ s delay in hitting off the
nearest gateway in the ring fence ; and you may not
see hounds again till you learn that they have had '^a
screaming forty minutes and a kill.-'^ Just outside
the Park is Laxton^s covert, with a famous stream
flowing just below — jumpable in most places, but
varying deceptively. By the way, there are two
brooks running parallel to each other hereabouts.
They cannot both be the Whissendine, though they
have been made one by confusion, and termed the
Whissendine indiscriminately. Belonging to adja-
cent valleys, they have generally been taken for a
single twisting watercourse; and the Whissendine
accordingly jumped twice as often. In truth, the
stream below Laxton^s Covert is not the veritable
brook of history and song; which, on the contrary,
runs through the village of Whissendine, before it,
also, joins the Eye. In the splendid line from
Laxton^s Covert to Panksboro^ — which, in part or
whole, forms a frequent happy feature in a season in
the Melton country — you will cross both streams, if
you are lucky enough, and good enough, to achieve
the feat. The Whissendine, indeed, is in few places
half as terrible as it is painted. Yet have we often
seen its turgid waters dammed (Printer, play us not
false with the spelling) by struggling men and
horses; and its very reputation makes the ordinary

The Cottesmore, 97

rider look round for a lead as lie approaclies its
banks.

Leesthorpe (five miles on tke Oakkam road) for
the meetj leaves it open to proceed to Stapleford
Park, or to turn towards Little Dalby and tlie
Punchbowl. If the plantations (Wheathills, &c.)
round Dalby Hall do not hold_, the Punchbowrs snug
nest is sure to be full of foxes. Then away over
Burrough Hill to Twyford, Somerby, Owston, or
where you will — sharp descents and steep ascents at
first, then all smooth sailing and a perfect country.
If your morning fox does not carry you to the woods
of Owston, you will probably seek one for the after-
noon at Ranksboro^ Gorse — of which you have heard
if ever you have heard of hunting. Below the
sloping hill the level plain stretches across to the
woods of Burley. To the left equally fine grass leads
to Whissendine or Ashwell. To the right are Orton
Park and Owston Woods, with their surroundings of
turf unlimited; while behind are Somerby, Pickwell
and the Punchbowl, with all that is inviting on the
way. To make Eanksboro^ a morning draw, Langham
is the usual fixture. And now we move on to more
extensive coverts — the chain of medium-sized woods,
which, if in themselves not altogether without their
drawbacks, yet in our humble opinion are the making
of the Cottesmore country. You may not be fond of
slushing through rides that occasionally take you in
to the girths, and now and again cost you even an
extra horse ; and you may have a still greater objec-
tion to discovering that for the last half hour you
have been straining every nerve to keep at least in

H

98 The Hunting Countries of England.

hearing of what turn out to be but two odd couple,
while the body of the pack is miles away. But you
forget all this when at last your turn comes to be
with hounds as they issue forth for one of the long
straight runs that belong only to a wild country and
woodland bred foxes. Orton Park Wood (some fifty
acres at the most) is one of the fairest samples of the
Hunt. It is generally called upon in immediate
sequence to an appeal to the hospitable precincts of
Knossington Hall. There are always foxes at Orton
Park Wood, and nearly always a run from it —
whether over the half drained pastures towards
Braunston or Barleythorpe, or on to Prior^s Coppice
or its neighbours, or by Ranksboro^ to any other
good point. Lady Wood forms a link with the
larger woods of Owston, distant a smart five minutes'
gallop. Owston Great Wood and Little Wood
together are a couple of miles in length ; but nowhere
much more than a quarter of a mile in breadth.
There is little undergrowth, but a hearty welcome
has ever made the fastness sweet in vulpine eyes ;
and foxes are more often found by the half dozen.
Hounds rattle through it like wildfire, slip away from
it at the most unexpected point, and to make sure of
a start with them is looked upon in the Hunt as a
problem little short of squaring the circle. Owston
Wood is often advertised as a meet; but from one
point or another it is seldom left undrawn for a week.
With a fox breaking back to Launde Wood there
need not necessarily be a run, though there often will
be. But let him go for the Quorn covert of John o'
Gaimt, for the Twyford or Burrough lordships, and

The Cottesmore. 99

there must be a gallop^ passing fair and fast. Some
two miles east of Owston Wood is another hundred-
acre brake known as Prior^s Coppice,, for which
Brook Hall or Leigh Lodge may be the meet^ and
round which a grand country circles to Oakham,
Manton, and Belton. From here too the smaller
copse of Oakham Pasture, and Manton Gorse, form
either a second draw, or tempting points to fix a
fox^s course.

At the back of Owston Wood, and running parallel
with it a couple of miles away, are Launde Wood and
Launde Park Wood — each being deep rided, extensive,
and well stored with foxes. Eough hills contain, and
surround, these great coverts; and to post yourself at
one spot with a view to getting away with hounds is
merely accepting a hundred to one chance. You
must wade the rides, or scramble through the thin
undergrowth with hounds and huntsman. Then will
you break into the open with them ; and follow a fox
that will hang nowhere till he is lost, or his mask is
at the saddle. For the foxes of these grass wood^
lands (as we may term them, in contradistinction to
the still bigger coverts of their eastern ploughs) love
the open hills; and it is seldom their fault if they
do not give a gallop. Pound the parishes of Tugby,
Belton, and Allexton there is a great grass country ;
or your line may be struck in the Melton direction.
In the latter case you either run on towards the
Quorn country (perhaps John 0^ Gaunt), or find
yourself cutting through (seldom dwelling in) another
cluster of woods — to wit Skefiington and Tilton Woods,
Tugby Bushes, Loddington Redditch, and several of

H 2

100 The Hunting Countries of England.

minor growth. Deep dells, and lofty hills, hard climb-
ing, continual energy and increasing movement, are
the characteristics of this rough region and the cue
for your conduct. A pony might show you all that
takes place till the woods are suddenly quitted. Then
you need the best horse your banker will find you^
the best years of your youth, and a belief that most
fences are to be jumped when the pace is good. For
the Skeffington neighbourhood requires a dash and
determination, a fling* and a de^dlment, that are not
called for in a more sober sphere — though that sphere
be grass as quick scenting and one whereon hounds
can fly as quick as here. For the fences of this dis-
trict are just to be done — if the horse has all the best
and boldest qualities of a true Leicestershire hunter,
and the man is the pick of Melton or Market Har-
borough. Even then, he will have to turn aside now
and again; for the bottoms which thread the valleys
are not to be taken as they offer themselves ; and the
wide-built oxers are not to be trifled with, when
twenty minutes up-and-down these green hills has
taken the steel out of even a thoroughbred. Launde
Abbey will be the meet for the good Launde Woods,
and Loddington Hall and Tilton Wood will generally
be named for the woods adjacent. Still further south
we have Beaumont Chase as a fixture for Wardley
Wood and Stoke End. A sixteen or seventeen miles^
ride to covert recommends itself but indifferently to
Meltonian taste ; and, were Wardley Wood anything
but what it is, the journey would seldom be made.
But such a covert, whose wide turf rides are almost
as carefully preserved as its breed of strong wild foxes.

The Cottesmore. 101

may well draw men from a distance — wlien a reward
may await tliem like the run of last season_, to Lees-
tliorpe and halfway back (a three hours^ gallop, and
of course a change of foxes). All round Wardley is
a strong country ; and the best line, perhaps, is one
that will land you at Prior ^s Coppice.

Turning now to their Oakham, or middle country,
by which term we have denominated the centre strip,
running north and south past Oakham, we hnd that
hounds are usually in it on Thursdays; and that it
embraces such a variety of feature, as to include light
easy grass, small gorse coverts, big woodlands and a
wide extent of plough. The Bull at Witham Common
and Crown Point are the northernmost meets; and
may probably mean Gunby Gorse, whence a fox may
come westwards for the grass, but is more likely to
travel the light plough into the big woods of Witham
or Morkery, and land you therein for the afternoon.
If, however, a fair wind blows him to Woodwell
Head, you may forthwith be embarked on quite a
different campaign. Some of the prettiest ground in
the Hunt is the timber-fenced vale that stretches
below Woodwell Head (which, by the way, is a neat
small wood of great attraction to foxes). The land
here would seem to be more suited to the placid
Leicester ewe, or, at most, the heavy milch cow —
rather than to the restless shorthorn bullock — for the
rails which go to make up the greater proportion of
the fences are thin as hurdles and brittle as touch-
wood. So the faintest heart may travel in confidence
till the Vale of Catmose changes its mood, as it is
sure to do in a few miles to south or west. Then let

102 The Hunting Countries of England.

him be sure of liimself, and of his mount — or a sudden
reaction may take the place of the lately acquired
boldness. Stocken Hall is another Thursday meet;
and apropos of Morkery Wood it may be instanced
that the four litters with which it is this year
credited, are no more than its usual complement.
Witham Wood is, like Morkery, a splendid covert for
teaching young hounds : and it has, moreover, the
character of being one of the best scenting coverts in
the Cottesmore country — hounds being able to run
hard through it in any weather. Market Overton,
Teigh and Ashwell are also often named for Wood-
well Head and Cottesmore Gorse, and a run over the
valley to Eanksboro' is again the thing to wish for.
From Market Overton a string of plantations are
found under the hill running down to Burley, and
likely to carry a fox on to that stronghold. The
big wood of Burley is, like Wardley, celebrated for
its sound open rides, and its store of foxes. The
latter when disturbed are most likely to move forward
to Barnsdale Wood, Hambleton Wood, and perhaps
on to Normanton Park or to Ext on Park. At Ext on are
the two good coverts of Cottesmore Wood and Tunby
Wood. At Normanton the coverts are small, and
after Christmas so open that foxes are apt to move
elsewhere. At Greetham Inn are drawn other wood-
land coverts of Mr. Finches, stretching up to the
Pickwell and Holywell Woods, which, again, belong
to Mr. Birch Eeynardson, another staunch fox pre-
server. These are especially valuable for cubhunting
— as, while holding plenty of cubs, there is always
other game afoot, and every opportunity afforded of

The Cottesmore. 103

impressing discrimination on tlie young entry. At
tlie extreme south of this middle country are the
meets of Luffenham and Ketton Hall. Luffenham
Heath is another great stronghold for foxes, and
right well cared for ; but is held to be a curiously bad-
scenting covert. Wakerly Woods, which adjoin, are
the property of the Marquis of Exeter, and neutral
with the Fitzwilliam, and they enjoy the reputation
of being usually short of foxes. At Ketton is a range
of old workings known as The Pitts, wherein foxes
can get to ground at any time. Of the Thursday
country (and applying to the Cottesmore territory in
toto) it may be added that very little grass will be
found to the east of Woodwell Head : while east of
Luffenham we get on to light stony plough, whereon
stone walls in a great measure supplant the black-
thorn.

The eastern woodlands of the Cottesmore are very
extensive, and occupy almost entirely their Mondays
and Wednesdays. On these days they hunt as far
eastward as the fens of Lincolnshire will allow, their
country in this direction being limited only by the
impracticable form (as far as hunting is concerned)
into which it here lapses. Thus the great Car Dyke,
passing through Bourn, may be said to be the
boundary of operations on this side. Without dwell-
ing at great length on the features of their woodlands,
we may mention that among the more distant meets
is Manthorpe, for Dikey Wood and Thurlby Park
Wood — two sure finds. The foxes of this neighbour-
hood are well taken care of by the sporting farmers of
the district. On the other side of the town we have

104 The Hunting Countries of England.

Bourn Wood_, one of tlie largest coverts in tlie hunt,
and in great favour during cubliunting. Part of
this, including Oscar Wood_, belongs to Lady
Willoughby, and the remainder to Lord Exeter.
From here, in fact, runs a great range of woodland to
the north, and, passing through Elsthorpe Springs,
we get to Dunsby Wood, which is neutral between
the Cottesmore and the Belvoir. Grimsthorpe Castle
is another Wednesday meet (the extreme east of the
country being more often hunted on that day) ; the
coverts in the park are a sure find ; the park itself is
four miles in length, and hounds often race along it
from end to end — delighting in the oasis of grass.
For all this portion of the Cottesmore country a stout,
short-legged horse is to be recommended; and he
•must be able to jump, or he will certainly fathom some
of the wide drains which he will have to encounter.
Heavy plough is the prevailing feature of the soil ; and
in a wet season hounds can carry a good head over it
and account for their foxes ; but in a dry winter it is
difficult ground to work over with success. Corby
Bircholm for the Witham Woods and the other big
coverts just below (and to most of which we have
already alluded) is usually a Monday meet. Castle
Bytham and Little By tham Kennels are for the woods
of Morkery and the coverts running south to Clip-
sham, which place — together with Holywell Hall and
Greetham Inn — is for the Holywell Woods, Pickworth
Wood, the Twin Woods, and the coverts round Exton
Park; while Tickencote Hall is, perhaps, their
southernmost Monday fixture. Uffington and Case-
wick (for Lord Kesteven^s and Lord Lindsay^s coverts

The Cottesmore. 105

near Stamford) take tliem to tlie most distant of their
Wednesday ground.

Tlie following " official '^ document may be of
interest, as setting *fortli tlie limits, and something of
the history of the Hunt :

Boundaries of the Cottesmore Hunt, 1842, when the Earl of
Lonsdale gave up the country :

To the East, as far as practicable.

To the South, it is bounded by the Kiver "Welland as far as
Duddington, it then extends to the Wakerley Woods, joining the
Welland and Harringworth, which again divides the country as
far as Rockingham.

To the West, the Brook that runs from Rockingham to
Allexton is the division ; Allexton Wood is neutral ; the remain-
ing part of the West side of the country is marked by the
boundaries of the Lordships of East Norton, Tugby, Skeffington,
Tilton Newton, Marefield and Quorn (?). These Lordships are
all in the Cottesmore country with the exception of the coverts on
Newton Hills which are neutral.

The North, the Lordships of Little Dalby, Burton Lazars,
Stapleford, Wymondham, Sewstern, Gunby, Stainby, Colster-
worth, are in the Cottesmore ; the road that runs between Easton
and AVitham Woods to Irnham village divides the country ; the
Burton Woods, Easton Wood and Pasture, Bitchfield, Osgaby
Coppice, Irnham Old Park Wood, Stol-e Park Wood, Butley Hall,
Kaishy, Kirkby, Aslackby, and Dunsby Wood being neutral.

In 1807, Lord Sherard made a covert in Stainby conditionally,
that it should be hunted alternately by the Cottesmore and
Belvoir Packs.

On the 11th March, 1822, it was agreed by Lord Forester on
he part of the Duke of Rutland and Colonel Lowther on the
part of Lord Lonsdale, that Stoke Park Wood, Kirkby and
Aslackby Woods, should be given up to the Belvoir Hunt.

Sir Wniiam Lowther (afterwards 1st Earl of Lonsdale) lived

106 The Hunting Countries of England,

at Ufl&ngton, when married in 1781, resided there three or four
years, and then took Stocken, where the present Lord was born,
he remained there till 1796. The late Earl kept harriers when at
Uffington, and at the Duke of Ancaster's death converted them
into foxhounds ; and made rides which still exist in Bourn,
Kirkby, Aslackby, Grimsthorpe, Bulby Hall, and Dunsby Wood ;
when Lord Lonsdale's hounds were sold, the l:*edigree of his Pack
went back 130 years.

Mr. Smith, of Edmondthorpe, kept a Pack of Foxhounds (no
date to this memorandum.)

The Puekeridge, 107

THE PUCKERIDGE.*

Accessibility from London is a point that we liave
endeavoured to keep in mind in referring to eacli of
the countries hitherto considered. Our sphere has^ how-
ever, so far, lain beyond the scope of a day^s hunting
from Town : and accordingly can only have had interest
for men desirous of planting themselves where at
least a month of hunting may be attained, to the
oblivion of all minor, or (may we say it ?) more sordid
pursuits. But there exists a large body of ardent
sportsmen, who can only take their recreation by the
day ; who can only break in upon their week of labour
by extra work on five days, that they may secure the
sixth for a holiday ; and who have also, by nature or
by effort of will, the power to absorb themselves for
a few short hours in the thrilling incidents of fox-
hunting, and yet afterwards to recover mind and
thought from the thraldom, the moment they return
to office or re-enter chambers. The faculty is be-
gotten, of course, of necessity : and the credit is due
to circumstances, and to the sporting spirit which
makes the best of a situation. The man is fond of

Vide " Stanford's Railway and Hunting Map," sheet 16.

108 The Hunting Countries of England,

hunting and lie must liave it — yet must subordinate
tis passion to a mainer object. So only a day can be
stolen bere and there — wbile stocks and shares^ briefs
and patients, demand all bis existence before tbe
world. To sucb a man a country recommends itself,
tbat will give bim bonest sport between breakfast and
dinner, and allow bim a steam covert back for bis
morning and evening ride. He may keep a couple of
borses on tbe spot ; but be bimself must snatcb an
early breakfast, finisb tbe bows of bis leathers in a
bansom, and witb a cigarette, tbe Times, and a beart
full of bope, work out tbe next bour not altogether
uncomfortably in a soft-cushioned railway carriage.

Within easy morning^s rail of London is the Pucke-
ridge Hunt — with an old-established and excellent
pack, and a sporting, if not a brilliant country. Here
a man may see a great deal of genuine bunting, with-
out any great primary outlay in horseflesh, and with-
out having to encounter greater risk to life and limb
than is consistent with steady business habits and an
increasing family. The Puckeridge country is,
generally speaking, plough. A grass field may be
seen here and there, but has a foreign look amid the
many miles of tillage. Like most other arable, the
soil will carry a scent best when wet ; and when wet
it is, of course, less pleasant riding. But a fox
generally leaves sign enough to ensure bimself a hard
pressed journey ; and the Puckeridge are not behind
their neighbours in accounting for their game. A
horse that can move steadily on, through dirt and
difficulty, is the animal to ride here — one that will
trot and canter all day, that will squeeze through a

The Puekeridge. 109

hole in a thick dark bullfinch without dashing your
face into the thorn s_, that will crawl over a bank and
scramble in and out of the wide ditch beyond — and
at all times take the office from his master. A rash
impetuous horse will quickly break his own back, and
possibly his confiding owner^s neck — except, it may
be, in the eastern strip of the country, or in a foray
into the Ruthins of the Essex, where the fences are
low and unbanked, and may be taken in a fly by a
vigorous jumper.

Bishop^ s Stortford and Buntingford are the two
quarters where horses can best be stationed, to hunt
with the Puckeridge. Buntingford is more in the
centre of the country; but Bishop^s Stortford is
easier reached from Town, and is nearer to the present
kennels. Furneuse Pelham is the actual centre spot
of the Hunt, and nearly a century ago was chosen by
Mr. Calvert for his kennels ; but it would nowadays
scarcely answer the purpose of a base for the hunting-
man running down from London. Mr. Parry kept
his hounds at Albury ; and Mr. Gosling, the present
Master, has built kennels at Manewden, between
three and four miles from Bishop^ s Stortford. From
Liverpool Street Station it is but an hour^s journey by
the Great Eastern to Bishop^ s Stortford ; and, accord-
ing to present arrangements, a train leaving London
at 9.10 slips a carriage at the latter place at 10.8 —
which should allow you time to reach all the nearer
meets. For the wider fixtures you will, of course,
have to break your fast sooner, and take an earlier
train.

The Puckeridge hunt three days a week, Monday,

110 The Hunting Countries of England,

Wednesday, and Saturday : and Mr. Gosling adds a
frequent bye day — indeed, after Cliristmas, Friday is
almost always included in the programme of tlie
week.

Monday is taken up essentially witli tlie home
country ; and its limits may be said to be marked
(though not imperatively) — on the west by the road
leading from Ware to Barkway, on the east by the
old London-and- Cambridge turnpike road, which runs
almost alongside the railway.

Some of the chief Monday draws (and all very
sure finds) are Maddams, Hadham Park coverts,
Patmore Hall, Hormead Park, Turks, and The
Hammels. Maunden Mill or Thorley Wash will be
the meet for Maddams ; The Angel Inn, Little
Hadham, or Patmore Heath for Hadham Park;
Barkway or the Pelhams for Hormead, and often
Standon for The Hammels (which coverts, again,
consisting of park plantations and copses, are not
unf requently drawn on a Saturday) . All this Monday
country is of a very cramped character ; and to creep
your fences slowly must be the order of your going,
if you would cross it at all successfully. And the
Hadham district especially merits the description.

On Wednesdays they move over to the east of this
London-and- Cambridge road for their Widdington
country and the neutral Forest; or else work the
extreme north of their territory, above a line drawn
from, say, Barkway to Saffron Walden. In the
former district they meet at Debden Cross, Peverelle
and Widdington, for Rowney and Widdington Woods,
two fine coverts bordering on the Thaxted country

The Puekeridge, 111

— whicli (thougli witliin tlie boundaries of tlie Essex)
presents a tempting arena for Puekeridge foxes, when
these woods do themselves justice. Of late years,
however, -'tis said, the pheasants have taking to
crowing so loud that they have somewhat interfered
with bold Eeynard-'s comfort ; and he is not so often
found at home as is to be wished. For the Thaxted
district, though plough, has all the good qualities of
'^ the Euthins '' — to wit, good scenting soil, low thorn
fences which may be charged anywhere (the faster
the better, if you would clear the wide deep ditches
beyond), and which nowhere obstruct the rider^s view
of hounds as they run over the broad open fields.

Takeley Forest, on the contrary, is a splendid
instance of hearty and unselfish fox-preserving. It
is neutral between the Puekeridge and the Essex,
and yet there is always game enough for both — as
may be gathered from the fact that the former pack
killed four brace of foxes from it last season. Mr.
J. Archer-Houblon no longer hunts himself, though
he was formerly co-partner with Messrs. Parry and
W. Wigram: for some years they had the pack
between them, till Mr. Parry bought the shares of
the other two gentlemen. From Takeley you will
expect, or rather hope, to run into the Essex Euthins.
Sir Eichard Sutton (no mean authority) gave it as
his opinion that the Euthins were " the best plough
land in England ; '' and, in our humble way, we are
far from wishing to contradict him. In the Euthins
you can always see hounds at their work, and you
may always ride to them, fast and freely and wide
of their backs. If you drop into the ditches, you

112 The Hunting Countries of England.

should liave a sovereign in your pocket for tlie assist-
ance of a plough team ; but with the pace well on,
and the spurs well in to a sticky one. Providence
will generally help you over the Ruthins. Elsdenham
is another capital meet on a Wednesday ; for East
End, a fine holding covert of Mr. Gilby^s, who, while
renting the shooting, does ample duty by foxhunting.
" Birchanger '' gives Birchanger Wood : and other
coverts yet to be named are Quendon, Broom Wood,
Ugley (or Oakley) Park, and Alsa Wood. To the
north are various woodlands — among them Langley
High Wood, Roughway, Clavering Park, Scales
Park, Cheshall Wood, and EarFs Wood. In the
extreme south Stanstead is more often chosen for
a Wednesday, though often included also in a
Saturday's bill of fare.

The Saturday or western country may be said to
extend from Wade's Mill northwards to Royston,
going westward (as will be seen from the map) as far
as Watton, and, higher up, a little beyond Walkern
and Wallington. Its leading coverts are Sacombe,
Coombe Wood, Bennington High Wood, St. John's
Wood (an excellent stand-by), Broadfield and Friars
Woods, and the small coverts at Clothall — also
Sandon Row, Reed Wood, and Capons Wood (this
last seldom without a fox). From Friar's Wood,
some thirty years ago, Mr. Parry (to whom, by the
way, the high standard of the Puckeridge pack is
entirely owing) had his most celebrated hunt. To
this day he calls it " my run." It ended in his fox
getting to ground, in view, at Sandy Warren, between
Cambridge and Woburn. Some of the Saturday

The Puekeridge. 113

meets are N'ut]iampstead_, Old Hall Green, Layston
Cliiircli (a favourite fixture, witli tlie Capons in view),
Throcken (for Friar^s Broadfield, &c.), Munden, and
Bennington, with occasionally Watton for tlie Ware
district. Box Wood and Aston Bury in tlie extreme
west are neutral coverts with the Hertfordshire, for
which Walkern is a frequent meet.

For a byeday, Hunsdon, Great Hadham (or Much
Hadham, as it is called in the language of the county),
and occasionally Standon, are usually chosen — with
coverts at Eastwick, Plashes, Blake''s Bushes (small
but well favoured), Buckney, and Culvers.

To sum up, the best scent for the last three seasons
has been found in the Monday country, though in Mr.
Parry^s time the Saturday ground had the best repu-
tation. The Monday country has, as we have said,
the disadvantage of being extremely cramped, while
on Saturdays you find yourself with more room to
ride. Round Royston, for instance, the country is
very open, and the coverts only small plantations.
The greater part of the Puekeridge territory is well
stored with foxes, though, as we have hinted, there
are certain parts (east and south) where foxes might
have rather more chance given them, without buying
the goodwill of neighbours too dearly.

114 The Hunting Countries of England.

THE OLD BERKELEY.*

Another country of old tradition and honoured name,
existing close to London, is the Old Berkeley. As its
title almost implies, it was at one time part of the
original Berkeley country, and to this day its hunt
servants wear the Fitzhardinge livery of yellow plush.
In the days we allude to the then Lord Berkeley
hunted a vast territory stretching from Berkeley
Castle to London, bringing his hounds into what is
now the Old Berkeley country for the spring and
autumn, and remaining at home for the winter
months.

The fact that the Old Berkeley no longer advertise
their meets would point to a desire on their part to
exclude strangers. If such were absolutely the case,
it would render our task of facilitating acquaintance
with their hounds and country a somewhat delicate —
or even ungracious — one. But this apparent objec-
tion to intrusion by no means points to the hunting
man proper, though he, too, often finds himself

* Stanford's map, sheet 16, will illustrate, more or less satis-
factorily, the geography of the O. B. H. ; though it will be
noticed that it fails to colour the neutral territory.

The Old Berkeley, 115

inconvenienced by a reticence which forbids approach.
It has been called into existence by the pressure of a
swarm of nondescripts^ who, starting from every
suburb in London, were glad to make a meet of fox-
hounds their excuse for a holiday on hackney or in
waggonette — overwhelming the whole procedure of
the chase by their presence, and irritating farmers
and landowners to the great injury of the hunt. Thus
it was found necessary to make known the places of
meeting only to subscribers, and even to take the
additional precaution of substituting Tuesday for
Saturday in the Watford country — so to escape the
" Saturday- outers/^ as they are termed with the Surrey
Union. But a subscription (it need not be a heavy
one) will always procure a weekly card of the fixtures ;
and the man for whom foxhunting is really a pursuit
will always find a welcome with the Old Berkeley. It
is not a superlatively good country — even its best
friends will not assign to it more than comparative
merit. But it has its advantages — of being within
the easiest possible reach of London, and so immedi-
ately available to the man who can only steal away
from business for an occasional single day ; of being
thoroughly hunted, and by no means deficient of
sport.

Though its chief features are included in the terms
tuood and plough, there yet remains in the Watford
and Harrow district a small stretch of as good grass
as is to be ridden over in England. Year by year the
advancing wave of brick and mortar is narrowing
this chosen area. But, over and above the encroach-
ments of building, there is an inner cause mihtating

116 The Hunting Countries of England.

against tlie full vigour of tlie cliase within wliat miglit
indeed be a cliarmed circle. As London grows
farther westward_, the land it nears becomes daily
more and more valuable ; and more and more do the
occupants begrudge any damage that might accrue to
the remaining acres of their rich pasturage. The soil
being a deep clay, the passage of horses is, when the
ground is wet, not only an eyesore, but an almost
ineradicable source of mortification to those who hold
the land. It is difficult to see how tangible harm can
be done by galloping over grass, however wet ; for
what nature will not do in the way of " welling up '^
the footprints, a roller should easily put to rights in
good time for the scythe — while as for the passage
of a field [oi horses availing to destroy grass, the
" poaching '^ of four times the number of hoofs likely
to accompany the Old Berkeley could not do it,
except by trampling ever on the same spot. However,
the fact remains that, as soon as the Harrow Vale be-
comes deep, it is forthwith almost forbidden ground.

No less than three lines of railway will land you in
the Old Berkeley country, viz., the Midland, the
London-and-North- Western, and the Great Western ;
and your journey by either will not amount to an
hour. The Midland is nowadays of use for but few
meets — Newberries being one of them, and close to
Kadlett Station. In former days this was a rendezvous
very highly thought of ; and many and oft were the
good gallops from Newberries Gorse over the grass
to Mimms Wood and Scratch Wood (near Elstree).
The latter covert is within eight miles, as the crow
flies, from Hyde Park Corner. But of late years

The Old Berkeley. 117

foxes from dewberries liave declined this line.
Efforts, however, are being made to re-establisli tlie
reputation of the other two coverts; and so to
bring this, the best piece of the country, again into
favour.

The London and North- Western commands nearly
the whole of the country, and a man wishing to join
the O.B.H. cannot do better than keep his horses at
Watford or Tring, at both of which places he will find
the best of loose boxes at his call. At Watford he
will get both the O.B.H. and the Hertfordshire; while
at Tring he will have these two packs, with Mr.
Selby Lowndes^ pack and the Barents Staghounds
besides. Near Watford are the neutral coverts of
Newberries and Bricket ; and the Hertfordshire also
claim the right of drawing Scratch Wood. New-
berries is still counted as offering as good a chance of
a run as anything in the hunt ; for, if a fox from it
will only choose his direction aright, he must give a
pretty gallop. (They have been known to kill a fox
from here in the middle of Watford.) Bricket Wood
is an immense place, pretty sure find, but difficult
to get away from, and the rides are of deep clay. But
for all this it is a covert of a great value to the hunt.
Other meets near Watford (which we may consider
as on the whole the most convenient base for the
O.B.H., and which is only half an hour from Euston-
square Station) are Hamper Mill, Hunton Bridge
(for Mr. Jones Lloyd^s coverts at Langley Bury),
Croxley Green, Chenies (for Lord Chesham^s good
coverts), Cassiobury (for Lord Essex''s), Grove Park
(a pretty meet for Lord Clarendon^s), Moor Park (for

118 The Hunting Countries of England,

Lord Ebury^s), Cliandler^s^ and Chorley Wood Com-
mon. The Duke of Bedford owns a good deal of
property near the last-named place and Chenies ; and
one of his tenants generally has a fox in Weedon^s
Gorse and Fox Wood. Mr. Gilliatt^s Gorse is also a
valuable covert, and so is Bottom Wood.

The stations of King^s Langley, Boxmoor_, Berk-
hampstead, and Tring (L. & N. W. R.) all command
meets of the O.B.H. Mr. Longman has built new
kennels at his place at Shendish (midway between
the two first-named stations) j and within a small
radius from the kennels are the meets of Chipperfield
Common_, Bovingdon Green, Layhill Common, Whelp-
ley Hill, Ashley Green, Haresfoot and Wiggington
Common. The master has good coverts of his own ;
and ScatterelPs and Woodman^s Wood do credit to
the same neighbourhood, with good foxes. Near
Layhill Common, Lord Chesham provides the very
useful covert of Cowcroft ; and Haresfoot, though not
quite so productive of late, has generally furnished
the needful animal. And this part of their country is
rather more open than most of the O.B.H.

A little more apart from the lines of railway, but
within easy riding reach of Watford, is the Amersham
district — in which Mr. T. Drake, of Shardeloes, and
Lord Chelsham are the principal covert owners.
About Missenden and Wendover the country is hilly,
flinty, and wild, but generally affords sport. Among
the meets hereabouts are the Black Horse Amersham,
Penn Street Church, Tyler's Green Penn, Peterley
Manor, Chesham Poor's- Common, Charteridge, Little
Missenden, Missenden Abbey, and Nag's Head Great

The Old Berkeley, 119

Missenden, Hyde Heatli, Hampden Cliurcli, Wen-
dover Hall, Chequers Court and Saunderton.

In the extreme north of their country is included a
small corner of the Yale of Aylesbury ; and hounds
are taken there a few times during the season. But
in the days when the Earl of Lonsdale hunted the
country, it was the regular custom of the ^^ Old Lord ''
to meet in the Yale once a week with his " harriers '^
as he called them. These were nothing more or
less than a pack of dwarf foxhounds; and in front
of them he was wont to turn down a bag fox that had
been regularly conditioned and trained in a yard at
home. In this way, with both Jim and Goddard Mor-
gan successively as huntsmen, there was many a merry
gallop over the Yale : and familiar to every Hertford-
shire man are the lines of the late Mr. Wm. Reid (so
well known at that time with Lord Dacre^s hounds),
beginning

There's a noble Earl of antient name ;
He hunts the fox, but he likes it tame.

And that there was no deception about the proceeding,
but that it was carried on in the frankest fashion,
may be gathered from the dialogue described as
takiug place before the assembled field — culmina-
ting in

Says the noble earl to the elder Brown —
" Open the box and turn him down !"

The Uxbridge neighbourhood is attainable by the
Great Western Eailway ; and is nearest of all to the
actual Harrow Yale. In fact, from Ruislip Wood or
Oxley Wood is nowadays the only chance of a spurt

120 The Hunting Countries of England.

over the Vale proper ; and is looked for as eagerly as
a scurry over the Bushey and Elstree country is
waited for from Ne wherries. Ruislip and 0x1 ey are
both big deep woods : generally holding foxes.
Indeed^ this part of the O.B.H. country, though
thickly wooded, and not altogether good riding ground
(being often deep and boggy), is better stocked with
foxes than any in the hunt — and especially round
Hedgerley and Fulmer. The following is a list of
meets that will probably anticipate anything on the
fixture-card. We have given them thus fully
throughout this article that the names may be found
connected with one or other of the points mentioned
as accessible, by train or otherwise — Denham Place,
Denham Court, Harefield, West Hyde, Maple Cross,
Newlands, Gott^s Monument, The Pheasant at Chal-
font, Chalfont Potteries, Gerrard's Cross Common,
Longbottom Walton Park, Fulmer Hall, Hedgerley,
Hall Barn, and The Feathers Taplow. The leading
covert owners of the district are the Duke of Somerset,
Sir Robert Harvey, Messrs. Hibbert, W. Thompson,
Du Pre, and Allen. Hodgemoor (a first-rate covert
for foxes, though not altogether easy to ride through)
is, we believe, the property of Lord Denbigh.

In conclusion, it may be said that the O.B.H. is a
country where, as long as anywhere, foxhunting has
been made the most of. There are, it is true, here
and there resident landowners who try and excuse
themselves for their lukewarmedness in the cause by
the plea that the country is not naturally well suited
for the sport. But in spite of cold scenting ground
and other difficulties many foxes are killed ; and the

The Old Berkeley. ^121

hounds are right well-cared for in their present
hands.

With the O.B.H. you will find the fences that most
often tempt you to jump are light stake-and-bounds,
with small ditches — though in the Elstree neighbour-
hood more leaping power will be wanted, and a timber
jumper is everywhere useful. But only the angels^
visits to the vales of Harrow and Aylesbury demand
a flying horse.

Yet the visitor will often, if he be fond of hounds
and hunting for their own sake, be well rewarded in
a trip to the O.B.H. He may hunt with them with
less labour, and as little expense, as he will anywhere.
Lastly, as to the class of horse he should take with
him, we should advise him to buy as good a one as he
can get — for a little money.

F^RT II

THE NORTH WARWICKSHIRE.*

A COUNTRY of which much less is heard than it deserves
is the North Warwickshire. Parts of it are superla-
tively good ; and all of it is worth hunting in. Two
hours of railway will bring you to it from London ;
and set you down either at Leamington or Rugby — its
two most fashionable commanding points. Leaming-
ton has many attractions, varied by hunting. Rugby
offers hunting, undiluted. At Leamington you may
wear out as many pumps as tops; you must be as
carefully got up as at Melton — but it is not by any
means incumbent on you to ride as hard, that you may
be a worthy citizen. At Rugby you may get up a
quiet rubber after hunting ; but to arrange your route,
by road or rail, for next day's hunting will be your
usual after-dinner occupation — for hunt you must,
though often at a distance. At Leamington you have
the choice of two packs, the one under discussion, and
the Warwickshire. Rugby stands in a nook whereat
the North Warwickshire, Atherstone, and Pitchley

* Vide "Stanford's Large Scale Map," Sheet 15; also "Hobson's
Foxhunting Atlas."

L

124 Hunting Countries of England,

touch eacli other — with the Warwickshire close at
hand, Mr. Tailby^s within riding distance, and the
Quorn and Duke of Grafton's easily available by train.

Coventry, too, commands the North Warwickshire,
and also the Atherstone. But it is scarcely a popular
hunting quarter — except with soldiers, who are not
consulted in the matter, but glad enough that Her
Majesty should require their services not altogether
away from good fox-hunting.

Birmingham, again, forms a fourth point marking
the boundary line of the North Warwickshire Hunt.
But, though there are many sporting men in Birming-
ham, your primary object in acquiring a residence in
Birmingham would scarcely be participation in the
sport of kings.

In a word, then, Leamington is the place whence to
ally yourself altogether with the North Warwickshire ;
for, while Rugby has one day a fortnight in its creamy
corner, and Birmingham has (after Christmas) a weekly
hunt over some desirable ground, Leamington over-
looks the whole country, and has other advantages to
which Coventry can lay no claim.

Looking at it as a whole, it may be stated roughly,
and not unfairly, that the bulk of the North Warwick-
shire country is taken up to grow either wood or
wheat — the latter preponderating. Near Birmingham
is a fair sprinkling of grass, and often you are there
given a run, through which you may skim, quick and
sharp, from one green field into another. But the
chief exception lies in the Rugby neighbourhood,
where a corner of their domain can throw down the
glove to any half dozen parishes in England. In my

The North Warwickshire. 125

tumble opinion there is no covert in tlie Shires to com-
pare with Hillmorton Gorse — when (as it always has of
late) it holds a fox that will go, no matter where. Let
him choose what direction he please, he must give a
run over a smooth grass country, such as they would
be glad of even in Meath. Bunker's Hill is another
splendid starting point, when (as has not happened of
late) there is a fox to face the vale below, and to fill the
Leame, as it and the Hillmorton Brook ever consider
their due. [Mr. Stanford's colouring brush, by the
way, has carried the North "Warwickshire no farther
than Hillmorton Village, instead of to the Old Watling-
street-road, near which the covert lies, and near which
the men of the Hunt are so prone to bathe in their own
waters.]

Eough, but very sporting, is the character of all the
interior of the North -W. country — carrying an
excellent scent, not overburdened with foxes, yet
blessed with fair and consistent sport.

The North Warwickshire first took the position of
a separate hunt about the beginning of the century,
under Lord Anson. After again reverting to the
parent establishment (the Warwickshire), it once more
became a distinct country, till, having passed through
various hands, it at length came under the mastership
of Mr. Lant — who still holds the reins. The present
Kennels are at Milverton, a mile or two out of
Leamington ; but the lease having expired, it is in
contemplation to erect new ones near Kenilworth ; and
it is said that the requisite land has already been pur-
chased from Lord Clarendon.

Their days of meeting are arranged thus. The
L 2

126 Hunting Countries of England.

Master undertakes to liunt the country three days a
week ; but after Christmas it has for some time been
the custom to give an extra day in the vicinity of
Birmingham — the sportsmen of that town on their
part providing horses for the hunt servants^ and
sending them to meet the hounds at whatever railway
station may be fixed upon by the huntsman. This day
is Monday; and their regular hunting days are
Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday (in alternate weeks),
and Friday. Few rigid rules being observed as to the
area told off for each especial day, it is difficult to
write specifically beyond that Tuesday is generally
passed in the country immediately round home, i.e.,
between Coventry on the north and Leamington on the
south — that Thursday is for the Rugby district (usually
by train to Rugby Station) — and that Wednesday and
Friday are more often passed in the west-centre of
their territory.

The after- Christmas Mondays near Birmingham are,
as we have said before, by no means on their worst
ground. There is a good deal of grass, and the foxes
(what there are) are stout and straight. That they
exist in even their present numbers is mainly due to
the exertions of a very well-known character, Mr. W.
Williams (who wrote and composed the most popular
of the hunting songs of to-day — The Hunting Day).
But, besides bringing his talents to the shrine of Diana
in votive offering of poesy and music, he labours in her
cause in a more practical and no less earnest form. As
Hon. Secretary for the Birmingham district, he works
day, and night, to induce the preservation of foxes;
and on many a moonlight night he will order his dog-

The North Warwickshire. 127

cart rounds and drive off to where a litter of cubs is
laid up — that he may spend an hour or two in watchinsf
their gambols. Mr. Joseph Page (father of John
Page, the steeplechase jockey) used to find the
servant^s horses for these Mondays. Now^ we believe,
it is entrusted to Mr. Robert Hunt, of Edgbaston. A
very fair horse is required — and, it should be added,
has generally been forthcoming. For, though most
of this part of the country is plain sailing, it often
happens that you have to jump on and off a high bank.
The inclosures are small, and the fences accordingly
come quick and frequent. The hounds are brought,
as a rule, to Solihull or Knowle stations, and some of
the more frequent meets are there, or at the Clock at
Bickenhill, Elmdon, Castle Bromwich, Hall Green, the
Lion Portway, Hockley House, Inkford, Brook, and
Umberslade. Tanworth, too, may almost be included
in the Birmingham country. The coverts are not
large but numerous. EarFs Wood, Forshaw Park,
and Hampton Coppice are among the most important.
At the last-named place many a good fox has been
found ; and the same may be said of Coleshill Pool.
The smaller coverts round Knowle and Solihull also
show quite their share of sport.

The Tuesday country embraces a great deal of wood,
but there are some nice little strips of land between
Coventry and Kenilworth. To the eastward we get
into the forest of Arden, and the landscape is rather
picturesque than sporting.

Tile Hill is one of the meets nearest to Coventry —
for Tile Hill Wood and coverts, and sometimes on to
the Master's covert at Frogmore. Stoneleigh is, of

128 Hunting Countries of England.

course, for Lord Leigli^s coverts (Bericote Wood, the
Grove, and Thickthoru being great strongholds), with
Chase Wood and Long Meadow Wood in close
proximity. Woodcote leads to the Woodcote coverts
and Warwick Old Park. Cubbington Gate will take
you into AVaverley Wood, and on into the great chain
of woods reaching as far east as Stretton upon Duns-
more — for which the latter place, Princethorpe and
Bubbenhall are all constantly named as rendezvous.
To the north of these, again, we have the fixture of the
Bull and Butcher, Ryton, for Ryton and the big
woods below. All these woodlands form, of course,
capital ground for cub-hunting ; and^hounds are there
made very handy.

Turning to the west centre of their country (Wednes-
day's, or it may be Friday's) we have Berkswell,
whence after trying its small spinnies you may get
to the Tile Hill woods, or perhaps to Frogmore.
Wroxall has near it Hay Wood, often chosen by a good
fox. The Boot, Honily, has a great number of small
woods within reach. Indeed, such like coverts are
scattered freely over all this portion of the North
Warwickshire kingdom; and foxes naturally run a
great deal from one to another. Hatton has the very im-
proving covert of Newlands not far from it. Claverdon
is for Ansty Wood and Claverdon Woods — the former
neutral with the Warwickshire. And that the two
packs may not clash, an excellent arrangement has
been made, whereby it is hunted by the one or the
other for alternate months. Wootton Wawen, Henley-
in-Arden are for the neighbouring small woods.
Tanworth and Beoley are in the farther west ; and a

The North Warwiekshire. 129

good covert is found at Packwood. A rough country
for riding ; but not altogether difficult to cross^ is this :
and hounds do well in it.

The Thursday meets are not numerous ; but point
to an area that we have already designated as well-
nigh perfect. Rugby Station or Hillmorfcon generally
mean the famous Hillmorton Gorse. But to get to
fresh ground in the afternoon calls for a long jog — for
Mr. Chirnside^s little gorse near Clifton is altogether
too small, and the new covert to break the journey
to Bilton Grange is not yet completed. Bilton Grange
is also a meet, and often has foxes. Leicester's Piece
is the next covert (of inconsiderable size). Dunchurch
is generally named for Bunker's Hill — a beautifully
situated covert, looking over the lovely green vale to
Shuckburgh, but which has not done its duty of late
years. Cawston takes us on into a different country,
where the land is plough, the hedges straggling,
and the ditches wide — and so we merge again into
the big woodlands beyond Stretton.

130 Hunting Countries of England.

THE PYTCHLEY.*

No pack in England_, certainly no Subscription Pack,
has had older associations or more honoured names
than the Pytchley. And their fame never stood
higher than now.

Their country embraces some of the fairest of the
Midlands,, covering, as it does, the best part of
Northamptonshire, and dove-tailed into Leicestershire
between the Atherstone and Mr, Tailby's. Its easy
accessibility from London is not the smallest of its
attractions (at least in the eyes of readers for whom
these sketches are chiefly intended) ; and cannot but
commend it to them as the most desirable of all
hunting grounds.

At the same time it necessarily follows that he who
would hunt with the Pytchley must not be shy of
a crowd. In that crowd he will be free to move as he
thinks fit, without cavil and without criticism — to
throw in his luck with the hard riders, to follow
steadily with the main body, or to trot the roads and
gates that by their felicitous help render such a
country as delectable for sober old age as for hot-
blooded youth.

* Vide " Stanford's Large Scale Map," Sheets 15 and 16 ; also
" Hobson's Foxhunting Atlas."

The Pytehley. 131

The Pytehley country, without having any absolute
centre, is commanded by four or five points in its
circumference — all easily attainable from London, and
all offering variety for intermediate days, when the
pack under notice happens to be in kennel or out of
distance. Rugby, Weedon, Northampton, and Market
Harboro' are the chief of these. Daventry and Lutter-
worth may be pointed out as easy excellent quarters,
less familiar by name and less within the scope of the
flying visitor. Rugby and Harboro^ are best known ;
and Rugby is the most fully patronised. All the four
former are within two hours' distance of Euston or
St. Pancras ; and (what is not given to the more
remote grandeur of Melton, Oakham, and Upper
Leicestershire) it is feasible to reach them by a 7.30
train, in time for an eleven o'clock meet.

Rugby is most in favour with those who would run
and hunt. For not only does it link itself with the
Pytehley, and give a choice of packs besides; but it
has a wide society of its own, and has express trains
to Town almost every hour. Thus, to keep two or
three horses at Rugby, and run down from London for
such days as one feels oneself at liberty, is a common
and easy plan on the part of men who, while unable
to separate themselves for any length of time from
more serious occupation, are yet anxious to obtain
hunting of the highest class. With the further
advantage of a club, with good and almost unlimited
accommodation to be had for horses, with a good
hotel, and hunting residences galore, no wonder that
Rugby also attracts many to take up permanent
quarters for the winter. For these — if they would

132 Hunting Countries of England.

make tlie most of their week— -the many lines of rail-
way radiating from Rugby Junction are of no little
use. At least once a week, often more, the horsebox
must be resorted to, if the sportsman is unwilling to
stay at home. For, with all its choice of packs (and it
forms a point of junction for almost as many countries
as railroads), Rugby is distant from every kennel. Con-
sequently, not only do hounds draw away from it
every afternoon, but on certain days it happens that
there is no meet within riding distance . On Mondays
Rugby is within reach of Mr. Tailby. On Tuesdays,
the Quorn are to be attained by rail to Leicester, or
the Oakley may be reached by train. On Wednesdays
the Pytchley are always tolerably near ; and on Thurs-
days either the Warwickshire or North Warwickshire.
On Fridays the Atherstone are never far away ; and
on Saturdays the Pytchley are to be got at by road or
rail. Mr. Selby Lowndes sometimes tempts a travel,
and the Baron often draws a party to the Vale. So it
will be seen that no day need be spent idly at Rugby,
for want of hounds.

Market Harboro' is in one way even more easy
of access than Rugby ; for an eight o^clock train from
St. Pancras will convey the London sportsman down
to many meets. And yet Harboro^ has not half such
a run upon it as it deserves; and especially is it
little favoured by men who cannot neglect their toil or
ties in town for a prolonged course of six days a week
with foxhounds. With every possible advantage of
situation, with a plethora of proffered accommodation,
with a good name well earned — even with the halo
thrown round it by Whyte Melville^s best sporting

The Pyiehley. 133

novel — Market Harboro^ is scantily peopled during
the season by hunting-men. They who come are by
no means of a nomadic class. They settle down for
the winter, in solid earnestness ; abjure all outer
frivolities, whether of town or country ; but lay them-
selves out for early hours, many long journeys by
road, as few as possible by rail, and for a hunting life
in its most ascetic form. Market Harboro^, indeed,
has for many years been more essentially Tailbyite
than Pytchley ; and has thrown its sympathy and
interests especially into the well being of the former
denomination. Thus, though it joins in with the
Pytchley on a Wednesday and on Friday or Saturday^
it is apt to consider itself '' over the border,^^ and to
adopt the other pack more particularly as its own.
On Monday it is Tailbyite to a man. So it is on
Thursday ; and so it is on any other day the pack
may be ordered to leave kennel. On a Tuesday the
Cottesmore offer themselves ; and if Friday or Satur-
day are left vacant near home, the Quorn or the
Cottesmore fill up the deficiency — a good hack home
being no less a necessity than a desideratum. Har-
boro^, in a less degree, suffers from the same complaint
as Eugby. Hounds are kennelled far away ; and a
man hunting from Market Harboro^ rides many more
miles with his head towards home than to covert.

Northampton holds all the Pytchley country within
reach ; and, when the new line is completed, will be
a more eligible resort than now — Blisworth Junction
at present rather stopping the way. Hitherto it has
not been much frequented ; though, like Weedon, it
stands on a high pinnacle as a soldier's quarter.

134 Hunting Countries of England.

Weedon is on the present main line of the L. & N. W.
Eailway^ and at various times has been in high repute
and fashion. It has^ like Northampton, the very-
sporting country of the Duke of Grafton at hand ; and
has, besides, the Bicester and the Warwickshire for
variety. From Northampton most of the best meets
of the Oakley are easily available. Lutterworth and
Daventry are other little spots in the Pytchley. Both
remain much what they were in the coaching days, —
with plentiful welcome for man and horse ; both lie
well for hunting; but both are rather off the main
line of railway.

The Pytchley advertise for four days in the week,
under the mastership of Mr. H. Langham. Previous
to the maintenance of a separate pack for the Wood-
lands, it used to be five. Four is as many as any one
huntsman can work effectively ; and the change is
for the better. For five days a week is really the
maximum allowance, permitting any of us to maintain
full freshness and elasticity — even for our part as
lookers-on. We often make six days — because we
don^t know which day to miss ; and as sure as we
miss one^ that is told of as the best of the week.
And we can sit in our saddles, rest and gossip, while
a huntsman is hard at work. We can gallop to
covert, and go home quick at night. The huntsman
has " hounds^ pace ^' to the meet, unceasing exertion
all day (the check being his busiest time), " hounds'
pace'' again homeward, and on arrival the pack to be
fed, perhaps sick puppies to tend, and certainly kennel
correspondence to be carried on.

The order of days with the Pytchley proper is some-

The Pytehleij. 135

thing as follows : The Kennels at Brixworth (some
seven miles from Northampton) being taken as a
central point. Monday is mapped out for the east,
Wednesday for the west_, and Friday and Saturday
alternately for the north and south. And these four
divisions, again, may be classed respectively as the
Northampton, the Rugby, the Harboro' (north) and
Weedon (south) districts.

The area of the Monday, or Northampton, district is,
roughly speaking, outlined by the points of Kettering,
Wellingboro^, and Northampton. Though not so
popular with the general public as the country
belonging to the other three days of the Pytchley, it
not only has its share of sport, but, taking an average
of several seasons through, has probably been richer
than the others. The Pytchley field generally (and
who shall blame them ? Certainly not those who
know them) prefer the small gorse coverts and the
grass, to the deep woods and the plough of the
Northampton country. Not that all of the latter is
plough, by any means. It contains one or two very
fine tracts of grass. Round Harrowden, for example,
there is excellent going, fences fully worthy of the
grass, and generally a good scent. Another circle of
nice country has for its centre Faxton — a village to
which there is no better driving road than a grass
track across the fields. Foxes from Old Poor's Gorse
and Mawsley Wood constantly cross this, and seldom
without leaving a scent.

On the other hand, much of this part of North-
amptonshire is plough deep and heavy — such as would
kill the rush of a true Pytchley field as thoroughly as.

13G Hunting Countries of England.

in another part of the county, the deep clay of Naseby
crushed the charge of Prince Rupert's squadrons.
Ah, it was bad generalship that accepted that as
battle ground for cavalry, with so much rich riding
land all round. It may be that, even then, there were
oxers round every pasture between Naseby and Market
Harboro\ A mailclad trooper, let his heart have been
ever so loyal or his cavalier blood ever so hot, would
have but little chance with them in his path. They
frighten us now, when burdened with no heavier
weapon than whip and spur, and wearing no weightier
armour than Mr. White's stout headpiece. And 'tis
my belief that these ox fences, more than all else, bar
the way to Market Harboro's prosperity as a hunting-
centre. Bold men, perhaps, battle with them for a
year or two : fathers of families shudder as they look
at them and decline further acquaintance at once.
Discretion is the truest valour at Harboro'. You can't
ride the country in its immediate neighbourhood
straight ; and the sooner you accept the obvious truth,
the better for your bones and for your enjoyment of
sport. A fair oxer is a very charming thing on an
exceptionally good horse. On an indifferent one don't
be induced to look at it. Moral courage is the card to
play then. Such play soon comes easy. You may
hunt for years from Harboro' without jumping a single
oxer; and yet escape being called a coward.

To return to the Northampton district. In its midst
is a chain of strong woods, wherein foxes are heartily
and plentifully preserved. Sywell Wood, Hardwick
Wood, Wilmore Park, and Gib Wood are almost con-
tinuous covert. Good foxes are always there, but not

The Pytehley, 137

always to be induced to take a riglit direction^ and
you may often have to make up your mind to some
hours in deep rides. This not being in accordance
with the universal taste^ the fields on Monday are often
small and local, yet of a sport-loviug class. Hounds,
too, are to be seen at their best ; as they can work at
liberty and without pressure. Monday is also the day
on which neighbours of the Oakley join in, often
headed by their Master.

Near Northampton itself a light and sandy soil is
the chief characteristic ; and scent is often weaker than
on the strong land.

Some of the best Monday meets are Sywell Wood,
Hannington, Great Harrowden, Hard wick, Pytehley
(where once stood the Club House of the Hunt),
Cransley, and Orlingbury. And, besides those already
alluded to, the principal coverts are Biling Harbour,
Overstone Park, Yivian^s Covert, Blow Hill (at Great
Harrowden), Cockaroost, Cransley Wood, and Holcot
Covert.

" A Pytehley Wednesday ^^ is a term that has long
ago passed into a proverb, and been accepted as a
type of a condition of things not to be seen elsewhere
in full perfection. If you would learn to what colossal
magnitude and manifold variety a hunting-field can
attain, go out on a Pytehley Wednesday to a favourite
fixture ! If you would observe how such a field can
cordially subject itself to proper discipline, stand at
the covert side as one of them ! If, again, you would
put your nerve and self confidence to a thorough test,
make yourself an atom in the Niagara-like rush to
which the ^' Gone away ^' is a signal ! If you would

138 Hunting Countries of England.

mark in its most perfect form the first essential for a
fox-hound in the Shires, watch the Pytchley bitches
slipping to the front through the mad torrent ! You
may learn a good deal else — not the least valuable
lesson being to taJce care of yourself. It is a trying,
but not really a rough school. And, in truth, ^tis a
very jolly one. Boy or man need ask for no happier
schooldays than this can offer. But the earlier lessons
should, I think, be taken young. Like tumbling or
tight-rope dancing, the art of riding over a grass
country in a crowd is more easily to be acquired while
the nerve is fresh and the frame has not lost its first
suppleness. You will scarcely hold your own in a
twenty minutes' burst from Misterton to Stanford
Hall, or in a scurry from Crick to Lilbourne, without
some previous practice here or in a similar sphere.
And if you come, middleaged and unprepared, the
chances are you return disgusted, and decline to tempt
the fates in the same direction again.

This Wednesday, Rugby, or Western district (call
it which you will) is, if not absolutely the best of the
whole Pytchley country, as good as any. Certainly it
asserts itself as the most popular — the credit for
which may probably be ascribed to the propinquity of
Rugby^ — which town lies just beyond its western
borders, and, with Watford, Cold Ashby, Welford,
North Kilworth, and Lutterworth, may be taken
approximately to mark the outline of Wednesday's
arena. Small coverts, chiefly artificial, are entirely
the characteristic of this district — unless we can bring
in as an exception the Hemplow Hills, whose pre-
cipitous sides are covered with continuous plantation

The Pytehley. 139

and gorse. The soil over which you ride is not all
under the sod ; but as little of it has been given to
the plough as is consistent with grazing farms and
the necessity for winter forage ; and, broadly speaking,
it fully deserves the title of a splendid grass country
— big but fair — competent to carry, and to scatter,
the huge fields that embark upon it — seldom entrap-
ping, but affording room for all. If there is a fault to
be found with the Pytehley country it lies in the
frequency of the villages, which come so near and
quickly that it is often difficult for a fox to keep his
head straight, still more to escape observation.
Again, I am not prepared to say (though I am no
more willing absolutely to gainsay) that it is con-
sistently good scenting ground. A sharp scent and
a firm one there often is. But apart from the causes,
accidental and atmospheric, which may affect scent at
the moment, I am inclined to think that huntsmen
would scarcely speak of it as ''a fine scenting
country,^' and one they would choose as especially
favourable for killing foxes.

To turn to particulars. Among the nearest meets
to Rugby is Lilbourne Village — the Gorse close at
hand, a river and railway hemming it in on one side,
the field on another, and every knoll, hillside and road
commanding the valley. And yet, by one means or
another, by a cunning that does their race credit,
foxes contrive to escape and give runs — often over the
wide vale eastward to Crick, or northward to Stanford
Hall. Swinford is almost equally near Rugby, and
has Swinford Old Covert, with Stanford Hall (also
a frequent meet) and its park coverts close by.

M

140 Hunting Countries of England.

From Stanford Hall to Misterton, and from Stanford
Hall to tlie Hemplows, or vice versa in either case,
will take you over a grass line fit for a king — if that
king be but well minded and well mounted.

Crick Village is tkeir most celebrated meet^ and has
one of their best coverts attached. From it they
either run over the cream of the Warwickshire ground
(possibly over what was so long the site of the old
Grand Military Steeplechases), over the double-ditched
fences to Lilbourne, perhaps by Claycoton to Stanford
or (it must be) a good line anywhere. Misterton is
their northernmost fixture, with a gorse belonging to
the Hunt, an osier bed, many plantations, and Shawell
Wood held by the occupier of Misterton Hall — and
all held staunchly in the cause of foxhunting. But,
indeed, it may be asserted fearlessly that no country
is more heartily preserved than the Pytchley — and
the Wednesday portion is as good as any. Land-
owner, tenant, shepherd and labourer, strive with one
accord to further sport ; and foxes, accordingly, are to
be found wherever they are sought.

North Kilworth is another excellent Wednesday
meet on the upper margin of the country. Hounds
when brought thither (as also to Stanford Hall
and Lilbourne) sleep out. Usually they work
towards home in the afternoon ; but often they have
a very long jog back to Kennels on a Wednesday
evening. Kilworth Sticks is a famous covert — with a
run to be mapped out on every side. Northward it
has the prettiest part of Mr. Tailby^s country, west-
ward there is a nice line to Misterton ; southward
there is every chance of a superb twenty minutes to

The Pytchley. 141

the Hemplows (merely to commence witli) ; eastward
there is capital ground about Welford and Sulby.
There are good coverts_, also^ round Kilworth Hall —
and another near South Kilworth Village. Wel-
ford and Cold Ashby, when advertised^ are almost
sure to lead to the Hemplow Hills, which for many
years was nearly always the regular Wednesday after-
noon draw_, and where Mr. Topham always had not
one fox, but a dozen, awaiting them. The bold steep
front of the Hemplows looks over a most glorious flat
grass country — the great pastures, strongly fenced,
sti etching to Stanford Hall and wide to the left of ij.
There was no part of the Pytchley domains of which
Charles Payne, in his palmiest days, was fonder than
this Crick and Stanford country : and he used to slip
over it so quickly that half his field seldom knew when
hounds were really running, when he was casting
them, or when he was going for a point — to pick up
his hunted fox or start a fresh one afoot. He initiated
a dangerous school — one, indeed, in which he, and he
only, ever attained success. His success was un-
deniable and brilliant — for there was a method and
an instinct in all he did. But many a huntsman has
tried in vain to follow in his footsteps ; aiming at
brilliancy, has merely achieved a character for wild-
ness, and succeeded only in losing reputation — and
perhaps place.

Other Wednesday meets are Thornby (with Firetail
and the Thornby Spinnies close by) Winwick and
Yelvertoft. Between Yelvertoft and the Hemplows
lie the coverts of Yelvertoft Hillside (where some
years ago foxes were so thick that Capt. Thomson

M 2

142 Hunting Countries of England.

liad to surround it with nets and catch up several
brace), and Lord Spencer^s Covert. The existence of
the splendid gorse of Watford is threatened by the
new line of railway under construction by the L. &
N. W. Ry.

Friday and Saturday with the Pytchley alternate
with each other, in falling one week on the Weedon,
the next on the Harboro^ side. Thus, if Friday^s
fixture is named for the Harboro' neighbourhood,
Weedon is credited with a meet on the Saturday —
and vice versa.

Weedon is on the main line of the L. and N.W.
Railway; and, without offering so free a choice of
trains as Rugby, is nearer to London, easily reached,
and can give you as much hunting as you desire.
Besides the Pytchley, it has the Duke of Grafton's
pack at its gates, the Bicester running close up with
their most favoured strip of country, the Warwick-
shire within comfortable reach, and the North War-
wickshire to be met near Rugby once a fortnight.

The Weedon portion of the Pytchley country may
be defined as included in the points of Northampton,
Weedon, Badby, Braunston, Ravensthorpe, and Brix-
wc>rth. Among the coverts of this district Badby
AVood stands out as a grand stronghold for foxes.
Much of the country round it carries a good scent;
though across Burrow Hill (to look for exception)
hounds often find it difficult to run hard. Braunston
Gorse, again, is a splendid covert of a different type —
being of artificial growth (and of course of limited
size) and planted to overlook the tempting valley
spreading to Shuckburgh, or, wider still, to the

The Pijtehley. 143

confines of the North Warwickshire. To ride with
hounds to Shuckburgh requires some virtue in both
man and horse. The country (all grass) is generally
deep^ the fences are big, and the pace often great.
At Ashby St. Ledgers there is covert round the
Hall, and the chance of a pretty trip into the
Warwickshire or North Warwickshire territory.
Nearer Northampton are the coverts of Harleston
Heath, Nobottle Wood, Harpole Hills and Brampton
Gorse, all owned by Lord Spencer, and consequently
sure finds. Then there are Dodford Holt, Staverton
Wood, Whilton Osier bed (with its most beguiling,
and often mirth-giving, brook), Vanderblanks, and
Buckby Folly. On the extreme south of the country,
Stowe Wood, Everton Stubbs, ManteFs Heath,
Preston Wood, &c., neutral with the Duke of
Grafton^s. These are more often drawn by the Duke
than the Pytchley. Among the best meets on the
Weedon side are Althorp, Weedon Barracks, Dodford,
Brock Hall, Badby Wood, Long Buckby (famous for
its crowds of shoemakers), Brampton and Holdenby.
All these are also available from Northampton, and
many are within reach from Rugby. By the way, it is
not a very uncommon thing, during term time, to meet
an undergraduate from Cambridge with the Pytchley
on a Monday, and one from Oxford at Badby Wood
later in the week. Round Badby, it should be noticed
— and especially in the Watford direction — the country
is principally grass, a feature that is common to a great
deal of the Weedon district.

The Market Harboro^ side (alternately Friday and
Saturday, as above noted) is comprised within the

144 Hunting Countries of England.

landmarks of Harboro^, Rothwell, Brixworth, Cottes-
brooke, Naseby and Sulby. Most of this, too, is grass
of the finest type : and the part containing the
parishes of Clipston, Oxendon, Braybrooke, &c., is
fenced in the most terrific style — timber being very
frequently added to both sides of the stake -and-bonnd
hedges. The late Jim Mason was wont to say, that no
man could ride the fences from Waterloo Gorse to
Dingley without three falls, however well he might be
mounted. Waterloo Gorse stands in the centre of this
formidable tract, and is consequently rather a dread
than a delight — at least to men of ordinary constitu-
tion. There are many other excellent coverts
scattered through the district — notably Blueberry and
Berrydale near Cottesbrooke, Faxton Corner, Loatland
Wood, Scotland Wood, Blue Covert (the planting of
which is ascribed to the Blues, when last quartered at
Northampton), Naseby Covert, Naseby Woolleys
(where a fox is generally found in some corner of the
garden) . Talliho is another nice covert in a beautiful
country near Kelmarsh, and Sulby Gorse is seldom
without a fox. Marston Wood and the plantations
about Marston Trussels are neutral with Mr. Tailby's.
The meets for all these are Cottesbrooke Park, Lam-
port Hall, Fox Hall, Harrington, Kelmarsh Hall,
Oxendon, Clipston Windmill, Naseby, Maidwell and
Sibbertoft.

We need prolong this sketch of the Pytchley no
further than to remark that theirs is, on the whole, a
superlatively pleasant country over which to ride to
hounds. It is less hilly and trying to horses than
High Leicestershire ; and, with the exception above

The Pijtchley. 145

alluded to^ is practicable^ if big. The hounds have
never been in better order than at present ; and foxes
are everywhere in abundance. The Pytchley farmers
are all staunch supporters of foxhunting. A great
many of them ride in the front rank : while one and all
of them are hearty in the cause, and greet every fox-
hunter as a friend.

As regards horses to carry you over the Pytchley
country, it is only necessary to repeat : Remember
that a bad horse cannot get over it at all, and a second-
rate one will only spoil your pleasure and ruin your
nerve !

146 Hunting Countries of England,

THE WOODLAND PYTCHLEY.*

First established as a separate, tributary, branch by
Mr. Watson, the Woodland Pytchley is now in the
hands of Lord Spencer — who, since resigning com-
mand of the entire country, continues, with an
establishment at Brigstock, to hunt the woods
twice a week. Both sides of the country benefit
by this arrangement. The Pytchley territory in its
entirety was too extensive for a single pack — and a
single huntsman. Now the well-stocked coverts on
the grass are rattled as frequently as they should be ;
and, on the other hand, the foxes of the great woods
are no longer allowed the luxury of fat and idle living.
We have all learned that no fox can travel so strong
and straight as a woodland-bred one. But to do so
he requires teaching and practice. He may have
many a light journey, when merely fleeing from the
noise of pursuit, of which one of his brethren is the
immediate object. The more of such alarms he gets,
the better for him and the better for all concerned —
for, with the steady scent that most woodlands hold,
it will require all the strength and all the wind he can
muster to carry him out of distance. A larger per-

'^IVide "Stanford's Large Scale Map," sheet 10; also
" Hobson's Foxhunting Atlas."

The Woodland Pijtchley. 147

centage of run foxes are, perhaps, accounted for in wood-
lands ttian in tlie open ; for, besides tlie advantage of
a more consistent scent, hounds meet with few of the
interruptions they have to contend against outside.
Roads, along which the one old hound can alone
puzzle out the line (and that only if he is not at once
ridden over or surrounded) — fallow soil, dusty or
clinging — sheep to huddle, in their provoking foolish-
ness, across the very track — cattle to soil the herbage
— manure to taint both earth and air — footfolk to
drive poor reynard back in his footsteps or to send
terror and excitement on the breeze — all these are
wanting in forest hunting ; and a virgin soil and an
unhampered course remain in their stead. Hounds
can then work for themselves — and work much better
than when continually assisted. They can get back
readily to the point at which they were first at fault.*
And thus it is that woodlands are so good — nay, so
necessary — a school for young hounds. It is there
only that they learn self-reliance, and the art of hunt-
ing their game.

Again, although it is not given to everyone to
like woodland hunting, there is a strong section of
honest sportsmen to whom it recommends iuself with
intense force. The taste may be as inexplicable to

* On the other hand, as against all the advantages enumerated
above, there are greater chances of changing foxes in the woods
than in the open — where a huntsman can often detect the mis-
take. Also falling leaves, or, on certain days the drip from trees,
are all against scent in woodlands. Hounds take longer to pick
out a cold line iu covert than in the open, and if a fox is once
well ahead, you have not the same chance of getting up to him
through the medium of a holloa.

148 Hunting Countries of England,

outsiders as the fisherman's mania is to liim who does
not fish, or as the enthusiasm of the golfer to him who
has never learned golf. But the passion does exist,
and is quite as solid and lasting as that commanded by
the more butterfly forms of the chase. Men who
favour woodland hunting claim for it all the excel-
lencies for hound-work above alluded to. They insist,
too (with a pleasant self-satisfaction impossible to
begrudge them), that whoever goes into the woods
with hounds must go there for hunting only, and with
none of the weak ulterior motives of company, cofiee-
housing, or dress.

But it must not be inferred that the whole of the
country in question is one vast woodland — though it
may be true that there is as much timber grown in it
as in any similar area in England, and along the north
west side stretches a tract of covert almost unbroken.
There is an oasis of fine grass almost in the centre of
the country, there is more along the eastern border,
and a wide corner of open ground in the south.

The boundaries of the Woodland Pytchley are as
follows. The Midland Railway from Wellingboro^ to
Market Harboro' is held to be the line of division
from the main Pytchley now governed by Mr.
Langham — except that Lord Spencer hunts the small
coverts at Glendon and Rushton Hall, which are
beyond the railway. The remainder of the outline is
much as is shown on Stanford's Map* and is con-
tained in the natural boundaries of the river Welland
on the west and the Nene on the east. Its northern

* Vide "Stanford's Large Scale Map," sheet 10; also " Hob-
son's Foxhunting Atlas."

The Woodland Pytehlei/. 149

limits^ in themselves rather indefinite as touching the
Wakerly (or north-westerly) corner^ are inaccurately
put by the wielder of Mr. Stanford's paintbrush who,
having no natural, or accidental, boundary to follow
here has considerably curtailed the Pytchley territory.
Glapthorne Pastures is the extreme point to which
they can draw on the north-east. The Bulwick
Woods are Pytchley ; Laxton Wood is neutral with
the Fitzwilliam, and Wakerley Wood contains
a line beyond which the Pytchley right is not
recognised.

The Kennels, as above-mentioned, are at Brigstock,
a capital central point. But for the summer months
Lord Spencer moves his hounds to Althorp Park.
For cubhunting purposes the Pytchley Proper main-
tain their right to bring their pack into the wood-
lands ; and, as a matter of arrangement. Lord Spencer
has the privilege of teaching his young hounds near
home.

Kettering, Thrapston, Oundle and Market Harboro*
are the points from which the Woodland Pytchley are
best met. But, beyond the early autumn and late
spring, Harboro' generally turns its attention else-
where j and, though the other three may invite
visitors, as a point of fact few come and the field
remains a small and almost purely local one. Kettering
being only about two hours from London, and having
a choice between the grass on one side and the
rougher country on the other, might well be fixed
upon as a good hunting quarter. Thrapston is a
frequent landing point for Cambridge undergraduates,
with a view either to the Woodland Pytchley or the
Fitzwilliam, — representatives from which latter pack

150 Hunting Countries of England.

and the Oakley often come over the borders to join
Lord Spencer.

The Duke of BuccleugVs grand woods form the
backbone of the country, being always full of foxes,
with the additional advantage of being well rided and
tolerably easy to hunt. The chief of these are Weekly
Hall Wood, Geddington Chase, Boughton, Old Head
and Grafton Park. Between these woods and
Brigstock Forest is a large tract of grass land known
as Brigstock Parks — the fences of which are often too
formidable to jump, but where gates are numerous
and convenient, and hounds are to be seen but not
interfered with. The same kind of ground stretches
beyond Sudborough ; and there must be a run if a fox
takes over it. From Brigstock Forest there is another
series of woods extending eastwards to Wadenhoe —
comprising Lady, Lilford, Souther, Tichmarsh, Bullock,
Oxen, Bearshanks, and the Wadenhoe woods, with
again a good deal of wild grass interspersed and
surrounding.

Turning to the north-west we have, besides, the
neutral Laxton Wood, the Bulwick Woods, the great
coverts of Deene — and, near by, are treeless wastes
with only stumps still rooted. Westward of Deene
Park are Penn Green, Excellent, Lodge Green, and
Corby ; and, farther southward, is Oakley Purlieus —
all belonging to Lady Cardigan. Near Rockingham
Castle are Mr. Watson^s well stocked coverts — Porter^s
Coppice, Prince Wood, and Rockingham Cow Pastures;
and south of these again the chain is continued with
King^s Wood, Swinehaw, Carlton Forest, the Pipwell
Woods, and Stoke — till we get to Brampton Wood
(the property of Lord Spencer). Between the river

The Woodland Pijtehley. 151

Welland and these woods is another good strip of
turf ; and beyond these^ at a short distance from
Harboro^ is Dingley looking across the stiffest of all
valleys to Waterloo Gorse, over the boundary. In the
southernmost portion of the country there are few
coverts — below the Duke of Buccleugh^s woods.
And between Cranford Gorse and Finedon Poplars
there is quite an open district of light plough and
little fences, reaching to the None. Oundle Wood in
the north east corner is a fine stronghold, and the
river runs through a beautiful green valley, unblessed,
however, by any tempting sheltering spots.

The days of hunting are arranged thus. Monday
is a weekly advertisement, and generally for the
northern half of the country — the road from Thrapston
to Rockingham forming an approximate line of
division. The second day of the week is alternately
Thursday and Friday; and is more often in the
southern half. But no attempt is made at an absolute
rule — various considerations combining to render
adherence to a strict programme impossible. The
shooting season is not the least of these considerations
— the upper part of the country being strictly under
game-culture : so much so, that in the autumn there
is sometimes diflSculty in obtaining sufficient room for
foxhunting.

The more prominent meets of the north are Rocking-
ham Castle, Harringworth Lodge, Bulwick, Deene
Park, Oundle Wood, Farming Wood (for Brigstock),
Sudborough and Lowick. In the south are Finedon,
Cranford, Boughton House, Oakley Hays, Hermitage
Farm (for Brampton Wood), Weekley Hall Wood,
Rushton Hall, and Dob Hall.

152 Hunting Countries of England.

As a woodland country, pure and simple, it may be
asserted that tlie '' Woodland Pytchley '' is not easily
to be beaten. It Has foxes everywhere, and in most
parts carries a good scent — while the rides are
navigable, though the woods are wet enough for
sport in both spring and autumn. For the one who
wields the horn there must be an endless fund of
interest and amusement. Those who follow have work
enough for wits and energy, if they would keep within
hearing of hounds. Seeing hounds in woodlands is, to
all practicable intent, a fagon de parler. The ear must
be the guiding organ more often than the eye — or — to
leave the directing power with the hound — he may
follow his nose, you must follow his tongue. And
there is no crowd to carry you on in the mechanical
way that in an open country may bring you forward
fyou know not how), till eventually you come up with
hounds once more. In the woods you must act for
yourself, and acquire a special interest. And it ends
in your learning (however dull and careless a pupil)
that foxhunting is an interest — not merely an exercise.
It may be said that long and solitary rides home offer
few point of interest except to the man of melancholy
and reflection. But they are necessarily part of the
self-discipline and rigour of habit called for in pursuit
of sport in a woodland and thinly-populated country.
They may even be improving. But at least they are
open to the objection that the horse, though eminently
a reflective animal, goes home better in company than
alone. You, reader, and I, may have learned that
silence is golden — but, I fancy, we would gladly take
out the chanofe in silver, to spend on a fourteen-mile
ride to our dinner.

The Woodland Pytehley. 153

Again, amid a small company, and an independent
one, tliere must be mucli more individuality of action
than in a crowded current of liumanity and horseflesh.
And this alone must always add an interest. Where
the field of action is open and easy enough for all,
where most are successful, and where competition does
not shut out, the day need seldom close on disappoint-
ment, thwarted ambition, or loss of opportunity. And
thus moralising, we come to the practical point that
you need not throw your money away too lavishly
when mounting yourself for the country in question.
You may, if you like, keep a good horse for Dingley,
Rushton, &c., on the chance of a dive into the outer
grass. But for home purposes and general occasion,
something stout and shortlegged — with a blood head,
and heels well protected (if you can hit upon such a
combination) — will carry you well enough. An extra
ten pounds on fair hack action will not be thrown
away — if you would hunt far and late.

This summary of requirement is, of course, intended
for the outsider who does not care to be in every field
with the hounds, but he who does, and the huntsman,
requires possibly as good or a better horse than in the
largest jumping country. At any moment a fox may
take to the open, and with little exception the fences
are large and require a first-rate jumper. In other
respects a horse is most severely tried for stoutness in
the deep rides.

154 Hunting Countries of England.

THE ATHEESTONE.*

A LARGE and varied country, witli lialf its area in
Leicestershire, half in Warwickshire ; Coventry and
Kugby mark its southern margin, Lutterworth is on
its eastern boundary. It runs almost up to Leicester
at its north-east corner ; and Nuneaton is its centre.
It touches the North Warwickshire in the south, the
Pytchley, Mr. Tailby^s and the Quorn along the east,
the Quorn again and the Meynell on the north, and
the South Staffordshire on the west.

Where it adjoins the Quorn on the north-east, a large
strip (between Bardon and Grooby) should have been
entered on the map in neutral colours, being the
common property of the Quorn and the Atherstone.
For the Atherstone have the right of drawing all the
Bradgate Woods, and even half of Swithland Wood
— though their title (independently of game con-
siderations) does not include cub-hunting.

The Atherstone hunt four days in the week ; and for
this purpose divide their country about as follows —

Monday is credited to the Market Bosworth neigh-
bourhood ; and includes the district to the north of
Hinckley.

* Vide " Stanford's Large Scale Map," sheets 9 and 15 ; also
" Hobson's Foxhunting Atlas."

The Atherstone. 155

Wednesday is in tlie Appleby district, and points
to the district between Tamwortb and Ashby-de-la-
Zoucb.

Friday is for the Rugby country, and means tbe
goodly tract south of Hinckley and westward as far as
the Coventry and Nuneaton road.

Saturday is spent on the Birmingham side, i.e.,
within the points of Tamworth, Coleshill, and
Coventry.

The Kennels are at Witherley, about a mile from
Atherstone (just within the borders of Leicestershire),
are admirably situated for hunting the country, and
possess the advantage of being close to a good railway
station. Mr. Oakeley hunts the countrj^ in almost
princely style.

The Friday, or Rugby, country is undoubtedly the
pick of the Atherstone domain. On a Monday they
go over some neat and pretty ground, to the south-
west of Leicester; but on a Friday they must be all
day in a land that is passing fair. Indeed, Rugby, as
a hunting quarter, has the exceptional advantage of
commanding the choicest portions of no less than
four, or even five, Hunts. We have spoken of Rugby
already, under the heads of the Pytchley and North
Warwickshire : but there is no unnecessary repetition
in averring that few places have such excellence of
choice and variety as are to be found here — in hunting
with Mr. Tailby's on Monday, the Pytchley on
Wednesday, the North Warwickshire, or the War-
wickshire, on Thursday, and the Atherstone on
Friday ; while for Tuesday or Saturday there may be
the Quorn, the Atherstone or the Pytchley within

156 Hunting Countries of England.

riding distance — or the Duke of Grafton to be
reached by rail. And all this wealth lies within two
hour's journey of London ! Truly Rugby would seem
to stand out alone as a point of attraction for the
sport-loving Londoner.

Or, for a man desirous of attaching himself to a
single pack, there is Nuneaton offering him every
facility of access and every opportunity of enjoying
himself. It is only a few miles from the Atherstone
Kennels ; and less than two and a half hours from
London. To be ^^sent to Coventry," again, in the
literal sense, is to the hunting soldier the summum
honum of earthly happiness. There he will hunt
from barracks four days in the week, and — if his
means allow — will get leave from parade on both the
other days, that he may rail to covert elsewhere,
not far away. Lutterworth, Leicester and Market
Bosworth, also, are by no means undesirable stations.

It is only on a Friday that the Atherstone command
the giant field that constitutes the sole drawback to
fashionable Leicestershire — a drawback necessarily
begotten of virtue well appreciated. On a Friday you
must be prepared to ride in a crowd, and to take
your chance over a big country with a multitude all as
anxious to be near hounds as yourself — or nearer. On
other days with them you want a hunter ; but he need
have none of the qualities of a steeplechaser — nor need
you have graduated between the flags. But on a
Friday you must be quick to start, and bold to ride.
Your horse must be able to glide over ridge-and-
furrow, to keep his head straight, and jump his
farthest when called upon, and to gallop twenty

The Atherstone. 157

minutes without a pull. For the Rugby country is
nearly all grass_, and the fences are fair but formidable.
Scent lies well, and the fun is often fast and furious.
We have begun out of order ; so may continue out of
order — and complete the Fridays before returning to
the earlier days of the week. Brownsoever is the
Atherstone meet nearest to E-ugby ; and, after its
home plantations are drawn, the word is generally for
Cestersover — which constitutes also the second draw
from Coton. A very favourite fixture is Coton House,
from whose snug little gorse, or from the Park
spinnies, many a good gallop has led into the Pytchley
country. There are also, on the borders and close to the
Watling Street Road, two or three more small coverts
tempting a trip on to the neighbouring soil. By the
way, Mr. Stanford is open to a slight correction here-
abouts, in that he has carried the Pytchley colouring
over the river Swift, where it crosses the Watling
Street Road — whereas the Atherstone country comes
to the northern bank of the stream.

Bitteswell is another outside meet, which never fails
to call in a large body of visitors from Mr. Tailby^s
and the Pytchley. As the hounds are generally
brought here by rail, and as the Bitteswell Covert is
very small and road-begirt, Ullesthorpe Station is often
named instead of Bitteswell. For a second fox from
either — should it happen to be inconvenient on the day
to turn to Twelveacres, a terrible distance has to be
travelled. For, excepting a little plantation or two
(seldom occupied) not far from Ashby, there is no
covert of any sort till Burbage Wood is reached, fully
six miles away — the whole of the beautiful grass tract

N 2

158 Hunting Countries of England.

round Frowleswortli, Sharnford^ Leir, &c._, being com-
pletely wasted for want of a covert ! (Since this was
written I learn that a new covert has been formed in
this fine ground.)

Burbage Wood is advertised for the great good
stronghold of that name, and its linked neighbour
Aston Firs. These woods take a good deal of draw-
ing, and cannot be drawn too often. There is a
capital country round them in almost every direc-
tion; and if you can stick to hounds there, and
when they leave it, you will see sport frequent and
excellent.

Twelveacres is, perhaps, the nicest covert in the
whole of the Atherstone Hunt. It is a wooded fast-
ness on the Watling Street Eoad ; and famous runs
have been credited to it, over the fine large grazing
lands stretching to Lutterworth, or Misterton (in the
Pytchley country) ; and it is an afternoon draw from
Bitteswell, Newnham, or Coton. I know of no better
chance for hounds — or for horsemen — than when the
former start fairly thence on a fox with their heads
pointed southwards or westwards. Both must be on
their mettle then — for it is Leicestershire in its purest
sense. Newnham Paddox is another pleasant fixture
— a lawn meet, and good coverts all round the domain,
including a gorse and many little woods. Coal Pit
Lane, as it is called, borders the Newnham estates, has
a spinney running up all its length, and leads to
Wolvey Gorse. Three Pots is the meet nearest Nun-
eaton, and, after its spinnies, has Wolvey Gorse and
the Newnham Coverts most handy. Or from a meet
at Wolvey Village the programme may be varied by a

The Ather stone. 159

visit to Coombe. But the ordinary meet for the great
woods in Coombe is Shilton Village — and no sounder
coverts are to be found. Like all large woods they
will bear, and require, hard and frequent work. Bran-
don Wood is the southernmost covert — for which
Binley Common is usually on the cards. Newbold
Bevel and the wood of All Oaks, bring us back to the
immediate neighbourhood of Rugby.

Continuing with their Mondays we find ourselves in
the Leicester — or Market Bosworth — district. The
latter town has more right to give a title ; for Leicester
is over the borders while Bosworth is almost the
centre point of this division. On a Monday you will
be taken over a lighter country than that of Friday — a
very sporting country withal, carrying a fair scent and
more than tolerably well supplied with foxes. There
is a good deal of grass, and the ploughed land is not
very deep or sticky. The fences are not difficult, but
may be taken much as they come. The coverts — as is
the case over a great part of the Ather stone country
— are principally small. Hounds can thus usually get
away on good terms with their fox, which is at least
half way towards killing him.

The opening meet of the season is always Bosworth
Park (the seat of the Dixie family), where there are
the home plantations, with the coverts known as the
Cow Pastures and the Decoy to draw. Then within
three miles of Bosworth is Sutton Ambion — which
may be termed the mainstay of the Monday country.
This grand covert consists of a large horse-shoe
shaped wood, with strong brambly undergrowth, which
foxes frequent in number inexhaustible. Within its

IGO Hunting Countries of England.

curve is a meadow containing Rictard's Well — where
tradition has it that the King drank after the Battle of
Bosworth. But Shenton is the more usual meet for
Sutton Ambion — hounds more often being taken
northwards after Bosworth Park.

Next in an eastward direction is Cadeby Gate ; and
close to the fixture are the Spinnies of Cadeby, also
Botany Bay and a number of little spots capable of
holding a fox. Then, as we move towards Hinckley,
comes Kirkby Mallory, with Kirkby Gorse and, again
some small copses — further drawing leading on by
Peckleton and Tooley Park. Normanton Turville
(formerly the residence of the Rev. J. Arkwright,
himself once Master of the Essex, and father of Mr.
Loftus Arkwright the last Master of that pack) has small
coverts round it and some more spinnies stretch up to
Bnderby, to the edge of the Quorn country. Earl
Shilton is another meet with the same intent. Turning
northward again, we come to Desford, with Lindridge
Wood (thirty or forty acres of capital covert) and
Nailstone Wiggs, a patch of rough growth like that of
a common — two nearly sure finds, and doorways to a
nice country round. Batby Burrows is on the borders
of Lord Stamford^s property, and points to the
territory that is neutral with the Quorn. At Barton-
in-the-Beans and round Bagworth, Ibstock, &c., we
get for the first time among the colKeries of the
Atherstone country. Here, however, they are scattered
at considerable interval, and do not interfere much
with the interest of foxhunting, which is carried on in
wild, but fairly good ground, though inferior to that of
the more southern Monday resorts. Shackerstone,

The Ather stone. 161

too, has plantation growth dotted about in its
vicinity — Congerstone Spinnies being those nearest to
Gopsall Park (Lord Howe^s seat) . From Harris Bridge
is drawn Sibson Wolds, a large gorse, surrounded by
a belt of timber. Nearer the Watling Street Road,
which is plainly marked across the centre of the
country, we come to Linley Park with small coverts
round the house. Eed Gate is more often the adver-
tised meet : and about here are plenty of foxes, and
plenty of small fences and small grass enclosures.
Caldecote, the property of Mr. Henry Townshend, is
invaluable, though the coverts near it are but small.
Years ago there existed Weddington Wood, (some 90
acres), which would furnish a whole day^s amusement
and employment. But this has long since been
levelled and ploughed.

Wednesday is spent in the north-east, or what is
known as the Appleby country. There is more clay in
the soil, and more grass grown on it, than in the
Monday district : and, as a consequence, the fences are
stronger. On the whole, it is a good fair country
for hounds ; and, moreover, full care is taken of the
foxes.

Gopsall (Lord Howe^s seat) is generally the first
Wednesday meet. There are numerous good coverts
round the estate, among them some woods of con-
siderable size — e.g. The Racecourse (so called from
the long avenue running through it) and High Wood.
Just north of Gopsall is Appleby (Mr. G. Moore^s),
with some plantations near the house, Birdshill
Gorse, and Appleby Gorse. Round here there is
good grass and fine scenting ground. Between

1G2 Hunting Countries of England.

Appleby and Snarestoue there is also an osier-bed —
the old Suarestone Gorse having been done away
with. From Appleby Gorse took place what is said
to have been the best run of Col. Thomson^s reign
over the Atherstone. The gorse had been lately cut
down, thistles constituted the only cover, and the
earth was open. The Master ran his hounds through
one side, while a terrier was put into the earth at the
other. A fox was bolted, and they chased him an
eleven mile point (fast all the way). He crossed the
river Thame near Elford, then turned back about
three miles beyond. Hounds caught a view of him
as he swam the river again, overtook him as he
reached a willow-bed in mid-stream, and there pulled
him down.

Above Appleby we come to Willesley, near Ashby
de la Zouch and the extreme north — the coverts, as in
many other parts, being limited to small plantations.
But more westward are the two big and useful woods
known as Scale Wood and Grange Wood. Lulling-
ton comes next as a meet. And near here is a gorse,
which (planted by a former Master of the Atherstone
on neutral, or rather, unclaimed ground) is still unde-
fined as belonging to either Atherstone or Meynell —
a reference to Boodle^s having met with no decided
award. Seckington Tumulus is generally fixed for
Thorpe, where are some good coverts and gorse. At
Ammington, too, is a gorse and some spinnies —
Shuttington Bridge being a favourite meet : and
Grendon another, more to the south.

The Saturday, or Birmingham country, is the
south-west portion — and lies below the Watling

The Atherstone, 163

Street Road^ which passes through Atherstone and
Tamworth. It is full of coalpits; and its other
characteristics are big woods,, small enclosures^ rough
hairy fences, and much arable. It is altogether
difficult ground for hounds to run over; and is
certainly the least-favoured part of the Atherstone
country. The first large wood to notice is Birch
Coppice, which is on the Watling Street Road about
four miles from Atherstone. There are large strong
coverts also about Baxterley — Kingsbury Wood being
the chief in size and quality. The Black Swan is a
frequent meet for the above; and Kingsbury Wood
itself is often advertised. To the east of these is
Merevale — from whose site a beautiful view of the
Atherstone country is to be obtained. The coverts
about here are many and large, headed by Bentley
Park Wood — Bentley Tollbar being the ordinary
meet. There are more woods again leading up to
Oldbury Hall. Hartshill Hayes is the next large
wood : and near here lives Mr. R. Aiken, who, in spite
of deafness, has not missed a day^s cubhunting for
years, during the summer has devoted his whole time
to the care of coverts and cubs, and has done more
than any one else to keep the country together.

Camphill has coverts round it — notably Haunch
Wood : and from here we get into a very region of
coalpits. Arbury (Mr. Newdigate^s) is among a
multitude of woods, strong and well-preserved — Cow
Leighs, Park Wood, North Wood, and Coventry
Wood, being the leading names. And these are
joined on the south by Lord Aylesford^s Woodlands ;
and Kench Grrove to Corley constitutes another great

164 Hunting Countries of England.

range of wood. Working on through Corley to
Birchley Hayes, Fillongley, Arley Wood, and Dale
Wood, we get to Packington (Lord Aylesford^s
residence) and Maxstock — Filloughby, Packington,
and Corley all being meets. Shustock is advertised
for the extreme west, of which the river Thame is the
boundary.

The Billesdon or South Quorn. 165

THE BILLESDON OE SOUTH QUORN.*

In dealing with the geography and characteristics of
the Southern Portion of the old Quorn Country, it is
not intended to refer in any way to the question so
lately and unfortunately vexed. It stands on our
Map* as Mr. Tailby^s Country, and in describing it
we may still make use of the name by which it was so
long and honourably denominated. It is safe to affirm
that in the palmiest days of Mr. Tailby's regime — when
a loan of some of the Cottesmore woodlands gave a
backbone to the open tract first worked separately by
Mr. Eichard Sutton — no pack in the Shires had such
brilliant and continual sport. In two wet seasons
especially — some fifteen years ago — Jack Goddard had
a gallop every day his horn was at the saddle; and
riding-men swore that Mr. Tailby was the only Master
with whom to hunt. With Frank Goodall, too, runs
came almost as merrily and frequently; and it was
only when the sphere became limited by the woods
being surrendered to the Cottesmore that the sun of
success shone a little less hotly. Let it be understood
that the following sketch is of Mr. Tailby^s Country,

* " Stanford's Large Scale Map," sheets 15 and 16 ; also
*' Hobson's Foxhunting Atlas."

166 Hunting Countries of England.

as it remained on the resumption by the Cottesmore
of the territory they had left. After this his hunting-
grounds were restricted to the south side of the
turnpike road running from Leicester to Uppingham.
The other boundaries were as coloured on Stanford's
Map — the Wye Brook and the Welland marking the
east and south east — the Leicester and Lutterworth
turnpike the west, and Market Harboro', Lubenham,
Husbands Bosworth_, and Kimcote, points on the
southern limit.

Leicester to Marhet Harhoro^ in fact, defines as well
as any fuller term the extent of the territory of late
years hunted by Mr. Tailby — Leicester being at one
extremity, Harboro' at the other, and the road be-
tween, straight as a ruler, cutting the country almost
exactly in half.

Either of these places commands the country ; and
of the two it is not unfair to say that you are likely to
choose Market Harboro\ Leicester does not care
about you, for it has sources of wealth far more
extensive and deep rooted than the pockets of hunting
men, while Harboro' is glad enough to welcome you
to its comfortable hostelries and unlimited stabling.
The one has grown into a great manufacturing centre ;
the other still remains as Whyte Melville depicted it —
a neat little market town, owing all its position in
the world to its attractiveness as a hunting quarter.
Looked at even from this point of view, Harboro' has
had its ups-and-downs. At one time it rivalled Melton.
Oftentimes it has been a smaller Harboro'. But while
fox-hunting exists in the Midlands, there will always
be a strong staff of sportsmen gazetted to this most

The Billesdon or South Quorn, 167

central and tempting post. Within two hours-and-
a-half of London (an eight o^clock train from St.
Pancras bringing any of the nearer meets within a single
day^s work from Town)_, with three packs of hounds
hunting up to its very gates, and the cream of the
Shires spread round its walls, it must offer food
for the most critical appetite — a field for the most
ambitious temperament.

Besides Leicester and Market Harboro^, and midway
between them on the main line of railway, is Kib worth
— consisting of a village, a station, and a group of
hunting boxes. Kibworth lies quite in the centre of
the Country ; and is becoming every day more popular
as a hunting base. Hotel accommodation it has yet
to acquire ; and its chief favour is found in the eyes
of men who have a wife, and must needs have a house.
In fact, Kibworth is more of a four than a six-days-a-
week quarter. For the pack under notice has, with
its limited sphere, been in the habit of taking the
field only five days a fortnight ; and on many of the
other days a long journey is needed to reach, or to
return from, another pack — be it the Qaorn, the
Cottesmore, or the Pytchley. If you would hunt
every day, and still reside in the Billesdon province,
you had better go further from the railway, and
establish yourself at Billesdon itself — where your field
of operations is wider and easier. It was at Billesdon
that Mr. Sutton, and for some years afterwards Mr.
Tailby, kept the hounds : and hence the B. H. button
for the initials of the hunt. Billesdon, again, is not a
spot possessing any greater resources of its own than
most country villages. You must go there with a

168 Hunting Countries of England

view to tlie pleasure of the chase — and for that purpose
only.

The days of hunting have hitherto been arranged
very simply as follows — The Midland Railway cutting
the country in half, the southern portion has been
chosen for Mondays, the northern for Thursdays,
except that an extreme eastern corner has been left
for an extra day on alternate Saturdays — when the
Cottesmore are on the farther side of their own
dominions.

Some of the Monday country is extremely good ; and
all of it may be termed fair. That of the Thursdays
embraces a superb grass district that has no superior
in the shires ; while that of the Saturdays is on some
sides very perfect — if very stiff.

Nearest to Market Harboro^ on a Monday is Grumley,
whose well sheltered and carefully tended coverts form
a never-failing base of supplies. Foxton is sometimes
named that footpeople may not know whether to
assemble at Gumley, above Papillon Gorse, or round
the spinnies at Lubenham. But Gumley is always the
opening meet; and a standing dish throughout the
season. For the afternoon there are the Laughton
Hills to be drawn — overlooking the green valley to
Theddingworth, and facing the neutral hills of Marston
and Hothorpe. Were it not for railway and canal,
this valley would bear a brilliant name. As it is,
foxes seldom face it. And when they do, hounds
must more often cross it alone. Marston in Mr.
Stanford's map is coloured as being over the border —
whereas its spinnies and the adjacent wooded heights
are neutral with the Pytchley. You must take your

The Billesdon or South Quorn, 169

map in hand^ and you must take your saddle there if
you would really learn the features of tlie country.
This sketch is only intended to help you to your
bearings on arrival. Beyond Gumley are the meets of
Mowsley (for the neat artificial coverts of John Ball,
Jane Ball, and Walton Holt, with Bosworth Gorse as
a link with the Laughton Hills). From Walton Holt
westward is a beautiful line : and the Atherstone
country may even be pierced at its best. The same
course is possible from the other coverts ; and the
Pytchley country is open and at hand ; but too often
foxes prefer the home precincts. Another covert
between Walton Holt and Ashby would be a true
boon. Shearsby is put on the cards for any of the
last-named coverts, or for Ashby New Covert. Brun-
tingthorpe, again, is for the latter or for Peatling
Covert — both bordering on an open, and rather
wasted, quarter of the Atherstone — and Kilby when
named is meant for a trot to the Blaby Spinnies and
the almost defunct Whetstone Gorse. Wistow has its
Gorse, its Spinnies in the Park, and Peatling Gorse
to fall back upon in the afternoon.

It will be gathered that the coverts of this Monday
country are invariably small and artificial. When
foxes run straight and choose an upland, and a west-
ward line, there is good ground to be ridden over.
There is of course more plough than in the north of
thej country, and seldom perhaps so good a scent.
But there is a bit of pretty riding by Gilmorton and
Peatling that is well worth experiencing.

In the Leicester neighbourhood we get to Stretton
Parva, with, probably, Thurnby, for a morning draw.

170 Hunting Countries of England.

Norton Gorse and Glen Gorse for the afternoon.
Thurnby Spinney is but a little place. But with a
good fox, or even a fair fox, it may mean a run of
grand merit. Hounds must get away at his brush ;
and to save his brush he must travel fast over a long
distance without a covert, and with grass underfoot.
And the same conditions (given a huntsman quick to
get his hounds from covert — and the hypothesis has
seldom been wanting) apply fully to Norton Gorse.
Grass paves the way in every direction ; and to run to
Kibworth by Burton Overy and Carlton is indeed a
blissful progress. Glen Gorse has a good side and a
bad. If a fox will but choose his line northwards
or westwards, he has a hunter^s paradise before him.
But foxes are too often insensible to proffered happi-
ness and the interests of their best friends. From the
meets of Illston-on-the-Hill and Burton Overy, the pro-
bable draws are Norton Gorse and Shangton Holt.
Shangton Holt — or, more familiarly, Shang Holt — was
a great place in the days before the spinnies of Noseley
had grown up. Now it is too apt to act as part of
what the Tailbyites were wont to term the "^^home
circuit'^ — meaning thereby Noseley, Rolleston, Key-
thorpe, Staunton Wood, and Glooston Wood. For,
from the park plantations of Noseley a fox is almost
sure to run through the Long Spinney or the Covert of
Kolleston, or into the wooded glens and glades of Key-
thorpe (Ram^s Head, Moor Hill, Yowes Gorse, and
Key thorpe Wood included) . From here he is certain
to follow a gully to the woods of Staunton or Glooston,
or both. All these coverts are from one to two miles
apart. Go there as a stranger, you will see a fine run

The Billesclon or South Quorn. 171

every day. As one who has learned all their features
you will seldom be amused. Herein^ in fact, lies the
bane of this little country. It is too ivell hnown.
And a fine hound -run is often voted wearisome,
because men anticipated its line, and could map out
their whole path beforehand. But they don^t all
know their way over the Stonton Brook. Here
their learning fails, and their shortcomiugs discover
themselves. High authority has suggested that
the Stonton Brook should be drained — guaran-
teeing that, in silver-mounted relics and stirrup
leathers alone, full compensation for expense would
be found.

Just westward of this home circuit is the meet of
Carlton Hall, and the delightful covert of Sheepshorns
— the latter ranking with Norton Gorse as a certainty
for a gallop over the creamiest grass.

Stonton Wyvile is for Langton Caudle and the
great strongholds of Staunton and Glooston Woods;
and hounds are here or hereabouts quite once a week —
and seldom without good result.

The Saturday country comprises a very limited
space. The new railway, as jotted on the map,
gives about its area. It depends for its sport almost
entirely on the chain of woods facing the Cottesmore
at Wardley. The Billesdon draw Allexton with the
other pack ; and they have also Stockerston Wood
and Marabole Holt (otherwise Merivale) — and for
these they usually meet at Allexton or Blaston. From
these good fastnesses foxes should break over into
Cottesmore ground more often than they have of late
been willing to do. Slawston is more frequently

o

172 Hunting Countries of England.

a Thursday meet^ and tlie Slawston vale, where prac-
ticable, is admirable.

You will meet the best and hardest of company in
this Billesdon country. Mount yourself accordingly,
and ride with confidence in yourself and your horse.

The Meynell 173

THE MEYNELL.*

To tlie north-west of Leicestersliire lies the pleasant
arass country of The Meynell, occupying all of Derby-
shire that is huntable west of the River Derwent —
together with a well-wooded portion of Staffordshire.
The Meynell Country is touched on the south by the
South Staffordshire (the River Trent dividing the two);
it runs over the Trent to meet the Atherstone, and
again returns within the river at the fork formed by
the Trent and Derwent,, where Lord Ferrers meets it on
the south-east. The South Notts runs up the whole of
its eastern side ; on the north it merges into a hilly
blank where only harriers are seen, and on the west is
the North Staffordshire.

The Meynell Hounds are one of the oldest existiDg
packs — their Kennel Book containing uninterrupted
yearly entries from 1818, and there were nine-season
hounds in that year's list. During the whole of this
time, and up to Mr. MeynelFs death about 1870, the
hounds were kennelled at Hoar Cross, his place in
Staffordshire, and, the Derbyshire side of his country
being distant from home, was only hunted during tiie

* Vide " Stanford's Large Scale Railway Map," Sheet 9; also,
Hobson's Foxhuntme: Atlas."

174 Hunting Countries of England.

first week of each month. For this purpose the pack
was sent on the first Monday of the month to Kedlas-
ton Inn (near Derby), whence it hunted three days,
and returned to Kennels on Saturday. This was
called the '' Derby week ;" and under this arrangement
the best part of the country obviously did not receive
its full share of attention. If a frost fell early in a
month, the district would, as often happened, remain
unhunted for seven or eight weeks. From the Hoar
Cross Kennels, too, it was the custom to take hounds
by rail to Ashbourne once a week for a day in the
Upper country. At Mr. MeynelFs decease the hounds
were left by will to the Country ; and Lord Waterpark
and Mr. Clowes took them, on the conditions of a
guaranteed subscription and of Kennels being provided
in the centre of the country. Kennels were accor-
dingly erected at Sudbury ; and ever since it has been
the rule to hunt two days a week in Derbyshire, and
two in Staffordshire — the Eiver Dove separating the
counties, and dividing the Meynell territory into two
portions very equal in size, but very different in
feature. The days of hunting are Monday, Tuesday,
Thursday, and Saturday ; and the northern, or Derby-
shire, half is hunted on Tuesday and Thursday — in
order that all the hounds, which are divided into two
])acks, may each week have their turn in both open and
woodland. For, whereas the country north of the
Dove is grass from end to end, and such a thing as a
large wood is unknown, south of the river it is in many
parts hidden by woodlands for miles. On the Derby-
shire side the soil is almost entirely devoted to dairy
farming ; and over a wide, undulating plain you see for

The Meynell. 175

many miles only good grass^ small inclosures, and easy
fences. It is the most tempting of all countries to
"lark over/^ jumping is offered every hundred yards :
and the fences — top-trimmed, not stake-and-bound,
and seldom furnished with a ditch of any moment —
invite but never terrify. Conseqaently^ hounds are
hindered rather than horsemen; and sport is occa-
sionally the sufferer. In fact, it is difficult for hounds
to get room enough even with a moderate field and
over capital scenting ground ; and they seldom get
away from their followers, except when now and again
they slip on to the hills north of the country. There
they have more than once been known to pull their
fox down by themselves.

The Meynell country is not one much known, or
visited, by outsiders. They know of it as a country
of sport and pleasant riding ; and a visit to it — even a
day^s trip, is a chance readily seized upon by men
quartered elsewhere. But, apart from those who
hunt in Derbyshire, or on its frontiers, because they
live there, fewer hunting men bring their horses to
the Meynell country than its many attractions would
lead one to suppose. But, as may have been already
gathered, it is not a country that could stand an influx
of visitors. A crowd would at once spoil its own
sport; and anything approaching to a Leicestershire
field would choke itself, and its object. Added to
this, there is little choice of quarter — Derby being
the only resting-place offering, except the more
distant points of Uttoxeter and Ashbourne. These
towns all lie on the outskirts of the country ; while at
Sudbury, the site of the Kennels, the Inn would

170 Hunting Countries of England.

scarcely provide room and stabling for more tlian one
or two sportsmen. Derby is undoubtedly a good
situation. It commands three days of tbe Meynell_,
and has the South Notts and Lord Ferrers' to eke out
the week. It is rather more than three hours from
London (St. Pancras) ; and the Midland Railway
offers further facilities, in the opportunity of taking
train two or three times a week to join the Quorn
near Loughborough, Syston Junction, or Leicester.

Thursday is especially the day of the week on
which the Meynell are in the immediate neighbour-
hood of Derby — Tuesday being nearer Sudbury or
Ashbourne, Monday in the Burton-on-Trent district,
and Saturday on the Chartley side (and south of
Uttoxeter).

Thus, as has been already stated^ the two middle
days of the week are in the Derbyshire, or grass,
country — the characteristics of which vary but little
throughout. Its coverts are entirely small and artifi-
cial : and are keenly preserved on all sides. Some
larger coverts might be of advantage ; for towards
the end of a season it often happens that there is
difficulty in finding a fox in some of these little places
— though, when one is once found, two or three others
are almost certain to be soon afoot, with the possible
consequence that, after running hard all the afternoon,
hounds have to be whipped off a fresh fox, when they
should be near killing their own.

The horse for this country ought to be a quick
jumper, yet easy to stop and turn. He should be
shortbacked and strong — power and endurance being,
perhaps, of more consequence here than mere speed.

The Weynell 177

For he will be popping in and out of the small
pastures all day ; and, though the fences are not such
as to throw him down easily (except when now and
again a stiff bit of timber may be encountered), they
are high and scratchey ; and a well-bred horse is apt
to over-exert himself at most of his jumps — to avoid
the sharp edges of thorns and stakes. And, travelling
on grass all the time, a fox is not soon tired to death,
nor likely to run his pursuers easily out of scent.
The chase is therefore often a long one, calling for
continued and severe exertion, and requiring a
thorough stayer to carry a man in comfort and
pleasure. As a sample of the Derbyshire country,
and of the distance foxes occasionally travel over it,
take the run from Hilton Grorse some five or six years
ago, Hilton Gorse is to Derbyshire what Ranksboro^
is to Leicestershire. To watch it drawn is a sight in
itself — to get a good fox away is almost always a run.
On the occasion alluded to they ran from this covert
(which lies close by the River Dove) straight north-
wards to Snelston, near Ashbourne — a ten-mile point
— and crossed only one ploughed field in the
distance !

Above Ashbourne come the Derbyshire Hills, great
rolling limestone formations, covered with grass — so
steep that it is impossible to follow hounds, except by
riding from one high point to another for an occdsional
view. But it is a fine country for harriers, whose
game is not prone to carry the sphere of action so
wide — the range on the north towards Wirksworth
being particularly favourable.

Beginning with the Thursday, or Derby, side of the

178 Hunting Countries of England,

grasSj we have Had bourn as tlie meet nearest to the
borough, also as the best known of all the Meynell
fixtures, and as usually advertised for the first Thurs-
day in each month. Radbourn Roughs, a stronghold
of wood and osiers and reeds, is its covert. Sutton
Mill, and Etwell, point to Sutton Gorse, Parson's
Gorse, and Hilton's Gorse. The last-named is really a
gorse, and a good one. Sutton Gorse, like many other
of the coverts of the Meynell, has no longer any
title as a gorse, but remains an excellent covert in
the form of blackthorn. And these two stand out
as two of the most celebrated holding-places of the
Derbyshire country. Kedlaston (the seat of Lord
Scarsdale, and three miles from Derby) has small
coverts round the place, with Langley Gorse and
Broward's Carr, of more substantial size and power, in
the neighbourhood. At Egginton is Egginton Gorse,
and some way to the east is Arleston Gorse. One of
the farthest meets from Kennels is Stenson Lock, with
Stenson Field Covert. But farther still is Elvaston
Castle (Lord Harrington's) towards the junction of the
Derwent and the Trent — a great lawn meet, from
which hounds are taken to draw the cypress gardens.
Even to this remote corner the grass stretches as
sound and fair riding as ever. At Longford (Hon. E.
Coke's) we get to about the centre of the Derbyshire
country, and may see hounds there on a Tuesday
almost as often as on a Thursday. Longford Carr is a
capital covert, and there are other small ones also at
hand.

The Tuesday country of the Meynell differs in no
respect from that of the Thursday — small grass fields,

The Meynell 179

artificial coverts of very limited size, light fences,
and plenty of foxes, being conditions that apply to
the whole of hunting Derbyshire. On a Tuesday,
then, they are on the east of the county, towards
Ashbourne and Uttoxeter, both of which places are on
the border line between the fox hunting flat and the
harrier hills. And it is close to this boundary line
that we meet with the only exception to the above
description of the Derbyshire ground — for between
Ashbourne and Cubley we find a rough, undrained,
often sedgy country, with scrambly, untrimmed fences,
frequently intersected with broken watercourses; while
just below Norbury is a strip of flat water meadows —
pleasant enough when foxes will run over them, but they
generally prefer to turn upwards towards Snelston.

It may be noted here that water is not a large
ingredient in the fencing of Derbyshire. Indeed^
beyond four or five small tributaries o£ the Dove, few
opportunities of testing the powers of a water jumper
are to be met with : though, as is the case in most
countries where brooks are seldom encountered, there
is often a disproportionate amount of difficulty and
disaster whenever the real occasion oS'ers. These few
streams drain the country by running southward, at
right angles, into the Dove — the Somershall brook
taking the westernmost valley, the Saperton Brook
(running from Cubley to Foston) the next. After
these we meet with the Longford, or Sutton Brook
(emptyiug itself by Egginton) with another from
Eadborn and Dalbury joining the main stream at
about the same spot. These, with the stream drain-
ing the Kedlaston district into the Derwent by

180 Hunting Countries of England.

Derby, are the only brooks giving a cbance of a
wetting.

To continue witb tlie meets and coverts of Tuesday,
we have Brailsford and Mercaston — half way on the
main road between Ashbourne and Derby — as more
often belonging to that day than Thursday. Brails-
ford has some eight acres of strong gorse, full of foxes.
Mercaston is for Breward^s Carr and Ravensdale
Park, which are coverts of wild natural wood with an
undergrowth of fern ; and nearer Ashbourne we come
to the Ednaston coverts, at one time particularly
good. In the north-west corner of the country, and
close to Ashbourne itself is Bradley — the burial-place
of Old Meynell, of Billesdon Coplow fame :

Talk of horses and hounds and system of Kennel,

Give me Leicestershire nags and the hounds of Old Meynell.

Hard by is the Limekilns, close up to the Hills, for
which foxes are very Drone to set their heads when dis-
turbed. It has happened more than once that, quite
late in the afternoon, hounds have been carried even
over the high summit of Atlow Winn — to the great
distress of horses and men. Dropping south of this
Ashbourne-and-Derby road, we find a noted hunting-
ground in Shirley Park, a wild stretch of wood and
heather. Shirley Park contains no house, but
Osmaston Manor was built close by, by the late Mr.
Wright, who maintained Shirley Park as a great
nursery for foxes. And hounds are advertised to meet
at either place. Westward of this is Snelston (Mr. J.
Harrison^s), with its surrounding copses and planta-
tions, where the needed animal is always to be found ;.

The Meijnell. 181

and directly soutli is Cubley — or, as it often appears
on the cards, Cubley Toll-gate, and its small but
certain gorse.

At no great distance from tbis is Bentley Carr, a
gorse and plantation jungle — at present ratber out of
repair ; and eastward still we get back into the centre
of the Derbyshire country, and to Longford (already
mentioned). Two or three miles below Longford is
Barton Park, where Mr. F. Bradshaw (a staunch
friend to the Hunt) has a capital little gorse. At
Saperton is a strong covert in the shape of a large
square plantation ; and, nearer still to the Eiver Dove,
is Foston Hall with its coverts. Three miles west of
Foston lies Lord Yemenis place at Sudbury — whose
fine old Hall was at one time the residence of the
Dowager Queen Adelaide. The wide deer parks are,
by Lord Vernon's courtesy, at disposal for exercise of
the Meynell hounds and horses ; and the pack is daily
walked out among the deer (by no means a small or
useless privilege) . For the Kennels are only separated
from the Park by the high road ; and lie about one
mile from the village, and two from the station of
Sudbury. Almost within sound of horn from the
Kennels, on the north, is Sudbury Coppice, of oak
and underwood, and conveniently quartered by its
cross rides. In the Park itself there are also some
small spinnies. Still more to the westward. Lord
Waterpark has made an excellent blackthorn covert
in the meadows adjoining the Dove — his seat at
Doveridge being a frequent fixture. He has other
coverts, too, above the House, which extend to within
a short distance of Eaton Wood, which is again a

182 Hunting Countries of England.

meet. Eaton Wood itself is a large stretch of timber
on the hillside overlooking the Dove, and is a sare
find. Here, by the way, is a heronry ; and it is
curious, when spring-hunting is still going on, to
look upward at the outstretched limbs of the herons,
as they try in vain to accommodate their length of leg
to their narrow nests. Wardly Coppice, a wood of
some ten acres, is close to Eaton Wood ; and with it
we have nearly exhausted the Derbyshire portion of
the Meynell country.

South of the River Dove is, as we have alreadj^
observed, the Staffordshire half of the Meynell
country, and it is hunted on Mondays and Saturdays.
Hitherto the Burton neighbourhood has been chosen
for Mondays, the Uttoxeter and C hartley side for
Saturdays. In future, however (in order to suit the
convenience of a large number of subscribers in and
around Burton), it is intended to reverse the two days.
For present purposes we will retain the old denomi-
nation, and call the Burton side their Monday country.

Briefly, then, the main features of the territory
below the Dove are the two great woodlands known
as Bagot's Park and the Forest Banks (or Needwood
Forest) — the two running into each other and covering
many miles of ground. Bagot Park, the property of
Lord Bagot, but containing no residence, is on the
south bank of the Dove, is celebrated for its grand
timber, and contains, besides other large coverts, no
less than fifteen hundred acres of wood in one piece.
Here, too, is a large heronry. Forest Banks stretch
round southwards over the whole centre of the country
below the river — almost the entire distance between

The Meynell 183

Burton-on-Trent and Bagofc Park being comprised in
Needwood Forest. This Forest is^ of course, nowadays
all enclosed ; but many large woods remain, the inter-
vals being filled with light plough and rough grass —
with foxes abundant everywhere. Monday, as hitherto
employed, may be taken roughly as relating to that
part of the country which lies east of the main road
i'rom Sudbury to Lichfield — the Meynell kingdom of
course being understood to stop short at the river
Trent, where the road in question reaches it. Among
the leading meets for this section of the woodlands
are the New Inn (about six miles from Sudbury, and
three or four from Burton-on-Trent), Rolleston (Sir
Tonman Moseley^s), and Anslow Village. And the
woods for them are those of Rolleston, a large wood
called the Hen Hurst, Needwood House Coverts,
Brakenhurst Wood, the Hoar Cross Coverts, and the
various strongholds pertaining to Birkley Lodge,
Yoxall Lodge, and Hollybush Hall. South of these
again, are Wichnor Park (Mr. Levitt^s) and Danstall
Hall (Sir J. Hardy^s). And all but the two last-
named form part of the old Needwood Forest.

East of the Trent, beyond Burton, the Meynell have
a strip of country adjoining the Atherstone — rough
but light plough, hilly and broken by coal digging,
but by no means bad scenting or useless for hound-
work. It should be observed — somewhat in falsifica-
tion of a previous remark — that the county of Derby-
shire claims this corner, which is comprised within the
boundary points of Calke Abbey and Melbourne on
the East — Hartshorn, Bretby Hall, and Lullington on
the south. At the two former places the Meynell

184 Hunting Countries of England

touches Lord Ferrers' country — Staunton Harrold
(the Master's residence) being quite contiguous.
Grorsty Lees (a large wood) Draketon^ Bretby Park,
and Foremark, are all meets and good coverts ; while
Walton-on-Trent is the fixture for Catton and Lulling-
ton.

On a Saturday the Meynell are in their Sudbury or
South West country — consisting chiefly of Bagot
Park and part of the Forest Banks, the Blithebury
Coverts, Lord Bagot's Coverts round Blithfield and
the Kingston Woods, stretching west almost as far as
Lord Shrewsbury's place at Ingestre — each of these
names representing a meet. West still of Bagot
Park and Uttoxeter is Chartley Park, a wild grassy
upland plain, with large woods and a good gorse
called Fradswell Heath — or The Heath. Then there
is Loxley Park and its coverts near Uttoxeter, Carry
Coppice, Gratwick Wood, and Hand Learson Wood,
and the whole comprise a fine rough woodland
country. Chartley Park, with Chillingham, is one
of the only places where the wild breed of old
English cattle still remains. Bramshill, in the corner
west of Uttoxeter and above Phillips' Gorse is
again a very good grass country extending by
Checkley towards Tean into the woody part of the
North Stafi'ord country, and all this southern dis-
trict is excellent for hounds, if not delightful for
horsemen.

The Bicester and Warden Hill Hunt. 185

THE BICESTEE AND WAEDEN HILL
HUNT.*

Of all tlie good grass countries of England, none is so
easily accessible from London as the Bicester, and
none is better provided with convenient quarters.
Two hours^ journey will land you at the towns of
Bicester, Buckingham, Brackley, or Banbury, all of
which are excellent bases from which to hunt with the
pack in question, and offer a variety of choice besides.
Of these, Bicester is undoubtedly the most central,
being as near the middle of the country as a country
so straggling and tortuous can be said to have a middle.
It is only some three miles from the main Kennels, at
Stratton Audley ; commands all four days of the home
pack, and has its Wednesdays with the Heythrop or
Duke of Grafton, and its Fridays with the Dake or
South Oxfordshire, to fill up the week — besides the
opportunity, if desired, of a weekly gallop with the
Barents staghounds. Many Oxonians keep their
horses at Bicester, or even hire there — Oxford itself
being just outside the country, and commanding its
best meets only by rail. Buckingham has the packs

* Vide "Stanford's Large Scale Map," Sheet 16; also,
" Ilobson's Foxhunting Atlas."

186 Hunting Countries of England.

of Mr. Selby Lowndes and the Duke of Grafton, to
occupy spare days : Brackley and Banbury have the
Duke, the Warwickshire and the Heythrop to fall
back upon, when the pack they subscribe to is not in
the field.

The Bicester hunting days are professedly three in
the week. Practically they are four — Monday being
always added to the card by Lord Valentia, the
present master. The other days are Tuesday,
Thursday, and Saturday; and the distribution is as
follows :

Monday is, perhaps four times out of nine, devoted
to the Oxford Woodlands, four times more to the
Tingewick Woods, and on the odd occasion to the
lower Northamptonshire country, about Farthinghoe
or Thenford — of all which sections we shall have more
to say anon. For the moment it will answer the pur-
pose to remark that Monday may be spent in very
happy fashion, — or it may be otherwise. Tuesday is
the day for the Bicester Flat — as the country near that
town is called. Thursday is for the Claydon Woods
and the Aylesbury Vale ; and Saturday for the upper
country, where it runs into Northamptonshire above
Banbury.

Taking your map in hand, you cannot but remark
upon the wonderful eccentricity of outline displayed
in the boundaries of the Bicester country. Starting
from near Oxford on the south, it wriggles a sinuous
course among the neighbouring Hunts, as if all had
combined to squeeze it out of existence. Its chief
bulk is its southern portion, where the Heythrop
support it on the west, the South Oxfordshire are at

The Bicester and Warden Hill Hunt. 187

its base, the Whaddon Chase (better known as Mr.
Selby Lowndes^) touch its eastern flank, and the Duke
of Grafton's pinch it into a neck on the north east.
Above this it has an attenuated existence between the
Warwickshire and the Duke, till it reaches the
Pytchley at Badby. The river Cherwell on the east,
where it runs from Banbury to Oxford, is one of the
few natural boundaries that give any excuse for the
configuration of the country. Above Banbury, on the
same side, the high road pointing to Coventry is
accepted as the march, till we get north of Fenny
Compton. For its other boundaries it is, in the
absence of any noticeable landmarks, sujBQcient to say
that Mr. Stanford's colouring has been laid on
correctly, according to the outline accepted by the
Hunt. The natives complain that at certain periods
in recent history they have suffered some loss of
territory, both in the far north and in the extreme
south. For, until late years the Bicester used to hunt
right up to Shuckburgh and Ladbrooke, where the
Warwickshire now reign supreme; while on the south
they held more of the Oxford woodlands, and even
dipped below the river Thame as far as Ricot. At
that time the country required no less than three sets of
Kennels, to allow of its whole length (some forty miles)
being properly worked. Thus, the main Kennels were
at Bainton, there were rougher lodgings for hounds at
Rycote in the far south, and Chipping Warden in the
north. At the present day the main Kennels are at
Strafcton Audley, the southern ones have been abolished
as unnecessary ; and Thorpe Mandeville has been
chosen to take the place of Chipping Warden. For

188 Hunting Countries of England.

every otlier Saturday hounds are now sent overnight
to Thorpe Mandeville ; and, after hunting all day on
Northamptonshire soil, have to make their way home-
wards across country — often a journey of terrible
length.

The Bicester country is, as a rule, excellent for
hunting and delightful for riding. In most parts it
carries a good scent ; and nowhere is it too formidable
to cross. A good horseman on a fair animal will find
himself at home everywhere ; and as a school for man
or horse there is no better. For the fences are every-
where negotiable ; and, while quite sufficient to induce
a horse to rise vigorously, may be taken at almost any
point, in the full confidence that you see the worst and
are venturing nothing impracticable. In the Vale of
Aylesbury a certain number of, not too difficult,
doubles are to be met with : and it is as well that you
and your horse should be prepared to encounter them
— and be able, also, to face the frequent brooks.
Otherwise the Bicester country may be set down as a
very artless one j and you should be able to get over it
comfortably, even if you cannot flatter yourself that
temperament and teaching have given you a claim
to the highest honours of horsemanship. Your stud
should, as elsewhere, be made up of as good material,
as your purse, or prospects, seem fairly to allow. But,
though the country boasts of a most liberal proportion
of grass, it can scarcely be said to require — except in
the most chosen, and most trying, northern corner — a
class of cattle so rare and so expensive as the oxers of
the Pytchley and the Quorn demand. A stout horse
is essentially necessary; for the distances are long;

The Bicester and Warden Hill Hunt. 189

and the woods and the Vale often ride distressingly
deep.

Another great point in favour of the Bicester
country is the plenitude of foxes throughout its
length. Blank days are altogether unheard of; and
foxes are readily found as required. Possessing every
requisite for sport in its pleasantest form, and every
advantage of easy accessibility (with the best of
accommodation to hand at any of the quarters named),
it should be especially tempting in the eyes of hunting-
men, who, making London their chief base, are yet
williLg to go far enough afield to escape the sphere of
suburban packs.

It is often possible to reach the Bicester from
London after an early breakfast, and to return for
dinner. For this purpose you would probably fix
upon Leighton, or Bletchley, on the L. & N. W.
Eailway, for your horses to stand. Both these places
are a few miles outside the eastern limits of the
Bicester ; but command many of their best meets.
And either can be attained within an hour and a half,
from Euston-square. And Bicester itself admits of a
morning journey — every hunting day if you will leave
Town by 7.15 a.m. — on some few occasions if you do
not start till 9.

Before taking the days of hunting in order, a better
general idea of the country will be gathered by noting
its leading features as follows : Its head and neck, as
comprised in the many-angled strip above Banbury,
and nearly to Daventry, is Northamptonshire quite in
its orthodox sense — mostly grass, with fences often
very formidable, and here and there a bottom that is

p 2

190 Hunting Countries of England.

scarcely to be jumped. The centre of the country i3
formed by the Bicester Flat : separated on the east
from the beautiful Aylesbury Yale by the Clay don
Woods. The Vale runs down the whole of the south-
east of the country : and hitherto the Baron has run
the stag over it on the same day as the Bicester have
been pursuing the fox. It is rumoured^ however,
that some arrangement may be arrived at by
which Thursday may find the one animal or the
other at peace. Light plough runs down the west-
ern edge ; and the deep Oxford woodlands fringe the
south.

With these two sets of woods, besides those of
Tingewick, on the north-east, the Bicester justly lay
claim to as good woodlands as are to be found within
the bounds of any hunt. Well foxed, and with the
best of their country near some of the largest, they
form a grand foundation upon which to build high-
class sport. The Claydon Woods occupy every
Thursday during the winter, till March — after which,
in deference to the wishes of the neighbouring
farmers, the field are bidden to where their passage
is likely to do less damage than over the rich pastures
of the Vale. The Oxford Woods, which for the most
part come under the denomination of The Quarters,
are to a great extent neutral with the South Oxford-
shire. On one side (that of Brill) they have, as we
shall see presently, a capital country. The Tingewick
Woods stand about one day a fortnight; and have
fair grass on every side. All these, being grown on
stiffest clay, become very deep in winter ; and harden
to such an extent in summer that it is diflicult to ride

The Bicester and Warden Hill Hunt. 191

in them with hounds until after the autumn rains.
Thus^ strange as it may seem, they are not available
for cub-hunting ; and the Claydon Woods are seldom
entered before October.

Monday, then, being almost always occupied either
in the Oxford Woodlands or the Tingewick Woods,
we may get on to those coverts, and take them more
in detail. The Oxford Woodlands, or The Quarters,
cover an immense area on the east of Oxford. The
whole were at one time the privilege and perquisite of
the Bicester Hunt; but at various times their boun-
daries have suffered — till now it is difficult to define
distinctly where the right of Bicester ends, that of the
South Oxfordshire begins, and where a mutual interest
exists. Briefly, the present boundary lines run thus.
Of the Quarters proper. Hell Copse and York Woods
belong to the Bicester, fchough dovetailed into the
South Oxfordshire Woods of Holton, Waterperry,
Shabbington and Oakley. Horton Wood is the right
of the Bicester until Christmas, when it goes into the
hands of the South Oxfordshire. Staunton Great
Wood, Staunton Little Wood and Holly Copse,
running into each other, are all neutral between the
two packs.

A rough deep country is this district of The Quarters.
Few gentlemen^s residences adorn the neighbour-
hood. The land round and between the woods is of a
poor, undrainedj description, though carrying a fair
scent, especially on the borders of Ott Moor, where
the sluggish Ray is ever flooding the country. Very
bad indeed is the riding hereabout; but should hounds
go eastward, towards Brill and the Vale, they soon

192 Hunting Countries of England.

get into the finest of the country. Islip Town-End
is the meet for this part — Prattle Wood^ on the
borders of the neutral territory being generally drawn,
before proceeding into The Quarters. From Men-
marsh Guide Post they go at once into The Quarters ;
Horton Common or Village is for Horton Wood and
The Quarters; Boarstall Tower and Oakley point to
Homage Copse and Boarstall, with The Quarters to
follow. Whitecross Green is for the wood of that name ;
and at the top of this portion of the M onday country
is Arncott, with Arncott Great and Little Wood,
Piddington Wood and Boarstall Wood to draw.

i The Tingewick Woods, on the north-east, supply
ground for most of the Mondays not spent in the
Oxford Woods — though hounds are also very fre-
qjiently in them on a Tuesday — Stratton Audley and
other : Tuesday meets being no distance away. These
are very strong coverts, with deep rides and much
r.ushy undergrowth ; and take a great deal of drawing.
They are, fortunately, full of foxes — and of foxes that
will go straight and far. The group is composed of
Tingewick Great Wood, West Wood, Round Wood,
Gawcott Wood, and Stocking Wood — with a beautiful
grass country on the south and east, to the Claydons,
while north and west is light plough.

Turning now to Tuesday, which is always given to
the Bicester Flat — we have Langford Lane, or Graven-
hill Wood, for the meet nearest the town of Bicester.
The wood is a large covert on the top of a hill, very
difficult to get away from with hounds ; and whenever
a run comes off" there is sure to be a large body of
pursuers left behind. From here they may run south-

The Bicester and Warden Hill Hunt. 193

ward over tlie low meadow country swamped by the
Ray ; or^ again, they may take a line north or west
over light plough — perhaps reaching Middleton Park,
a great stronghold. This strip of plough up the
western border is nearly all the arable that the
Bicester Country contains ; and it is so narrow that a
fox very soon travels off it. It should be added,
too, that the " Steam Cultivator " has no place in
this district, and the soil is consequently only thinly
turned.

Middleton Park is another favourite meet for Oxford.
The Park (the seat of Lord Jersey) is very extensive,
is thick with foxes and tempts them to cling to its
limits, till too hot to hold them. Stoke Lyne (more
generally put on the cards as Stoke) is in the midst of
the light plough, and has some very holding, and well-
preserved, coverts belonging to Sir Thomas Peyton —
whose place, Swift^s House, stands among them.
Next, to the north, and on the same description of
soil, is Tusmore, Lord Effingham^ s house and Park —
the property adjoining that of Stoke, and equally well-
stored with foxes. Shelswell (Mr. Harrison^s) has
several very good coverts, is situated on the borders
of the grass, and is invaluable to the Hunt. No place
in the Bicester country lies better for hunting than
Shelswell (or Stratton Pasture, as this part is often
termed) — its outside coverts running up towards the
Tingewick Woods, with the Claydons imminent
beyond. The Kennels at Stratton Audley (three miles
from Bicester) stand in capital country. About a
mile and a half away is a large, and famous, gorse
covert — known as Poodle Gorse — surrounded by

194 Hunting Countries of England.

strongly fenced grass : and a fox from here is very
likely to cross Pounden Hill into the Clay dons. At
Caversfield are coverts, and there is another very good
gorse at Cotmore — the meet being Skimmingdish
Gate or, perhaps, Bicester Windmill. Below Bicester,
Weston-on-the-Green is in very deep, wet, ground.
It has three good woods, however, viz., Weston Wood,
Park Copse, and Warnhoof — foxes are plentiful, and
leave quickly, without hanging. And this brings us
to Bletchington Park, Lord Valentia's residence, and
Kirtlington (Sir H. Dashwood^s) — the outside meets
of this part of the country — the Cherwell running just
below and ' dividing the Bicester from the Heythrop.
Bletchington has Busby^s Spinney and Harris' Gorse ;
the Park Coverts and even the gardens of Kirtlington
always hold foxes.

Of the four Thursdays in a month, the Bicester
employ quite three in the Claydon Woods — for which
Edgcott Village, Charndon Common, Steeple Claydon
Claydon Park, Finemoor Hill, and Grendon are in
turn the meets. For the remaining Thursday the
changes are rung between the three fixtures of Ham
Green, Waddesdon Cross Roads, and Chilton. The
above woods are chiefly of stunted oak, with a strong
undergrowth of briar and rushes — Grendon Wood in
particular being one of the most difficult woods conceiv-
able for hounds to draw. Foxes but seldom make their
earth, or breed, in the damp clay of these great wood-
lands; but prefer to lay up their progeny outside —
resorting to the woods when the corn is off the fields,
or when winter drives them in for shelter. At any
rate, there are always plenty to be found when hounds

The Bicester and Warden Hill Hunt. 195

are in covert; and no sooner is one on foot than others
crop up at once. Thus it is essentially necessary that
hounds should be very even in their work, and carry a
good head — or to a certainty they will quickly change
foxes. The rides are desperately deep and holding ;
and the man who goes through them with hounds will
frequently send his horse home at two o^clock more
than half tired — though he may never have jumped a
fence^ or even been out of covert. But once outside,
you embark on a country that fully justifies the
Bicester men in their rapturous eulogies on the merits
of the Claydon Woods. There is a splendid grass
country on every side — whether you gallop to God-
dington Gorse or the Tingewick Woods — or, on the
other side, over Muswell Hill, or to Blackgrove Gorse
— or, again, a different direction, to The Quarters — or,
another line still (nor by any means the worst) to
Gravenhill, near Bicester.

The woods mostly belong to Sir Harry Yerney, of
Claydon Park, a true fox preserver (a preserver,
indeed, of any kind of wild animal. It was in one of
his coverts that hounds killed a badger last autumn).
The Duke of Leeds owns one of the largest woods,
Finemoor Hill ; and Grendon Wood belongs to the
Pigotts of Doddershall, an old Bucks family. All the
country round the Claydons is good scenting, and fair
and pleasant to ride over — though very deep indeed in
mid winter ; the woodland foxes of course are stout ;
and they travel long distances before they die.

Of the three Thursday meets outside the woods,
Ham Green is close to the edge; and the Duke of
Buckingham's coverts at Wootton (Gipsy Bottom,

196 Hunting Countries of England.

New Wood, The Grove) are the usual draw.* Yery
sporting coverts they are; and frequently act as the
halfway house for a good travelling fox on his way
between the Oxford Woodlands and the Clay dons.
Chilton, near Thame, overlooking the Aylesbury Vale,
is always the Bicester meet for their opening Thursday;
and is a very popular rendezvous — tempting the
presence of many of the South Oxfordshire Hunt, a
great number of Oxonians, and a strong force of the
Baron^s men. The first draw is generally told ofi" for
Nottley Abbey (where Squire Reynolds always finds a
fox or two) — on the borders of the Old Berkeley and
the South Oxfordshire. From here the Bicester last
year ran a very long point, over the flints and through
roughest woods, to West Wycombe. Another very
favourite covert — though scarcely so good a certainty
— is Chearsley Firs, which stands by the side of a
brook just big enough to tempt, and always provoca-
tive of lavish grief. From here to the Claydons or
the Wootton Coverts is a very pretty gallop — the
latter line probably taking hounds by way of Ashenden,
where Baron Ferdinand de Rothschild a few years
ago bought a charming property from the Duke of
Marlborough, is now building a house, and has some
well-preserved little coverts — the chief of them called
the Decoy. Waddesdon Cross Roads (four miles from
Aylesbury) is in the best of the grass. The fences
here are, perhaps, more intricate than in the rest of the

* Tithenhall Wood, Ham Wood, and Oring Hill, close to the
fixture and between Wootton and the Claydon Woods, should be
added.

The Bicester and Warden Hill Hunt. 197

Bicester country — doubles being very frequent, thougli
none of them are strongly built. Coverts for tliis
meet are none too plentiful ; thougli Blackgrove Gorse,
on Sir Astley Cooper's property, is a sure find j and a
recently-made covert on Mr. Lee^s Hartwell estate is
very promising. The Bicester here join the Whaddon
Chase (Mr. Selby Lowndes^) ; and so have frequently
to fall back for a second draw on the Wootton Coverts,
the Claydons or Chearsley. As has been already
pointed out, the fact of the staghounds choosing
Thursday for their day of meeting — instead of Monday,
as in the time of the late Baron Meyer de Rothschild —
leads to a good deal of inconvenience to farmers and
field; and it is eminently desirable that a better
arrangement should be established.

Saturday with the Bicester is in the northern length
of their country, past and beyond Banbury. The meets
of Aynho Park, Souldern Gate, Croughton, The
Barley Mow, Finmere, Tusmore Park, and Baynard^s
Green, with Astrop, and Thenford (the two last being
also occasional Monday meets), are all considered
within reach of kennels, and hounds accordingly go to
them by road on the morning of hunting. But for Heli-
don, Byfield, Fenny Compton Wharf, Prior^s Marston,
Lower Boddington, Trafibrd Bridge, and Thorp Mande-
ville, the pack has to be sent overnight to Kennels at the
last-named place— this happening every alternate week.
The former places of meeting are very numerously
attended, being within easy reach of Banbury, Brackley,
and Bicester, and there are plenty of foxes in the area
embraced within these three points — though it is
rather a poor scenting country, of light plough, and

198 Hunting Countries of England.

witli fences so small that the field are ever on the backs
of hounds. Aynho Park (Mr. Cartwright's) is a most
useful place for cub -hunting; as is also Tusmore
Park (Lord Efiingham's), and Evenlej Park, which is
generally the first draw from the Barley Mow (close
to Brackley, and on the borders of the Duke of
Grafton^s Hunt). The entente cordiale, by the way,
between the Bicester and the Dake of Grafton's
Hunt is so complete that, for the border meets of
either the neighbouring territory is always " stopped ''
by the other. Frit well gorse is always called upon
from Souldern Gate and Baynard's Green, and is a
most reliable covert. The Finmere and Mixbury
plantations are much favoured by foxes ; and often
lead to a gallop to Tingewick, or tempt a run thence.
Astrop and Thenford are, as above mentioned, occa-
sionally kept over for a Monday — should the Saturday
district appear to afford it. The former is the property
of Sir William Brown, and contains both coverts and
foxes — for Rosamond's Bower is a sure find, while
Willifers gives another excellent chance for brook-
jumpers, the stream being close to the covert, and
just of enticing width. At Thenford the Laurels and
Gorse are certainties, as are the neighbouring coverts
belonging to the Farthingho estates, and Cockley
Brake. The Northamptonshire country in the extreme
north is short of coverts ; at Helidon there are only
spinnies ; at Byfield there is a covert called Grifiin
Gorse, celebrated for good foxes, though not a certain
find; at Fenny Compton four spinnies; at Priors
Marston a small, and not very certain gorse; at
Boddington a good covert, Boddington Hill is to be

The Bicester and Warden Hill Hunt. 199

depended on ; near Trafford Bridge are some good
coverts, Warden Hill is a stronghold, with Red Hill
Wood, Grange Wood, besides some coverts at an out-
lying property of Lord Yalentia's. Eydon has a good
gorse and the laurels round the house are a sure find ;
at Thorpe Mandeville is Gefi'^s Gorse. This is all a
fine upland country, chiefly grass and all very strongly
enclosed. It carries a very good scent, is wild, with
few people about in the fields, and wants a better
horse to cross it than any other part of the Bicester
country .

From what has been said it will be gathered that
the Bicester are everywhere exceptionally well off for
foxes, and — save in two small corners, where the want
is already being rectified, for coverts also. It should
be added — as a point conducing in no slight degree to
the comfort of hunting in a country — that all the roads
have smooth turf sides, along which you may canter to
covert at best pace : and, every road being enclosed,
there is no delay occasioned by having to open a lot of
gates — as is the case in many parts of the Midlands.

200 Hunting Countries of England.

THE HEYTHROP.*

The Heythrop is another varied and pleasant Country
in the Oxford Circuit. It seldom happens but that
hounds can run hard over one part of it or another —
whether across the wolds and stonewalls, when rain
enough has fallen to make scent cling to the light
plough — or, in dryer weather, along the grassy vales
which cross its face in many directions. And when
there is a scent on the wolds, the Heythrop bitches
can often leave their field behind them. The coverts
are small, hounds generally get away close to their fox,
and have frequently raced right away from horses.
For they can fly the stonewalls in their stride, carrying
as broad a head as across the field — nor dwelling a
second to bring the gallopers on to their backs.
Pretty riding, too, is this stonewall country — never a
snare in the fence, and the ground always light and
sound going. You might not care to ride over stone
walls every day — but you are not called upon to do this
with the Heythrop — for it is seldom more than twice
in the week that they cross the wolds. A loose stone-

* Vide Stanford's Large Scale Map, Sheet 15 ; also " Hobson's
Foxhuntino; Atlas."

The Heythrop. 201

'wall is in itself a pleasurable^ and encouraging leap.
Horses can make no mistake^ and seldom fail to jump
it safely and well. Even should they be a little care-
less, the wall rarely takes advantage of them — but
allows its upper story to crumble quietly before the
onslaught. There being no ditch on either side, you
can give your horse full leisure with a view to his
jumping off his own spot and landing as he chooses.
In fact, you may ride a fair horse over a five-foot wall,
with considerably less tremor than, with most of us, is
involved in a venture against four of stiff timber —
especially if, in the latter case, a tolerably wide ditch
(away from you) be given in. One of the few
objections to stonewall jumping will be found in the
stiffness of back and neck, consequent on the first day
or two of essay. An old hunter accustomed to them
will get so near to a wall that he rises almost perpen-
dicularly, and — mutatis mutandis as to head and tail —
descends almost vertically on the other side. To
accommodate yourself to this form of calisthenics,
your body is at one moment lying along his neck, and
at the next it must be thrown back on to the crupper
— your spinal cord being called upon to perform the
hinge-action required. Let this performance be
executed fifty -four times in a single day (as an old
Oxonian assures us occurred to him when at college)
— and small wonder if a certain degree of torturing
stiffness is your lot on the next. Granting you no
longer possess Oxonian youth — and the faculty of
going some distance out of your way for the sake of
a jump — you must yet in a stonewall country often find
yourself an extraordinary number of times in the air.

202 Hunting Countries of England.

witli none of Oxonian suppleness of backbone to help
you tbrougli your allotted task.

The Heytbrop vales are nice sound grass, somewhat
deep in wet weather, and in themselves rather narrow
and limited. But foxes are always fond of running a
valley rather than crossing it ; and so the turf lowlands
are generally made the most of: and they carry a
capital scent. Their fences are fair stake-and-bounds
to be taken at a fly, and as a rule are well within the
compass of a hunter. Besides these two descriptions
of ground, the Heythrop have one large broken wood-
land, known as Whichwood Forest, and various pieces
of rough inferior country, here and there — more
particularly down their eastern boundary.

The Heythrop country lies north-west of the town
of Oxford — having the Old Berkshire and the Vale of
White Horse on the south, the Cotswold and North
Cotswold on the west, the Warwickshire on the north,
and the Bicester on the east. The river Charwell
marks the eastern boundary — the others as coloured
on Stanford's map (with no other distinctive natural
features to denote the limits of the country), except
that the southernmost corner, from Witney and
Eynsham downwards, should have borne a neutral
tint, as it is held in common by the Heythrop and the
Old Berkshire.

Oxford itself stands a little wide from the best meets
of the Hunt, as it does from those of the Bicester. In
fact, there is very little good country in the immediate
neighbourhood of Oxford — though you may get lots of
excellent hunting by riding some distance to covert.
The Oxonian in good credit thinks a good deal less of

The Heythrop. 203

having a second hack on the road (his hunter having
gone on overnight) than we should who hunt elsewhere.
There is a choice of four packs at Oxford, and it is not
more than an hour and three-quarters from London.
Still, few men fix upon Oxford as a hunting quarter^
without having been drawn into allegiance with Alma
Mater, professedly for more serious ties. Chipping
Norton (about three hours and a-quarter from Pad-
dington) is not far from the centre of the Heythrop
country ; and accommodation^ sufficient if not ex-
tensive, is there to be had, with the option of days
with the two Cotswold packs and the Warwickshire,
and occasionally with the Vale of White Horse and
the Old Berkshire. Thus Chipping Norton (where,
moreover, the Kennels are situated) may be written
a capital hunting-base — in many respects equal to its
neighbour Banbury (which we have already noticed
under the head of the Bicester). As to horses, it is
essentially necessary they should be speedy. Large
horses you do not want; but they should be wiry,
strong, stout, and quick.

The Heythrop hunt four days a week — besides a
frequent bye-day, which the country, being every-
where thickly stocked with foxes, well affords. These
four days are Monday, Wednesday, Friday, and
Saturday ; and are regulated as follows — Monday is
generally within close range of Chipping Norton, and
up to the Warwickshire border ; Wednesday is fixed
in alternate weeks for Oxfordshire or Gloucestershire,
with once every other month in Tar Wood — in the corner
neutral with the Old Berkshire ; Friday is on the
Cotswold side, and takes in almost all the stonewall

Q

204 Hunting Countries of England.

couutry — with, of course, its intersecting vales ; and
Saturday comes near Oxford, into a region where
woods are frequent and deep clay prevalent.

The Monday meets are only four in number — viz.,
Heythrop (the residence of the present Master, Mr.
Albert Brassey), Chapel House, Pomfret Castle, and
Boulter's Barn. This limited portion of their territory
is an undulating description of country, plough and
grass mixed — with a considerable proportion of vale.
There is good ground round Heythorp, where there
are quite ten or a dozen nice coverts, after working
which, hounds are taken on to Great Tew. Here
there are many small plantations, leading round to
each other. Foxes, consequently, are apt to keep
within the home confines. Chapel House has good
gorse coverts; after which hounds would probably
go on to draw the large withy-bed at Salford, and
eventually all the gorse and brier coverts at Addlestrop
(itself sometimes a Wednesday meet). Pomfret Castle
has Badger's Gorse close by, with Swerford Heath two
fields away ; and Great Tew to fall back upon in the
afternoon. From Boulter's Barn they draw Sarsgrove
— a fine wood of Lord Ducie's; and then get on to
another equally good covert at Churchill Heath.

Of their Wednesday country the portion in Oxford-
shire is by no means their best. It is a big rough, chiefly
upland, country — some of it plough, some grass — the
fences fair, but the ground by no means favourable for
scent. The meets are Deddington — for Aynho Spinnies;
North Aston for Deane Hill Gorse, and Steeple Aston
Gardens — whence they may draw on to Barton, or back
to the wood of Worton Heath, near Ledwell. And

The Eeythrop. 205

the meet of Ledwell Village may be taken as intended
for the same coverts in reverse order. Barton Gates
has the coverts of Barton, with Rousham Spinnies and
Tackley Heath and Wood, to follow.

The Wednesday fixtures held in Gloucestershire
mostly point, on the other hand, to stiff grass vale.
They are Bruern Abbey, where there are large coverts ;
Gawcombe, with two fine woods facing a beautiful valley
which stretches right up to the Kennels at Chipping
Norton ; or they profier another equally good line, if
a fox crosses back over the brow and dips down for
Slaughter or Bourton-on-the-Water. Indeed, the
Slaughter Vale is, perhaps, the most favourite strip
of the whole of the Heythrop country. From Addles-
trop, with Oddington Ashes, you are also likely to find
yourself in the Gawcombe Vale. Bradwell Grove is
regularly advertised for the first Wednesday in each
month. There is a large covert near the house, with
Jolley's Gorse afterwards : and here you get on to the
stone wall country, and may not see a hedge all day.
From Burford you have Windrush Gorse, to be
followed by Jolley^s Gorse and Westwell Gorse. These
last two meets are quite for a wold country — where
the coverts are small, the walls all rideable, and the
pace often tremendous. Tar Wood, in the corner
below the railway at South Leigh is held in alternate
months by the Heythrop and the Old Berkshire : and
is always hunted by the former on a Wednesday. It
is a deep wood, with heavy going on both sides.

Most of the Fridays are also spent on the wolds —
the meets rangiug up the west of the Heythrop king-
dom, and the country partaking much of the char-

Q 2

206 Hunting Countries of England

acter of the Cotswolds adjoining. Cheltenham is
generally well represented on this side. From
Farmington Grove and New Barn — the two extreme
meets on the south-west — hounds will draw the Wood,
and the Sherborne. From Barrington Park they have
Windrush Gorse, with Westwell Poor's Lots and the
Wood of Tangley for the afternoon. When, however
Barrington Inn is advertised, it more often means that
Westwell Gorse will be first drawn, and Sherborne
kept for a second fox. Bourton-on-the-Water is for
Lord Kedesdale's Gorse. Tangley has quite a day's
work in itself — being possessed of numerous planta-
tions in hollows leading from one to the other : but
sometimes Rissington Spinnies are reached later in
the day, with the prospect of a run over a fine grass
vale. Eyford is also among the walls, though there is
a frequent chance of gettting to Slaughter Copse
and Yale as the day progresses. Longboro', for
variety, is all vale in the morning, with Sezincote
and the wolds in the afternoon. Bourton-on-the-Hill,
in the far north-east, has a large wood on its hill :
after which Batsford Park is generally reached, and a
stifi" country entered.

Saturday is devoted to a wide tract on the south-
east, Whichwood Forest and Blenheim Park being the
two leading features. Whichwood Forest, though
now disforested in the technical sense of the term,
still covers an immense area below Charlbury; and
contains as much as a thousand acres of wood in
one piece — besides numerous smaller woods almost
touching each other, and a huge acreage of tree
stumps and uncultivated ground. It ought to be a

The Heythrop. 207

grand place for cub-hunting ; but hounds are not
allowed in it till later in the autumn — and the same
remark applies to Blenheim. Thus^ all the cub-hunting
of the Heythrop has to be done in the smaller coverts.
Cornbury Park is the meet for Which wood Forest
proper; Shipton Barrow for a gorse near, and for the
coverts at the upper edge of the Forest. Wilcot is
for the Wilcot Spinnies and Chase Woods, after which
the rest of the day may be spent in Stockley Wcod.
Eynsham is in the deepest, most stiffly fenced, and
most holding, part of the country, and has Cogg's
Wood previous to a move on to Blenheim. The latter
is a mass of large woods, from which foxes seldom
travel far — though last season a good run thence was
put on record. Dean Cross Roads, not far from
Charlbury, is a good meet, with a fine vale for some
three miles round — Dean Grove being the draw.
After this, hounds have to fall back upon Dytchley
Woods. Sturges Castle is for Tackley Heath,
Rousham Spinnies, and Barton — all amid plough and
heavy going. Kiddington Gate points to the same
sort of country — indeed, all up the side of the
Charwell, may be set down as the worst ground in
the Hunt. From Kiddington the order is generally
for Glympton Heath (a large rough gorse), with
Kiddington Wood and Glympton Wood to fill up the
day.

208 Hunting Countries of England.

THE OLD BE:RKSHIF.E.*

South-west of the town of Oxford is the very sporting
Country of the Old Berkshire. Some forty years ago
the Yale of White Horse and the Old Berkshire were
one Hunt — under the latter denomination. But the
extent of ground being considered too wide for a
single pack, the western portion— from Cirencester
and Malmesbury, to the Kiver Cole, and (north of
the Thames) nearly to Bampton — was told off as a
separate province, and carried with it the title of the
Vale of White Horse (though the site of that ancient
configuration and rite really is still in the Old Berk-
shire as it now remains).

The outlines of the present Old Berkshire Country
follow very approximately the marks suggested by
hill and water. High downs separate it on the south
from the Craven; the Biver Cole forms its western
boundary ; and — with the exception of a turn over
the river — into the Heythrop kingdom as far as
Witney on the north, and again as far as Nuneham
Park into the South Oxfordshire on the east — the
Thames defines it on the remaining sides. Any little

* Vide " Stanford's Large Scale Railway Map," Sheet 15 ; and
"Hobson's Foxhunting Atlas."

The Old Berkshire, 209

eccentricities of boundary may be taken as accurately
set down on Mr. Stanford's Map — except that the
extreme south-west corner should extend another mile
and a half, to include Hinton, &c.

The pith of the Old Berkshire consists in its Yale.
Practically it has two vales — the one of the Thames,
the other of its tributary the Rosey ; and it is the
valley of the Rosey that is known, and widely known,
as the Berkshire Vale. Limited in extent it may be ;
but it is enough to form the foundation and whole of
one excellent day in the week, while aiding and
contributing frequently to other two. Whether in this
Vale, or elsewhere, the Old Berkshire is with slight
exception an excellent country for houndwork. Foxes
are found everywhere in abundance : and almost every-
where the scenting properties of the soil are six-to-
four against them. Treadwell — many years ago —
scored higher with the Quorn than any of his numerous
predecessors ; but fallacious and odious as is, usually,
the comparison of kills numbered, it is pardonable to
put on record that with the Old Berkshire last season
he brought fifty-seven brace of foxes to hand — while
hunting only three days a week ! Apart from the old
huntsman's merits, it must be obvious that the country
is stocked with foxes in an exceptional degree. On
every side they are carefully nurtured and cared for :
and, not only are they always to be found when wanted,
but, once afoot, they must go for their lives — with a
good scent — and hounds unhampered by a swollen
field. For, except on a few days, fixed for instance,
for Challow and neighbourhood — when the Great
Western brings passengers from east and west, from

210 Hunting Countries of England,

Oxford or from the Duke of Beaufort^ s^ and from the
Vale of White Horse, there is seldom anything
approaching to a large field : and hounds have such a
chance as they do not often get elsewhere. With
almost a plethora of foxes it is not astonishing that
many of them lie out in the open throughout the
winter. Thus it never does to be coflTeehousing or
loitering behind when the old Berkshire hounds are
on the move, even between covert and covert. For at
anv moment information may be brought of an out-
lying fox; the pack are laid on at his brush, and may
be fields away in a minute. Of late years foxes in these
parts have shown a wonderful partiality for ivy-covered
trees ; and many good gallops have begun by Reynard
being whipped out of his perch, to descend like a
meteor on to terra firma. And a fox is no less
extraordinary than a cat in his power of leaping from a
great height without harm to himself.

Of Hunting Quarters for the Old Berkshire, Oxford
is of course the handiest with regard to London (being
distant but one hour and three-quarters by Great
Western) ; and has, as noticed under the head of the
Heythrop and the Bicester, the advantage of touching
also those two packs, as well as the South Oxfordshire.
At the same time Oxford stands a little wide of the
best meets of at least the three first-named ; and,
though you may hunt most days of the week from the
city in question with one pack or another, you must
make up your mind to many miles of roadwork in the
attainment. Fariugdon and Abingdon, though in
point of time much further from London (Paddington
Station) — the delay contingent on branch lines nearly

The Old Berkshire. 211

doubling the journey) — are, once arrived at, much
more commanding as points in the Old Berkshire
Country. Of the two, Faringdon is to be preferred,
as not only dominating all the best of the Berkshire
Vale, but as placing you also within reach of most of
the fixtures of the Yale of White Horse.

The Old Berkshire take the field three days in the
week — viz., Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.
Monday is in the best of their Vale ; Wednesday
is on the eastern or Abingdon side ; while Friday
is in the semi-circle embracing Faringdon on the
west and north — an occasional Monday or Friday
being taken to account for the Bampton Corner, north
of the Thames, and in every second month Monday is
devoted to Tar Wood, neutral with the Heythrop.

The Monday country, though limited, embraces the
pick of the beautiful grass lowland through which
runs the Great Western on its way between Didcot
and Swindon. It cannot be said but that the railway
is exactly where it is least wanted — but this is a
drawback so frequent all over the hunting-fields of
Great Britain that it calls for no special comment.
Wantage on the east, and Knighton Crossing on the
west are, roughly speaking, the limits of the Monday
district ; which, again, runs up to the Ridgeway of the
Lambourn Downs on the south, and embraces as far
as Hatford on the north. Sloping down from the
heights on which the outline of the White Horse is
annually scoured, the face of the country gradually
merges into a deep grass vale, through which — to the
north of the railway — runs the Rosey, sluggish and
formidable. The fences of the Vale are mostly to be

212 Hunting Countries of England.

jumped without difficulty — five oat of six of them at
a fly, the remainder at a double effort, where a hedge-
grown bank has a ditch on either side. Here and
there, possibly, you may come across a fence of a
strength of build and a width of double ditch that
precludes an absolute jump — and in these you must be
content to seek a hole through which you may pop
from bank to bank on either side. The Bishopston
neighbourhood, for instance, will supply examples of
this nature. In the Vale you had best be mounted on
a bold, strong-jumping horse, of square build and on
short legs. Ugly looking places have often to be
faced; and a horse must have pluck and power to
carry you with true comfort. All over the Old Berk-
shire country you want a hunter : in the Vale you
must have a bold and active one.

The Downs, as we have said, run along the
southern border of the Monday country, the Blowing
Stone is the meet just below them, on the edge of the
Vale, and immediately under the figure of the White
Horse — said to have been originally cut on the hillside
to commemorate a battle gained by King Alfred over
the Danes about a thousand years ago ; though by
many people it is supposed to have had a still earlier
origin. Legendary lore has not much to do with our
present subject ; but it is so insolubly wound up with
the locality under notice that it will not be out of
place to mention that at Compton they shew you
Wayland Smith's cave — wherein, tradition has it, the
invisible smith lived and worked. He would only
take sixpence for shoeing your horse ; and he would
only shoe him on his own terms, which were — that

The Old Berkshire, 213

you tied your horse up, put down your sixpence, went
away and remained out of sight till he had finished.
This legend is amusingly worked into Sir Walter
Scott^s " Kenilworth '' — the scene of which is laid
partly in this neighbourhood. At Kingston Lisle is
another curiosity — the Blowing Stone, which gives its
name to the fixture. It is a stone of about three cubic
feet j and is pierced with holes, which when blown
through are said to produce a sound loud enough to
be heard at Faringdon. The coverts in view when the
Blowing Stone is advertised, are those of Kingston
Lisle — both meet and coverts being popular. The
Kingston Spinnies, by the Canal, are almost sure to
produce a run — generally over the Vale, though it is
always on the cards for a fox to face the hills. The
Downs will carry a hot scent if wet enough ; but if
dry and hard, hounds cannot act with great vigour
over them.

Woolstone also overhangs the Vale, and is named
for the small but very useful wood of Uffington — while
Ufl&ngton Station means Uffington Gorse, which is
always regarded as a gi^eat ^^lace. Childrey Canal
Bridge and Challow are two of the most popular meets
of the Hunt — the best of the grass lying all round,
with no drawback to its charms save such as is con-
tained in the presence of the railway and canal, here
running side by side. Sparsholt is the usual covert
from Childrey. From Challow Station and Goosey
Green a move is generally made to Woodhill Gorse, a
nice covert of four acres, faciug south-west, the
property of the junior member for Berks, almost a
sure find, and from which a gallop over the grass is

214 Hunting Countries of England.

bound to follow. From Baulking Green hounds work
down the valley of the Rosey — the Whissendine of
the Old Berkshire — a brook feasible enough in many
places, but generally with treacherous banks and bad
bottom — a plunge into it more frequently involving a
lengthy stay. Hounds run well over all this part of
the Vale — in the Challow district more especially ; and
the country being all grass and the fences rideable,
there is little room for improvement. Shillingford is
a meet near Faringdon, with a gorse at Coxwell that
always holds : and from Hatford they go up to Pusey
and Buckland. On the north bank of the Thames
they have a piece of Oxfordshire, which they hunt
sometimes on a Monday, sometimes on a Friday. By
the river side is ShifFord with another meet, Yelford,
just above. From here they work up to Cokethorpe
Park, Boys Wood and Barley Park — which almost
touch each other. A very natural line for a fox to take
from here would be by way of Lew Gorse towards
Bradwell Grove or Whichwood Forest, in the Hey-
throp Country. Curbridge would be fixed for Lew
Gorse — once a capital covert — now recently restored,
and should again be very valuable as a connecting link
with the big coverts of the Heythrop. From Black
Bourtou they begin by drawing Hadden Copse and
several other small coverts — from which they might get
at once over the stone walls of the Heythrop. In the
other direction, down the Thames Valley, are beautiful
grass water meadows, which, however, are often very
deep — while the fences are tremendous, the ditches
being in many cases wide open drains leading down to
the river.

The Old Berkshire. 215

Friday has three meets in the south-west extremity
of the Berkshire Vale. Longcott is for Beckett (Lord
Barrington^s place) with the Laurels and coverts round
the house ; after which they have Knighton, by the
railway copse, Compton Wood and Hardwell Wood.
From Shrivenham they get to Beckett^ Staines Wick
and Bourton Spinney. There is beautiful ground from
here down to Swindon ; but there are no coverts to
tempt foxes to take this direction. Bishopstone lies
in a very big country, containing the coverts of Hinton
Spinney and Dore^s Covert, after which they work
back to Bourton and Beckett, or up the Yale. As you
leave the vale you will find yourself in an open
country of mixed grass and plough. Badbury Hill (by
Faringdon) leads to Coles Hill, where are Lord
Kadnor^s coverts of Watchfield Carr and Swanks Nest,
with the Buscot Woods in the north-west corner of the
country — the latter fastnesses being big woods with
rides that are still very heavy in spite of efibrts
towards gravelling them. Coming round Faringdon
you find the Fox-and-Hounds, Littleworth, as the next
meet — for a small wood known as Haremoor, and
Faringdon Grove — the two almost touching; while
sometimes hounds get to Hatford Grorse, with every
likelihood of running into the the Vale. Buckland
(Sir W. Throckmorton^s) is a nursery of foxes. It has
its gardens, the Warren and the Ashbeds, which are
invariably occupied. Here also is Barcot, a small but
thick covert, belonging to Lady Theo. Gruest, where
foxes are afi'orded every protection.

The Wednesdays of the Old Berkshire being spent
on the east of the Kennels at New House on the

216 Hunting Countries of England,

Abingdon side of the territory, we get into a country
whose chief characteristics are plough and large woods.
The open consists almost entirely of arable, crossed by
many small 2:rips ; and with the fields divided by open
ditches. Of the woods (Tubney Tree being the meet),
Appleton Common (Bessels-Leigh the meet), and
Bagley (Foxcombe Hill, near Oxford) are the chief —
with Wittenham on the extreme east. Wytham Wood
is the great overhanging covert looking down on the
Thames near Oxford — for which Cumner is the meet —
the woodland being the property of Lord Abingdon.
From the fixture of Marcham Park they draw the
Marcham coverts; and from Steventon Green they
have Milton Hill Gorse and Hendred Cow Lease — the
latter being a wood with grass on its south side and
plough again elsewhere. Sutton Courtney is for
Culham and Milton Hill. South Moreton and East
Hagborn are fixtures in the extreme south-east, from
which they draw East Hagborn Spinney and Cholsey
Lease, in a cramped close country, where grass and
plough alternate. Nuneham Park and Woods are
kept for cub-hunting purposes by the Old Berkshire,
and are then handed over for the winter months for
the use of the South Oxfordshire.

The South Oxfordshire. 217

THE SOUTH OXEOEDSHIEE.*

A TWO-DAYS-A-WEEK CouDtry, Carrying fox-buntiug up
to the very gates of Oxford^ the South Oxfordshire
completes the quadrilateral, of which that city is the
central point, and the Bicester, the Heythrop and the
Old Berkshire form the remaining components. Like
the others it has its rough and its smooth, its plains
and its hills, its vales and its woods ; and like the
others it puts the chase in an excellent form within
reach of young' Oxford — who never, if they can help
it, miss Lord Macclesfield^s Mondays in his Vale.

The South Oxfordshire Country is bounded on the
north by the Bicester, the east by the Old Berkeley,
the south by Mr. Garth^s and the South Berkshire,
and on the west by the Old Berkshire. The Thames
is a rough guide to its western limit as far as Oxford,
after which the Cherwell and the Bay take up the
march. Turner^s Wood, Shabbington Wood, and
Waterperry Wood are within the boundary along the
north, though the latter is left out on both the maps
alluded to. For the rest it need merely be said that
its limits are correctly pencilled on the maps ; and

* Viih' "Stanford's Large Scale Map," Sheet 15 ; and " Hobson's
Foxhunting Atlas."

218 The Hunting Countries of England.

that on the extreme south-east it again reaches the
Thames at Henley.

At first glance the sphere of the South Oxfordshire
would appear too extended for only two days a week.
But as a fact the brow of the Chiltern Hills cuts off
the whole of the south-eastern portion as virtually
useless — the Chiltern Forest covering a wide area of
chalk, with mile upon mile of inhospitable beech
wood. Thus the Hunt seldom finds itself there
except by accident ; and even in the latter case the
majority turn their heads homewards. Foxes occa-
sionally travel on to these scentless heights from the
Vale ; but seldom, if ever, take a downward course
from the Hills. So, well-preserved as is all the rest
of the country, it would be difficult to find room for
the chase more than twice a week. Lord Macclesfield
has now hunted the hounds since 1857, after two
yearns previous experience of them in 1845. They
became his own property in 1860, since which the
judgment of one of the best authorities in England on
the points of a foxhound has not been wanting in the
task of continual improvement. Though in his sixty-
ninth year. Lord Macclesfield still rides up to his
hounds as vigorously as ever, while he hunts them
with all the accumulated experience of so many years
of practice.

As to hunting quarters for South Oxfordshire, there
are only Thame and Oxford to point to, unless we take
in Aylesbury as commanding its Mondays, and offering,
besides, its Yale under the auspices of the Baron, the
Bicester, the Old Berkeley, and Mr. Selby Lowndes.
Henley is the only other noteworthy town touching

The South Oxfordshire. 219

the country; and one would as soon think of Cowes
as a hunting centre as Henley-on-Thames.

The horse for the South Oxfordshire should be an
animal that has been bred to stay and taught to jump.
He should have learned that water is not a matter of
fear and that a double ditch requires something
approaching to a second sight, or at least a pause for
a second spring. If there be a double instinct
required for the fences of the Yale of Aylesbury there
is a double argument for its brooks. A horse that
has been outpaced, or has been well ducked, hates the
very sight of water. On the other hand, familiarity
breeds contempt very readily as applied to brook
jumping. Take the converse — A Leicestershire horse,
however bold and dashing at most descriptions of
fences, is seldom good at water ; for the simple reason
that he rarely encounters it, and then is asked to
perform among a number of other hesitating ignora-
muses all exaggerating the danger and discouraging
each other. An Aylesbury horse, on the contrary,
has learned by precept and practice, that water
jumping, being part of his daily office, must be
acquired — and, consequently, he acquires it.

For practical purposes the Country may be con-
sidered as divided into three very distinct sections —
to wit, the Vale, the Oxford Woods, and the Hills.
And in this way we will proceed to take them.

The South Oxfordshire Yale runs from the north-
east corner of the Country across its whole breadth —
say, in a direct line to Nuneham Park. As far as the
town of Thame it may be spoken of as part of the
Yale of Aylesbury, and is readily recognisable as such

220 Hunting Countries of England.

from the frequency of water and double fences. Below
Thame, by Tetsworth and Stadhampton, we get into a
light flying country, still beautiful grass, — but not
so deep and trying as that of Aylesbury — easy to
ride over, and, on the whole, good scenting ground,
notwithstanding the fact that the farmers keep their
stock out all winter as thick as the land will bear.
The South Oxfordshire farmers, by the way, are ever
most friendly to foxhunting; and are themselves
generally capital sportsmen. It is a boast in the
country that " Ware Wheat \ " is a cry never heard.
By way of further definition it may be added that the
meets and coverts of the Vale extend to the foot of
the range of the Chiltern Hills on the one side, and as
far as the railway between Waterstock and Littlemore
on the other. Three Pigeons is perhaps the best
known meet of the South Oxfordshire. From it they
draw Gale^s Gorse, Fern hill, and the Old Paddock;
and from Fern hill a good fox will often cross the
river for a spin over a beautiful part of the Bicester
territory, to Chearsley or Chilton. Haseley is named
when it is meant to draw Haseley Wood, Latchford,
and Cornwell Gorse. The last-named is the property
of the Master, and very frequently gives a gallop over
the grass, prefaced by the Haseley Brook. Meeting
at Thame hounds draw Thame Park, the Tythrop
coverts and Emmington ; and from these they are
likely to run directly into the Vale of Aylesbury.
From Tetsworth they work Adwell and Wheatfield ;
while from Shirburn Castle (where the Master lives
and keeps his hounds) they have the Shrubberies,
Clare Copse, Brookside, and Pyrton. Brightwell Park

The South Oxfordshire. 221

is a well-known meet — for Ashleys, Brockes Farze,
Cadwell, and Holcombe. Stadhampton is for Chisle-
hampton^ after which we get west of the Thame
Brook, where we have Baldon for the Home Coverts,
Sandford Brake, Garsington Hays, and Allen^s Gorse.
The woods of Nuneham Park are lent by the Old
Berkshire after the latter have finished cub-hunting.
Bullingdon Barracks and Waterstock are for Open
Magdalen, Brasenose Wood and Coombe Wood — all
this western corner between the big river and its
tributary the Thame being of a light plough descrip-
tion. Throughout the South Oxfordshire Vale proper
the coverts are small. This, added to small fields and
good foxes, puts everything in favour of sport ; and
most of their best runs of late years have been in this
part of their country. Even last winter, in spite of
the lengthened frost which they had in common with
their neighbours, was marked as a good season in the
Vale.

Friday is always held in the deep clay woodlands
that, passing the town of Oxford, run a corner into
the Bicester country, and are here and there neutral
with that pack. (For more exact definition vide
Bicester aforetold). Wet grim woods are these, dark
within and cold without ; but they make hounds, and
they give a certain amount of sport, though their
depths are unfathomable and their rides bid defiance
to a stranger.

" The Quarters '^ is a designation quite as frequently
applied to these great coverts, and perhaps more
correctly, than that of the Oxford Woods — inasmuch
as some of the cluster lie in Buckinghamshire. It

R 2

222 Hunting Countries of England.

may be repeated that the two Stanton Woods are
neutral with the Bicester; while Horton W^ood is
hunted by that pack up to Christmas, after which it is
taken over by the South Oxfordshire. Waterperry,
Shabbington, and Oakley Woods belong to the latter.
The principal meets for the Quarters are Holton
Stonepits, Forest Hill, Stanton St. John, Stow Wood,
Park Farm, and Menmash Guide Post. Several of
the Friday coverts are close to Oxford, to wit, Head-
ington Wick, Stow Wood, Noke, Woodeaton Stow,
and the Elsfield coverts ; and a fox running over the
Marston Meadows will sometimes go quite into the
suburbs of the town. Shotover, Brazenose AVood, and
Open Magdalen are also quite close to Oxford (the two
last being, as above-mentioned, generally drawn on
a Monday) and a fox may be found within a few
hundred yards of the Brigade Depot — the soldiers of
which are, of course, staunch friends of foxhunting.

Of the Chiltern Hills all that need be said is that
Nettlebed and Chinnor Hill are about the only regular
fixtures — and hounds are seldom advertised to meet
beyond the brow.

The South Nottinghamshire. 223

THE SOUTH NOTTINGHAMSHIEE.*

Just north of the more fashionable countries of the
Shires comes that of South Notts. On the roll of its
history appear many names whose celebrity, confirmed
in more notable spheres, was first established here.
Mr. John Chaworth (grandfather of the present J.
Chaworth-Musters) hunted it in 1805. Mr. Osbaldeston
held it about 1810. Lord Middleton (grandfather of
the present) had it for some years, and in 1823 pre-
sented the country with a pack purchased from Mr.
Chaworth for 1000 guineas, and gave them most of
the horses besides — Mr. Lancelot Rolleston (father
of present master) taking the reins of government.
Mr. Dansey hunted it for a few seasons commencing
in 1830, and, though no rider, showed excellent sport.
The kennels were then at Lowdham. It was after-
wards retaken by Mr. Chaworth — or, rather, Chaworth-
Musters, as he had then become — who hunted it till
1844; after which the country remained vacant till
taken in hand by his grandson, Mr. John Chaworth-
Musters of our day. After undergoing a few minor
changes, the Hunt is now in the joint hands of Mr.

* Vide "Stanford's Large Scale Railway Map," Sheet 9 ; and
" Hobson's Foxhuutine Atlas."

224 Hunting Countries of England.

Lancelot Rolleston (son of the above) and Mr.
P. H. Cooper, who have built the present substantial
kennels.

But apart from its association with names of renown,
the South Notts has merits of its own. Certainly, it
is not a flying grass country ; it boasts of no resort of
fashion ; and attracts few strangers ; while in many
parts it has to contend against a teeming manufac-
turing population ; and some of its best ground is
only now in process of being opened up. But it has
a strong body of county residents to lean upon ; and
it meets with staunch and substantial support from the
whole society corporate within the fold of the city of
Nottingham. It has good foxes and plenty of them;
capital grounds for making hounds, and innumerable
excellent walks for rearing its puppies — the last virtue
constituting not only a point of .excellence in itself,
but a proof that the farmers really love fox-hunting.
It is chiefly plough, and the greater part of its area
is hilly; but it generally carries a fair scent, and
hounds work well over it.

The position of the South Notts may be described
as having the Quorn along its southern edge, the
Meynell on the west, the Belvoir on the east, and the
Rufford on the north. Its boundaries follow the Trent
along the south-west from Belper nearly to Notting-
ham, and the streams of the Smite and the Devon all
up the east. Its other limits are defined by custom
rather than by nature, and are correctly set down on
the chart; though Mr. Stanford's rendering of the
neutral corner of Sherwood Forest (in the north) must
not be taken as too strictly accurate — Thieves' Wood,

The South Nottinghamshire. 225

thougli claimed by tlie South Notts, being kept exclu-
sively for the RufFord, and Haywood Oaks being also
a place of meeting for that pack. Nottingham and
Derby may be said to furnish a base to the country, which
for practical purposes, again, may be divided thus —
First, there is the strip of Derbyshire, running up the
length of the country between the river Derwent snd
the coalpit valley of the Erewash, and resembling in
character much of the best ground of the Meynell ;
secondly, between the valleys of the Erewash and the
Leen are the Woods on a soil of loam upon limestone;
in a third parallel section is the tract of light sandy
ground where once grew the Forest of Sherwood (the
name being still retained) ; fourthly, there is the clay
of the open Oxton country ; and fifthly, there is the
low-lying ground on the south bank of the Trent,
known as the Vale. Three days and a bye-day being
the weekly work for the hounds, Monday is allotted to
the Woods, Wednesday to the Oxton country and the
Forest, Friday to the Vale, and Saturday (the extra
day) to Derbyshire or to any district that may seem
to require a visit. All north of the Trent is more or
less hilly; only the southern Vale being flat and
unbroken. For a visit to the South Notts, Notting-
ham is the most central quarter; though Derby, too,
commands one side of the country, and has the
Meynell besides. Each is about three hours from
London (St. Pancras or King^s Cross for either) ; and
the travelling sportsman might well take his horses
on to either place, after having tasted the sweets of
the chase from Leicester en passant. With the com-
pletion of the railways in progress (promised at a very

226 Hunting Countries of England.

early date) Nottingham will find itself within distance,
by morning train_, of all that Melton commands,, and
will on any day be able to join in with the Quorn, the
Belvoir, and the Cottesmore on their best ground.

That foxhunting is popular in Nottinghamshire is
apparent enough at the covertside — where, perhaps, as
large fields assemble as in any Hunt which does not
resent the application of the term " Provincial.-'^
This popularity extends in a rather embarrassing
degree to the countless hordes of workmen whose
hands produce the wealth of Nottinghamshire. The
sound of the horn, or the barest chance of hearing its
music, has a magic effect on these good people ; and
coal and iron and cotton hose may look after them-
selves whenever hounds are in the district — one and
all of these " merrie men'^ leaping forth as gaily to
the note as ever did bold Robin^s followers in these
same jolly green woods. Thus to draw coverts in the
neighbourhood of where tall chimneys grow thickest,
it is often necessary to make a descent from far away,
and take these sportsmen unawares.

Kennels have been lately bailt at Gedling, where
there is a station on the Great Northern Railway, and
which is as nearly as possible the centre of the country.
Mr. John Chaworth-Musters used to keep them till
about Christmas at Annesley, and afterwards at
Wiverton. It is a curious little coincidence that the
present masters of the three Nottinghamshire packs,
the South Notts, the Rufford and the Grove were all
initiated in their calling through the medium of carrying
the horn at Oxford with the Christ Church Harriers.

You may see a good deal of sport in the South

The South Nottinghamshire. 227

Notts country on a second-class horse; but^ as else-
where^ you will never see the best of it well on a bad
one. The hills are severe ; the woods are deep ; the
Oxton district is heavy, and so is the Vale. The
latter is strongly fenced ; but, curiousl}^, more falls
are got on the sand of the Forest than anywhere else.
For, as on other light wold, hounds travel at a great
pace over it when the soil is moist. It has the reputa-
tion of bearing only easy fences — which are dis-
regarded accordingly. But these fences grow stronger
yearly ; and, treated thus lightly, are apt to retaliate
by turning over the rash sportsman, who, forgetful of
the pace, has been taking liberties with them, and with
his horse.

Taking the days of hunting in detail^ we have
Monday in the Woodlands — a series of large woods
commencing beyond Annesley in the north, and
covering an area so large that it is very difficult indeed
to drive a fox right away from them. They are
separated from each other only by strips of grassland;
and a fox, by moving from one to the other, finds
scope enough to keep hounds at a distance, till his
circle is narrowed and he is too tired to go. They are
much broken by hill and dale ; but within their rides
are deep and wet. The Annesley Woods, belonging
to Mr. Musters, run into those of Lord Cowper and
Mr. Rolleston — the whole being in consequence more
often denominated collectively the Annesley Wood-
lands. They are great strong coverts, full of foxes —
the largest wood being that of High Park, which is a
hundred and fifty acres in one piece. Then there are
Park Springs, Morning Springs, William Wood, and

228 Hunting Countries of England.

Annesley Forest Plantations ; the last being an extra-
ordinary fastness^ covering, in all, as much as two
hundred acres with gorse and young trees — and
requiring toil and perseverance in drawing. The meets
for these woodlands are Linby Cross, Linby Windmill,
Annesley Park, and Lodge Farm — Annesley. The
best chance of a run from the Annesley Woodlands is
for a fox to take across to Watnall (some three miles
of open), or to round that place and keep on to
Wollaton — either line being fairly good, and pre-
senting a course of light plough and nice fences.
Moving southwards, we find the area of the woods
narrowing about Nuthall and Strelley — both in extent
and capacity.

♦Lord Middleton's woods at Wollaton are fine
coverts, and the prospects of sport promise well —
great efforts towards a supply of foxes having been
set on foot. Their proximity to Nottingham, how-
ever, renders it impossible to hold a meet in the
immediate neighbourhood — and it is customary to
work southwards from the Annesley Woods in an
afternoon.

Wednesday taking the Sherwood Forest and Oxton
side, brings us into two distinct varieties of country
— the former being a thorough wold, generally hard
on the surface, and never deep, even in the wettest
weather — the latter all clay land, of which a certain
amount is allowed to carry grass. On the whole, the
Wednesday country is considered the most reliable
district for sport. It holds a good scent (varying
according to soil and degree of rain, in addition to
the ordinary wide mutabilities of "the phenomenon") ;

The South Nottinghamshire. 229

its coverts are of reasonable size ; and its fences are
good and fair — while across tlie Forest you may
gallop as freely as on old turf. As regards fences, it
should be noted that throughout the South Notts
territory they are all of a plain and simple nature,
and to be taken at a fly. Oxton itself is the great
centre point of this district, and is the property of
Mr. Henry Sherbrooke — one of the best and oldest
supporters of the Hunt. His coverts are Epperstone
Park (a strong and very holding wood), Oxton Bot-
toms (a long bed of swamp and reeds), and Graves
Lane, a wood which is held as neutral with the
Rufford. Meeting at Gronalston and Lowdham, hounds
get on to Mr. Francklin's property, to draw Thistley
Coppice, Bleasby Gorse (one of the best coverts of the
South Notts), Hallaughton Gorse and Wood — the
Wood being neutral with the Rufford. Thurgarton
Priory, by the death of whose proprietor, Mr. Milward,
the Hunt has lately lost one of its most valued
members, is a meet for the same coverts. Wood-
borough is the fixture nearest to the Kennels : and
from it they have Mr. Heymann^s good Gorse,
Ploughman Wood, Bulcote Wood, and Gedling Wood,
and Mr. Howett has planted a new gorse on
his stud-farm in this neighbourhood. Heymann^s
Gorse is a most favourite draw. It has round
it a considerable extent of grass, with strong
fences. It always holds a fox, and generally gives a
run. On the site of the old Forest, Sherwood
Lodge is advertised for Mr. Seeley's coverts — Cockliffe
Hill Gorse (another good place) Ramsdale Gorse, and
the plantations round the House. Bestwood is the

2o0 Hunting Countries of England.

property of the Duke of St. Albans^ and lias large
coverts round ttie Park^ for which, foxes appear to
evince no great fondness — and the same may be said
of Papplewick. Newstead Abbey, (formerly the
residence of Lord Byron) however, has generally a
fox or two in Mr. Webb^s coverts.

On Fridays the South Notts are in the Vale, i.e,
south of the Trent; where there is much heavy plough;
interspersed, however^ with patches of good grass. It
is not a good scenting district ; and, though border-
ing on some of the best of the Belvoir country, foxes
have not of late years travelled in that direction as
often as mig*ht be wished. The abundance of material
for riot is another objection, as interfering considera-
bly with the work of hounds. Nearest to Nottingham
is the meet of Eatcliffe-on-Trent, from which they
have Edwalton Hill (consisting of wood, thorns, and
gorse), Bridgeford Gorse (both of these belonging
to Mr. Musters), Tollerton, with its two little
woods ; Cotgrave Gorse, Mr. E. Smithes Gorse (the
same good sportsman also owned Harlequin Gorse,
from which Mr. Musters had his great run about
1872) Marshall's Hill, and Blackbery Hill (the
latter the property of Lord Manvers). Colston
Basset, the seat of Mr. Knowles, has its Gorse,
together with a newer one called Blanche's Gorse —
from either of which a nice gallop into the Duke's
country may be hoped for. A line by Key Wood (Mr.
Knowles's property in Belvoir territory) and thence
into the Hickling parish would in this case be the
desideratum. From Colston Basset hounds would draw
on to Cropwell Hoe Hill, also Mr. Musters's — whose

The South Notiuighamshire. 231

place at Wiverton is the next meet. His coverts here
are Smite Hill Gorse (neutral with the Bel voir) _,
Langar Lane End (strong thorn and gorse), the Moats,
and the new plantation near the House ; also Cropwell
Hoe Hill_, and Cropwell Lings nearer to Bingham.
East of the ISTottingham-and- Grantham Eoad is the
estate of Lord Carnarvon_, which extends to Shelford,
but contains no coverts of any importance — foxes
bearing scarcely their fair proportion to hares and
other game. From here the south bank of the Trent
— ^in some places a considerable height above the river
— ^forms a narrow and almost continuous strip of covert
nearly to Newark, and is a very difficult piece to
draw, hounds having scarcely foothold. Meanwhile,
the field riding above have the advantage of a beauti-
ful and extensive view over the landscape north of the
river. After Shelford comes East Bridgeford, where
Mr. H. Martin keeps up the memory of his friend, the
old ^' Jack Musters,^^ by steadfast care of the foxes.
On the Flintham estate (Mr. Hildyard^'s) there is
generally a litter or two — his coverts being the Barley-
holme, Coronation Covert, and a portion of the Trent
bank. At Hawkesworth, close to the Coronation
Covert, are a couple of small and useful spinnies.
South-east of these is Sibthorpe Gorse, on the
property of the Duke of Portland — ten strong acres
of gorse and thorns, and close to Shelton, where lives
the Rev. Banks Wright, in sight of whose blue leathers
we have often been only too glad to live through a
gallop. Mr. Eillingham^s estate at Syerston has small
coverts and an artificial earth which is often occu-
pied. Stoke owns occasionally ; and between here

232 Hunting Countries of England.

and Newark remains little but a few osier beds, and
the presence of a keen fox preserver in tbe person
of Mr. Ripon Brockton.

With good foxes and a good scent the Vale should
be the best part of the South Notts country; but
foxes have not run with vigour of late seasons here-
abouts. Chances of sport will improve much when
the neighbouring coverts of the Quorn and Belvoir
are once more occupied with old seasoned foxes.

Turning,, in conclusion, to the strip of Derbyshire
that runs up the west of the South Notts country,
and which is always visited on a Saturday, we again
find ourselves on a different description of ground.
Small grass inclosures and pleasant flying fences give
to this part quite a Meynell type. It is only during
the last few years that all this territory has been
reopened for foxhunting ; but, the ice having once
been broken, it would appear as if all antagonism
were happily melting away. For their work here
hounds are brought by train from Gedling to West
Hallam or Breadsall — from either of which stations
all the coverts can be reached, and which are, con-
sequently, usually named as the meets. From West
Hallam they draw Lady Wood, the property of Col.
Newdigate (in whom the Hunt has a good supporter),
Shipley (a covert of some extent), Hopwell (where
Mr. E. Pares is throwing all his energy into resusci-
tating his share of this Derbyshire district), and the
Dale Plantations. Locko has hitherto been withheld
from the Hunt by the present owner. From Breadsall
they work Horsley Carr (a splendid fastness — being
a large valley of rough natural covert). Cloves Wood,

The South Nottinghamshire. 233

and Hays Wood (all three belongings to Mr. E. Sitwell
— one of the mainstays of the South Notts in this
part) ; and they have also Coxbench Wood and
Chaddesden Wood.

Right in the north of the Derbyshire province the
Hunt have a small covert of Mr. Jessop^s_, and
Bloomer Wood (a fine wild covert of the Duke of
Portland's). From these a fox will occasionally run
across to the Annesley Woods), or he may even strike
upwards to the Derbyshire Hills. Mr. Musters has
also planted a gorse near here. Other coverts here-
abouts are Brook Hill Gorse (Mr. Coke's), Langton,
and Newton Wood (Lord Hartington's good covert) —
the meet for these being Middlebrook Bridge, on
Selston Common, whence the choice offers of drawing-
the above or turning to the Annesley Woods.

234 Hunting Countries of England.

THE EAST KENT.*

Kent is scarcely the county a liunting-man would of
his own free will select as the most delectable sphere
for his pursuit — unless_, indeed, he be wedded to
change,, and^ having experienced the smooth side of
foxhunting in one quarter^ should suddenly find
himself bitten with a desire to try the rough else-
where. Kent is eminently available from London;
and it has three packs of hounds to choose from.
But the '^ Garden of England '' is laid out in a
manner scarcely compatible with foxhunting in its
most successful form. It would be as fair to expect
that a high-class cricket match could come off on a
lawn — though bat and ball have been wielded there
by most of us at one time of our lives. But if the
nomade foxhunter is not likely, voluntarily, to pitch
his camp in Kent, he only after all represents a small
section of the hunting field — except in some few of
the most fashionable resorts — where men gather
yearly from every quarter and corner of the kingdom.
Her Majesty, if you serve her, is graciously pleased
that you should hunt, and gives you every encourage-
ment towards doing so — except as regards assisting

* Vide *' Stanford's Large Scale Map," Sheet 23 ; also,
"Hobson's FoxhuntiDO' Atlas."

The East Kent. 235

you to tlie means, or appointing your station so that
you may command the best countries. On either of
these heads the soldier is treated with scanty
liberality ; but, for all that^ he will join the chase
to the utmost of his ability wherever he may be — and,
truth to tell, if his C. 0. be at all a decent member
of society, parade is but seldom allowed to stand in
the way. Thus, he is much more likely to be
stationed at Canterbury than at Leicester, at Dover
than Northampton, or at Shorncliffe than either — and
a hunting he must go, be the country good, bad, or
indifferent. Or, again, you may have been born to
own, or to occupy, a goodly acreage of crops. Your
property, it is true, may not pay for your hunting
every year ; but it will find you a new stud — and give
you something handsome to invest, besides — at least
once in seven seasons. At any rate, it is too good
to leave ; and certainly it does not take up all your
while. During the winter months time would hang
sorely, were there not some other object to turn to.
What better than foxhunting ? The country gentleman,
of course, inherits a love of the hound and the horn,
with his patrimony and family traditions. And so the
three classes combine to set the chase on its legs, and
to keep it there as steadily as the ground will allow ;
— making the best they can of the result. While the
other two are scattered over the extent of the country
the soldier will have his headquarters at one of these
chief centres, and at the points which happen to be
the most accessible from London. It is, therefore,
from Ms point of view that we may mainly take the
geography of the East Kent.

236 Hunting Countries of England.

If anything could "bave raised the Hunt to a position
of eminence, the enthusiastic exertions and profuse
liberality of the late Master must have done so.
"When Lord Guildford took the Country in hand,
some few years ago, it scarely contained a fox, and all
ardour in the cause appeared to have died out. He
not only succeeded in rousing the slumbering interest
of his neighbours, but he found them a new pack of
hounds; built magnificent Kennels in his park at
Waldershare; took the whole expense of establish-
ment and country on his own shoulders; and by degrees
brought round the covert-owners, almost without
exception, to his way of thinking. Everything con-
nected with the Hunt was done in first-rate form;
the hounds gradually became a pack, good in the
field and fashionable on the flags ; and at the present
moment the whole of the Country — one small portion
alone excepted — is thoroughly stocked with foxes.
On his retirement at the end of the last season he
lent hounds and Kennels (with the privilege of using
the Park for exercise) to the country, and headed
their subscription-list with five hundred pounds — Mr.
Mackenzie taking over the reins of government.

The East-Kent Country comprises the extreme south-
east corner of England — a line from Whitstable to
Canterbury, and Canterbury to Ashford, cutting it off
from its neighbour, the Tickham. It goes south as
far as the Military Canal at Hythe, where it encounters
the Eomney Marshes, which are only practicable for
harriers. Ashford is situated in a flat grass vale,
worthy of any hounds — but this, the most favourable
ground in all Kent, is practically and obstinately

The East Kent. 237

useless — for want of foxes. There are coverts in it,
of wliicli foxes would avail themselves as gladly as
would the pursuing force : but the Ashford Vale is no
place for them. The rest of the East-Kent Country-
is mostly a cold plough upland, thickly studded
throughout with great woods ; and to drive a fox
through them, hounds must be thorough workers,
keen of nose, and stout of frame and heart. Here
and there in the valleys are patches of hop-garden
(deep and holding in winter) ; but hops do not flourish
in the soil of East Kent as freely as further west.
The valleys, consequently, are more often merely
marked by a single breadth of meadow bounded by
fairly strong wattle hedges, constituting the only fences
to be met with for miles. Great unfenced fields of
arable cover all the upper ground, especially where,
between Canterbury, Sandwich, and Deal, much of
the land assumes quite a wold character. Further
south, however, on the high ground above Hythe and
Shorncliffe, cultivation is of a much closer description,
and a fair sprinkling of grass comes in about Acrise
and Eeindean. As a rule. East Kent is not good
scenting ground. Hounds have the best chance of
killing their foxes in cub-hunting — before the leaves
have fallen to any extent — or when, now and again,
one of the early spring months brings a steady, good-
scenting period. You need not have a very expensive
horse to enter the woods with the East Kent, or to
see many of their runs. But if hounds slip away
close on their fox, and at best pace dip in and out of
one of the above little valleys as they run from wood
to wood, only a very respectable hunter will carry you

s 2

238 Hunting Countries of England.

up without chancing a fall. But, even allowing for
these contingencies_, you need not ruin yourself in first
outlay. To jump a strong fence out of deep ground,
or a stiff stile out of a wood, will be a test to occur
occasionally, and establish a standard which may
be reached without very wild extravagance. After
mentioning that Canterbury is about an hour and a
half from London (Victoria station), and Dover about
two hours, we may pass on to the leading points of
the country as usually hunted.

The East Kent advertise for three days a week, and
generally add a bye day. Monday, Wednesday and
Friday are their regular days of hunting, leaving
Saturday open for the extra. Beyond setting apart
Wednesday for the south of the country, i.e.^ for the
Ashford Yale, or the upper ground just above it, they
keep to no absolute rules in allotting their meets.
Monday is more often within easy reach of the
Kennels, while the longer journeys are generally taken
on Fridays. The Kennels themselves are a very
frequent Monday meet, with a view to the home
coverts of Waldershare, which are numerous, and —
it is needless to add — abundantly stocked with foxes.
Easling Wood is the great stronghold of the series.
The Half- Way-House, on the Canterbury-and-Dover
road, is for a thousand acres of woodland under the
name of Woolwich Wood. The Black Mill is named
for the Nolden and Sleden Woods, each of some
hundreds of acres. Lydden means Lord^s Wood and
Alkham Yalley — the latter being a rough natural
covert in the hilly district between Folkestone and
Dover. Swingfield Park is another large wood at no

The East Kent. 239

great distance from Alkham. At S wanton there are
smaller coverts, from which it is not unlikely to get
on to Reindean and the better country. Sir. W.
Jameses place at Betshanger stands the Hunt in good
stead ; and there are good coverts of less extent about
St. Alban's.

Of equal importance in the Wednesday country as
Waldershare in that of Monday is Beachborough_, the
property of Mr. Brockman — nephew of the former
Master. The House stands just under the hill, and
covert is plentiful on the slope and below. Ashley
Wood is the chief fastness, and there are foxes every-
where on the estate. On the high ground above —
and giving a line very commonly taken from Beach-
borough — is Acrise (Mr. Mackinnon^s seat), with a
nice wood, in the midst of the best of the East- Kent
upland, where there is a good scent and something to
ride over. The Pillars, near by, are a prominent
landmark, and consist of a high clump of trees, by a
small covert. Hawkinge Hill immediately overlooks
Folkestone, and has small, but holding coverts in its
neighbourhood. Under the hillside, again, is New
Inn Green — being, with Beachborough, one of the
only meets on the low ground from which sport is to
be had. Its coverts are Thorn Wood and others.
Mersham, Selliuge Lee, West Brabourn, and
Aldington are all meets in an excellent grass
country ; but it is seldom thought worth while to
bring hounds to chase the wild goose in their midst.
There are fine coverts, too, — if only foxes might be
encouraged to take to them. Certainly it is no fault
of the farmers of the neighbourhood, who — as

240 Hunting Countries of England.

througliout the East-Kent country — are stauncli;, to
a man.

Among tlie more distant meets and coverts^ gener-
ally taken on a Friday, are Evington (Sir F. Honey-
wood's) in whose woods is a capital show of foxes.
Far away on the west of the country is the Denge, a
huge woodland, for which they meet at Petham or God-
mersham — the latter owned by Mr. Kay, an excellent
fox-preser\^er. Elham as a meet has Blham Park,
another big wood, from which good foxes are often
started. Next come the Covets (or Coverts ?) enor-
mous woods, with a fair sprinkling of foxes of late
years ; and Walderchain Wood — for which Woodlands
Breachdown is the usual fixture. White Hill is also a
big wood with another of like description, Grorsley
Wood, facing it. Trinley Park is another meet and
extensive covert. North of the Canterbury-and-
Dover road Adisham and Wingham lead to smaller
coverts and a lighter soil — except where, by the river
Stour, you may get on to the watermeadows. Hounds
are hardly ever taken nearer the sea, on the north,
than the South-Bastern Railway (to R-amsgate) —
except when, about once a year, meeting at the
Barracks at Canterbury, they go to draw Blean and
its vicinity.

The Tiekham. 241

THE TICKHAM.*

The Tiekham occupy Mid Kent — the only packs
touching them being respectively the East and West
Kent. The sea, or rather the outflow of the Medway,
bounds them on the north, while on the deep lowlands
on their southern edge no one has for years — if ever
— been adventurous enough to keep a pack of fox-
hounds. In point of fact, Mr. Stanford, without
perpetrating any absolute error, carries the Tiekham
Country considerably lower in this direction than
hounds are ever taken to draw — though no doubt they
are at liberty to dip as far among the currant gardens
of the Weald as they may choose. Mr. Hobson's
Atlas gives a very just idea of the limits within
which the Tiekham look for their foxes. For it has
long been recognised that the deep vale by Staple-
hurst, Headeorn, &c. — through which runs the South-
Eastern Railway to Ashford, and through which
winds the stream of the Beult, is unsuitable for the
chase. Much of it is grass ; but that grass is more
than fetlock-deep in winter. The rest is in a great
measure devoted to fruit gardens and like high-

* Vide "Stanford's Large Scale Map," Sheet 23 ; also, "Hob-
son's Foxhunting Atlas."

242 Hunting Countries of England.

cultivation. That it has not hounds of its own, is
much to the disadvantage of those over the border,
who drive many a good fox across, never to return —
for, not only is there no pack to drive him fairly back,
but once across the march, he is treated as a vile beast
and shot down accordingly. Truth to tell, poor
Reynard's sanctity, though seldom openly assailed,
yet holds no universally strong place in the creed of
the Mid Kent landowners. I presume there are not
two of them who would directly order a fox to be
destroyed, and perhaps not one who would boast of
having done so — much wickedness as there is upon
the earth, whether that earth be grass or plough,
Leicestershire or Kent. But only comparatively few
among their keepers have had it pointed out to them
that the pithy dogma " No fox, no Box" could ever
possibly bear any application for them. The latter,
consequently, think they are fully and honourably
carrying out instructions when they allow the old
foxes to eat up a certain number of their rabbits
under their very noses. But in a shooting country no
heart that ever beat under velveteen could bear with
complacency the sight of an earth, round whose mouth
lie many feathery proofs of a vixen's careful catering
for her young. There is more gold for ^' Gaiters" to
be got out of a single shooting party than the most
liberal of M.F.H.'s can afford him in a season. So
the vixen and her litter find a home elsewhere ; and
under the influence of these Malthusian principles,
small wonder that woodlands, which should swarm
with foxes, are often drawn in silence.

There is an argument, seldom openly advanced, but

The Tiekham. 243

too often acted upon (not in Kent only_, but wherever
tlie owner of gamecoverts either goes off to some more
popular country for his huntings or else does not hunt
at all) — ^' Foxhunting is out of place here. The
country is altogether unfavourable ! And so I don^t
feel called upon to preserve foxes. ''^ Put in other
wordsj this is the most selfish and ungenerous reason-
ing possible. It simply means ^'I can go to a better
hunting country — or could if I chose. As for you, my
neighbours_, who are obliged to stay here — it does not
concern me whether you have sport, or not ; and
accordingly I decline to make any effort to assist
you \"

'Great woods of hazel and Spanish chestnut are the
leading feature of the Tiekham Country. Oak and
ash and other timber are scattered freely over the
acres and miles of thicket ; but the bulk of the covert
is a low and densely thick growth — cut down about
every twelve or fifteen years for conversion into hop-
poles, hurdles and wattle. The rides through these
jungles are merely accidental cart tracks, made in
carrying off the last-cut portion of the wood. Eiding
up them, you, as often as not, find that all path has
entirely disappeared, and you are brought up short by
the growth of years — through which a horse cannot
possibly struggle, and even a hound can only force
himself slowly. In the autumn the under-covert is
so thickened by the help of the briars that a pack can
in some places scarcely crawl. Carrying a head during
cub -hunting must be out of the question ; and at no
time can they rattle a fox with a front so wide and a
pace so strong as, for instance, in the hollow woods of

244 Hunting Countries of England.

the Fitzwilliam or the Pytchley. A fox can^ there-
fore, take his own time about leaving ; generally goes
away with a long start ; can betake himself to a
similar refuge almost as soon as he chooses ; and is,
consequently, about as easy to catch as Cetywayo. Nor
with such difficulties in the way of your own progress,
is it at all an easy matter to keep within hearing of
hounds. You may often have to gallop a mile round
to gain a point of a few hundred yards ; and to retain
your cue of the line of chase under such conditions
must require an absolute instinct. Woodland Hunting
is a pursuit, and a taste, of itself. Some of us are
very fond of it : some prefer to gallop over the open.
The former division may well pay a visit to the Tick-
ham — where (if they would live with hounds) they
will often have to gallop quicker in the woods than
outside. Between the woods they will meet a rather
cold-scenting plough everywhere except on the ridge
of hills between Debtling and Charing (and which, as
the backbone of Kent, runs from one end of the
county to the other) . On the top of these is a good
deal of grass, with light fair fences : and here hounds
can often travel a great pace. But elsewhere the
country, where not taken up for growing hops or hop
poles, is given up to corn; and thousands of acres are
unfenced, except here and there by hurdles. The hop
gardens are mostly deeply trenched by hand, and every-
where heavy and sticky in winter ; while the corn land
is thickly strewed with the sharpest flints — from which
hounds and horses alike suffer. Indeed, a right good
hound is wanted in Mid Kent. If he has not lots of
music (yet be free from riot) he is useless in the big

The Tickham. 245

woods — wliere_, too, lie requires all tlie dasli that can
be bred in a foxhound, if lie is to cope with his game.
Again, for the open, he must be ready to put his nose
down and willing to keep it there ; while his feet must
be perfect to combat the flints, and his frame un-
tiring to carry him through the day. In woods of
such size, so difficult to ride through, and none too
lavishly off for foxes, a single mute hound may rob
the whole day of its chances of sport. And, again,
the flints of the open ground are so severe,
that a hound will seldom really face them for more
than three or four seasons, and at all times at least a
sixth of the pack are in hospital with cuts. The
present Tickham Pack owes its foundation chiefly to
hounds purchased when Mr. Musters broke up his
Kennel in South Notts. Since then the present
Master, Mr. W. E. Rigden, whose father had the
country for some forty years, has made every effort to
establish a high and uniform standard — by infusions
of blood from the Fitzwilliam and other leading
Kennels — with the result that he now possesses an
excellent pack. And that hounds should be of good
class in a rough and difficult country as much as in a
more fashionable one is self-evident — for the greater
the difficulties to contend with the more need for good
qualities on their part — added to which, the foxes of a
wild country are invariably stronger than those
matured in a more artificial sphere. Mr. Rigden
has lately built beautiful Kennels at Wren^s Hill,
near Newnham ; which in themselves are worth a
visit.

The horse to ride with the Tickham should be

246 Hunting Countries of England.

strong enougli to carry you up-and-dowu liill, and to
go tlirougli deep ground from beginning to end of tlie
day. The wliole country is very undulating, con-
sisting, as it does, of a series of salients running down
towards tlie sea at right angles from the main ridge
already alluded to. As with the East Kent, you may
often ride all day without having to take a single
leap ; but when, now and again, a fence is met with,
its proportions are, practically speaking, magnified by
the necessity of jumping out of deep ground. And,
as such fences as exist are built and bound into
an unyielding wattle — or in the case of the frequent
hogbacked stile which forms the only exit from a
wood — your horse must have jumping power when
the necessity comes. His hocks, too, must be clean
and strong, or they will certainly fly ; and his feet
must have a growth and breadth of horn that will
bid defiance to the flints. Finally, when mounting
yourself for Mid Kent, you had far better buy some-
thing already blemished (and consequently cheaper) ;
for a season among the flints is certain to leave its
mark in cuts and enlargements. There is yet hope
for improvement in the surface of the county of Kent
— to be found in the fact that while to grow corn in
the present state of the market cannot possibly pay,
more and more of the uplands are being laid down
for grass. Let the revolution really establish itself,
hounds will go quicker, horses will gallop on sound
turf, and fences must spring up to give a fillip to the
pleasures of riding.

The Tickham is professedly a five-days-a-fortnight
country — and as the season advances, it often reverts

The Tickham, 247

to its avowed allowance — huuting Monday^ Thursday
and Saturday in one week, Tuesday and Friday the
next. But for the greater part of the season Friday
is devel oped into a Thursday and a Saturday ; and
three days a week is the rule.

For the Monday (Tuesday in alternate weeks) they
retain the centre of their territory ; of which their
chief meets and coverts are as follows —

Otterden is fixed for Mr. Wheeler^s good coverts —
natural woods, but not of the great size so frequent
in the county, though stored with foxes beyond the
average. The Black Post, Hollingbourn is also for
some small woods ; and from here you get on the grass
of the hills, of which most is seen on the initial day
of the week. Rodmersham, and Torry Hill (Mr.
Leigh Pemberton^s) are for Kingsdown Wood.
Tunstall (Mr. G. Webb's) and Woodstock Park lead
to Mr. Twopenny's coverts, where there are always
litters of cubs, and Cromer's Wood is one of the most
certain finds in the Hunt. Linsted Village has little
coverts near it; Doddington is another common
fixture ; but Leeds Castle (seat of the late Mr. Wick-
ham Martin, who was a member for the county and a
good supporter of foxhunting) is usually advertised
for Kings Wood and various plantations in the neigh-
bourhood. And below this, as above-mentioned,
hounds are seldom taken — on account of wet ground
and fruit gardens. From the Squirrels, Stockbury
they draw Long Tun (a good place for foxes) and get
again on the top of the hills and to the better country.
Sharsted Court may be on the cards for either Monday
or Thursday. It is the residence of Mr. Faunce De

248 Hunting Countries of England.

Laune, Hon. Sec. to the Hunt ; and Sharsted Wood
is always a find.

Thursday is always on the Canterbury side. From
Stone Stile, Chilham they take Mr. Hardy's coverts.
Lees Court is the seat of Lord Sondes, who owns a
great part o£ that side of the country. At Belmont
are many small woods of Lord Harris's, who has the
interest of the Hunt at heart. He also owns Long-
beech, a wood of 1500 acres, which is a certain find, and,
large as it is, not very difficult to get away from. Syndale,
the property of Mr. Hall, son of the last Master of the
Tickham, is surrounded by fox coverts, and is a near
and favourite meet for foot people from Faversham.
The Kennels are a frequent meet for the woods in the
neighbourhood. Eastwell is for another "King's
Wood" at Challock which was once a good fox covert.
Occasionally hounds go down to Cale Hill Park on a
Thursday, where in the small woods close by they are
likely to find and get into a nice piece of country.
The great woods of Blean — stretching seven miles,
from Whit stable to Canterbury — and part of which
are hunted by the East Kent, used to be great places
for cub-hunting, besides availing for at least once a
fortnight during the season. There is now so compli-
cated a division of interest in their possession — and
that interest leans so largely towards the gun, that
they have lost half their value for fox-hunting.

Saturday being for the Chatham and Maidstone
side of the country — the meet of The Hook-and-
Hatchet, Chatham, is with a view to the great wood-
lands near that town. Rough, ugly, coverts are these,
stretching right down to the Medway ; but they hold

The Tickham. 249

lots of foxeSj and stout ones. From Bredhurst are
big woods still, separated one from another only by a
few fields. At Debtling we get again to smaller
coverts and the edge of the grass. From Eainbam
(on the main line of the L. C. & D. Ry.) tbey draw
Rainbam Park, wbicb generally holds a good fox.
From Bobbing Court (where lives Mr. Richard Knight,
a good friend to the Hunt) they have Wardwell and
Calves Hole, where some litters of foxes are bred
every spring. Now and again a trip is made into the
Marshes by the sea : and Tong Mill, opposite the Isle
of Sheppey is usually named. Blacketts is the chief
draw ; but the search is more often for an outlying
fox. From this region they had an extraordinary
long run two years ago, following a gallant fox right
across the breadth of their country to Staplehurst (a
point of between fifteen and sixteen miles), where —
scent having been cold all the way — he fairly beat
them.

The hounds nearly always sleep out the night
before the Saturday meets, lying at the Bell at Bred-
hurst, where rough Kennels have been provided.

250 Hunting Countries of England.

THE VINE.*

Hants is a county^ over every acre of which the fox
is hunted, as he has been uninterruptedly for at least
the whole of the present century. The Vine, on the
best authority, claim a continued existence of quite
eighty-five years, during which time there have been
many variations in the limits of the country hunted
under that denomination.

Almost the whole of Hampshire lies upon chalk —
the depth at which the chalk is found below the
surface constituting the only variety in the face of the
country. Between Basingstoke and Winchester and
across the breadth of the county it almost reaches the
top of the ground, and, with a sprinkling of light
soil above it, forms a wide stretch of wold. Formerly
all this district was a rough down — the process of
subduing it to agriculture bringing about also the
change of definition. Beyond this wold tract, on
either side, we find a surface bed of deep clay, and of
these two varieties the surface of Hants may be said
exclusively to consist. The Vine Country contains
both samples, and in itself bears no other divisions

* Vide "Stanford's Large Scale Map," Sheet 21 ; also " Hobson's
Foxhunting Atlas."

The Vine. 251

beyond tlie extent of these two respectively. If it
does not quite "go without saying^' that neither
description of ground is likely to carry at all times a
strong scent, such is a fact — the statement of which
will scarcely occasion surprise. There are good packs
of hounds in Hampshire ; and there is good hunting.
But there are few rapid bursts to be looked for; very
little galloping necessary ; and watching hounds with
their noses down will be the study and recreation
provided for you. It is no bad school, though, nor
an unworthy resort for maturer age. Hants nursed
Tom Smith till he rose to command the Hambledon,
the Craven, and eventually the Pytchley ; and it
soothed the declining years of Assheton Smith when
he retired from Leicestershire. It taught the one,
and it found food good enough for the other — after
all his varied experience. And of all the small fields
which come out hunting in Hampshire, it may safely
be said that a far larger proportion make a study of
the sport than amid the more crowded assemblages of
fashionable districts. Every man has plenty of room,
and plenty of time to look about him ; and most avail
themselves of the chance, to learn the sport more
thoroughly than where the chief concern must
necessarily be to outstrip as many of your neighbours
as you can. (At least this is the way I must be
allowed to put it — from the plough point of view.)

The Yine Hounds belong to the country : and are a
capital pack — offering another instance among the
many we have nowadays of the determination to
attain a high standard of hounds, whatever may be
the country they are called upon to hunt. It is in this

T

252 Hunting Countries of England,

direction that the Hound Shows of late years have
worked so much benefit. A standard of excellence is
there laid down by the best, acknowledged, judges,
and presented for the study of Masters and huntsmen.
The latter have at the same time the opportunity of
comparing for themselves the picked representatives of
the best kennels, and establishing a model for their
own guidance more easily and satisfactorily than they
could hope to by any other means. For, if as an
alternative — instead of additional — course, you visit a
number of separate Kennels, you find in every one —
take which you will — that in each class there are one
or two hounds standing pre-eminently above the
others ; while, again, if you pursue your studies below
these elect, your search for knowledge cannot but be
more or less swayed, and your judgment influenced, by
the opinion of those who have had the making of the
pack under observation — and who may, or may not be,
the soundest of authorities. Moreover, granting the
argument that the showyard and its results aflbrd no
criterion of a hound's nose, and behaviour in the field,
yet his points for actual work bear so much more
proportionate weight in the minds of the judges than
his mere beauty of appearance that at least he must be
bodily suitable for the field. And, though in a less
degree with the hound than the horse, it may be
asserted that a well-shaped animal is more likely to
be a good performer than one of faulty make.

Then, again, besides the opportunity given by
Hound Shows of filling the eye with the truest model,
every facility is now granted by Masters of Hounds
for access to the blood producing it ; and thus every

The Vine. 253

Isennel in the kingdom yearly sends forth its matrons
for the most desirable cross. For their own credit
huntsmen will seldom use a hound in kennel that is
faulty in the field (even should there be no restraining
influence exercised by the Master) ; and if not con-
sidered good enough to be used at home, there will
certainly not continue to be any great call upon him
from outside. This alone constitutes a considerable
safeguard against the propagation of hereditary vice
in the search after symmetry and fashion.

The Vine Country as at present hunted, lies within
much narrower limits than those laid down by the
maps — inasmuch as Pamber Forest, and all to the
north of it, has been lent to the South Berks. With
this exception, both Mr. Stanford and Mr. Hobson
give, on the whole, an accurate outline of the
boundaries — which only here and there follow any
direction suggested by natural features. The Vine
Country, it will be seen, has the Craven and the South
Berks touching it on the north, Mr. Grarth^s on the
east, the H.H. on the south and south-east, and the
Tedworth on the west. Basingstoke is the only
quarter a visitor would take up. It is easily accessible,
too, from London on the morning of hunting — a nine
o^clock train from Waterloo landing one there by a
quarter past ten. The soldiers often take a trip
thither from Aldershot ; but unless the L. and S.W.K.
stretch a point in favour of hunting, and their own
interests, and stop this train for them at Farnboro a
much earlier start is needed. The Kennels of the
Vine are close to Overton station. They aim at iio
palatial grandeur; but are in a good position to

T 2

254 Hunting Countries of England.

command tlie country. It is fouod that some two-and-
forty couple are by no means too many for tlie work
of hunting three days a week ; for the sharp flints of
the wolds in some parts almost hide the ground, and
play terrible havoc with the feet of hounds. Horses
do not suffer in the same degree, as they move on the
top of the chalky soil, and so only expose their hoofs
to the ragged edges of the flints. The configuration
of the country, as divided into the wold or upper
ground, and the woodlands, is plainly visible on the
map — the former stretching from the south of the
country up its whole width to Ewhurst, north of which,
and including the Wolverton, Kingsclere and the Vine
neighbourhoods, is termed the Woodlands. As a definite
distinction the latter is nowadays quite a misnomer.
As a matter of fact, all the coverts of the Vine are big
woods, chains of which are as freely laid across their
wold country as in what they call their Woodlands —
which section of their territory no doubt earned its
name when it included Pamber Forest (once a thou-
sand acres) and other vast tracts of wood now hunted
by the South Berks. The only absolute difference
now existing consists, as has been mentioned above, in
the character of the soil and the style of its culture.
On the light ground of the wolds the fields of corn or
roots are divided only by broad growths of hazel —
they can be scarcely called hedges, as, save by the
roadsides, they are planted with no view to fencing-in
or fencing-out. They merely serve to mark an out-
line, and to 1)6 cut down now and again to make
wattles, &c. They are pierced with frequent holes,
through which the rider may move at his leisure, or at

The Vine. 255

the least lie may make certain of a doorway at tlie corner
of eacli field, big enough for the passage of a waggon.
In the " woodland " part of the country, on the other
hand, the ground is much deeper, while the enclosures
are small, and are separated one from the other by
broad banks with a ditch on one side. A strong
steady horse is therefore the animal required here ;
and, as anything will carry you over the wolds, it
follows that the same horse will answer your purpose
throughout the Vine country. Taking into considera-
tion, then, that pace is not altogether a necessary
quality in your mount, it is safe to say that a cobby,
shortlegged, class of horse will be found the best
conveyance with the Vine ; and that you need never
put yourself in the unhappy position of hazarding at
every jump two hundred guineas more than you can
afford.

Of Tuesday^s leading meets and coverts we have
Clerken Green or Oakley Hall, for the woods on the
south-east, viz., St. John^s Wood_, Dean Heath, BulFs
Bushes, South Wood, &c. — all well preserved. Dean
Gate is for Ash Park, Bramdown, Berrydown, and
Burley, a number of contiguous woods generally
holding foxes. Popham Beacons means Cobley,
Southington Scrubs or the Steventon coverts ; or
hounds may be taken to Black Wood (neutral with
the H.H.). At Freefolk Wood, or from Laverstoke
House, they draw the former,, or Laverstoke Wood,
Bound Wood, &c.

On a Thursday they have Hannington for Hanning-
ton Scrubs, and the Dean^s AVoods. From Ashe
Warren they go to Nutley (a noted source of good

25(3 Hunting Countries of England.

runs), Kingsdown, or the Great Dean Wood anotlier
fine stronghold. We here get into a chain of large
coverts, the chief Hnks of which are Hey Wood,
Warrene Bottom, Sheeplanes, Long Wick, ending again
in The Dean^s Woods — foxes much preferring to hang
to the hne of covert as long as they can. They meet
also at Malshanger, or Manydown Park. From the
former they would reach the lastnamed woods ; and
from Manydown go to Worting Wood (another covert
of repute) for first draw.

On Saturday they have Sherborne St. John, or The
Vine (where lived Mr. Wm. Chute, the founder of the
Hunt) for Morgaston and The Yine coverts, Sherborne
Wood, &c., West Heath or Ewhurst Park, are set down
for Wyford, Fishwires, Scears, Halton's Coverts and
the Ewhurst Woods (foxes being frequent everywhere).
Kingsclere or Wolverton Park are intended for Wol-
verton Wood, Sandford Wood, and the surrounding
coverts, or a move may be made westward to Fro Park
(which is neutral with the Craven), The Pine Apple —
Brimpton, Blacknest, Ashford Hill Cross Roads or New
Inn — Baughurst, are all meets for Kingsclere HoltS;,
Redlands and the Baughurst Coverts.

The South Berkshire. 257

THE SOUTH BERKSHIEE.*

The South Berks Country rides the Thames about
Reading. Indeed,, it might almost be called the
Beading Country — that town being its one base.
Under Mr. Hargrave^s Mastership everything con-
nected with the Hunt is done on a scale that can only
be termed superh. He has a beautiful pack of hounds
numbering sixty couple) ; the Kennels — at the
^' World's End/' about two and a half miles out of
Reading, on the Bath road — are very perfect ; and the
men are mounted and turned out exceptionally well.
In Roake of the South Berks, by the way. West of the
Vine, and Tread well of the Old Berks, we find that
three contiguous packs are now hunted, with eminent
success, by men who have wielded the horn for the
huge fields of the Pytchley, the Cottesmore and the
Quorn respectively ; and who do their work none the
worse in a quieter field of action, that they have
experienced the dash of high-scenting grass, and the
rush of an overwhelming multitude. In South
Berkshire it is hunting always, the scent to be sought,
the line to be picked out — except when on the Downs

* Vide "Stanford's Large Scale Map," Sheet 21; also "Hobson's
Foxhuntino- Atlas."

258 Hunting Countries of England,

of their northernmost limits plentiful rain has
moistened the surface, and a straight fox starts close
in front of hounds. Then there is galloping free and
fierce — never a fence to hinder, never a lion to turn
you from your path. But the rest of the upland is
chilly wold ; and the deep lowlands carry none too
vigorous a scent.

The South Berks lies thus, with reference to its
neighbours — On the north it has the Old Berkshire
(west of the Thames), and across the river the South
Oxfordshire, with some of the beech woods of the
Chiltern Hills in the loop of the stream. The eastern
boundary is defined by the little river Loddon,
which separates it from Mr. Garth^s country. On the
south it has the Vine, and borrows from it all its tract
of woodland and fir plantation that is contained be-
tween the streams of the Kennet and the Loddon,
down to and including the Forest of Pamber. On the
west is the wide territory of the Craven. Henley to
Newbury gives the widest points of the South Berks ;
but Reading is sufficient mark for the traveller, wishing
to make trial of the country. It is within an hour's
journey from London (Paddington) : and the 9 a.m.
train will ensure his being in time for most of the
meets.

The South Berks advertise for four days a week — -
occasionally treating themselves to a byeday in
addition. Their country is naturally divided into two
parts, differing widely in their nature — the one being
the light soil of the downs and wold, the other deep
clay and woodland. For distinction's sake we may
speak of them respectively as The Hills and The

The South Berkshire. 259

Woodlands, by which terms they are more commonly
■known in their own locality. Thus the Hills are
hunted twice a week, Tuesday and Friday, the
Woodlands on Monday and Thursday. Should there
be a byeday, it will take place on Saturday, wherever
room can be found. In the stiff deep country of the
Woodlands you must have a strong horse and a
steady one. He must be able to move through the
dirt; he must have length to cover the wide deep
ditches, and sense — or education — to walk and climb
over the thick-grown banks that divide the small
inclosures between the woods. " Long, low, and
wide,^^ the old description, is still the best here. The
same horse will carry you well enough over the wold
and common of the Bradfield and Bucklebury district ;
but, if you have variety in your stable, keep your
best galloper for the downs in the north-west corner
of the country. He need have no notion of jumping,
but he must be able to gallop down hill without
faltering, up hill without distress, and, at a pinch^ for
half an hour without a pull.

Taking the Hills first, it must be noted that the
Tuesdays and Fridays alternate with each other every
week between the down and the wold — in the tract of
ground which is north of the Kennet and west of the
Thames. The Downs are at their best when much
and recent rain has fallen ; and then you may have a
gallop for which a thoroughbred is none too fast.
Where, however, the down has been broken up into
wold, and the flints lie thick on the weak ploughland,
there can never be any pace ; and hounds must labour
on incessantly to earn blood. The coverts are the

260 Hunting Countries of England,

same, on a smaller scale, as in tlie low country — viz.,
woods of hazel and other underwood, beneath oak and
various timber. They are difficult for hounds to get
through, until the early winter has thinned the dense
luxuriance of vegetation : and they seldom attain a
consistency that allows a pack to drive its fox rapidly
before it.

Of the leading fixtures for the Downs are Aldworth
and Streatley, for the stronghold of Unhill — a large
and well-stocked wood in a most hilly country, and
whence many a stretching scurry has taken place.
Another frequent meet with a view to Unhill is The
Grotto, Basildon, where lives Mr. Arthur Smith, one of
the pillars of the Hunt. Besides Unhill, hounds may
draw on to the Streatley Woods, Bennett^s Wood,
Nutgrove, Portobello, Long Copse, and so on, south-
wards, to Coleridge. More to the westward are the
two favourite meets of Compton and Hampstead
Norris. The former is on the Downs, and points to
Compton Wood, while from the latter they draw
Hampstead Beech Wood (Mr. Lowseley^s) and Down
Wood — thence getting to the flints and arable, and
perhaps working down to the Eling coverts and on to
Fence, on the boundary. Frilsham House (the seat of
Mr. T. Floyd, another good friend to the Hunt) is the
next meet, from which they go to Hawkridge for that
gentleman^s coverts. These are of considerable
extent, and within their area is a fine gorse. From
them the hounds move on to Coomb Wood (by the
way, is there a Hunt in England that does not contain
a Coomb Wood, variously spelt ?) or the Yattendon
Coverts. Bradfield and Ashampstead Common are

The South Berkshire. 261

just beyond. Both are frequent meets, and both have
strong and extensive covert. The Bladebone at
Bucklebury, and the Three Crowns at the same place,
are other meets for this wild western district, where
hundreds of acres are left to rough gorse and common,
round which foxes will ring and twist till at their last
shrift. Henwick and Cold Ash are similar wastes ;
Carbyns Wood, Hartshil], Blacklands, and The Hockett
are the principal coverts ; and Thatcham Gate is
occasionally set down as a place of rendezvous — from
which also the Westrop Coverts are reached. Jack^s
Booth is advertised for the Englefield Coverts ; and
the White Hart, Theale, for the Tilehurst Coverts,
Tidmarsh Bottom, and the Parley Coverts. The
De la Bere Coverts may be taken next, or may have a
meet for themseles. By the side of the Kennet, or of
the bigger river, the country of course becomes
deeper.

But the deepest, and, perhaps, the most sportgiving,
part of the Hunt is the Monday and Thursday
country, the Woodlands, in which we include their
own territory proper, south of Reading, and all that
they borrow from the Vine. Here they have woods
of great size, many foxes, and generally a fair scent.
Often they have good runs ; and would have many
more — were their career not so constantly interrupted
by the frequent-recurring covert. The riding portion
of the South Berks field give this district quite the
first place in their affections. They say they here
find something — nay, a good deal — to jump, and that
hounds are often going fast enough for the excuse.
They would prefer that these leaps should be flying

262 Hunting Countries of England.

ones rather than banks, and that these banks should
be sound instead of rotten. But they aver them-
selves " thankful for small mercies " ; and are content
that, if from this style of obstacle they fall often, at
least they fall soft. The banks are wide and thickly
planted ; so that a horse should wade, and push, as far
as he can, before preparing himself for a spring over
the ditch, which may be deep enough to bury him and
broad enough to take in two at a time. Between the
woods the enclosures are small ; and you are hardly
in one of them before it is time to be out again — and
then you have to choose as quickly as possible where
your hindlegs will stick least,^ and where they will
land on soundest ground. There is nothing airy even
in first flight, over the South Berkshire Vale ; though
the pleasure is often rich and satisfying, as pudding to
a schoolboy.

In the Old Vine Country the principal meets of the
South Berks nowadays are — Silchester Dials for
Pamber Forest, which, though much reduced, is still
an immense jungle tract of hazel and oak sapling,
sedgey and thick withal. Foxes there are here ; but
they are seldom young— -an anomaly we must leave to
others to explain. Farthest on the outside of the
borrowed territory is Pamber End Gate, or Beaure-
paire Park_, to draw Beaurepaire Grully, or Newlands
and Cranes, Grocus and Pepper Wood, all well pre-
served and faithful. From Bramley Village they have a
good covert in Bramley Frith; and afterwards work back
to Silchester. Aldermaston Village more often comes on
a Thursday; gives them Pace's Gully, Wasiug Wood
and Burnhams ; or takes them eventually into the fir

The South Berkshire. 263

plantations which cover tlie country across to Mortimer
West End. It is queer riding among these miles of
fir trees ; but you must get through them quickly —
leaving it to your horse to do most of the steering —
for, as in the rougher portions of Mr. Garth^s country^
hounds generally own to a lively scent. If the meet
be the Round Oak, Padworth, the early part of the day
is spent among the fir trees ; and then they probably
find themselves in Padworfch Gully or Upton Park.
The three fixtures of The Kennels, The Swan at
Burghfield Village, and The Bell at Grazeley all lead to
Penge Wood, the Barghfield coverts, and Beech Hill
— the last-named being also often a meet. Sulham-
stead House is for Major Thoyts^ coverts there, with
Brazenhead, Boar Moor and Omer's Gully to follow,
and so on to Starveall. At Twyford Gate they get
Mr. Wheble^s coverts, and Mr. Hargreaves^ at Maiden
Erlegh. Wokefield Park (Major Allfrey^s) has excellent
coverts, from which they generally get quickly away,
and may run down to Strathfield Saye. Shinfield is
quite on the border adjoining Mr. GartVs. By the
side of the Loddon are many small coverts, among the
little meadows ; foxes are plentiful and the scent good.
Chequers Green, Strathfield Saye, is more often an
after- Christmas meet, for the Duke of Wellington's
property. And though permission is withheld till
late in the winter, foxes are then usually to be found.

The South Berks cross the river (the Thames) about
once a month, for their province in the shire of Oxford.
No particular day is set apart for the beech woods
adjoining Lord Macclesfield's territory. But they
seldom go there on a Friday, and Thursday is, perhaps.

264 Hunting Countries of England.

most frequently chosen. Nuffield Common is tlieir
outside meet. It lies just below the hills ; and is for
the great Mongewell coverts^ where a fox is generally
to be found. From here they come on to Ipsden,
and get among the beech woods. Checkendon is for
Hammond^s Wood; and The Fox at Cane-End is for the
strong beech woods at Wyfold. From Goring Heath
they draw homewards for Mapledurham and the Whit-
church coverts.

Mr. Garth's. 265

MR. GARTH'S.*

Me. Gaeth hunts a great expanse of varied country
on the right bank of the Thames — from about Reading
as far down the stream as the environs of London
will allow (practically Weybridge or thereabouts), and
southwards to include Aldershot and its precincts.
Henley, Maidenhead, Windsor, Staines, and Chertsey
are all posts on the northern border — none of then
names with a foxhunting ring about them. Woking
may be on the way to Happy Hunting Grounds ; bu:
it is certainly not in them. At Aldershot, the soldier
say, there is " a deal of hunting ; " but their share i
as much in the passive as the active form. They aru
rattled about at home daily, and forced into the open
at least once a week. The training is no doubt for
their good. At any rate they learn to be quick enoug^r
away whenever opportunity oflFers ; and never hang i
covert when it is open on the London side. But if aii
human beinghasrealised exactly theamount of enjoymehu
experienced by interesting Mrs. Reynard before hounds
on a warm April morning, it is the stout and elderly
captain of an infantry regiment as, on a lovely Jul /

* " Stanford's Large Scale Map," sheets 21, 22, and 16 ; als
^'Hobsou's Foxhunting Atlas."

266 Hunting Countries of England.

day, he skirmishes at the double through the dark
dustclouds of the Long Valley. Breath has failedjhim
long ago. Were it left hiin, he could make no use for
it; for his tongue is swollen and dry, and black as
pariah dog's, while his lips retain as much life as an
old shoe. But the staff-hounds are raging fiercely on
his track — their hoarse voices ringing savagely into
ears. Though his heart sinks and his limbs almost
refuse to act, he must run on ; for, though it is pain
and misery to go forward, a worse fate awaits him if he
stops to be caught.

But it is from Aldershot that Mr. Garth's field is^
chiefly recruited ; and the soldiers go out with him
gratefully on his good ground and his worse — thankful
that they can see a grand pack of hounds at work,
even though the arena be not always such as will do
them justice. Reading, however, would probably be
found the best immediate base for a visitor. It com-
mands the best of Mr. Garth's, and the best of the
South Berkshire. It is less than an hour's journey
from London ; and the nine o'clock train from Pad-
dington Station brings very many of the good meets
of either pack within distance on the morning of
hunting.

Mr. Garth has rough places to hunt over — heather
wild as Exmoor, and fir woods fit to harbour red-deer.
Indeed, the wild stag might be allowed to roam
between Aldershot and Windsor, and be trusted to do
no more harm than on the Hills of Devon and
Somerset. What an opening for a grand sport ! Mile
upon mile of forest ground are now of scant use for
hounds — or even for the gun. Most of it is Govern-

Mr. Garth's. 267

meut ground — and a Conservative Grovernnient is
several degrees less cautious than one of Liberal tenets.
Crops are few and far between in this great moorland
area. Mr. Bisset could re-establish staghunting, when
it had virtually died out in the west ; could not some
one with influence and energy set it going amid the
wilds of Bagshot Heath and Windsor Forest ?

All of Mr. Garth^s country^ however, is not rough.
The Reading side is in parts nice enough. Between
the Kennels and Wokingham is a stiS" bank -and -ditch
country ; there is some pleasant riding by the side of
the Blackwater ; while in the neighbourhood of Tilney
Hall and Blackwood, touching the Vine, there is good
ground and well fenced — though this, too, is under the
plough. Taking it throughout, Mr. GartVs can hardly
be termed a good scenting country, though like all
others it varies much with season and circumstance.
The Heath is often difficult to run over, even when a
fair scent prevails ; for a fox invariably shirks a bee
line across the heather, and runs the beaten tracks,
which crossing and cutting into each other, irresistibly
tempt him to double and twist. Thus hounds are con-
stantly over-shooting the line, and time must often be
lost in getting back to recover it.

Mr. Garth^s hounds are a pack of high class and
character, and of a size almost unique among fox-
hounds of the present day — some of the dogs standing
fully 25 inches. And this is attained without loss of
quality, or addition of lumber. The bitches by no
means strike the eye as being of extravagant size;
and the pack generally gives the idea of smartness and
dash. The Kennels are at the Master's place at Haines

u

268 Hunting Countries of England.

Hill, near Twyford station, and about seven miles from
Reading. Everything, both in kennel and field, is
extremely well done; and Mr. Garth has shown
untiring energy and determination in battling against
the difficulties natural to the country.

Your horse for this country should be active and
strong, if not necessarily of three-figure class. He
must be nimble and surefooted as a goat — or as a
middle horse in an R.H.A. team — if he is to cross in
safety the hidden ruts and holes of the heather ; while,
for the other country, he must be able to move with
tolerable ease through dirt, and to lift himself on to a
high bank or fling himself over a wide ditch.

Mr. Garth advertises for four days a week — Monday,
Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday. Monday is for the
home district, Wednesday for what may be termed the
middle country. For Friday hounds go overnight to
Hartford Bridge, near Winchfield Station, to hunt in
Hampshire, and beyond the Blackwater; while on
Saturday they go upon the Heath. The Monday
country has plenty of coverts, which, as a rule, are of no
great extent — though there is a large wood on Bowsey
Hills, for which they meet at Hare Hatch, close to the
Kennels. Hall Place is the next fixture, and is for
Ashley Hill (Sir G. East's). Between the Thames
and these hills are wide open fields, with very few
fences to be seen, till Billingbear Park is reached.
This brings them close to Haines Hill and Mr. Garth's
property — the main covert being Charity Wood — (a
very favourite place). Shottesbroke Park is for Great
Wood and Mr. Wiggett's Gorse — which is also in great
repute.

Mr. Garth's. 269

Wednesday, too_, is mostly in a cultivated district.
Bearwood Lodge is fixed for the Bearwood coverts
and Fox Hill Gorse. Barkham Combes,, joining
Bearwood, is another good place for foxes — and the
names of Messrs. Walter and Simonds ought to be
recorded as hearty friends to the Hunt. From the
meet of The Greyhound at Finchhampstead, hounds
go to The Fleet and Farley Hill; and sometimes the
Bound Oak, Farley Hill, is named, for Sir C. RusselFs
coverts at Swallowfield Place. Luckley Park is for
the Luckley Coverts and Finchhampstead Ridges.

Friday runs sometimes on rough, sometimes on
smoother lines. Greywell Hill and Andwell Mill are
very favourite meets for the same stretch of covert
— the two being at opposite ends of a woodland some
two or three miles in length. For au afternoon draw
a move is more frequently made to Hods and Bells (a
great covert). Dogmersfield Park (Sir H. Mildmay's)
has various good resting-places for foxes, the best
being Coxmoor. From Clere Park they draw Old
Park Gorse, and back by Bourley Bottom, under
the Long Valley. These coverts are Government
property; and under this proprietorship cubs are
yearly bred in security. Beacon Hill on the cards is
for the same draws, with Ewshot Wood on the southern
border of Mr. Garth^s dominion. But Tilney Hall on
the west is for a better country, enclosed with bank
and ditch; and has a good covert in Blackwood, the
property of Mr. Harris. Sherfield Green has some
coverts in its neighbourhood, from which hounds are
likely to work back in the course of the day by
Greywell.

270 Hunting Countries of England.

Saturday, as above mentioned, is on the Heath ; and
the meets are not numerous. Wentworth, belonging^
to the Countess Morella, is a rare place for foxes.
Silverlands, close to Chertsey, is for the coverts of
Fox Hills and subsequently for Ottershaw. Red
Lodge, Swiuley, is on Government heath, and this
kind of ground is drawn over for many miles. East-
hampstead Park (Lord Down shire's) is just between
the Heatli and the Billingbear countrj^; and is named
equally for Monday, Wednesday, or Saturday. It is
a chosen and secure haunt for foxes ; and a run may
be had from it in any direction. The Easthampstead
and Chertsey districts show best sport in spring —
when, getting close away at a wild fox, he may be
driven for miles.

The H.H. 271

THE H.H.*

It is not easy to describe any one Country in Hamp-
shire^ without repeating much that may have been
already written about another. Undulating wold,
with flints brought to the surface by the disturbing
plough; close cropped down overlying the virgin
chalk ; occasional clay-covered vales — these are the
characteristics of Hants throughout ; and the sphere
of each Hunt diSers only in the degree in which it
partakes of each variety. The staunchest friend to
Hampshire cannot say that it is a quick-scenting
country. Foxhunting is studied there, and made the
most of; but it is foxhunting in its colder, more
laboriously scientific form, rather than in its warm and
soul-stirring sense. At least so the natives lead us to
believe — and who is likely to give an opinion so fair
and favourable as they ? The H.H., or — in full, and
quite as commonly — the Hampshire Hounds, hunt
almost entirely on this sea of wold — their country
taking up a great part of the high ground marked on
the maps as the Hampshire Hills. It is only along

* Vide '• StaoforcVs Large Scale Map," Sheet 21; and •' Hobson's
Foxhuntino; Atlas."

272 Hunting Countries of England.

their soutli-eastern border that they get off the
unfenced uplands, and enter upon a stiffer country,
where there is a good deal to jump, and here and there
a certain amount of grass to cross. Woods of the
true Hampshire type, dense of undercovert, and
through which hounds can only force their fox with
difficulty, are their coverts, varying a little in size and
frequency, — and perhaps in trustiness — but every-
where naturally capable of holding the animal in any
number to which he may be encouraged. And, on
the whole, the H.H. country has its full share of foxes;
and is at least quite as well off in this respect as most
of its neighbours.

Mr. Deacon has been master for the last eighteen
years, and his own huntsman for fifteen; and
during the whole time has scarcely missed a day.
His hounds are almost entirely of Lord Ports-
mouth's blood, and many of them of his lord-
ship's breeding, the young draft from the Eggesford
Kennels being every year sent to Mr. Deacon. The
H.H. Kennels are at Ropley (where also the master
resides) — Ropley being a station on the L. & S. W.
Ry., midway between Aldershot and Winchester, and
about fifty-five miles from London (Waterloo station).
For a four-days-a-week country a very strong pack
is kept up, giving full allowance for the numerous
casualties caused by the flints. The Master is thus
also enabled to carry out his principle of bringing on
every year a large entry of young hounds — youth
being, in his opinion, an ingredient that should enter
largely into the composition of a working pack, if it is
to retain the dash that alone will allow of hounds

The H.H. 273

driving over cold scenting grounds. His old hounds,
consequently, are drafted as soon as they develope the
slightest sign of pottering, or any of the numerous
failings to which age is prone. The result is that the
H.H. make all that is possible out of such scent as
may be given to the day, and the ground will carry.
If they do not often get the opportunity of racing, it
is no fault of theirs. The bitch pack, especially, look
like " flying '^ ; and cleaner necks and shoulders are
not to be found on hounds. But whereas on the
wolds there is seldom a scent which would bear un-
abashed the epithet of burning, in their better country
the coverts are so thickly scattered that a burst can
seldom last many minutes. Should hounds be for-
tunate enough to get away from the first stronghold
at the brush of their fox, they are bound to find them-
selves almost immediately in the depths of another,
whose very density will tempt the stoutest fox to
hang. Even should he be so gayhearted as to prefer
an instant onward course, the chances are all in favour
of his exit being anticipated and thwarted — by some-
one wise enough, and wicked enough, to reach the
other side of the covert before him. At least so say
those who should know, and who have gained their
knowledge under suffering.

The towns of Winchester, Basingstoke, and Farn-
ham constitute outside points conveying a very good
idea of the extent of the H.H. country; and any of
these may be chosen by the visitor wishing for insight
into the '^ craft '^ as practised on the Hampshire Hills.
Basingstoke is not only the most handy to the
Londoner — the 9 a.m. train from Waterloo landing

274 Hunting Countries of England.

him at Basingstoke at 10.13 — but it is situated almost
at the spot where the Yine, Mr. Garth's and the H.H.
all touch. Thus the H.H. have these two packs on
their northern boundary^ Mr. Richard Combe's and
Lord Leconfi eld's on the east, the Hambledon on the
south, and the Hursley and the Tedworth on the west.
Larger fields attend the H.H. than are found with any
of the other packs named — two hundred, or even two
hundred and fifty, horsemen being a frequent muster.
For, once a week (on a Tuesday) the Hambledon men
troop in ; and on a Saturday the army turns out from
Aldershot.

That you are better off on a good horse with the
H.H. than on a bad one, is a matter easily proved. To
turn out of a lane, over a bank and a quickset at a
moment's notice, requires a hunter ; and for a hog-
backed stile out of a wood you had better be on the
same — if immunity from disappointment or fall is an
object. And, again, as the chalk and loam are very
holding in wet weather, a strong galloper is positively
necessary when hounds run, and you would be with
them. So, if you are a resident, and would see the
sport, by all means mount yourself on a stout good
horse. Whether, as a traveller in search of change
and capable of buying the best, you care to launch
into extravagance for the sake of a trial visit into
Hampshire, must be for yourself to determine.

The hunting-days of the H.H, are Monday, Tues-
day, Thursday, and Saturday. The three latter all
take them into a very similar class of country, as
afore noted : but Monday very often brings them
among banks and ditches, with smaller enclosures —

The H.H. 275

many of which are grass. And this part is usually
termed the Chawton district — its limits being com-
prised within a line drawn from about Bentley Station,
by Alton, to Faringdon in the Selbourn neighbour-
hood. Mr. Stanford's map, by the way, by no means
gives accurately the boundary of H.H. on this side;
as it extends eastward here as far as Farnham —
besides which, it should be added, \\\q Woolmer
Forest is a tract which no less than four packs claim
a right to draw, viz., the H.H., Mr. Richard Combe's,
the Hambledon, and Lord Leconfield's. In point of
fact, the limits of the H.H. country in this direction
have been so frequently altered, by loan of territory
and otherwise, during the last half-century, that
modern custom — rather than ancient right — has to do
with its present geography. The Monday country,
then, takes the south-eastern corner ; and extends
northward about as far as Preston Oakhills. Of its meets
Medstead Green, Windmill Hill — Bradley, Preston
Oakhills (where there is a very large covert), New
Inn — Lasham, and Lasham Village are all on the
lighter and more open ground. Chawton House is
considered the best meet in the Hunt, and lies among
the stiffest of the banks and ditches — some of which
are too formidable for the powers of any horse.
Between Chawton and Hartley there is more turf
than is to be found elsewhere in the dominion ; and it
is quite the best scenting ground. Binstead Church,
Hartley, and the Temple (near Selbourn) are other
fixtures in the bank-and-ditch country ; and Rother-
field Park, near Alton, is also a Monday meet.

Taking it all through, however, there is perhaps

276 Hunting Countries of England.

more sport to be obtained on a Tuesday than on any
of the other three days. It is held on the Winchester
side, and along the south of the country. The
Hambledon men come out on that day, and it is quite
the most popular with the hunt itself. The most
easterly meets are the Anchor Inn — Ropley, and
West-Tisted. From the latter there is a capital line
by Merryfield up to Rotherfield, good going, though
on plough, and with much nice fencing by the way.
Working westward, we have the meets of Bramdean
Common, Brookwood Park, Cross-Roads-Beauworth,
and Tichborne Park — and plenty of good woods are
met with throughout the district.

Thursday has the worst side of the country allotted,
viz., from Basingstoke, Bllisfield and Ropley west-
wards, and to the north of Alresford. Large wood-
lands over-run a great part of it ; and the open is all
wold, with little or nothing for riders to do — though
hounds must work busily all the time, and patience is
the leading virtue for both the pack and the field. It
is quite an open question as to whether small fences,
or none at all, are most detrimental to the interests of
hounds patiently puzzling over an indifferent scent.
A whole field likes to gallop when it can : but only a
portion will jump without occasion. These latter,
however, are ever finding excuse for indulging their
propensities, wherever easy fences are ofi'ered them ;
and so are less easily restrained. These, perhaps, are
the greater sinners. But on this point we must leave
each huntsman to form his own opinion. Let him,
however, bear in mind that, until he gains the Happy
Hunting-Grounds, he will never have the blissful

The H.H. 277

privilege of handling hounds without a field of
horsemen to over-ride them : and meanwhile he must
bear liis trials as best he can. To continue with the
Thursday meets, we have Brown- Candover, Stratton
Park, Abbotstone Down, Bighton Wood, on the
Winchester side ; and Nutley Church, Farleigh Park,
and EUisfield Church, nearer Basingstoke — the woods
forming almost a chain throughout.

Saturday is more especially the Aldershot day, and
is held in the north-western corner, between that
place and Basingstoke. The principal meets are
Upton Cray, with the coverts of Sturts and Pudding;
Herriard Park ; South Warnborough, with Easters
and Yinney to draw; Froyle Park; Golden Pot,
Sutton Common ; Marsh House, Bentley ; and Five-
Lanes, Holybourn ; Hoddington House, &c.

278 Hunting Countries of England.

THE TEDWOETH.*

Nine-Tenths of the Tedworfch country is situated on
the high table land, round whose base run the Kennet,
the Avon, and the Test — the border line of the
counties of Wilts and Hants nearly bisecting it from
north to south. Downs and light wold — all unfenced
— divide this table land between them. Fur the rest,
there is a narrow strip of low land in the north-west
corner, termed the Pewsey Vale ; and there are heavy
woodlands on the far east. Marlborough is about
the extreme northern point of the Ted worth; Andover
is close to its eastern boundary ; Stockbridge and
Salisbury mark its southernmost limit ; and Devizes is
just over its north-west frontier. With reference to
its neighbours (and being in itself of considerable size,
it touches many), it has the Craven on the north, the
Vine and H.H. on the east, the Hursley and Earl
of Radnor^s on the south, the South and West Wilts
on the west, and the Duke of Beaufort^s on the
north-west. The Salisbury and Devizes road traces
its western, and that of Salisbury and Stockbridge its
southern boundary. Beyond these lines of demarca-

* Vide " Stanford's Large Scale Map," Sheet 21 ; also
Hobson's Foxhuiitino- Atlas."

The Tedworth. 279

tion you must be guided only to a certain extent by
the colouring of Mr. Stanford's map. He should have
carried the north-eastern frontier of the Tedworth
considerably wider^ so as to include Savernake Forest
and a tract of country of which Froxfield^ Shalbourn,
and the edge of the hills by Ham and East Wood-
hay, give about the true outline. Andover, being
most easily reached from town (in an hour and three-
quarters from Waterloo), is the point you would
probably choose if minded to run down to the Ted-
worth, as it is attainable on the morning of hunting.

And now, having noted its position, we may proceed
briefly to note upon the Tedworth country. It is not
one that will bear lengthy description, for it has no
great variety in itself beyond that conveyed in the
summary already given. Its coverts are, generally
speaking, smaller and farther apart than those of its
neighbour, the Vine. Its face, where disturbed by the
plough, is of the same cold, flinty and chalky, nature,
over which hounds can only really run on exceptional
occasions 3 but its Downs often carry a dashing scent.
You may safely say of the Tedworth as a scenting
country, that yon either run fast over it or cannot run
at all. Close at your fox on a favourable day, you
may race him from find to finish more surely than over
the best pastures in the Shires. For he can never
run his foil by doubling down a hedgerow, nor at
the last moment save his brush by lying down in a
ditch. In a quick spin over the Downs it often hap-
pens that Reynard is to be seen all the way, as he
rises brow after brow of the undulating sheep-walk,
till at length he drops back to hounds to be rolled

280 Hunting Countries of England.

over in making his first turn. But this is not every-
day. The wold, now and again, will carry you on as
briskly as the short crisp turf of the Downs ; and you
may leave turnips and stubble and fallow behind you
gaily, with no time to turn out of your way for the one
row of hurdles that offers its services for a leap.
But often the wold is cold, and hard, and heartless :
and even the Downs frequently will not help you, if
you give them time to think about it. Then the
Tedworth Country is in its inhospitable mood. Would
vou obtain at a glance a fair idea of the Tedworth
Hills, betake yourself on a clear day to the top of
Beacon Hill, a few miles from the Kennels ; and let
your eye wander over the sweeping undulations that
roll smoothly away as far as vision will follow, like
nothing else than the broad unbroken rollers below
the Cape of Good Hope, in what is there termed a
calm. Mile upon mile of unruffled surface, without a
break to cross the scene or impede the view. The
Downs dotted with sheep, like the white floating forms
of seagulls; the green turnip fields and occasional
coverts, as darker shadows cloud cast amid the sun-
like glare of the cornfields — all go to make the simile
more fitting.

A drawback — of more magnitude than would be
supposed — is contained in the presence of the hares
on the Downs. They may not interfere much on a
strong scenting day. But they baffle and bother
terribly when hounds are called upon to stoop to their
work — for they flutter and skip across the line, not
singly, but almost by the score. Flints are an enemy
to hounds all over Hants and Wilts ; and wring the

The Teclworth. 281

pockets of Masters quite five per cent, beyond ordinary
estimate, in reference to number of couple in Kennel.
And now for a point of heresy — The truest and most
cat-like feet are not those that wear best over this
razor-strewn wold. A flatter — and consequently less
orthodox — foot stands more work than one fashioned
on the accepted model. A greater surface, and more
elasticity, is required ; and the inferior shape will last
longer than the pattern mould. Cuts will inevitably
come. And on the small rounded sole they inevitably
come nearer, and sharper, to the supporting ligaments
— while at the same time the rigid conformation from
shoulder to foot, insisted upon by our leading judges,
precludes a light footfall to save the shock and ease
the cut. Without venturing to impugn their judg-
ment, I would urge that a point must in practice be
stretched for this special field.

The Kennels at Tedworth Park are the property of,
and lent by. Sir John Kelk, without whose assistance
the Hunt would last year have probably fallen to the
ground. They were originally built by Mr. Assheton
Smith ; and the hounds presented to the Country in
1858 by his widow. In any notice of the Tedworth
it would be impossible to avoid allusion to that prince
of hard riders, who, after a notable career in Leicester-
shire, returned to Hants to raise the local Hunt to an
eminence that was never aimed at before, and to
spend a sporting old age where he could still gallop
to his own hounds. The reflection of age having
come over him may, or may not, have influenced
Assheton Smith, who, as a sexagenarian, was a bolder
and stronger man than most of us at forty — but there

282 Hunting Countries of England.

is an unquestionable advantage offered to advanced
years, in the absence of fences in the Tedworth
country. Very few backbones can then stand with
indifference the jar of landing* over big jumps. Yet
the spirit may be strong as ever ; and the heart leap
as gaily to the sound of hounds in cry, as in early
boyhood. Where can a better, safer, outlet be found
than on the Downs and unfenced acres of the Ted-
worth — where the pack will often burst their fox as
quickly as in the Yale of Belvoir, and where a horse
may be extended without a pull from the start.
Assheton Smith was an octogenarian, when, on the
occasion of one of his last meets at Tedworth Park,
he had two such gallops in the day ; and the old man
rode as close to his hounds, and as keenly, as in
middle age. There was a rare scent. His first fox
broke from a covert hard by, with miles of open
country before him ; and his great hounds — loping
along like wolves — never lowered nor raised their
heads, till after twenty-seven furious minutes, over
down and wold, they galloped straight into their
fox. In the afternoon they pulled down a second
without a check — making up a day^s sport difficult to
beat. These hounds were of almost unparalleled size.
Several of them were allowed into the breakfast room ;
and could all put their heads on the table as they stood.
My informant (an eyewitness) gives their average as at
26 inches or over — a height that puts Mr. Fenwick
Bisset^s great staghounds to shame. Their descen-
dants in the present pack retain no such giant dimen-
sions. But they are a true built working sort ; and
with the country well held in the interest of foxhunting.

The Tedworth. 283

Sir Reginald Graham, the new master, has no bad
prospect before him. Fricker, the huntsman, has — in
one capacity or another — been nearly half a century in
the Tedworth Kennels — which, it may be mentioned,
are about half a dozen miles from the station of Grate-
ley on the London and South-Western line. Tedworth
itself, stands so exactly on the border line, between
Hants and Wilts that (as every will-making lawyer has
heard) Assheton Smith, in dictating his last testament,
bequeathed House and surrounding estate as being all
situate in Hants. The House went as willed ; but the
heir-at-law stepped in, on the plea that much of the
estate was in Wilts, substantiated his claim and gained
possession.

The Tedworth Hounds take the field four days in the
week, viz., Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday
— for which number they have ample scope in their
extensive range of country. Monday is more
especially for the Downs, and the west of the country :
and the meets are — Woodford Bridge, from which they
draw up the brook side towards Amesbury, where Sir
E. Antrobus has good coverts : High Post, for the
gorses on the Downs, with Amesbury to fill up the
day : while Porton Firs and Amesbury are named for
the same draws. Netheravon and Newfoundland are
altogether for the open country up the stream, and for
the patches of gorse on the Downs. From Elbarrow,
on Netherdon Down, they go to the gorses of the
Downs along the border by the South Wilts Country.
From Everleigh there are nice coverts near, and plenty
of foxes, at Sir John Astley^s. Indeed, all the Down
country is very fairly off for the requisite animal.

284 Hunting Countries of England.

Tedwortli has some nice small coverts about the Park,
with a good wood in Ashton Copse, together with a
gorse on the hill above, all of which are, it is needless
to say, replete with foxes. And about four miles away
is Collin gbourne Wood, of about fifteen hundred acres,
which is in itself a perfect nursery. Wilbury is in
the open country, about four miles from Kennels, and
has some small plantations, &c.

Tuesday is for the extreme north-west and the
Pewsey Vale, which is a deep narrow valley between
Salisbury Plain (or more strictly, perhaps, the Everley
Downs) and the Marlborough Downs. It is a fair
scenting country, with small coverts — none too pro-
fusely stocked. Its inclosures are small and divided
by narrow banks, often rotten and boggy. Of the
meets on this day — Oare Hill, close to Marlboro^, is
just beyond the Pewsey Vale, and is for West Wood,
the property of the Duke of Marlboro^, and one of the
best coverts in the Hunt. A mile and a half from
West Wood is an excellent gorse, called Clinch
Common. Savernake Ruins, or Station, with Burbage
Wharf are in the eastern continuation of the Pewsey
Vale. From these meets, after drawing Pam Alley
and Brunslade, they go up into Savernake Forest — a
wide fir tract, which foxes inhabit in no great numbers,
and beyond which are some other coverts towards
Hungerford. Puthall Gate is also on the edge of the
Forest ; but has, as first draw, a fine covert in Hens-
hood. Woodbridge is in the Pewsey Vale, with small
osier beds in its vicinity, and West Wood to follow.
New Mill is for the same class of small coverts in the
Vale, and eventually for Clinch Common Gorse, which
as a covert is quite the pride of the Hunt.

The Tedworth. 285

Thursday, thougli on the roughest and most hilly-
part of the country, is by no means considered the
worst day of the week with the Tedworth. At the
fixture of Southgrove is a fine wood of the Marquis
of Aylesbury^s ; Oxenwood Village is on the hills bv
the borders of the Craven ; Yernham Gate has a fine
covert well kept by Mr. Bevan ; Conholt is for Conholt
Coverts, excellent places for foxes ; and Chute Lodge
has small woods and a gorse, where foxes are always
found — all these lastnamed meets being in the same
rough hilly country. Crawlboys Farm and Colling-
bourne Shears are for the great Collingbourne Wood,
aforementioned — upon which Assheton Smith made
his famous experiment of forcing foxes to break, by
means of bonfires along the rides. Eedenham, Penton
Lodge, and Weyhill, when advertised, are for nearly
the same district — including the woods of Kedenham
and the gorse at Penton.

Saturday takes the south-east of the coilntry.
About Coombe Wood, which, with Buttermere Wood,
is lent by the Craven, it is hilly^ flinty and rough;
but the foxes are wild and the sport often good. At
Faccombe are very large woods : Pill Heath is a fine
covert adjoining Doles Wood — Doles Gate and Enham
being for the same two draws. Quarley Hill, near
Grateley, has a nice covert of moderate size belonging
to the Marquis of Winchester. Longstock, on the
edge of the country bordering on the Hursley, has a
few little osier beds by the river. At Tangley are a
couple of very useful woods ; and from Clatford Oak-
cuts, they draw some small, but good, coverts near
Stockbridge, on the more level ground.

X 2

286 Hunting Countries of England.

LORD FEEDERS'.*

Of a loan from the Quorn, Lord Ferrers lias been able
to make a neat two days-a-week country^ which,
though hitherto little heard of in its separate
existence, has by virtue of its sports and capabilities
quite as good a claim to a reputation as many a
provincial Hunt of note. Lord Ferrers^ is, in brief,
a plough country of considerable merit — if of incon-
siderable extent. Hounds generally have to deal
with a scent good enough to put them on fair terms
with their foxes ; and very often they can run almost
as hard as on grass. The plough does not ride deep ;
and the fences, of moderate size, can be taken much
as they come — being an honest description of thorn
and ditch. When the Quorn kept it in their own
hands, this portion formed their Saturday ground.
Sometimes, week after week, they used to come to the
grass side on a Monday, full of the smart runs with
which they had wound up the previous week — but
which, happening far out of the ken of their Meltonian
hearers, were accepted, if not with the salt-grain of
incredulity, at least with a condescension that plainly

* Vide " Stanford's Large Scale Map," Sheet 16 also,
*' Hobson's Foxhunting Atlas."

Lord Ferrers'. 287

inferred " Pleased to hear you enjoyed yourselves
so much. Very glad ive weren^t there/^ For they of
the hard riding and highly dressed school, except such
as had known the Marquis of Hastings^ mastership —
or even that of Mr. Story — had a vague notion that
they were only being told of some rough-and-tumble
run in Charnwood Forest. It was never explained
that above and beyond this Forest lay a corner where
hounds showed a great deal of good and open sport.
Nor was it of interest to them to inquire. The scene
lay beyond their reach, and — with six days' pastime
awaiting them at their doors — beyond their covet.
It is the close propinquity of the grass countries that
prevents an unpretentious little country such as Lord
Ferrers^ ever aspiring to fame. It will not bear com-
parison with its nearest neighbours : and comparison
is not likely to be pushed much further for an
estimate. And yet it is as a whole a far superior
country to half of the main Quorn territory — which,
in rock and slate, forest and light plough, offers a
contrast extraordinary and appallmg, to the pastures
upon which that Hunt founds its reputation and its
boast. With Lord Ferrers foxes are found, and
killed, on fair open soil, where you may ride to
hounds all the time, throw your leaps without peril,
and see all that is going on. In the Quorn Forest
and its outlying woods you are often fain to rest
satisfied with the knowledge that hounds are hard at
work somewhere in the neighbourhood, and that during
the many mauvais quarts d'Jieure which you spend
without a single sight of them, they are labouring
gallantly towards an end. To render this knowledge

288 Hunting Countries of England.

at all exciting, you concentrate all your interest into
their attainment of tliis end ; and, if you have the
power to absorb your whole self and enjoyment in
sympathy, you may be as delighted as the huntsman
himself when the run is over — perhaps a good deal
more ! But if you can live with hounds, it is always
keen delight to see them run; and, though hold-
ing that the pleasure is more elastic on turf than
on tillage ground, you must be hard indeed to please
if a clever pack working up to their fox over
plough is no treat to you. There is such a wide
difference, too, in the scenting properties of various
arable soils that it would be as absurd to place them
all in one class as to form an opinion of how any
country carries a scent from a single day^s experience
of it. In Lord Ferrers^ country alone, for instance,
two very distinct conditions of ploughed land are to be
found. The Leak Hills on the east are cold unprofit-
able ground, on which to ask hounds to do their work
well and quickly ; whereas in the Donington district
they can often lay themselves down to a teeming scent,
and can almost always hunt their way fairly along.
In this latter part foxes are by no means unusually
difficult to kill; for, added to the fact that there is
generally a steady scent, hounds have the advantage of
being free from an overwhelming field on their backs.
Except when a meet occurs about Clifton — where his
northernmost corner approaches the town of Notting-
ham— there is no source from which Lord Ferrers can
collect a gathering round him. There are a certain
number of gentlemen^s seats scattered about his
country ; but there are no towns of any size within

Lord Ferrers'. 289

its limits. Thus his usual field consists of at most a
dozen gentlemen, and as many farmers — the hunting,
no doubt, being thus made easier for huntsmen, fairer
for hounds, and pleasanter for those of the little
company who may prefer their sport without the
accessory of society. Loughborough often sends its
emissaries over the border on a Friday, rather than
condemn them to a better fate and a longer journey on
to the grass with the home pack. But Loughborough
is not a sporting centre, though a sporting place.
People hunt from there ; but do not come there to
hunt. Nottingham, again, attracts only through its
manufactories ; and as a home for what the press
sometimes terms the knights of the pencil; and,
besides, those who manufacture and those who bet
have a pack of their own close at hand. In fact. Lord
Perrers' is quite a little Hunt of its own, nestled
away in a snug corner, and carrying on its sport in a
quiet satisfactory way for its own amusement. It may
be reached from Derby, and it may be reached from
Nottingham; while Loughborough would join in
oftener were not the days of hunting the same as those
of the Quorn in their best country — Monday and
Friday to wit. If you would pay it a visit from a
distance, Trent (where all the Midland trains pull up)
would probably be your poijit. It is 120 miles from
London and twenty from Leicester. Or, by a slow
train, a ticket to Kegworth would set you down in the
heart of the country.

The whereabouts of Lord Ferrers^ Country may be
defined thus. It begins where Charnwood Forest
ends — at, and including, Gracedieu. It thence goes

290 Hunting Countries of England.

up to the River Trent, along whicli it runs nearly to
Nottingham. The Kennels are at Staunton Harold
(Lord Ferrers^ residence) ; and Gillson, the huntsman,
came from the Quorn with the draft that formed the
nucleus of the pack. It should be noted also that
some twenty years ago a similar loan of territory was
made by the Quorn to the late Mr. John Story, who
hunted it under the name of The Donington Country

The Monday meets are as a rule in the western half
of the country. Staunton Harold has the Master^s
coverts in and about the park — Staunton Spring Wood
being the chief of them. A broad ride runs through
the wood ; and it is a capital place to find, and rattle,
a litter of cubs in the autumn. Lord Ferrers has also
planted a good new gorse on the hill between Staunton
Harold and Breedon Clouds. After drawing Lount
Wood, they are likely to get on to the Coleorton
Coverts.

Coleorton Hall (Sir Gr. Beaumont^s) is a frequent
and favourite meet, with any quantity of covert, rough
natural and good, and foxes enough to last out the day.
The country round, too, is about the roughest in the
Hunt ; but carrying a fair scent, and by no means bad
for sport. Belton, and Tonge Station, are the next
fixtures, and point to Belton New Wood, Tonge Gorse
and Diseworth Gorse (only separated from each other
by a road, and neither being really gorses but small
briar and mixed covert). The Asplings, and Breedon
Clouds — the whole forming a cluster, and a fox to be
found in one or another. Langley Priory, near by,
has also a small covert.

Gracedieu is the outside meet on the southern

Lord Ferrers'. 291

border, and has much rough covert, through which
hounds can often run hard. White Horse Wood is,
perhaps, the principal draw; is a good and likely place
for a fox ; and is easy to get away from. Donington
Park (where the late Marquis of Hastings lived) has
woods of no great size_, but good holding capacity,
within its precincts. Islay Walton Toll Gate and
Ashby Toll Gate are occasionally . advertised ; and
at Whatton is a gorse and some small spinnies.

Friday has Lockington Hall (formerly the seat of
Mr. J. Storey) allotted to it — and gives some of the
best ground in the Hunt. From it they draw March
Covert, and thence often run fast over the meadows
by the river side. But the area is limited in this
direction^ and the gallop is more frequently a ring
back to the covert. Lockington Gorse, on the other
side of the Hall, gives more room and very often good
sport over a nice line and a good deal of grass. After
adding Cavendish Bridge, we cross to the other side of
the river Soar, which intersects the country on its way
to the Trent, and get to the Leak Hills and colder
ground. These hills have been planted by Lord
Belper with a prolonged extent of covert, to which
foxes take kindly. The meets usually named for
drawing them are Kegworth Station, Leak Pit House,
Kingston Hall, and occasionally Sutton Bonington.
For similar hill coverts are the meets of Thrumpton
and Gotham ; and at all these wide plantations, though
heavily utilised for shooting purposes, foxes are
heartily welcomed. In the extreme north Clifton Hall
is the nearest fixture to Nottingham, with the covert
of Clifton gardens on the hill side above the Trent.

292 Hunting Countries of England.

Barton has a wood, and witli this we have gone
through the country — which, were it not so well
preserved, would scarcely afford room for even two
days a week. In conclusion, you want a respectable
hunter to follow Lord Ferrer's hounds. He need be
only half as good as if for the best part of the adjoining
Hunt. But he onust be able to jump fairly ; and he
ought to be able to gallop when called upon. Yet
you need not spend a heavy sum in order to acquire
fashion.

The Warwiekshire. 293

THE WAEWICKSHIRE.*

The Warwickshire Hunt has a recorded existence of a
century without a break ; and it is much further back
still that the famous John Warde brought his enormous
hounds into the country. But Mr. Corbet is generally
looked upon as being the father of the Hunt. He was
Master of the Warwickshire for twenty years commen-
cing A.D. 1791. Lord Middleton then purchased his
hounds ; took the country, and hunted it for the next
ten years ; after which it passed through various
hands till it came in 1 839 into those of Mr. Barnard —
afterwards Lord Willoughby de Broke, and father of
the present Master — who held it for seventeen years.
A former Lord Willoughby de Broke was one of Mr.
Corbet's chief supporters ; and it was his custom to
entertain the Master and members of the Warwick-
shire Hunt Club at dinner on the first Monday every
November.

In the palmiest days of the Warwickshire Hunt
Club, which I take to have been between the years
1830 and 1840, or thereabouts, Leamington vied with
Melton in the quantity and quality of its hunting

* Vide " Stanford's Large Scale Map," Sheet 15; also "Hob-
son's Foxhunting Atlas."

294 Hunting Countries of England.

visitors. If tliey did not hunt quite as often as the
MeltonianSj they had four or five days a week of good
sport offered them ; on some days they had as fine a
country as Leicestershire could have given ; and on
non-hunting days a great deal more was — and is — to
be done at Leamington than at Melton- A Melton
man, with the town to himself on a hunting day, —
whether from want of a horse or other baneful accident
— feels, and looks, as though he were forsaken by
Providence and by man. But at Leamington it is very
difierent. It is not incumbent — it is even difficult— to
hunt six days a week : there is pleasant idling on the
olf days ; and the wifely sentiment that ^' men think
of nothing but their tiresome hunting '' is not so often
heard here. An old authority, speaking years ago of
Leamington and the Members of the Warwickshire
Hunt, set it down that there was " more spirit among
them in the way of promoting hunt balls, club dinners,
&c., than there is among three-fourths of the hunts in
the kingdom.'^ The Warwickshire Hunt Club still
exists. The subscription to it is independent of that
to the hounds ; and is eight guineas a year, six of which
are employed in giving an annual ball, alternately at
Warwick and Stratford-on-Avon. Formerly there was
also an annual dinner ; but that has been discontinued
some twelve years ; and the remaining two guineas go
to the Covert Fund. In the days of Lord Waterford
and Capt. Lamb, Yellow Dwarf and Vivian, and when
Leamington was almost the headquarters of Hunt
Steeplechases, the Warwickshire Country included
what is now separate as the North Warwickshire, — the
divisioD only becoming a recognised fact in 1853. A

The Warwickshire. 295

separate pack would appear to have been hunting the
extreme north of the country for some time previous, but
in that year it was laid down that the North Warwick-
shire Pack should be established, to hunt as far south
as the river Leam on the east of Leamington and the
two canals which join at an angle at Lapworth on the
west. The present boundaries are approximately the
same (as shown on Stanford's Map). A few coverts
in the Claverdon district have been added to the
northern division. And Warwickshire as a hunting
county held rank after none but Leicestershire —
bracketing itself, as it still may, on equal terms with
Northamptonshire.

It would be a great saving of time to me, and an
advantage, possibly, to my readers, could I transcribe
verbatim the account of " Warwickshire as a Hunting
Country '^ as it was printed in the New 8i3orting
Magazine of March, 1832. Except in the division of
the County into two Hunts, very little change has taken
place in Warwickshire since that time ; and the
remarks are as much to the point for present purpose
as anything I can hope to write. Here are a few
extracts :

" It comprises a very large tract of grass land, little
inferior to that of Leicestershire, and bordering on
almost the finest part of Northamptonshire. It is a
practicable country to ride over, although a well-
trained hunter is essential ; it is not subject to be
flooded; and though the rivers Avon and Stour run
through part of it, foxes very seldom cross them.
The Stour is jumpable in some places, and fordable in
many; and the brooks not generally wide — the Lad-

296 Hunting Countries of England.

broke and Walton perhaps the widest The

enclosures of Warwickshire are, for the most part, of a
fair size ; particularly in the grazing districts, which I
should estimate at one-third of the whole extent of
country. Taking it as a whole, I consider the soil
very favourable in scent, as the staple is generally
good. A great portion of the ploughed lands, how-
ever, are very tender after hard frosts, succeeded by
rains ; and Warwickshire may be termed a deep
country to ride over, and one which requires strong
and well-bred horses. A great many such are
annually bred in the county, and it always has been
the pride of Warwickshire yeomen to have a good
hunter or two in their stables, a species of stock that
has, on the whole, paid them well for rearing. The
fences of Warwickshire are, of course, of various
descriptions; but they are seldom placed on banks.
Quickset hedges, with a ditch only on one side, are the
general obstacles to be encountered ; and in the
grazing districts, from the richness of the soil, they
equal, in thickness and strength, the often-described
' bull-finches ' of Leicestershire and Northampton-
shire. What are called bullock-fences are also not
uncommon in Warwickshire ; that is to say, a good
stiff rail accompanying a hedge and ditch. Timber
fences perpetually occur, either in the shape of stiles,
or rails affixed in weak parts of the quickset fences, to
which a ditch is always added, as a further security
against trespass.''^

I can add nothing to this, in seeking to give an idea
of the country you will cross and the horse you should
ride in Warwickshire. Of course the country varies

The Warwickshire. 297

considerably — as we sliall see as we go on to details of
its geography. On the Shuckburgh side in the far
east you must have as good a horse as you can buy >
for a stiffer country (being a feasible one) is not to be
found anywhere. Much of the south of the Warwick-
shire domain too, is a fine grass country , requiring a
horse of quality. The poorest part — as riding and
scenting ground — is, perhaps, close to the head centre,
Leamington. But as your horse, like yourself, must
be prepared to take his turn in rough and smooth, and
as every mile, south or east, brings you on better
ground, you will scarcely be safe at Leamington in
keeping an inferior animal for the home circuit.
Besides which, as one goes through Country after
Country, the fact daily impresses itself more strongly,
that if you would be carried really ivell, and go field
for field with hounds throughout the day, you want an
even better horse for an inferior country than for a
first-rate one. You may not require as brilliant fencing-
qualities — nor perhaps the same turn of speed. But
to be galloping continually through the deep, and
jumping out of sticky ground, takes twice as much
out of a horse as skimming lightly over sound ridge-
and-furrow, and ^'^ flicking" from field to field upon
firm and springy foothold. The question is merely
whether the game is worth the candle — the game
being bad sport, and the candle no farthing rushlight
but a two hundred guinea dip into your pocket. Most
of us will decide for a modest half light ; lay aside all
hope of dazzling eS'ect, and plod steadily on with the
certainty of seeing a great deal. But these remarks
apply to little of the Warwickshire country.

298 Hunting Countries of England.

Leamington is within distance of nearly all the best of
that Hunt, as well as the whole of the Norfch Warwick-
shire. Four days a week are tolerably close at hand ;
and the Pytchley Wednesdays are easily attainable by
train. Its charms apart from hunting are widely
sung ; and they are dear to the soul of many a
dancing man. Leamington is rather more than three
hours^ journey from London, by way of Euston-
square and Rugby, and has house and hostelry for
as many as will come, either as residents or as
visitors.

Banbury and Fenny Compton are on the eastern
border. The advantages of Banbury (which is only
about two hours from Euston-square), as a hunting
quarter, have been touched upon already under the
head of the Bicester. It holds that country, as well
as the Warwickshire and the Duke of Grafton^s,
within its reach. So does Fenny Compton — which
(though nearly double the journey from London)
is even better placed for choice spots in each of
those Hunts, and will give a day with the Pytchley
besides. On the west, Stratford-on-Avon (also rather
difl&cult of access from town) lies well within the
Warwickshire territory, and offers, too, the Northern
Pack, together with the chance of weekly excursions
to the Worcestershire, Lord Coventry's, and the North
Cotswold. Thus it is evident that there is no lack of
quarters for hunting men who would see the Warwick-
shire. After adding that the Heythrop country runs
all along the southern border, it is unnecessary to
define further the relative position of the Warwick-
shire with its neighbours.

The Warwickshire, 299

The Kennels are at Kineton, and were built by the
Hunt forty years ago — the land being given by Mr.
Lucy^ and the materials for building brought together
by the farmers, who (Cecil tells us) combined to the
number of 180 and employed between them 553
waggons — completing the whole work during the
harvest months. The Hounds, too, are the property
of the Country ; and no pains has been spared under
the present Mastership to infuse the best of blood
into the Kennel. At the present time almost all the
young hounds are by well-known sires in the Belvoir,
Brocklesby, Quorn, Milton, Lord Coventry's, and the
Duke of Grafton's Kennels ; while among the older
hounds a portion of Mr. Chaworth-Musters' late
pack forms a leading item. In the same way Lord
Willoughby de Broke spares no expense in mounting
his men as such country requires; and the Hunt
Establishment is done throughout on the most hand-
some scale.

Four days a week was the agreed number when
Lord Willoughby de Broke assumed the Mastership
three years ago. But the country having plenty of
coverts and plenty of foxes, he is in the habit of
advertising for five days. These are Monday, Tuesday,
Thursday, Friday, and Saturday ; and are arranged as
follows : Monday is for the Leamington neighbour-
hood, though often brought down as far as the
Kennels — the country improving much as you move
southward. Nearer Leamington it is a cold plough,
but gets better as we reach Chesterton and Ligh-
thorne. The best meets for this day are Lighthorne
Village, for Chesterton Wood and Bishop's Gorse.

300 Hunting Countries of England.

In the latter covert they once found no less than
seventeen different times one season. Charlecote
Park is for Fir Tree Hill and Oakley Wood —
the line from the latter to Chesterton being a
good one, mostly over grass, and frequently chosen
by foxes. The best run of last season was
from Chesterton, after a meet at Charlecote; and,
crossing the grass, ended in a ten-mile point at Copredy
Station — where, every horse being beat, they had to
whip off. The Kennels are advertised with a view to
Kineton Holt ; and Compton Yerney (the seat of Lord
Willoughby de Broke) has capital small woods round
the Park. The meets of Wellesbourne, Walton Hall^
Goldicote and Barford (near Warwick) stand on worse
ground. Walton has good coverts of Sir C. Mor-
daunt's. Goldicote and Barford take you into deep
plough, and the former amid much game for the
gun.

Tuesday is always given to a wild, but good scenting,
district in the extreme south — where but a small field
attends, but much sport is seen. Outside the big woods
there is a good deal of grass; and foxes often slip
quickly over the border into some of the best of the
Heythrop country. Wolford Village and Weston
House are taken in nearly alternate weeks as the
Tuesday fixture. Wolford Village is for Wolford Wood
— a large wood belonging to Lord Redesdale. The
line from here to Ilmington, in the territory neutral
with the North Cotswold, is good and nearly all grass
— as also is that to Addlestrop Hill in the Heythrop
dominion. Weston House is for Weston Heath and
Whichford Wood — foxes are plentiful ; but the coverts

The Warwickshire. 301

difficult to get away from. The most desirable points
from here are Heythrop Park and other coverts in that
country. Other places of meeting are Barton House
for Barton Gorse^ with Salford Osiers a tempting and
pleasant direction for a fox, to carry him over the
border. Golden Cross on the Fosse Road has
Golden Cross Gorse, a new covert given by Sir
G. Philips of Weston House — twelve acres of gorse
four miles from another covert, and lying in a good
grass country. Brailes is another Tuesday meet, with
a good supply of foxes at hand.

Thursday is for the extreme east, adjoining the
Pytchley country, and calling in numbers from the
Rugby and Daventry districts. Lower Shuckburgh is,
far exceUence, the meet of the Hunt. The coverts to
be drawn are those of Shuckburgh Hill and Calcut
Spinney — both rare places, the latter perhaps the best
covert the Warwickshire possess. From the Hill to
Ladbroke, or in the other direction to Braunston
Gorse of the Pytchley, are beautiful lines over a stiff
grass country ; while from Calcut Spinney to Birding-
bury, or to Bunkers Hill of the North Warwickshire,
make many a splendid gallop. From Birdingbury
Hall they have Debdale, and small coverts at the Hall
— the former a certain find, and likely for a burst to
Shuckburgh or Bunkers Hill. Ufton Wood is the
meet for the great, holding covert there — through
whose dense thickets there is scarcely a ride. Lad-
broke Gorse is probably better famed than any covert
in the Hunt ; and is generally an afternoon draw from
Shuckburgh or Ufton Wood. Watergall is another
good gorse ; and Harbury is often named to draw it or

Y 2

302 Hunting Countries of England.

Ladbroke, when they are not reserved for the after-

^"^Friday is on what may be termed the Banbury,
or the Edgehill side— a sporting country, where the
coverts are small and the scent good. A bad
Friday was unknown last season. The field is mostly
made up of farmers, every one of whom consider it
their duty to hunt and to preserve foxes. A fox-killer
showing his face in Banbury Market would most
assuredly be lynched. Above the Edgehills we meet
with light plough that is never hard nor heavy, inter-
sected with grass vales, each holding its little brook
The chief meets are Swalcliflfe, for the large gorse ot
Wi^ginton Heath; Wroxton Abbey, for Wroxton
Coverts and Claydon Hill; and Wroxton New Inn,
for Chamberlayne's Gorse. Farnborough, Upton
House, Eadway Grange, Tyroe Village and Broughton
Castle are all good for foxhunting.

Saturday takes in the north-west corner, above the
Avon; where large woods and plough predommate,
but a very fair scent usually prevails, and ii^ ^ost
years foxes are plentiful enough. Charlecote Village,
Snitterfield, Red Hill, Billesley Hall, Coughton Court,
and Ragley Hall are the leading places— headed,
however, by Pebworth, for Pebworth Spring Well,
where Mr. Thos. Shekel has a stock of foxes m
a square blackthorn covert lying wide apart by
itself. To most of these meets hounds have to be

vanned. ^ . , ^

A few meets come in for any day of the week as

may be found convenient-e.^., Pillerton, generally

Monday or Thursday, seldom Tuesday, with a tine

The Warwickshire. 303

gorse covert, that is none too certain. Oxhill
Gorse, however, was planted and is rented by Sir C.
Mordaunt, and is well situated in a fine grass country.
Idlicote has lots of foxes, and a pretty twenty minutes
from here to Brailes Hill is of frequent occurrence.
Ilmington, neutral with North Cotswold, is in a hilly
district, and is difficult to get away from. But it is of
great service during cubhunting.

A note by the author of an old book on the War-
wickshire Hunt is almost worth adding.

"Ladies, singly, and in groups, have often graced the
meet of the Warwickshire Hounds, but we are not
certain that any of them have ever made a practice of
joining in the chase. *" I am not aware^ (says a corres-
pondent to a sporting paper recently published) ' of
any picture more beautiful than an elegant female on
horseback; Lady Grosvenor is a striking exemplifica-
tion, whom I have repeatedly seen at the fixtures for
the Cheshire hounds. I have never observed her cross
iihe country. Her ladyship^s presence at the fixture was
highly gratifying ; it gave a degree of interest to the
scene which would not have been derived from any
other source. Amidst the busy jocularity of such a
meeting, there might indeed be seen the homage which
high birth and distinguished rank paid to loveliness
and beauty. Lady Grrosvenor remains to witness the
finding of the fox, and when he goes away, if he
happens to take a direction that will enable her to see
the run, she rides along the lanes, crosses the
inclosures, where gates or openings happen to be
convenient, and continues in this way as long as she
can. I think I once observed her up at the death of a

304 Hunting Countries of England.

fox. Lady Grosvenor is an excellent rider. Lady
Helen Lowther is tlie boldest female rider I ever saw.
This lady appears in scarlet, completely equipped for
the chase. She meets the Earl of Lonsdale^s fox-
hounds, mounted upon steady, superb steeds, and
rides uncommonly well. Upon one occasion, when
the fixture was at Little Daulby, three miles from
Melton, I saw Lady Lowther put her beautiful bay
horse along with great spirit and courage.' ''

F^RT III

THE DULVERTON.*

The foxhunting countries round and about Exmoor
may best be dealt witli as in connection witb the
more notable sister sport of Stagbunting, which is
prima facie the great feature and attraction of the
West. The present articles are intended as a guide
for the stranger^ not as a critique for the native : and
the stranger's immediate object in travelling down to
Devon or Somerset is more likely to be that he may
join in the chase of the wild red deer — much as he
will enjoy varying his programme with foxhunting
of as crude but genuine a sort as ever fell to his lot.
The Dulverton^ the Stars of the West, and Mr.
LuttrelPs are the packs of foxhounds sharing Exmoor
and its neighbourhood, and which are most easily
available from the quarters a visitor would naturally
take up with a view to staghunting. Lord Ports-
mouth's also, the pride of the west, will scarcely be
left unseen by any sportsman who has fixed himself
on the Dulverton side of Exmoor. As the staghounds

* Vide Stanford's " Hunting Map," sheet 19 ; also Hobson's
Foxhimting Atlas.

30G The Hunting Countries of England.

are only out three times in the week, he will have
ample time and opportunity for tasting every variety
of sport that the neighbourhood offers.

The west-countrymen hunt every day of the week —
and instances exist of their making one horse do the
whole. I am within fact in this improbable statement,
and unquestionably within the bounds of truth in
asserting that the most determined and opulent six-
days-a-week man never allows himself more than a
trio of hunters. Horses are here never called upon
to shake themselves with jumping ; and in galloping
their effort is always above the ground — the fi'ame is
seldom jarred and the sinews seldom wrenched. They
come home leg-weary and back-weary, perhaps ; but
the heart is beating quietly. They eat heartily and
sleep well ; and the next morning are as fit as ever.
And so is the rider. To hurry along a lane involves
no great wear and tear of nervous or muscular tissue ;
and the glorious air of the western coast more than
makes amends for any temporary exhaustion con-
sequent on many hours in the saddle — for distance to
covert and a late dinner-hour never enter into the
calculations of a western sportsman. " The Moor "
(a term reserved for Exmoor's most open wilderness)
puts a somewhat tougher strain on man and beast; but,
bar improbable accidents, the beast of the country can
well take his part upon it twice a week — and even be
glad of a byeday near home besides. It is a fact that
the patriarch, John Russell, for many years hunted a
tract of country that included what is at present
known as the Dulverton, and most of what is now
held by the Stars of the West, with an estabhshment

The Dulverton. 307

of three horses, all told — working the country fairly
five days a fortnight throughout, and killing his foxes
day after day by fairly tiring them down. It should
be explained that at least an hour or two of a stag-
hunting day may be spent by the rider stretching his
limbs on the grass that his steed is peaceably nibbling;
that in foxhunting you may loiter half the day on
vantage points overlooking the valleys which hounds
are searching out ; and that the requirements for riding
to harriers frequently, though not always, extend no
further than a safe conveyance to a central hill round
which the hare runs herself to death. To reach otter
hounds gives opportunity for the stiffest of the stud
having his muscles relaxed by a jog to the public
nearest the venue; while, should the strain on the
stud require easing off for a day, a man who has
hitherto been content to go through life without
attaining to honours in the gentle craft, may here run
a hook through the mouths of as many small fishes as
it is worth his while to pull out for the morrow's
breakfast. Of a truth it is a sporting country, and a
man need never stop at home idle, for lack of oppor-
tunity. Horses good enough to carry him with the
staghounds are generally to be hired on the spot ;
on a rough pony he may see much of what goes on
with foxhounds, while a pair of strong boots will show
him all else when once he has reached the scene.
Besides staghounds, foxhounds, and harriers, there
are two packs of otter hounds at work in the Dulverton
district.

April, which elsewhere is virtually an absolute
void as far as the sportsman is concerned, is

z 2

308 The Hunting Countries of England.

almost the busiest time in Devon and Somerset.
Every brancli of hunting (hind being substituted for
stag) is carried on through the month : and a hunting-
man could scarcely kill the time more effectively and
pleasurably than here. In the autumn, again_, every
pack is here at work by early September, often by
mid- August — and where could one who happens to be
without taste or opportunity for shooting, employ
himself better than amid the varied sport and health-
giving breezes of the West ? Exmoor may be
rough and cold and trying in the winter months ; but
there can be no healthier, more strengthening air than
blows across it in spring and autumn. The scenery
is bold and wide, — gorgeous and beautiful in autumn,
striking and refreshing in spring. In spring too the
great wooded ravines have lost all their under-covert ;
and as you gain each overhanging headland there is
little to prevent your seeing every movement of the
busy pack below. On the open moor you can ride
with hounds (after fox or stag) where they go : on its
borders, or beyond, you must follow a leader (none
better than the huntsman), who will guide you by
lane and path to where you can command a view and
see more of the actual sport than you could in any
flat woodland country.

The town of Dulverton, from which the Hunt takes
its name, is on the Great Western Railway, about five
and a half hours from London; is neat, clean, and
picturesque, and offers every facility to the visiting
sportsman. The Kennels are at the Master's (Mr.
Froude Bellew^s) moor residence at Rhyll, within
easy walk of Anstey Station, and four miles from

The Dulverton. 309

Dulverton. A glance at the hunting-map will show
how capitally situated they are for working the
country — while the large tract of heather- clad and
well-watered hill immediately at their back, is of
inestimable value to the Master and his hounds,
allowing them to enjoy theii^ summer training and
exercise while others less fortunate are kennel-bound
by dust and hard roads. Mr. Bellew is his own
huntsman ; and is essentially a hound-man — in the
same sense as his is a hound-country as opposed to a
riding -country. He believes and trusts in his hounds,
and expects them to work and hunt for themselves,
though he is ever keeping an eye forward for the
explanation of any difficulty that they may be unable
to unravel. Amid the rough precipitous valleys and
the impracticable banked-fences of the enclosed parts
of his country, hounds can never be ridden over, or
hurried, by the field, except it is in the lanes to which
the progress of the horsemen is necessarily almost
entirely restricted. Thus a mutual confidence between
huntsman and hounds is both natural and necessary.
Hounds must do their own work ; and a huntsman
can only take them in hand for a wide bold effort,
when theirs has been made in vain and his can be
founded on broad reasoning — generally dictated by
intimate knowledge of country and much previous
experience of the run of foxes. No man can watch
hounds at work in such a country without acquiring
some useful lessons. It would be a benefit to more
than one quick-riding Hunt that we know, if their
huntsman, and as many of his competing followers
as possible, could be shipped down to the Dulverton

310 The Hunting Countries of England,

country for a month's scliooling_, on the termination
of their own season of feverish galloping. The
system of hunting in the one country would not of
course be applicable in toto to the other,, but it would
surprise them to learn, first, how often hounds, when
not immediately picked up or overriden, will puzzle
out a line that at first they seemed utterly at a loss
upon; and, secondly, how much they will make out
of it when assured that they can take their own time.
The frequency of the lanes and byepaths constitutes
one of the greatest difficulties the Dulverton hounds
have to contend against. It gives the one chance to
the field of marring sport ; and unless the Master is
determined that his hounds shall have time and room,
they are only too likely to be pressed at the very
moment their hunting powers are put most to the
test.

The hard stony surface of the lanes is the most
difficult ground on which to carry a line ; and for this
reason is it a point of paramount necessity in Devon
and Somerset to breed foxhounds from such blood as
has been known to distinguish itself on the dry and
stone-paved tracks. Otherwise, the Dulverton is an
exceedingly good scenting country. Both its grass
enclosures and its heather carry a strong, almost
invariable, scent ; and a good pack of hounds —
handled by a man who understands them and his
country — seldom fail to account for their foxes.

The Dulverton may be said to be an offshoot of the
Eggesford — or, as it is better known. Lord Ports-
mouth's— country. In one way or another it has
been hunted for generations. Prior to the year 1826,

The Dulverton. 311

Mr. George Templer, of the South Devon^ was wont
to bring his hounds every spring", and hunted it from
Rev. John Eussell's house at South Molton. The
latter then took to keeping hounds himself ; and up to
1852 this territory was worked as neutral ground by
his pack and the Tiverton, after which date it was
hunted by the late Hon. Newton Fellows, and subse-
quently by Lord Portsmouth. In 1875 a rearrange-
ment was brought about by Lord Portsmouth
receiving from the Hon. Mark Rolle a convenient
addition south of Eggesford House, whereupon he
relinquished the Dulverton side to Mr. Froude-Bellew
— and the Dulverton first became a separate country.
The Stars of the West adjoin it on the north and west
where it runs into Exmoor Forest; Mr. LuttrelFs
on the north-east; and the Tiverton — or Mr. Rayer's
— on the south-east. Two distinct component parts
go to make up the Dulverton country — the one being
open moorland, the other strong hilly woodland with
a groundwork of grass enclosures fenced and banked
far beyond the power of horse to surmount. It is
towards the extreme north, where the Barle and other
streams take their source from the '^ Moor '^ proper,
that the best sample of the former is to be found :
but commons of more or less extent run down from
Exmoor far into the heart of Mr. Froude-Bellew's
territory. Of these Anstey (East and West) Molland,
Dulverton, Hawkridge, Winsford, and Withypool
are the chief. It is only of late years that some
thousands of acres have been added to the area of
impracticable enclosures. On the Forest of Exmoor
itself heather grows but scantily ; but on the tributary

312 The Hunting Countries of England,

commons it is found in much greater luxuriance. It
is on lieatli that most sport is found for autumn and
spring hunting — the other section of the country
forming a great nursery for foxes and an excellent
school for cubhunting. It is here that the young
entry are taught — or^ rather, teach themselves — to
work, and turn, and twist, and come to cry. In no
country is a silent hound worth more than a yard or
two of rope ; in Devonshire especially, he can never
1)6 tolerated a moment. Throughout the Dulverton
country foxes are well-preserved and fairly plentiful.
A blank day has long been a very rare occurrence —
Mr. Froude-Bellew having only met with three during
his seven seasons of command.

The chief landed proprietors in the Hunt are Lords
Carnarvon, Portsmouth, Clinton and Poltimore; Sir
Kobert Thro gmor ton. Sir Thomas Acland, Messrs. Locke,
H. Devon, Jekyll, Llewellyn, Knight, Mildmay, Rolle,
Lucas, T. Daniel, J. Daniel, Bere, Collyns, and Beadon
— all of whom thoroughly preserve foxes, and support
the M.F.H. Amongst the yeomen, who in the West
especially deserve the title of the backbone of hunting,
may be mentioned the names of Messrs. Lyddon,
Chorley, Joyce, W. Halse, Vearncombe, John and
James Japp, Westcott, Kelland, Beedle, Moore (2),
Dascombe, Baker, &c. The Devonshire chronicles
have ever been replete with names ranking high in the
world of foxhunting. In late years mark those of
Fellows, Portsmouth, Templer, Trelawney, Rolle,
Carew, Froude, Russell, and Deacon — all Devon-born-
and-bred, and hunting-taught amid the hills and downs
of this unrideable, but most sport-loving county.

The Dulverton. 313

The Dulverton advertise for five days a fortniglit,
viz. Wednesday and Saturday in each week_, with every
alternate Monday. Many of their fixtures are on the
open moor^ and on the commons adjoining the valleys
of the Barle and the Exe. Lanacre Bridge, Sandy
Way, Molland Common, Anstey Barrows, Chippett
Post, Windsford Hill, Hawkridge Common, and
Withypool are among the most favourite of the ^^ out
over,''^ or moorland meets ; while elsewhere Tuckers
Moor, Stoodleigh, Gibbett Moor, Bullyford Gate, Ex-
bridge, and Knowstone Moor are held in high repute,
among those who prefer the neighbourhood of enclo-
sures and civilization. Knowstone Woods and Hayne
Plantation — both large holding coverts — are hunted
neutrally with Lord Portsmouth's hounds.

With regard to horse and hound most suitable to
the country, the same description will apply to both —
they should be hig little ones ; thick yet with quality.
And it is a sine qua non that every hunter should be a
good hack.

The foxes are strong and generally straight running.
As there is but little game in the country — except the
black-game which abound on the heathery hills, foxes
not only get fair play at home but have to travel long
distances to find their supper. Earth-stopping is
almost unknown (at all events as a source of expense) ;
and payment for loss of poultry is but a slight item.
As a return to the farmers for their friendly assistance,
Mr. Bellew has always kept a thoroughbred horse at
their disposal. At the present time Chieftain — lately
the best racing Arab of his inches in India — is stand-
ing at Rhyll, his services being* gratis to all fox-

314 The Hunting Countries of England,

preservers and well-wishers in the Hunt. His blood,
soundness, and quality should be of great value among
the draught -mares and ponies of the district — which,
for hardiness and endurance, have a reputation quite
world-wide.

Mr. Froude-Bellew^s pack, consisting mostly of
bitches, averages about twenty-two inches in height, is
made up of quick, muscular quartered, active hounds —
full of drive and strength. They are chiefly bred at
home, and walked by the neighbouring farmers who
compete keenly for the honour of sending in the best
puppy. Crosses of blood are obtained from the Egges-
ford Kennel — Lord Portsmouth ever lending friendly
and well-appreciated help in selection of sires from his
beautiful pack.

I cannot conclude better than in the words of one
who has had long experience of Devonshire. " The
Dulverton country, far west as it is, is most desirable
ground for a sportsman — though a sportsman, perhaps,
of the old school rather than the new. The man learns
the habits, the strength, the endurance of a wild roam-
ing fox, and the instinct, the hunting power, and
capability of the hound. He sees the two fairly pitted,
one against the other — without the modern interven-
tions of telegra,phing, ' hark holloa ' and ^ yonder he
goes,^ or the hurry-scurry melee which every day tends
so much to disorganise hounds and to mar true sport.
No Devonshire fox is killed by hustling ; the more he
is bullied the shorter he turns ; and time is more often
lost than gained in the hurly-burly. Let them alone !
is the golden rule for the west country ; and it is mar-
vellous the sport a good pack of hounds will show

The Dulverton. 315

when this motto is thoroughly acted upon. Too many
huntsmen are afraid to treat their hounds thus, for fear
of losing caste. The alternative is that they lose their
foxes instead V'

316 The Hunting Countries of England.

THE STAES OP THE WEST.*

An immense tract of extreme Nortli Devon is coloured
in the hunting maps as the Country of the Stars of
the West. For practical purposes the brush need have
touched only about half the area — for, though Mr.
Nicholas Snow has undisputed right within the sea
limits, of which Barnstaple, Ilfracombe, Lynton and
Porlock are the chief points of mark, Exmoor Forest
and its immediate environs form an area more than
sufficient for a two-days-a-week pack. This is the
cream and pith of his country ; and to this he
naturally and necessarily almost restricts himself.
Eough and wild indeed it is : but no country in the
three kingdoms carries a better scent. On the great
Moor you may gallop to hounds anywhere : amid the
barriered slopes adjoining the open Forest you must
get about from point to point as you would in the
Dulverton country, putting all vaulting ambition under
firm restraint, and trusting yourself to the guidance of
some one familiar to the roads and paths and gates
till, if you stay long enough, you learn them for your-

* Vide Stanford's " Hunting Map," Sheet 19. Also Hobson's
Foxhunting Atlas.

The Stars of the West. 317

self. I would say of tlie country of the Stars of the
West^ as I would say — and in no cavilling spirit — of
Devonshire as a whole : Here is where a man may go
who — when the pleasures of tumbling about have
palled upon him, or when aged bones rebel against the
shock of the flying leap — still retains his love of
hunting, centred in a fondness for the hound at work.
He can no longer compete, or even share, with a
crowd : yet, unless he shifts his scene of action, he is
altogether debarred from a delight of which he is still
as keenly appreciative as ever. He may possess as
vivid a sense of the charms of foxhunting as when he
pulled on his first pair of tops ; why should he give it
up altogether because he has to resign to younger men
his pride of place in his accustomed sphere ? In the
wild west country he may hunt nearly all the year
round, and daily see hounds at work on a good scent,
without his ever being compelled, or even tempted, to
ride over a fence. If his previous life has been spent
in a flying grass country, his soul may still find re-
freshment in a brushing gallop across the open face of
Exmoor, where foxhounds can dash along as vigorously
as over the best scenting pastures of the Shires. Mr.
Snow will hunt a travelling fox down on the open
Moor in the middle of May, and be rousing the cubs
on it again at daybreak in early August — while for
summer exercise he will often let his pack work about
in the enormous cliff-woodlands of Culbone and
Porlock. Cubhunting is a term seldom used — because
scarcely applicable — to the autumn foxhunting of this
wild country. An Exmoor cub learns to roam as soon
as it can see, and requires none of the rattling so

318 The Hunting Countries of England.

necessary to the education of the artificially nurtured
animal. Foxhunting once resumed in the autumn goes
steadily on for nine months. Each day there is the
long wide search for the '^ varmint/^ who, once found,
is usually followed obstinately to the death. There are
generally foxes enough, though they are often difficult
to find amid a wide area, nearly all of which is covert
— though, were it not for the sea cliffs whence the
supply is continually recruited, such a drain as is
entailed by these many months of hunting could not
but be exhausting. Wherever heather grows there is
shelter enough for a fox ; while, where it has been left
unburnt for a few years, snugger harbourage could
scarcely be found. On the roughest core of Exmoor
Forest, it is true, there is but a scanty growth of
heather — rank, bog-grown grass taking its place. But
many thousands of acres of the Moor are hidden
under the thick purple blossom — amid which a fox
may choose a warm dry kennel anywhere. To find
him the chief hope rests upon striking his drag, where
he has passed in the early morning. The scent then
left will remain perceptible for many hours, and give
a key to his position that hounds can generally turn to
account. In many parts the heather is allowed to
grow freely for years — more often as covert for the
black game (or heath-poult, as the vernacular of the
country has it), which flourish in great abundance
wherever preserved. It is easy to understand that a
fox passing through this must leave a hanging scent
in his passage.

Exmoor altogether is ground of extraordinary
scent- carrying properties. The bleak moorlands

The Stars of the West 319

retain scent, of whatever animal has passed, to a
degree that is known nowhere else. A deer leaves an
aroma so heavy that, when recent, hounds dwell in
single file to enjoy it, and for hours afterwards they
can follow it without difl&culty. The fox can be run
after a lapse of time that would put him far ^^ out of
scent " on any other ground : and the hare never has
a chance of her life when once harriers are laid on.
The sheep and the ponies of the Moor leave as
fascinating a trail as any animal that comes under the
head of game. To discriminate between all these,
and to pursue only the legitimate quest, is of course
purely a matter of education. Yet the older hounds
never waver ; and ^tis wonderful how soon the juniors
take example, and hunt only their particular game.
Not only does the virgin surface of the soil catch up
the scent of the footfall; but the heather retains
memory of the passing body even if there has been
no actual touch. For a fox will always follow the
grass-carpeted sheep paths where he can. If hounds
are close at him, they drive him forward. If he has
leisure to stop and listen, he may likely enough branch
off as the wind or his cunning instinct prompts him.
But the neighbouring heather would seem always to
tell a tale. A deer naturally makes nothing of the
high- spreading growth, but plunges through it where
even the great staghounds can scarcely make their
way. A fox cannot act at all in the tall stuff, but is
bound to seek the paths : though, with a pack just
behind him, he will hold his own well enough over
heather of medium age. Mr. Snow^s own deer park,
an unfenced waste of four hundred acres on which

320 The Hunting Countries of England.

not a single sheep is allowed to stray, was a tough
sample of liigh heather — till three parts of it were
recently laid bare by fire. Herds of the glorious
wild red deer walked about in it, invisible all but
their heads and branching antlers. Now they come
in double numbers, to feed on the new grass springing
from the ashes — and take strangely little heed of the
foxhounds drawing across their sanctum.

Shortly, the best and the liveliest sport of the Stars
of the West is on the true Moor. The rest is of the
point-to-point, hounds-by -themselves, type of Devon
and Somerset generally — foxhunting of a kind good
for hounds, death to foxes, full of interest to those
men who delight in the bare knowledge that the pack
are having a " good time,'^ but of mixed pleasure to
those who would fain share the fun and the work with
hounds from beginning to end. Beyond the borders
of Exmoor is, in fact, an unrideable, uncompromising
country. Comparisons, always odious, are altogether
out of place when the subjects are on utterly different
footings j so contrast, rather than comparison, sug-
gests the thought that, whereas in many a country
one avoids taking a road lest there should be difficulty
in turning out of it quickly enough — in the west you
must turn into a road whenever you can, if you would
get on at all.

Whence came the name of the Stars of the West I
know not. It is sufficient to say that they owe their
being and maintenance entirely to the sporting spirit
of a leading yeoman, who keeps them for no ostenta-
tion, but for his own pleasure and that of his
neighbours. The vanities of dress and show are not

The Stars of the West 321

formulated for North Devon. Even the Master-and-
Huntsman of the Stars of the West does not sport
pink. A couple of hard-working whips don the
orthodox colour. But an active driving pack know
just as well where the horn- carrier is — and what he
wants of them — as if he wore a coat of many hues.
You will gather that another great point, beyond easy
riding, may be counted among the advantages of
western hunting — Economy to wit. Not only will a
horse come out quite twice as often as in a jumping
country ; but your own dress requires neither lavish
expenditure at starting, nor the assistance of an
expensive valet to keep it on a par with the toilets
around you. Thus a heavy strain is taken off both
purse and mind. The former is called upon to play a
very light part; the latter is not distressed between
the rival claims of Bartley and Thomas, turns with
relief from Tautz to the village tailor, and expands
comfortably under the tweed shooting-coat that does
duty for the ^'^ extra superfine scarlet,^' with its many
other extras of '^ silk linings, hunt-buttons,^^ &c.
And so we arrive at the conclusion that Devon, and
its next neighbour, are the counties for sport, economy,
comfort, and nerve that is at all doubtful.

Lynton (with Lynemouth), Porlock, and South
Molton are the spots on the circumference of the
country that a visitor might best choose, to combine
stag-hunting with foxhunting and healthy western air.
Barnstaple is within reach of the Moor, but is
scarcely a hunting quarter ; and Minehead is more
within Mr. LuttrelPs domain. From the three places
I have named, all the best meets of the Devon and

A A

322 The Hunting Countries of England.

Somerset staghoands may be readied, and two days
a week spent with the Stars of the West.

The village of Exford, where the Devon and
Somerset Staghounds are kennelled, would be another
excellent centre for autumn sport — being on the
borders of Exmoor Forest, within reach of all the
best meets of the Stars of the West, as well as those
of the Dulverton and Mr. LuttrelFs. Minehead,
about six hours from London by the Great Western
Eailway, is the railway terminus for Exford, Porlock,
and Lynton — the two latter being reached by coach,
along the picturesque cliff route. South Molton has a
station of its own, on the Barnstable line. Besides
hunting in every shape, all the places named possess
to the full the extraneous attractions of scenery and
trout-fishing, on the spot or in close neighbourhood.

The Manor House, Oare, is where Mr. Nicholas
Snow lives and has his Kennels. As a place of resi-
dence, it is, perhaps, more than all others actually in
Exmoor Forest — excepting possibly Mr. Knight's, at
Simonsbath. For there is no oasis in the heart of the
great Moor. Its barren length is still unbroken by
haunt of man, though its width has been narrowed by
encroachment wherever tillage seemed possible. A
stag may still run from Yard Down to Porlock, some
thirteen miles ; passing never a dwelling, and being
seen by no one but a possible stray shepherd. Oare,
with its manor house, its labourers' cottages, its
church, and the sparkling trout-stream, lies a mile or
so off the main road between Lynton and Porlock,
about midway between the two. The Master's deer-
park runs into the Moor in the background — while the

The Stars of the West. 323

sea cliffs form a margin line some two miles to tlie
nortli. Mr. Snow's endeavour is ever to drive the
cliff-foxes to tlie Moor^ and to make them look upon it
as their safer home. A run from the open to the
Cliffs is only too likely to result in the loss of some
hounds ; for danger will accrue as soon as the cliff
coverts open out under winter weather and hounds
can press their foxes through. It is for these two
reasons that Mr. Snow works the cliffs about once a
week during the heat of summer, and fights as shy of
them as circumstances will allow during the hunting
season.

His days of hunting are Monday and Thursday,
with an occasional Saturday byeday. Except in
September and October, when the primary attraction
of Stag-hunting brings down a number of visitors,
his fields are quite small, and his chief and most
constant supporters are the sport-loving farmers, who
constitute the strength of the west country. The
early part of the season is almost entirely devoted to
the Moor ; and the staghounds may come in for many
good gallops after the fox at a time of year best
adapted to the open Forest. For, in mid-winter, the
dense mists sweeping across the Moor frequently
send hounds home ; added to which, the cold is often
intense on its bare uplands.

Besides the woodlands by the sea, and those of
Clout sham, &c., on the east, there are various big
coverts off the Moor on the opposite side of the
country hunted by the Stars of the West. Chief
among these are the Bray coverts and those of South
Molton — deep harbours for red deer or red rover.
A A 2

324 The Hunting Countries of England.

Hounds are seldom advertised west of Parracombe ;
and tlie enclosed country scarcely represents tlie
domain of tlie pack that is so closely associated with
Exmoor's wild wastes.

The chief landowners — and all of them firm believers
in the western creed that hunting in any shape is a
sacred thing — are Lords Lovelace and Fortescue,
Sir Thomas Acland, Mr. Knight, Mrs. Lock-Roe,
Cols. Blathwayt and Wynch, Mr. Clarke, &c.

Some of the leading meets and draws are as
follows : From Parracombe we get those coverts and
Kentisbury; Challacombe Town is for Challacombe
covert, Bratton Down, and Leworthy ; from High
Bray, both that and Charles Parish — the best district
in the hunt — are drawn. Cutcombe and Dunkery
form the eastern boundary of Mr. Snow's country.

In conclusion, it need only be said that the most
favoured meets on and adjoining the Moor are
Malmesmead Bridge, Simonsbath, Alderman' s-Barrow,
Woodbarrow, and Hawkcombe Head — and that horse
and hound for the country should be thick, well-bred,
and short on the leg.

Mr. Luttrell's. 325

MR. LUTTRELL'S.*

Rough and hilly as is the ground over which the
Dulverton and the Stars of the West pursue the fox,
Mr. Luttrell — whose foxhounds work the rest of the
territory whereon also the Devon and Somerset Stag-
hounds chase the wild red deer — has a country more
mountainous, unrideable, and precipitous than either.
The deep valley of the Exe and the rugged side of
Dunkery mark his western boundary; whence the
rough gorges of Cutcombe run at right angles,
breaking in among a succession of other lofty heather
clad eminences. The heights of Brendon cross the
southern portion of his country ; and the isolated
range of the Quantocks stand across the eastern edge,
where he joins the Taunton Vale. The beautiful
Castle of Dunster is the Master^s family seat; and
his little pack of five-and-twenty couple have their
kennel close by. The village of Dunster is two miles
from Minehead ; and is in itself a favourite quarter
for the visiting staghunter, who can thence reach any
part of Exmoor and take the field with foxhounds on
intervening days. Distance to covert is a point little

* Vide Stauford's " Hunting Map," Sheets 19 and 20 and
Hobson's Hunting Atlas.

326 The Hunting Countries of England.

regarded in tlie westcountry — ten, or eveu twenty-
extra miles b}^ tlie way not being taken into account
as likely to entail additional fatigue on tlie liorse.
And yet that liorse is hunter, hack and lounging-
chair for the whole day. It follows that he should
have good legs and good middle piece, with sufficient
breeding to bring him round quickly after such a
day's work as he is called upon to undergo. For the
rest, it is unnecessary to enumerate any long list of
essential virtues. It will be sufficient to say — Get as
much as you can in a small frame, and for as little
money as possible. As for the rider — if it is neces-
sary for him to choose a pilot with the Dulverton and
the Stars of the West, it is ten times more needful
here, where you can seldom move half a mile except
under the guidance of one who knows each deep cut
winding lane, each farmroad, and the points from
which some portions of the deep tortuous valleys lie
open to the view. So led by the hand, you may often
gaze down like the eagle from its eyrie, and mark all
the stirring panorama beneath, follow the fox as he
winds his way round the hillsides and stops now and
again to listen fearfully to the music, which comes
welling up so pleasantly to your ears. Thus placidly
you may watch each busy member of the pack as he
works upon the line — and thus you may, no doubt,
take in the whole performance more completely than
in the hurry-scurry of riding in hard accompanying
pursuit. Reasoning in this way, and content with
this view, you may find much sterling enjoyment in
such a foxhunt. The fox — or his death — is the
object j the hound is the subject ; and the horse is

Mr. LuttrelVs. 327

only to be regarded as quite the subsidiary raeans,
never as the essential source, of pleasure acquirable.
For^ in addition to bills that would tax a chamois to
surmount rapidly, there are the customary and im-
practicable banks, most peculiar to the west — higher
than a horse^s back, steep beyond a horse's power,
and fenced besides with double plashing of beech
growth. There is only one portion of Mr. LuttrelVs
country that is not held fast bound in this rigorous
form of embattlement. Between the Quantocks and
the sea margin, a few miles of grazing district are
fenced in with low banks topped with light hedges' —
the entire fence being amenable either to a flying
jump or an easy kick-back.

The range of the Quantocks gives other open
riding-ground — the tops of the hills being carpeted
with sound rough heather. All the north-eastern
side of the Quantocks is a nearly continuous covert
of oak copse — foxes being very plentiful, and
sport frequent. In various other parts of the
country strips of open moorland occur — chief among
them being Croydon Hill, Grabbist and part of
Dunkery.

Tuesday and Friday are the days of hunting ; and
Friday is, as a rule, fixed for the Quantock or Taunton
side — in which the principal meets are Asholt,
Crowcombe Park, Holford, East Quantoxhead,
and St. Audries. Willet Hill and Heddon Crow-
combe are for the vale between the Quantocks
and Brendon Hill — a well-preserved but bad scent-
ing country.

There is more plough in Mr. LuttrelPs than in the

328 The Hunting Countries of England,

immediately adjoining countries; and^ consequently,
scent is seldom as brilliant. The Brendon Hills
favour hounds though, they are not altogether too
well stocked with foxes. Gorse-brakes are frequent;
but rabbit shooting is a study; and broad cuttings
are made with a view to its enjoyment, rather
than in the interests of the fox who is by nature
a recluse.

Of the other meets it is sufficient to name Wick
Park — for the covert of that name, and Mr. DaniePs
coverts at Stockland, with Hinkley, a gorse close by
the sea shore : Nether Stowey for Camerly Brake,
Swang Gorse and the Kadlet coverts — all good in the
early part of the season : Fairfield, for the Great
Plantation Honybere and Fairfield Wood : Putsham
for Waltham's Brake, Ten-Acre-Copse, and Kilton
Park — all good autumn coverts, but from which foxes
are likely to draw away during the winter to the
Quantock Hills. Then there is Brompton Ealph and
its coverts, with Elworthy Combe and Tilsey :
Kaleigh^s Cross, for Leigh Cliffs (with plenty of
foxes), and Clatworthy Wood : Woolcot, and King^s
Brompton for Woolcot Brake, &c. : and Heath Poult
for the Quarum and Exton Coverts. Also Williton^
for Blackdown, Outmore, and Furzy Ground ; Cleeve
Hill for a covert on the cliff, whence foxes often
make a good point; Withycombe Wood, Lang-
ridge Wood (for Slowly Wood, etc.) ; Dunster Park
for the Broadwood coverts ; Alcombe and Twing-
ton Plantation for Grabbist; Timberscombe, for
the chain of coverts reaching thence for four miles
up to Dunkery Gate, and for the eastern slope of

Mr. LuttrelVs. 329

Dunkeiy, on wliicli a good fox is generally to be
found.

Chief among the covert owners and fox preservers
are Sir A. Hood, Lord Lovelace, Mrs. Carew, Messrs.
Stanley, Blomart, Zatchell, Insole, Bouverie, and
Col. Wyndham.

330 The Hunting Countries of England,

LOED PORTSMOUTH'S.*

The leading pack of the west country is that kept
by the Earl of Portsmouth at Eggesford House in the
centre of sporting Devonshire. The county has been
hunted, on plea of every wild animal it possessed^ from
time immemorial ; and by foxhunters its face has been
mapped out and divisioned again and again, till it
stands as now. Since 1875 Lord Portsmouth has
hunted the area round his house as at present coloured
on the maps referred to — a cession from the Hon. Mark
Rolle on the west allowing the formation of the Dul-
verton Hunt on the north-east. His country, as now
defined, is a territory of not less than thirty miles in
length, its chief breadth being twenty ; and to give a
rough idea of its general whereabouts it is sufficient to
say that it lies between Barnstaple and Exeter. As a
matter of fact it does not actually reach either of these
towns though it runs up to within ten miles of each,
and the kennels of Eggesford are midway on the line
of railway between the two. Mr. Mark RoUe hunts
all along its western borders : the Stars of the West
touch it on the north, the Dulverton and the Tiverton

* Vide Stanford's " Hunting Map," Sheet 19, and Hobson's
Foxhunting Atlas.

Lord Portsmouth's. 331

on tlie east, and the Soutli Devon on tlie soutli. The
Kennels could scarcely be better situated for working
the country ; though once a week — or at any rate once
a fortnight — a long journey has to be undertaken to
reach its-south-western corner.

No large town lies within its borders. Exeter is
close at hand for the visitor ; and of itself always sends
out a body varying in strength according to distance
of fixture. The staghunter on an off day may join
Lord Portsmouth's hounds from either Dulverton or
South Molton — both of which, as already written,
command Exmoor and the chase of the wild red deer.
And to visit Devonshire without seeing this pack
would be almost tantamount to visiting Florence with-
out seeing its picture galleries. The stag will no doubt
be the primary object of a journey of five or six hours
from London ; for none but the most ardent seeker of
change will be likely to travel so far merely to extend
his experience of foxhunting. Yet, being on the spot,
here is the opportunity of seeing the latter sport right
well enacted according to the requirements of the
west.

In the field or in kennel Lord Portsmouth's hounds
are, rightly enough, the pride of the west ; and for
'' fashion, form, and fling '' are not easily to be beat
anywhere. The blood that has so long been acquired
in the Eggesford Kennels is, moreover, freely dealt out
to the aid and improvement of neighbouring packs,
most of whom owe much of their merit to this source.
The Eggesford pack derive their chief strains from the
kennels of Mr. Parry, Mr. Lane Fox, Mr. Chaplin, Sir
Watkin Wynn, and the Belvoir, while of late an infu-

332 The Hunting Countries of England.

sion lias been obtained from tlie Grove. Smart level
bounds^ tbey are built for work^ yet with every advan-
tage of appearance. The kennels also^ as with every-
thing else connected with the establishment at home
and in the field, are neat and businesslike ; and the
hounds are there seen amid surroundings not only
more picturesque but infinitely more pleasing to the
various senses than is usually the case — the kennel
buildings standing on a sunny, wood-girt, and turf-
laid slope behind the Castle. Truly for sport in most
thorough form, and for the benefit of his friends,
neighbours, and county, does Lord Portsmouth main-
tain his pack — the cost and trouble being alike his
own.

In common with all Devonshire, Lord Portsmouth's
is a famous scenting country ; and, in common with
most of the rest, it seldom allows of riding to hounds.
Did it not carry a good scent, the best of hounds would
seldom kill a fox ; for there is little chance of helping
them at a difficulty. As it is, there is little opportu-
nity for over-riding them, and they seldom meet with
a difficulty that they cannot overcome of themselves.
Yet it was in the west, or Hatherleigh side of the
country that in the season 1878-79 they never lost a
fox — and this is the district that has been termed ^^the
Leicestershire of the West,'' the one part where men
fond of riding can disport themseves. For the banks
are here built of a size within the compass of a horse's
powers; and the South-Western Railway never fails to
bring a cargo of aspiring spirits to take advantage of
a meet in this neighbourhood. A stiff clay soil is not
the most elastic material to jump off ; and an occa-

Lord Portsmouth's. 333

sional bog is apt to fetter tlie leap or interfere witli tlie
safety of landing. But it is a treat to get across a
country at all — rather tlian round it, as must be tbe
almost universal rule of action in Devonsbire. Tbere
is mucb less moorland, or open common, in Lord
Portsmouth's country than in those of bis neighbours
towards Exmoor and the north. The land is every-
where inclosed as stiffly as steep bank and stout hedge
can make it ; and roads, lanes, and gates must be the
study and the means of getting about. So for this
country, as for Devonshire generally, your mount
should be one that can make his way quickly along a
road, scramble over and through rough places, and
carry you safely home at night, after having been out
of his stables for as many hours as would often suffice
for two days' hunting in some more fashionable parts
of England. For want of this — by far the most suit-
able— class of animal, the visitor need never find him-
self unable to go oute They are not only grown in the
country, but are to be hired everywhere, with much
less cost than — and none of the risk of — bringing ex-
pensive horses a long distance by rail, on to ground
to which they are unused and unsuited.

Throughout the west country good sportsmen and
stout foxhunters are freely scattered. They are
especially plentiful where Lord Portsmouth holds sway
— for instance, Mr. Robert Luxton, who for many a
year has been quite a right-hand to the Hunt, ever
ready to settle any damage or smooth any dispute, to
rear his share and more than his share of cubs and
puppies, to turn a hound or read the Riot Act over a
young-one ; Mr. Henry Churchill^ who for more than

334 The Hunting Countries of England.

twenty years has kept a special keeper to watch,
preserve, and feed fox cubs, to the entire disregard of
hares or pheasants ; Mr. Holley of Oaklands ; Mr.
John Cobley, who would as soon see his table without
dinner as his best gorse without a fox for " my
Lord;" and Mr. George Tucker of Hill, another of
like sort. The church are also very staunch in
support of the chase. The late Rev. P. Johnson of
Wembworthy, though he never took the saddle in
person, was as good a preserver and neighbour to a
pack of hounds as could be desired. He was wont to
say, ^' I will have foxes on my property — in fact I put
it in my leases. '^ His son, recently M.P. for Exeter,
follows worthily in his father's footsteps. The Eev.
Nathaniel Hole of Broadwood Kelly was an active
friend to foxhunting as long as weight and health
would let him. No one ever worked more heartily in
the cause of the noble science than has the Rev. John
Luxton for twenty years; and few whips of the
present day can view Reynard away, or turn hounds,
quicker than he. Sir George Stucley of Aft on Castle
owns considerable property and many coverts in the
Eggesford country, and well supports the Hunt. The
large Preston property close to the Castle has just
passed into new hands, the present possessor is a very
keen sportsman and as kind a friend to the Hunt as
were his predecessors for so many years.

All through Lord Portsmouth's country foxes are
found in plenty. Immediately round Eggesford they
positively swarm ; and last year no less than fourteen
litters were laid up in the home woods alone. No
doubt the universal support accorded to the Hunt is

Lord Portsmouth's. 335

due in a great measure to tlie personal popularity of
tlie Earl of Portsmoutli and his Countess. Tlie latter
or one of lier daughters is always to be seen taking
active part in the hunting field.

A great feature of the Hunt in the days of the
Hon. Newton Fellowes^ father of the present Master,
was the Chumleigh Hunt Week ; but this ceased to
exist some thirty years ago. At South Molton in
after days a similar happy reunion was held under the
name of the South Molton Club Hunt, when the
Eggesford, Mr. Kussell^s, Mr. Trelawney's, and the
Tiverton Foxhounds would hunt turn about for a
fortnight. ^'^ There is wine in the Club cellars still;
but the spirit of the club is missing, and its doors
are closed.'^

Lord Portsmouth's days of hunting are Mondays,
Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays — subject to occa-
sional necessary change. The River Taw, alongside
whose bed runs the South- Western Railway from
Barnstaple to Exeter, nearly bisects the country, with
a chain of overhanging woods — chief of which are
those of His Lordship at Eggesford. The special
district for each day is settled by no fixed rule.
Perhaps Monday and Thursday are more often in the
western half of the country. The new extension in
the Hatherleigh and Ashbury direction has been pro-
ductive of much capital sport on good ground. There
is more moorland hereabouts than in the rest of the
country : foxes often find themselves obliged to take
to it for their lives ; and hounds have seldom any diffi-
culty in pressing them hard. Lying as it does at a
great distance from Kennels, it necessarily receives

336 The Hunting Countries of England,

most attention in autumn and springs when tlie days
are long — and when, moreover, the ground rides firmer
than in midwinter. Both landowners and tenants are
enthusiastic in the cause of sport — and the latter
appreciate keenly the determination to kill a fox when
once on his track and the success with which it is so
frequently — nay generally — accomplished. Mr.
Holley's coverts at Oaklands, Mr. Woollcombe^s at
Ashbury, Mr. Harris's at Beaworthy, Mr. Coham's at
Black Torrington, those of Messrs. Veale and Oldham
near Hatherleigh, and of Col. Arnold at Iddesleigh
are all staunchly preserved. A run over Broadbury is
by many accounted the finest thing of the west, rarely
failing to scatter the field or even lose many of them
for the day.

Among the leading meets on the west of the Taw
are North Tawton Station, whence Barton Moor^
Blacklands, and Crook Plantation may be drawn;
Sampford Courtney for New Plantation, Star Brake
and Babbicleave ; Brightley Bridge for Oaklands ;
Inwardleigh Village for Northwick Wood and Mr.
Riddaway's coverts ; Hatherleigh Moor for the Jacob-
stowe coverts, Hatherleigh for Pascoe ; Golden Inn
for Brakes and Bremridge Wood ; Ashbury for Mr.
Copp's brake ; Halwell Station for Stowford and
Foxholes Brakes ; Black Torrington for Coham Wood-
lands ; Stafford Cross for Stafford Brake and Brimma-
combe Wood; Leckington Cross, Winkleigh for
Lewesdon Moor_, Holeacombe and Chubhouse ; Bond-
leigh Moor for Yen Cohoe, Honey church, and Brews -
land Brake ; Tawbridge for Taw-green Plantation and
Brake ; Lymington Arms for Abboskham Moor and

Lord Portsmouth's. 337

BrusMord Wood ; Aslireigney for Riddlecombe, Ash
Wood and Coldliarbour Brakes ; Portsmouth Arms for
Gratley Wood and Northcote Coverts. Nearly all these
coverts are of natural growth and workable size.

East of the Taw we have Thelbridge Cross near
Witheridge^ a very favourite fixture, whence hounds
nearly always find in Mr. Thos. Strong's Gorse close
by, or in the coverts of Mr. W. Cornish Cleave, who
may be said to have purchased his estate (with Brown's
Wood in the centre) chiefly with a view to assisting
the hunt in that direction. Pedley Wood is one of the
leading draws : and Kennerleigh Wood, the property
for generations past of Sir Stafford Northcote's
ancestry. It is told that a Northcote won both the
wood and the manor of Kennerleigh from a Dowrick
of Dowrick (in the parish of Stanford) at a game of
piquet. The Northcote of that time was considered
but a poor hand at the game by his neighbour, who,
again, fancied his own play so highly that he did not
hesitate to wager the manor of Kennerleigh (some
2000 acres) against a comparatively insignificant sum
of money. The Northcote won the game and the
manor — whereupon the Dowrick had the hands of
cards and even the markers passed down to posterity,
by causing a facsimile of them in Italian marble to be
inlaid in a stone table. The table is still to be seen —
a warning to reckless gamblers — at Dowrick House
(Mr. Ireland's). Not very long ago two maiden
ladies, relatives of Mr. Ireland's, entertained an old
woman of the parish one Sunday afternoon to a cup
of tea, served on this very table. The servants asking
the old dame afterwards how she had fared — she

B B

338 The Hunting Countries of England.

answered " Ohj I never should have thought it of
them, such nice ladies too ! Why, if they wasn't a
playing of cards on a Sunday V

Three Hammers is another old fixture of the Egges-
ford, and in days gone by the cottage was notable for
Mr. Drake's quaint yew trees cut into design of a
peacock and other devices. Bromsmead and Heather-
field are the usual coverts to draw. At Worlington
(East and West) are two good yeomen, Smith father
and son. Ash Moor and Creacombe have a collection
of small gorses, and are held in great esteem, being on
most favourable ground for scent and sport. These
are Lord Portsmouth's farthest fixtures towards the
Dulverton. Knowstone and its woods are neutral ;
but seldom visited by his lordship, except after a
travelling fox.

To shorten the tale of meets and coverts it may
sufiice to note that Castle Hill is for Lord Fortescue's
wide and well-preserved coverts ; Meath Gate for
Warkleigh Wood ; Head Bridge for Head Wood and
King's Nympton Park ; Chumleigh Beacon for
Horridge Moor or Lakehead Moor ; Stone Moor for
The Plantations or Cheldon Brake ; Beauly Court for
Mr. Cobley's Coverts ; Puddington for Mr. Eland's
Coverts ; Morchard Bishop for those of Mr. Churchill
or Mr. Tucker ; Morchard Koad Station for Wales
Brake or Braddiford Brake ; and Ashridge Manor for
North Tawton Woodlands and Cottles Wood.

Between the Morchard Road Station (near which
lives a sportsman of note with hare and otter, and yet
ever in full support of the fox — viz., Mr. William
Cheriton) and the Portsmouth Arms Station are

Lord Portsmouth's, 339

various meets for Lord Portsmouth's home property —
in itself quite enough for one day a week. Lapford^
Nymett Wood, South Molton Eoad, Coleridge Mill,
&c., are all named for the picturesque woodlands that
branch forth from Eggesford.

B K 2

340 The Hunting Countries of England,

THE ESSEX AND THE ESSEX
UNION. *

If you must hunt from London^ tlie Essex packs are
as easy of access as any others^ and will give you
quite as mucli sport as is to be liad anywhere near.
To the City-man they offer unusual advantages ; for
the Great Eastern Eailway, starting from the midst of
the money-making quarter of the metropolis, will set
him down at points within riding distance of hounds
every morning that he can wash his hands of work,
or delegate someone else to do it for him. He can
either hunt from his work, or work from his hunting-
ground. Half an hour — to an hour — from Liverpool-
street Station will bring him down, with comfort and
the morning paper, to Romford, Brentwood, Ingate-
stone, or Chelmsford — allowing him to breakfast at a
comfortable hour before starting. By a man of
business habits the breakfast-hour may possibly be
held as little or no concern. But the sternest devotee
of the gold-god can surely never have tutored himself
to such a pitch as to prefer taking his relaxation by
candlelight — which a fox-hunting merchant must do,
each morning that he would travel from Euston or

* Vide Stanford's " Hunting Map," Sheets 16 and 17, and
Hobson's Foxhunting Atlas.

The Essex and the Essex Union. 341

St. Pancras to join a fashionable pack at a greater
distance. Living in town, lie may take train to the
Essex or Essex Union at 9 a.m._, reach any of their
meets_, and make a full day^s hunting before returning
to dinner. Or he may reverse the system; and,
taking a snug box in a district that is undulating,
well wooded, and picturesque, use the train to London
on working days, while giving to his household all the
advantage of fresh country air in summer, to himself
all the luxury of being in a hunting quarter in the
winter. For it is the Benedict and the busy man who
will chiefly affect Essex. Ambitious youth, with time
and energy to spare, may probably elect to go farther
afield, and join the rush on greener fields and pastures
that to him are still new. Mayhap he will return
unrewarded, possibly shaken — personally or pecuniarily
— and content in future to take his pleasure amid
scenes less trying and more easily accessible. It will
not always happen so ; and of this he may be sure —
that, if disappointed in his pictured Elysium, much of
the shortcoming will be due to himself rather than to
the scenes he visits. But this by the way.

Essex, it is true, is purely a county of plough — but
good plough — plough that holds a scent, and yet does
not hold a horse with half the tenacity of grip
belonging to some grass. Over most of Essex you
may gallop to hounds, and hounds will often go fast
enough to furnish the chance. Under certain condi-
tions of weather, part of it — the Ruthins — becomes a
flying country ; and all of it is rideable in one fashion
or another. Of the two representative packs nearest
to London, the Essex takes the northern side of the

342 The Hunting Countries of England.

Great Eastern Railway, the Fssex Union the south ;
and the places we have named as hunting- quarters are
on the line between the two_, Brentwood being the
most central spot of all. At the latter place a man
may hire something fit to ride, if it happens to suit him
to do so rather than keep his own on the spot ; and,
both here and at Chelmsford, the week^s programme
can be varied between two (or even three) packs of
foxhounds, and Hon. H. Petrels staghounds. The
staghounds — the kennels for which are at Springfield,
close to Chelmsford — are out (in the best of the
Ruthin country) on Tuesdays and each alternate
Saturday ; the Essex on Mondays, Wednesdays,
Fridays, and Saturdays; and the Essex Union on
Tuesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays, and alternate Mon-
days. Thus the man of business has a holiday
provided for him on any, or every, day he may choose
to take it. The chances are that he will not confine
his attentions solely to one pack ; and thus he should
be mounted so as to suit the requirements of each.
For, though divided only by a nominal boundary in
the shape of the London-and-Chelmsford High-road,
the countries of the Essex and the Essex Union diifer
considerably as riding-ground. The horse that is
good enough to go well with the Essex pack over
their Ruthins ought to be capable of conveying you
in tolerable comfort and safety with the Essex Union.
It does not, of course, necessarily follow that a horse
that goes fast, and jumps wide at a low hedge and
broad ditch, will drop his legs on to a bank ; but the
chances are very much in favour of its being possible
to teach him to do so. On the other hand, a sticky

The Essex and the Essex Union. 343

jumper will never be a comfortable conveyance over
the Ruthins — tbe latter being tbe pith of the Essex
country and almost entirely free from banks^ which are
the chief feature of the Essex Union. Strength and
stoutness — especially in the form of jumping power —
are required in the Ruthins ; and a horse possessed of
these may easily,, unless his temperament is of the
hottest, be taught to land on a low bank, guarded on
one side only by a moderate ditch. True, this ditch
is often blind, and the bank is often half hid in ragged
growth. Creeping then becomes a necessary accom-
plishment ; and there is no reason against a horse that
can jump learning to creep quite as well as a mal-
formed animal with neither spirit nor spring — any
more than it is out of the question to ask a Leicester-
shire horse to walk through a gap.

The Ruthins form the heart and core of The Essex
Hunt, and furnish an arena such as is not given to the
other packs of the county. The name is a corruption
of Roding, a term that was brought to apply to the
whole property of the Earl of Roding. From about
Great Canfield to Willingale embraces the best of the
Ruthins ; and in this tract a whole string of villages
will be found, with the distinctive appellation Roding
subjoined to their other name — the most northern
being High Roding ; the most southern, Beauchamp
Roding. The Ruthins as a descriptive term, and for
our purpose, point to a fine flat and open hunting
ground, with small fences and wide ditches ; light
arable carrying a good scent and fairly easy for horses.
The coverts are small ; foxes run well ; and over the
low hedges you may see all that hounds are doing.

344 The Hunting Countries of England.

On a tolerable scenting day you have eveiy chance of
a gallop^ and, as has been already remarked, the
indulgence may generally be accepted without unfair-
ness to your horse. Yet, it must be confessed, the
steamplough is rapidly, and sadly, changing the face
of the Ruthins, and robbing them of their chiefest
merit. Where it used to be thought enough that the
mere crust of the sound firm soil should be disturbed,
the steamplough now tears through to the depth of a
foot — and to a difference of pleasure and possibility of
riding that may be imagined. Harlow (which is the
site of the Essex Kennels) and Bishops Stortford are
other points that command the Ruthins. They are
about the same distance from Town, and start from
the same base, as the other quarters we have named ;
and for variety they have the Puckeridge instead of
the Essex Union, with the same opportunity of a
gallop with the stag. We are now engaged upon
foxhunting ; but it is no heresy to say that a burst
after a stag in dusty March is not the worst item in
sporting Essex. You may, and must, ride hard from
beginning to end; for — as you who have hunted the
deer must know — the scent never fails and hounds
are seldom baffled. The chase of the carted deer is
but a spurious pastime, granted. But it is productive
of much merry fun ; and they do it comfortably —
heartily — in Essex, breakfasting a la fourchette et
Perrier Jouet at some hospitable centre, till the
broadest ditch in the Ruthins has no terrors for local
or Londoner. Saturday is the great day upon which
Essex rejoices in a field, and makes its best show.
Saturday is a home meet of the Essex Union,

The Essex and the Essex Union. 345

with an alternate choice of The Hon. H. Petrels
Staghounds.

The leading, natural, divisions of the Essex are the
Ruthins, Takeley Forest, the bank country in the
north, and Epping Forest in the south-west. The
first-named is the type on which the Hunt builds its
fame ; and the neutral wastes of Takeley Forest are a
source from which both The Essex and The Pucke-
ridgeever aim at driving a fox forth on to the Ruthins.
About Thaxted and Bardfield every farm is more stiffly
enclosed_, usualty with stout banks. At the south-
western end, again, we come to the almost hopeless
depths of Epping Forest (best considered as sacred to
Easter Monday and the Annual Benefit of Her
Majesty's Buckhounds) and just short of this is
Nasing Common and its adjuncts^ whereon a run may
be carried for miles on open grass. Along the
southern-most border of the Essex — from Brentwood
past Romford towards London — is a rich wooded
district of park and enclosure, beautiful to the lover
of scenery, precious in many senses, but not altogether
best fitted for the pursuit of bold Reynard.

The Essex are under the popular Mastership of Sir
Selwin-Ibbetson, M.P. ; and his leading meets are
much as follows : For Monday^ Passingford Bridge,
with its good Gorse, and General Mark Wood's well-
tended coverts ; Navestock ; Shank's Mill ; and
Kelvedon Common, Havering, whence a fox is always
to be found in the late Mr. Macintosh's Gardens;
and Purgo Lodge for Purgo Big Wood, where
General Ffitch looks well after the foxes.

The Wednesday meets are the best of the week;

346 The Hunting Countries of England.

and among tliem are Higli Easter in a good open
country^ whose chief coverts are Garnett's and Old
Park, both made sure and safe by Mr. Barnard;
Willingale for Whitney Wood (a sure find) and
Screens (preserved for foxes and pheasants alike) ;
Hatfield Heath ; Matching Green (the Kirby Gate of
The Essex), whence are drawn Brickells (which the
Master ensures ever being full of foxes) afterwards
probably Man's Wood (an equally certain find) and
Down Hill (the Master's seat and a source of supply
to much of the country round), with still another
good draw in Row Wood. Hatfield Windmill is also
a favourite meet, generally leading to a run into
Takerley Forest.

Among the chief Friday fixtures are Stebbing-
Brand-End and Radwinter. Fox's Wood is a stand-
by for the former; while from Radwinter is drawn
Langley's (invariably with good result), and then on
to the Bendish Coverts and Hempstead Wood (the
latter being one of the finest strongholds in Essex) .
Spains Wood is neutral between The Essex and the
East Essex.

For a Saturday are the meets of High Ongar, for
the coverts of the Rev. F. Fane, who supports the
Hunt both by preservation and presence ; Swallow's
Cross for Thoby or Park Wood (both very favourite) ;
Toot Hill for Sir Charles Smith's coverts, and Ongar
Park Wood (carefully preserved by Mr. Capel Cure) ;
Taylor's Cross, to draw Galley Hill (where Mr. Colvin
cares well for the Hunt), and on to Ongar (Capt.
Hall's) where the hounds were formerly kennelled,
thence to Epping and the Forest coverts. From

The Essex and the Essex Union. 347

Hare Street tliey work round Parndon Hall (the seat
of the late Master, Mr L. W. Arkwright), and are
safe to find quickly near the Hall. The Harlow meet
takes place at the Green Man Inn, where Mr. Barn-
bridge will house man and horse, and let worthy
specimens of the latter. From this meet Moor Hall
is always equal to the occasion. Leaving the open
country, we get to Blackmore and the enormous
coverts of the High Woods, whence it is a difficult
task to persuade foxes into the Ruthins beyond. The
stations of Epping and Ongar should be added as
offering access to the centre of The Essex.

Turning to the Essex Union we find that their
Tuesdays are usually spent in the direction of Tilbury
and Mucking, and likely to tempt men across the
Thames from the Gravesend side. First mention
should be made of Belhus, the seat of Sir Thomas
Lennard (than whom no more liberal fox preserver is
to be found in Essex, or England) . Sir Thomas keeps
a pack of draghounds of his own, which are mostly
out on Thursdays and more often in the Ockendon
district. The Essex Union have meets at Mucking,
Langdon Hills (coverts of great size), Dunton Black-
smith (in a good open country). East Horndon Mill,
Upminster Bell, and Stifford.

On a Thursday (which, with Saturday, covers their
best ground) the Essex Union are towards Southend,
under order for the following meets, among others —
Hadleigh has an enormous wood from which it is no
easy matter to get away ; Runwell (belonging to Mr.
T. Kemble, one of their best preservers) ; Wickford,
with coverts of considerable size near by; Purleigh

348 The Hunting Countries of England.

Wash^ close to the Tliames_, and wlience foxes are
bound to go for the open (by many people^ indeed_,
considered the best meet of the Hunt) ; Rayleigh and
Southminster, the pick of the country in spring and
autumn.

Saturday is essentially for the home district, and
for the Londoners — Brentwood being the best starting
point. Hutton Railway - Arch ; Billericay Street
(Billericay being the site of the Kennels) ; Stock
Street for " The Forest ^^ and its many foxes. The
"Fortune of War;'^ Burstead Clockhouse; and
Whitens Bridge are the most prominent meets; and
the last is for a wide open country.

The Hertfordshire, 349

THE HERTFORDSHIRE.*

Another of the home countries is the Hertfordshire.
And if munificence of expenditure could have raised
it to the top of the tree the Hertfordshire would be
one of the uppermost shoots of foxhunting growth.
It aspires, however, to no prominence as a ^^ fashion-
able '' country. On the contrary, it rather aims at
obscurity, by declining to advertise beyond the
columns of a local paper. It is near enough to
London to tempt a crowd, and it prefers that the
crowd should find scope elsewhere. But if it suits
you to hunt with the Hertfordshire, few obstacles are
likely to be put in your way. With fifty- three couple
of hounds in kennel, they take the field four days a
week, viz., Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday;
and are easily reached from St. Pancras on the morning
of hunting' — the Kennels at Luton (in the very centre
of the country) being less than an hour from London.
You have the option of disembarking also at St.
Albans; or of taking the Great Northern to Hatfield
or Hitchin ; or, again, of quartering yourself at
Leighton and varying your time with Mr. Selby-
Lowndes and the Baron.

* Vide Stanford's " Hunting Map," Sheet 16, and Hobson's
Foxhunting Atlas.

350 The Hunting Countries of 'England.

A deep, muddy, country you will find when you get
there, it is true : but a country well cared for, and
with an establishment long ago set on a superb,
almost princely footing. The Kennels at Luton too,
two miles from Harpenden Station, are a sight for
anyone to whom the care of the foxhound is a matter
of concern — unless, indeed, the unattainable magni-
ficence of the buildings bring a too reactionary sense
of disappointment to the ordinary beholder. The
Kennels at Luton are as far removed from the ordinary
structure in which the foxhound is housed, as a farm
homestead is from Buckingham Palace. Through the
entire length of the hounds' building runs a broad
flagged corridor, on either side being the various
kennels with their offices. Thus in cold or wet
weather the pack is to be seen without any of the
discomfort so often attendant on an ordinary ^' day on
the flags.^^ Feeding houses, washhouses, &c., are
all on a commensurate scale : and the stables are to
match — no less than twenty loose boxes being ranged
in a continuous double line under one roof. The
^' grass-yards '^ are of several acres apiece ; and
separate ranges (fenced and kennelled) are provided
for the needs of the matrons of the pack. It is to be
questioned, in short, if the Kennels built by the late
Mr. Gerard Leigh, at Luton, have a rival for com-
pleteness and costly grandeur anywhere. The hounds
are quite worthy of their residence — being of old
blood, and very striking in appearance. As a pack
they go back fully fifty years, for most of which time
they were in the hands of Lord Dacre and Mr. Leigh.
A glance at their Kennel-List will show how purely

The Hertfordshire, 361

their blood lias been for many years maintained. Tbe
Belvoir and tbe Fitzwilliam had mucli to do with
their original stock : and now they have turned to
their neighbours, the Oakley, for a fresh strain. The
present management is that of a Committee — an
alternative method generally forced on a Country by
want of a Master, and seldom to be resorted to except
under such pressure. However, there is no reason to
believe that in this case it works otherwise than well.
The committee, no doubt, find that various strings
that have for so many years been pulled by their
veteran huntsman move well enough in his hands ;
and things go on evenly enough. *^^ Bob Ward"
(originally christened Charles, by the way) is the in-
stitution of the Hertfordshire Hunt. Like Carter
and Treadwell, his natural instinct has been so
developed by long practice that he can almost kill a
fox by himself. Most of our readers must have seen
his giant frame pourtrayed and exhibited a few years
ago as a presentation picture from the hunt ; while in
the mind of every Hertfordshire man his colossal
figure exists almost in the light of an impersonation
of the chase.

The situation of the Hertfordshire may be taken
roughly as stretching from London to Bedford. On
leaving London you first get on huntable ground near
Potter^s Bar (on the Great Northern Line) ; and from
thence northward, for nearly thirty miles, the duty of
harassing the foxes amid arable and woodland
devolves upon the Hertfordshire pack. For, from
end to end, there is scarcely a blade of grass grown
in Hertfordshire Country proper ; and the plough is

352 The Hunting Countries of England.

worked to the bitterest depth by the aid of steam.
The fences are made according to requirement — the
most that is aimed at^ beyond mere landmark, being
hedge sufficient to keep sheep from straying from a
turnip-field. This does not apply to the Shillington
district in the north, or to the Woburn corner on the
west (until lately lent by the Oakley, but now
reclaimed by them). Here the fences are strong
enough for a glutton ; and the former area has a
succession of wide bottoms to swallow man and horse.
But in most of the country there is more to scramble
over than to jump : and your horse must be steady
and clever rather than brilliant. Above all, he must
be able to travel stolidly through dirt for many hours
in succession : and have hocks and quarters to lift
himself, and you, out of the mud, when called upon
to cross a fence. As a hound- country, again, it
seldom carries anything like a bursting scent : but
hounds can generally make their way over it, and
there is a good deal of sport to be seen with a pack
like the present. The Woburn neighbourhood was,
perhaps, their best scenting ground. This included
most of what is coloured in the map between the
main lines of the North-Western and the Midland
and above the Great Northern branch from Leighton
to Luton — Chalgrave Gorse being still drawn by the
Hertfordshire.

The four days are generally carried out somewhat
thus — Monday is for the eastern side, on the borders
of the Puckeridge ; Wednesday is for county Beds
and the north; Friday is on the west — or rather
south-west, as the boundary now stands ; Saturday

The Hertfordshire. 353

takes in the home district^ and^ in the words of the
natives, is the " loose-off for the Londoners/^ Willion
is one of the leading Monday meets, and usually takes
them into the woods of Bush, and Box, neutral with
the Puckeridge (Mr. Stanford's colourer is requested
to note this point). There are many other strong
woods in this district ; for instance Wain Wood (a
sure find). West Wood and Westbury (equally good) :
and at Knebworth is another, further celebrated for
the depth of its rides. From Welwyn commences a
great chain of woodlands, stretching far beyond
Hertford, which Mr. Abel Smith of Woodhall and
Lord Cowper at Panshanger are admirably situated
to preserve. But the hunting is of a somewhat
limited description. Hatfield, too, is a Monday meet;
and Lord Salisbury is seldom without a fox on his
preserves. Symonds Hyde is a good fox-covert, and
well cared for.

Of the Wednesday meets and coverts — Hexton is
the residence of one of the committee (Col. Young),
and is a good and frequent meet. Silsoe, or Higham
Gobion, are for the gardens at Wrest Park (Lord
Cowper' s place in Beds) and Maulden Woods.
Farthest north is Hawnes Park, generally leading to
the woods neutral with the Cambridgeshire, of which
Exeter Wood, with Great and Little Warden Woods
are a leading trio. All these are sure finds, as is
Wilshampstead Wood ; and from any of them a stiff
run over the border may be looked for.

In the now curtailed Friday country, Ashbridge
(Lord Brownlow's), Gaddesden (Mr. Halsey's), and
Cheverell's Green are prominent meets : and the

c c

354 The Hunting Countries of England,

Beecliwood Park coverts have always held high
character. Another good Friday^s raeet is Colney
Heath for South Myms — the coverts at which run
into the county of Middlesex. Saturday as stated
above takes in the centre of the country, round
Luton, The Hyde, Wheathampstead and Harpenden,
with many large and well-stocked coverts in their
neighbourhood, and a great acreage of riding-ground
such as is given to central Hertfordshire. Mrs.
Leigh takes care that the welfare of the foxes round
Luton Hoo is still attended to : Mr. A. Flower is a
good supporter at the Hyde : and Lord Dacre, so
many years Master, takes as deep an interest in the
Hunt as ever. Two or three times at the end of the
season the hounds are taken to the Hertford Heath
Woods, a large tract of woodland country at a long
distance from Kennels. The coverts are very deep,
with few if any rides, and the land between the woods
is uncultivated. It joins the Essex country. Though
the wildest it is the best scenting ground in the Hunt,
and a fox found there is sure to be a good one. The
meets there are Bayfordbury, Balls Park, Hertford
Heath and Northam. The coverts, Brickenden
Woods, Balls Park, Hertford Heath, Haileybury
Woods, Box Wood, Broxbourne Woods, Cow Heath,
Wormley, Northaw and Black Fan. These are all
large coverts and in a very wild country.

In Lord Dacre's time the run of the season took
place from Cow Heath, they killed in Enfield Chase.
There was also a famous run from the same covert in
Mr. Leigh^s time — the kill near Harlow in Essex.
Another good run was also in Mr. Leigh's time, the

The Hertfordshire, 355

last day of the season, when they did not kill before
seven o'clock, leaving oif thirty miles from kennels,
which hounds did not reach until twelve.

The Hertfordshire, in short, is a country into which
little of the 'poetry of foxhunting enters. Its prose
is solid, and often pleasant : but it aims at no lofty
flights, and bases its chief merit on treating a difiicult
subject in a liberal and thorough spirit.

c c 2

356 The Hunting Countries of England,

THE WHADDON CHASE.*

A SWEET little country is the Whaddon Chase^
offering Londoners two days a week on the grass at
no distance from their home. They can run down
from town on the morning- of hunting, leaving Euston
Square at the comfortable hour of nine ; a slip
carriage drops them at Leighton, or the train sets
them down at Bletchley, in time for all meets ; while
the up express stops specially for them in the evening,
and brings them back in time for dinner. These two
places are the best resorts for the man who can only
afford twelve hours at a stretch for fox-hunting. The
town of Aylesbury is thoroughly situated to command
the Vale ; but, standing as it does off the main line of
railway, is most frequented by those who can station
themselves on the spot, and give fuller fling to their
appetite for sport than is allowed to the man escaping
for the day from his business. The same remark
applies to Winslow ; as well as to Stony Stratford
and Newport Pagnall, which hold good also the Duke
of Grafton's and the Oakley.

The Vale of Aylesbury is the Londoner's Leicester-

* Vide Stanford's " Hunting Map," Sheets 15 and 16.

The Whaddon Chase, 357

shire. He may slip down for a gallop over tlie grass
almost any day of the week that he finds himself, or
sets himself, at hberty. He will get his hunting here
much as he did in his college days — snatching it
according to his keenness and his conscience ; often
putting weightier matters aside, if he is a weak man
or an enthusiast — persuading himself, perhaps, that
health and nerve bid him take the saddle and breathe
the open air. We have even heard instances whispered
of barrister or city man being seen sailing over the
Vale when sympathetic relatives imagined him to be
poring over musty law books at Gray's Inn or slaving
over invoice and ledger in Cornhill, Knotty law-
points or trade depreciation were the subjects they
brought home to dinner, while inwardly they chuckled
over that brilliant twenty minutes from Christmas
Gorse, gloated silently over the way they had left the
Addington brook behind with the Baron, or hugged
themselves as they toasted ^^ the Chase '^ under their
breath.

The Whaddon Chase hunt Tuesdays and Saturdays
(with occasional Thursdays devoted to the hills and
woodlands adjoining the Oakley and Herts countries)
while the staghounds are out on Mondays and
Thursdays, and the Bicester, with the Oakley, the
Hertfordshire, or the Duke of Grafton's on various
sides, may be reached on other days. The whole of
the Vale, with the exception of Lord Carington's
property, and a few minor freeholds, may be said to
belong to Mr. Selby Lowndes or the Rothschild
family ; and it is needless to add that in these hands
it is as complete a hunting-ground as the New Forest

358 The Hunting Countries of England.

was to our Norman kings^ with an invitation to the
sporting commonwealth of England that these latter
were never disposed to offer. " The Baron '' (as
represented by Sir N. de Rothschild) defrays all
the expenses of the sport he proffers you. " The
Squire's '' is a subscription pack ; and^ as is only fair,
you are expected to subscribe when you hunt with
him. Have your cheque written before you start for
your first day's hunting ; present it to the ^secretary
at the covertside (or^ better still, post it to him
])eforehand), and your way is smoothed towards being
considered a friend of the Hunt at once.

Mr. Selby Lowndes (or, as he is best known in the
A' ale, " The Squire ") has kept the Whaddon Chase
Hounds altogether some forty years — a break of five
years occurring, when he assumed the mastership of
the North Warwickshire, and immediately afterwards
of the Atherstone. This was previous to 1862; and
during that period his country was held by Lord
Southampton. Whaddon Chase itself, where the
pack is kennelled, and whence the country takes its
name, is the squire's property and residence, and
IS a truly beautiful place. Until late years the Chase
was an almost continuous woodland ; into whose
depths, it is said, fifty couple of hounds were some-
times thrown at a time, on the chance of enough of
them forming a pack on one fox, among the swarms
that they were sure to open upon at once. Now, like
most other Forests and Chases of modern England,
it has been cut and uprooted till there remain only
detached woods on the wide acreage that still bears
the name. One day of the week (Saturday) is gene-

The Whaddon Chase. 359

rally devoted to the Cliase and its neiglibourliood,
while the other (Tuesday) is spent in the Vale proper.

The Vale of Aylesbury is, par excellence, The Vale
of England. Its turf_, its fences, and its soil are
sounder, fairer, sweeter than even the Vale of Belvoir,
or the Blackmore Vale. It has more extent than the
Berkshire Vale ; and has more character than the
Vale of White Horse. The Catmose Vale alone can
rival it — and that is a name scarcely recognised, even
among the Cottesmore Hunt, who look upon their
hills as more typical of their Country than the lower
flat, between the old Tailby-grant and the woodlands,
which bears the title of the Vale of Catmose.

The Vale of Aylesbury is one great dairy farm —
rich pasture from end to end. Comparison between
grass land and plough is worn-out and odious ; but
the fact must ever assert itself that, whether for
hounds or for horses, turf underfoot is a sine qiul no7i
for brilliant performance. Without it, each may be
hardworking, steady and solemn ; but without it there
can be little dash, no enthusiasm. They have it in
the Vale of Aylesbury to a perfect, heart -stirring
degree — till the wet falls, to choke their flippancy,
and suppress their elan. For the Vale holds water
shockingly ; and in a deep winter becomes a night-
mare slough. One week a springboard, the next it
is a treaclepot. At its best it represents a lovely
succession of sweet-scenting meadows, from whose
elastic face a horse bounds easily and gladly on to
sound firm banks, to light with equal safety on turf
renewed beyond — while hounds spread out at their
fences and carry a broad head from field to field.

360 The Hunting Countries of England,

Mind, tlie doubles of the Aylesbury Vale require a
borse ; and, above all, they require a horseman. Often
a double ditch guards a bank and its double wattle-
growth atop. Courage in a horse (want of it in the
man must never be hinted at) ; skilful handling by
the rider; are the requisites. The first can be attained
if your income, your horse dealer, and the size of your
family allow it : the second is to be achieved by a few
falls, innate ambition and a real love of the sport.
Some good men have it that the Vale of Aylesbury is
too stiff. Others equally good (perhaps less self-
depreciative) say it is practicable enough. The mean
truth is, I fancy, to be found in the opinion that it is
sufficiently rideable to allow of hounds being at all
times commanded by a good couplet of horse and
man though now and again they may have to diverge
a trifle from their direct path. For there are, un-
doubtedly, many welded upbuilt fences that appear
unwarrantable to a rider of discretion, however well
mounted. Yet, again and again — and somehow —
these terrors get dispersed by the passage of a leader
bolder than others ; and his example soon brings on a
following that lays a breach for the season through.
Thus, by means of stag and fox, the Aylesbury Vale
is very different ground in spring to what it is in
autumn. A well-horsed waggon might almost cross
it at a gallop in April ; but " a mon is a mon " who
can carve out twenty quick minutes on its face in
November. You will not so often as in Leicestershire
be checked and hindered by a crowd all aiming to
reach and take their turn at a few certain feasible
points. The Vale occasionally has its multitude, but

The Whaddon Chase. 361

after all a limited multitude. But^ apart from numbers
there is more room at a fence — because most of its
fences are alike from end to end. If you can have a
fence at all — before it is gapped as above ; you can
have it anywhere, and may ride at it in good heart as
it confronts you. Neither horse nor rider must rake-
and-tear. Quick between your fences, and a "steady^'
at them is the rule in the Vale — and is not the same
rule absolute anyivhere — if you would not make a fool
of yourself at the end of one field. Get the way on
hefore you settle for the jump is no Maxim : it is the
means by which the best of our elders (Lord Wilton
and Mr. George Grey of Northumberland) set their
juniors year after year; leading the latter either to
hustle at the critical moment of the jump, or else to
believe that big fences were to be had without pace.
In the Vale it is not only to cover height and width
that a steadier must be taken. Often and often a first
spring is only preliminary to a second bound for a
second fly. You are on to the bank over stout wattle,
with just room enough to take ground for a launch
over the second and the ditch beyond. That ditch is
probably blind and dark ; and the double hedgerow is
all one growth, up to Christmas. Bat you are not all,
and always, going best pace at such obstacles : and
you are not, every day, riding an animal new and
untangled to the work.

The brooks of the Vale form another distinguishing
feature, and supply the prettiest water- jumping in
England — almost every stream being a fair clean
jump, with sound banks and the water almost level.
The Addington Brook is the only doubtful one :

362 The Hunting Countries of England,

for, thougli practicable in many places, it swells
out here and tliere to unjumpable proportions; and
the Hunt regard it with wholesome awe in con-
sequence.

The Vale calls for all the best essentials in a hunter.
He must gallop, he must jump and he must stay. He
need not be an absolute flier; but he can^t be too
good : and it is noticeable that a man tutored in the
Yale is not only likely to ride well over the best of
the shires, but generally brings thither a stamp of
cattle that can do him credit. Stoutness is a main
feature in a Vale horse. Hocks, quarters and backs
are the main points — depth of chest and ribs indis-
pensable. The length of one type of Leicestershire
horse is out of place. But there are two sorts for
Leicestershire ; and the thick one is the better. This
is the Aylesbury horse.

Now for a few items of geography — Tuesday, as
above noted, is for The Vale proper ; and among its
meets are Shipton for the Winslow spinnies, on the
edge of the Vale, or for Christmas Gorse. The latter
lies well in the lower ground, belongs to The Squire,
is full of foxes, and replete with recent memories of
good gallops. From the Gorse to the Claydon Woods
(Bicester) is a fine and constant line. Hogston may
also be for Christmas Gorse ; and Dunton is a great
meet held at the house of Mr. Mead, who makes Lord
Carington^s covert of High Haven his special care
and treasure. High Haven is a square mass of gorse
and Blackthorn mixed ; and is the Ranksboro' of the
Whaddon Chase. A common and beautiful line is
from High Haven to Christmas Gorse — eighteen

The Whaddon Chase. 363

minutes at fastest, with no water but many good
doubles on tbe way. In the other direction they may
run out to Aston Abbots,, another fine gorse near
Leighton — for which the meet is at Mr. Straw^s place
or at Wingrave Cross Roads. Mentmore is a beautiful
meet, with the shrubberies to draw and frequently a
fox at home; while near by is Baron Rothschild's
new gorse at Puttenham, on the edge of the country,
and with the Rousham Brook running just below it.
By the way, it may here be noted that Mr. Stanford
should have shown Puttenham as within the Whaddon
Chase boundaries : and also that the Oakley have
retained that strip of their country by Woburn, which
they had lent to Mr. Selby-Lowndes. At Ascot Mr.
Leopold Rothschild has planted a new covert. On
the other side we come to the meet of Creslow Great
Ground, with small patches of covert near ; and
Hardwicke (the rendezvous being Mr. Casenove's
place. The Lilies), whence they have little to draw
but thick hedgerows — no strong covert existing
between here and Christmas Gorse. For Mr. Monk^s
Gorse they meet at his house ; and thence you may
likely enough find yourself in the Addington coverts
— possibly in the Addington Brook.

The three chief woods still remaining to mark The
Chase itself are College Wood, Oak Hill, and the
Thrift : all of which are a thorough home for foxes —
the meets being Nash, Whaddon and Furze-in-the-
Field. Outside these we find Saldon Wood from
Saldon Windmill, which may also take you into the
Vale — Saldon down to Aylesbury Town being' about
the extent of the Vale hunted by these hounds.

364 The Hunting Countries of England.

Newton - Longueville is for Mrs. Villiers' Gorse ;
Liscombe Park or Soulburys mean Hollingdon Gorse
or tlie Hop Garden in the Park. North of The Chase
is a stretch of mixed plough and grass; wherein
Shenley New Inn is named for Shenley Wood, and
Bradwell for Linford Wood. In the extreme north of
the country, near Newport Pagnall, is Willen Gorse,
usually drawn also from Bradwell.

The Vale of White Horse, 365

THE VALE OE WHITE HORSE.*

Beyond tlie bounds of a day^s outing, yet well within
visiting reacli from London, tlie Vale of White Horse
offers excellent ground and plentiful sport to the
travelling foxhunter. He may select Cirencester,
Swindon, or Malmesbury for his base ; and the Great
Western Railway will see him there in less than three
hours from Paddington. The respective advantages
of the places named are that Cirencester is close to the
kennels, and lies at the point of junction with the
Cotswold and the Duke of Beaufort ; Malmesbury
commands all the Duke^s country; while Swindon
gives further opportunity of taking the Old Berkshire
and the Craven in turn. Or again, on the upper side
of the country, he may fix upon Fairford or Lechlade ;
and vary his programme by the help of the Heythrop
and the Old Berkshire.

A very sporting country is the Vale of White Horse
throughout — honest and practicable to ride over ; fair,
and generally favourable, for hounds; liberally and
thoroughly managed ; and, as a rule, well preserved.
The latter point proves itself by the fact that, on an

* Vide Stanford's "Hunting Map," Sheet 15, and Hobson's
Foxhunting Atlas.

366 The Hunting Countries of England.

area by no means over-extensive, hounds can be out
five days a week, afford to kill nearly sixty brace of
foxes, and leave a better prospect than ever for the
forthcoming season. Mr. Hoare^s agreement with the
hunt only extended to three days a week ; but by the
help of the Cirencester Woods and the Swindon side,
he has been enabled to advertise and hunt five — Mon-
day, as market day at the principle town, being the
off-day. Even on Mondays his hounds were last
season not always at rest ; but, by the Duke of Beau-
fortes invitation, were often taken into the Lower
Woods in the adjoining country. It is not surprising,
then, that sixty-eight couple of hounds are required at
the Cirencester Kennels.

The Vale of White Horse (a title, by the way, that
it takes from off its neighbour's ground — the White
Horse being cut on the slope of the Old Berkshire's
bordering down) is by no means of one class and
calibre through length and breadth. Along the north
it has wolds and stone walls similar to those of the
Heythrop and the Cotswold, is oftentimes cold and
discouraging, at other times ravishing, for hounds.
After much rain the wolds will carry a burning scent ;
while the light soil remains firm and easy, and men
can flutter over the walls as fast as they choose to ride.
This is favourite ground for Cheltenham and Oxford ;
and a capital let-off for the energies of both, when
there is a scent. When there is not, the " let-off "
might, with a different temperament, fairly be the
Master's ; for the temptation of the stonewalls is so
irresistible that visitors and natives alike are apt to get
out of hand, to the sore discomfiture of hounds and

The Vale of White Horse. 367

huntsman. In curious contrast with the above-named
condition for scent on the wolds^ is the fact that in a
dry and dusty March hounds frequently fly from find
to finish, at times almost hidden in the cloud they
raise. A cold easterly wind must, no doubt, be the
agent and the explanation then.

The centre of the country, taken diagonally from
Cirencester by Cricklade to Swindon and ■ beyond, is
chiefly a vale country — a continuation, in fact, of the
Berkshire Vale. Its fences are, with the exception of
a few doubles in the neighbourhood of Swindon, plain,
fair, hedge-and-ditch, requiring but not overtaxing a
hunter ; most of its surface is grass ; and its coverts
are of a nice handy size. In a wet season it may ride
a trifle deep ; but can scarcely be said to have a pro-
nounced failing in that direction. In and about
Braydon, however, the ground will often be found
deep and holding as a snipe marsh. Amid its woods
you must plunge about sticky yellow rides that
threaten to take you in bodily ; and outside it is often
all you can do to make way across a field before coming
to a hairy uncut fence, whose thorn-growth has never
been thinned or trimmed and whose ditch has never
been freed of the long rank grass. Visitors speak
with no affection of the Braydon Woods. The Hunt
pin their faith strongly to them ; asserting, with good
reason, that they find the stoutest foxes there; and
that thence come many of their longest and best runs.
As it is with the Claydon Woods in the Bicester
country, and the Launde and Owston Woods in the
Cottesmore (with similar examples all over England),
so it is with the Braydon Woods in the Vale of White

368 The Hunting Countries of England,

Horse. Once clear of tliem an excellent country is
met with ; and foxes will go as far again as those bred
and tendered in small artificial coverts. Towards
Charlton and Crudwell is a capital district, of grass
riding, pleasant fencing and good scenting country.
The Sapperton and Oakley Woods (which though
coloured by Mr. Stanford and Mr. Hobson as exclu-
sively the Duke's, are regularly drawn by the Y.W.H.
— and, indeed, the Kennels of the latter are beyond
the painted margin) form still another feature of the
country ; and besides being invaluable for cub hunting
and teaching hounds, are at least a fortnightly resort
throughout the season.

You must ride quite a hunter with the V.W.H., if
you would be with hounds. A lighter type of horse
may do on the northern, and higher, ground : but all
through the Vale, and more especially in the Braydon
district, he must be stout and strong and full of
condition. "Wherever the fixtures draw in the Duke's
men, or the train brings its cargo from Cheltenham
and elsewhere, you will find a strong field — at times
almost Leicestershire-like in its proportions.

The Kennels, which are given by Lord Bathurst and
built on his property, Oakley Park, close to Ciren-
cester, are somewhat wide of many of the meets,
though well situated for cubhunting and the wood-
lands in the north-east. The Master's hunting
residence is Hill, at a stone's throw from the
Kennels.

The country is hunted, day by day, much as follows,
though no unbending rule is laid down for weekly
routine.

The Vale of White Horse. 369

Tuesday is the day cliosen for the north (the Cots-
wold^ Heythrop and Cheltenham side of the country),
with its light plough uplands, but often leading to
lower ground and grass, as hounds draw or run, into
the Fairford neighbourhood. Among the meets are
Arlington Cross Eoads, with a wide choice of draw
between a number of small coverts — Bibury, for
instance, being a likely direction ; Barnsley or Ready
Token, with capital holding for foxes (which are
plentiful . enough all round) . Ampney Riding is a
favourite place, with two small coverts adjoining each
other — now looked after by Capt. Dansey but owing
all earlier reputation to the care of the Messrs.
Daniel. And Tuesday has generally the largest field
of the week.

Wednesday and Friday share the centre of the
country, from corner to corner, between them. Once
a fortnight, a,t least, hounds work the home woods —
Sapperton, Pope's Seat, and Ten Rides being the
usual fixtures for the Sapperton and Oakley Woods.
Hailey Wood^though at one time under a ban,
appears now to have recovered its prestige — both Mr.
Hoare and the Duke having lost hounds there by
poison. Lord Bathurst is the mainstay and best
friend of the Hunt at Oakley and its neighbourhood
— doing everything possible in the interests of fox-
hunting. In the open country Siddington and Down-
Ampney are popular meets ; and the name of Mr.
Bowley should here be written down as an excellent
sportsman. Cricklade, with Tadpole to draw, is also
a place of mark ; and the same may be said of Hay-
lane Wharf, for Lord Bolingbroke's coverts and for

D D

370 The Hunting Countries of England.

Binall. From Swindon hounds are generally taken
to Major Calley^s coverts (Birdrop) . Hannington lias
some of the best of the country, with the Hannington
Brook running through it; and Highworth and
Stanton worthily complete the district for the days
mentioned.

Thursday usually points to the Malmesbury side,
and brings many of the Duke's Hunt over the border ;
and most of the country hereabouts belongs to Lord
Suffolk, who also is a true friend to fox-hunting.
Braydon, as above-noted, is the deepest part of the
district, and has great woodlands, from which, how-
ever, foxes are generally readily forced. Charlton,
Bed Lodge, Ravensroost, and Webb^s Wood, are
leading meets. Brockhurst is looked upon as almost
the best covert in the Hunt — always producing a run,
often a clinker; and Oaksey and Crudwell complete
the tale of Thursday.

Saturday is more often for the Alvescot corner,
where the Hunt stretches into Oxfordshire with a
mixed reach of grass and plough — the Thames Valley
towards Bampton being a strong wet lowland. Lech-
lade, Alvescot, Southrop, and Fairford are the best
known meets ; and Kempsford may be told off for any
day at the latter end of the week.

The Cheshire and South Cheshire. 371

THE CHESHIEE AND SOUTH
CHESHIRE. *

When \vitliout verdure the woods in November are,

Then to our collars the careen is transferred ;
Racing and chasing the sports of each member are,
Come then to Tarporley booted and spurred ;
Holding together, Sir,
Scorning the weather, Sir,
Like the good leather. Sir,

Which we put on.
Qusesitum meritis !
Good Fun how rare it is !
I know not where it is.
Save at the Swan.
{Tarporley Hunt, 1833, by R. E. Egeeton Warbueton.)

Till three years ago_, the beautiful county of Cliesliire
was hunted entirely by Mr. Corbet — with five and six
days a week over its grassy surface. On Mr. Corbet^s
succession to his present place at Adderley^ in the
extreme south of the shire, he made arrangement
with the committee that he should retain a two-
days-a-week pack for this southernmost corner —
Capt. Park Yates undertaking to work the wider
residue in the north the four other days, with Kennels

* Vide Stanford's " Hunting Map," Sheet 8, and Hobson's
D D 2

Foxhunting Atlas.

372 The Hunting Countries of England.

as hitherto in Delamere Forest. And thus came about
the present division of the county and the present
distinctive titles of The Cheshire and the South
Cheshire — one Committee still representing the shire
and the ownership of the two packs.

Cheshire is indeed worth a visit — if to be always on
grass^ and to see hounds ever running well, where the
fences are easily flown, where the field is not too
swollen in size, and where anyone and everyone may
ride his own line — if such a state of things in any
way represents enjoyment. It is not unlike Meath —
easy flying fences being substituted for the '^ narrow
banks." It is altogether like the best of Derbyshire
— its hedges, perhaps, of lesser height and more
readily to be cleared than those that bound the
meadows of the Meynell.

Cheshire, briefly and generally, consists of flat
grass inclosures of a few acres apiece, fenced with
thorn hedges that are trimmed but never "laid."
The grass grows freely on the meadows, and lavishly
in the ditches and hedges. Thus, in the wettest
seasons, you splash along the surface rather than sink
deeply into the ground — save in certain well-known
holding districts. And, again, you are more likely to
tumble about in Cheshire, especially before Christmas,
than you will in Leicestershire — though there are no
top binders to catch you tripping, and scarcely any
timber to turn you over. You may, and probably
will, come to grief occasionally through the misplaced
confidence of a young one or the carelessness of
one that has grown too clever. But in neither case
are you likely to meet with the concussion that so

The Cheshire and South Cheshire. 373

often involves a collar-bone or a loss of nerve. A fall
does you either liarm or good. In Cheshire it will
likely enough do you good — up to a certain time of
life ; enabling you to pick yourself up with renewed
confidence, under the grateful discovery that a fall
need not be such a terrible thing after all. On the
theory of chances, too, you run a double risk of a
tumble in Cheshire ; for are you not twice as often in
the air as you could be anywhere else — unless it be
Derbyshire or the stonewall section of Gloucestershire ?
And, in the last-named, there are no blind ditches to
ensnare the hunter, already overtaxed by continued
jumping. There is scarcely a gate to be seen, and, to
cross the country at all, you must have the fences as
they come. Jump and twist and turn, and mind you
are never in front of hounds ! '^ The fence that gives
a moment to the pack,^^ is your temptation in Cheshire.
It comes too frequently and too temptingly; and a
field should be under command enough for an advance
by squadrons. A solid rush gives no time for the
scouting party, represented by a too often over-ridden
pack. Yet, taken all in all, hounds (and foxes, too)
have a rare chance in Cheshire. There are few com-
manding points from which a fox may be seen, and a
clever man (oh, how fatal is a pointrider in many an
open country!) has few chances of meeting a fox in
his path, and sounding a damning yell to lead hounds
astray or turn the fox from his point. A good fox in
Cheshire may go where he will, and never be viewed
on his journey till he becomes food and trophy.
Hounds and huntsman must work unassisted. The
former have their noses down as long as the master

374 The Hunting Countries of England,

can keep them untrampled ; the latter need never look
wide afield with uplifted cap for extraneous help, or
hope to make briUiant cast to a forrard signal. The
practicability of the fences, and the galloping grass,
may induce men to a virtue of valour that is almost
exuberance ; but it is seldom that hounds cannot almost
hold their own — and he is a notable demon that can
over-ride them every day in the week.

The line of railway from Crewe to Chester, or rather
that part of it which reaches from Crewe to Beeston,
cuts off the corner which now constitutes the South
Cheshire, and which Mr. Corbet hunts on Tuesdays
and Fridays — leaving the remaining days for The
Cheshire proper. For twelve years previous to the
new arrangement he lived near the Kennels in Dela-
mere Forest ; hunted the whole country ; and was
accustomed to bring hounds by special train once a
week to Wrenbury. Some twenty or thirty years ago
there were supplementary kennels at the latter place ;
and hounds were taken there over night. A special
train still runs every Tuesday from Crewe to Wren-
bury (in conjunction with the ordinary trains from
Liverpool and Chester, from Manchester and Warring-
ton), and waits to pick up for the return journey.
Thus all Cheshire, and others from the great cities,
can join Mr. Corbet on a Tuesday ; and very many
avail themselves of the chance — tea at Wrenbury
before re-embarkation being a recognised part and
ceremony of the day. Mr. Corbet^s present little
country is allowedly the pick of all Cheshire — better
even than the Chester Vale — 'for there is scarcely an
acre of bad ground in it ; and the whole rides firm and

The Cheshire and South Cheshire. 375

sound in all weathers. The fences are light and easy,
though improving agriculture has of late given con-
siderable attention to deepening and widening the
ditches. This charming district has its chief pillar in
Lord Combermere — who, living at Combermere Abbey
and owning a great property round, lends all his
energy towards the support of Mr. Corbet and his
Hunt. And he, together with Lords Cholmondeley
and Tollemache, has greatly improved and opened out
this beautiful part of Cheshire by throwing three or
four of the small enclosures into one, and substituting
wide sixty acre pastures for the limited meadows
that are the distinguishing feature of the county
generally.

The Peckforton Hills, a great rough range running
into Wales, are neutral between Mr. Corbet, Capt.
Park Yates and Sir Watkin Wynn. Precipitous,
rugged, and full of holes, still they are ground not at
all unsuitable for hounds to learn their work; and
they send many a good fox down into the Yale, to be
chivvied back to his fastnesses.

The Chester Yale is generally held to be the best of
The Cheshire (Capt. Park Yates') — at least everyone
makes an invariable point of being* out when hounds
are in the Yale. From Tarporley to Chester about
defines the Yale ; and comprises an area where nothing
but grass is grown. Deep it often is, as the season
goes on. In autumn the turf is at its best, but the
fences at their worst ; and so, perhaps, spring time
brings the pleasantest riding. The Chester Yale,
though, is seldom out of tune; and Margery's
Almanack, in which autumn, winter and spring each in

370 The Hunting Countries of England.

turn, is " pleasanter tlian all/' might often be sung
with truth among these goodly green meadows. For
its coverts the Vale depends almost wholly on arti-
ficial g'orses, which are freely scattered, and carefully
tended, throughout its length. Its fences are nearly
all rough, ragged, hedges, with ditches always deep
and often perpendicularly cut — and a struggling horse
is as likely to follow his hindlegs as to pull them out
after him. In the neighbourhood of the elegantly-
named covert of Saighton, the hedges grow out of low
banks (in Cheshire termed cops) ; the fences require
more covering ; and it must lie between your mount
and yourself as to whether you get foothold for a
second spring, or go at them with a rush. The Gowy
is the terror of the Vale — a black, sedgey, sluggish
stream, with boggy uncertain banks, and only possible
to be jumped in a few favoured spots. Its bridges
are none too frequent ; its fords are foul and
treacherous ; a ducking in it is a dirty and dreadful
thing ; and altogether its presence is very hateful to
the Hunt. Yet it winds its slimy way across the
country from Beeston to the Mersey : and you must
often encounter it as best you may.

The River Dee runs down the extreme west of the
Vale, and through .Eaton Park, the seat of the Duke
of Westminster. During the mastership of the latter,
then Lord Grosvenor, and about twenty years ago
(the 13th Light Dragoons being at that time quartered
at Manchester) a strong section of the field had the
temerity to follow hounds into the river. The Dee
was running a great pace, and overflowing its banks,
^' as swift as a torrent, as deep as a tank ; " and most

The Cheshire and South Cheshire. 377

of tlie adventurous ones (numbering in all nearly a
score) were swept on to an island in mid stream,
thence to be rescued by boat. Lord Grosvenor bad
to leave liis horse and swim ashore as best he could —
a rope of whip lashes assisting his sinking efforts.
Of the rest, the late Mr. Cecil de Trafford, who was
first to take water_, was one of the first to reach the
farther bank, with Col. Starkie (at that time a well-
known steeplechase rider), Mr. Bolton-Littledale (still
one of the best preservers and the hardest worker for
the Hunt), and the doctor of the 13th L. D. The
death of the fox was a fitting and satisfactory sequel.
Only three men were up at the end ; and these had
great difficulty in inducing hounds to follow them
home. Col. Starkie still possesses either head or
brush — a memento of this memorable day.

The Tarporley Hunt Club is an institution cherished
and maintained as stoutly as ever in Cheshire. It
was first formed in 1 762, and its yearly celebration
has been carried on ever since, with mirth and song
and good cheer, as each November c-omes round.
For the first week of that month the club assembles
at Tarporley to hunt and dine together. Its number
is limited to forty ; and year by year vacancies are
filled up by ballot among the landowners of the
county — the elected ones receiving' the green collar,
as the distinguishing badge of the honourable com-
pany into which they have been admitted.

Beyond the little town of Tarporley the ground rises
towards Oulton Park, the seat of Sir Philip Egerton,
the leading veteran of the Hunt, and a grand type of
sportsman. Though now over seventy, he still rides,

378 The Hunting Countries of England.

and walks_, witti all the vigour of a young man. Not
only are his coverts of the greatest service ; but
hounds are constantly exercised in his park, amid the
deer and game. On this point (and on a much wider
one) both sections of the Cheshire are especially
fortunate ; for all over the county are scattered large
parks and friendly neighbours. Foxhunting is the
county pastime ; and the county families maintain it
religiously. Round Oulton the ground is deep and
undrained (though right good country, especially in
spring) ; hounds can nearly always run well ; and
their field follow as best they may. Fortunately, the
fences are small ; so riders can struggle on, without
having to diverge from the direct wake of hounds.
The Weaver may possibly come in their way ; in which
case they must look for the best ford at hand. For
the river, running frequently through deep gorges is
not to be jumped. Along its banks are the MinshuU
Dingles, a belt of excellent covert. Following the
stream thus, we come to Middlewich, where the
country becomes sounder — as, indeed, it is towards
Crewe, Capt. Park Yates's farthest point on the
edge of the North Staffordshire. And here, too,
the soil is chiefly laid down in grass : and some arti-
ficial gorses have been set to assist the natural
coverts.

Delamere Forest, though much reduced from its
erst magnificence, still boasts of some thousands of
acres of woodland ; and, backed by the Mickledale
Hills and their rough, gorse grown ridges, presents
an invaluable sphere for cubhunting. Capt. Park
Yates has a hunting box close to the Kennels, as

The Cheshire and South Cheshire. 371)

being more convenient during ttie season tlian his
place at Ince. The northern,, or Knutsford, side of
his country, again, is of a wilder — and so to speak
more natural — description than the south. There is,
perhaps, more plough in it, but this rides firm and
well ; foxes have much increased in numbers of late
years, and are stout and wild. Between Knutsford
and Warrington, however, are large tracts of ground
devoted to potato growing ; and the presence of wire
proclaims that foxhunting is not the first object of
the native mind. Otherwise this is a fine district,
with good coverts in its midst. Many large park-
properties — or, as they term them in Ireland,
" demesnes " — mark all the upper portion of the
country, and the plantations and woods round these
constitute the chief coverts. Among- such is Arley
Hall, the residence of the Cheshire poet of sport and
kindly-fellowship, Mr. Egevton Warburton — now alas,
stoneblind, but still keenly anxious as ever for the
welfare of the Hunt, and delighted to hear of their
daily doings.

Mr. Corbet^s chief meets and coverts are much
as follows (Tuesday and Friday being his days of
hunting). It may be said that two Tuesdays out of
every three he meets at Wrenbury, not far from which
is the famous Baddeley Gorse (Mr. Wickstead's).
One season especially he had a wonderful succession
of fine gallops from here, running" the same old fox
many times across a superb country up to the Peck-
forton Hills, some eight miles away. Wrenbury-
Mosses, The Yeld Covert, Hall o' Coole (Mr. Tom-
kinson's). Court's Gorse, and Broomhall are all good

380 The Hunting Countries of England.

strongliolds of gorse or thorn, witli Lord Combermere's
fine coverts to follow.

Other Tuesdays lie is usually at Wilkesley, drawing
from it probably Kent's Rough, a fine holding covert
of Lord Combermere's bordering on the Master's
Adderley property. Mr. Corbet's own coverts and
those of Lord Kilmorey at Shavington are within the
North Stafi^ordshire territory, permission being given
by that Hunt that he should draw them.

Mr. Corbet's best known Friday meets are Chol-
mondeley Castle, Ridley Tollbar, Worleston Grange
and The Rookery, with Wistaston occasionally for the
distant Crewe side. Hurleston Gorse is a very cele-
brated covert in this part of the country, with
Poole, Spurstow, The Breeches, Wardle, and large
plantations round Cholmondeley Park and Norbury
Mosses.

Capt. Park Yates works his country in the follow-
ing order, subject of course to necessary variations.
On Monday he takes the Knutsford, or northern, side.
Lord Egerton's seat, Tatton Park, is a place of con-
siderable note — the park itself being the largest in
England. There are plenty of foxes in the coverts,
and deer and every description of '^ riot " in the park,
which is consequently much favoured in the prelimi-
nary summer and autumn work. Lord de Tabley's
place at Tabley is also notable, with Mrs. Brook's at
Mere Hall and Withington and Joddrell Hall adjoin-
ing. At Peover is Sir Philip Mainwaring — whose
grandfather was for twenty years Master of the
Cheshire ; and Arley Mr. Egerton-Warburton, whose
eldest son is one of the M.P.'s for the County. Rud-

The Cheshire and South Cheshire. 381

heath (part of which belongs to Rev. Armitstead, is a
rough heathery moorland.

Wednesday is^ as a rulo;, the day for Delamere
Forest — among whose wooded depths horsemen
must keep to the rides, but where hounds can work
vigorously and foxes are very plentiful. Vale Eoyal
(Lord Delamere's) and Delamere House (Mr. George
Wilbraham's) are two of the more usual meets.

Thursday is for the Chester side, alternately in the
Chester Vale and the Oulton, or Crewe, district.
Among the best Vale meets are Tattenhall Station,
Stapleford Mill, and Tarporley Town End. From the
first-named hounds will probably begin work at
Handley or Crowds Nest : from Stapleford they have
Cotton Gorse (a fine stronghold of briar and gorse) or
Waverton Gorse : and fi'om Tarporley Town End they
will perhaps commence with Huxley Gorse and
Clotton Hoofield. From any Vale meet they may
draw the covert of Saighton. Occasionally, too, they
meet at Saighton Grange; and perhaps draw Eaton
Drives.

On the alternate Thursday there is a meet at Oulton
Park for the coverts round Darley, The Adjuncts, the
celebrated Oulton Low and Philo (all the property of
Sir Philip Egerton). From here they get on to the
Calveley neighbourhood, where are the coverts of
Page's Wood, Calveley Old and New Gorse, HilFs
Gorse, Wetenhall Wood, Darnall and Blakeden — all
good places. Calveley, for seven years under the
guardianship of Capt. Kennedy, was during that
period continually highly tried, but never tried in
vain. The chief coverts towards Crewe are Braidby,

382 The Hunting Countries of England.

Foxholmes, Groby, Warmingliam Wood, and Brereton
(Mr. Howard's) ; while on towards Middlewich (by
tlie way, tliis ultimate syllable, so common in Cheshire
nomenclature, is pronounced wiche, to be translated
salt) we find Manor House and its coverts (belonging
to Mr. Court), Union Gorse, Bostock (Col. France
Hay hurst), and further on the celebrated Whatcroft
Gorse. The meets of Crewe and Bradfield Green
embrace most of the above coverts,

Saturday is likely to take in the rest of the country
towards the north. On the Appleton Hall, High
Legh, and Marbury, near which meets are some capital
gorses — The Cobbler, Newton Whitley and Stretton
Moss being all likely for a good fox. Norton Priory
Sir Richard Brookes) is the farthest meet in this
direction. Along the Mersey is Ince (the seat of the
Master). With a meet at Dunham a gallop is fre-
quently had from Dunham Gorse (Lord Shrewsbury's),
which may lead across the Ince Meadows, and their
wide and difficult ditches. And thus we may conclude
the geography of the Cheshire.

For hunting quarters Tarporle}^ is one of the best
commanding points within the boundaries of the
Cheshire packs. Chester and Whitchurch give
thorough access to both sections of the country and
to Sir Watkin Wynn's as well ; while Crewe is not
only well placed for hunting in Cheshire, but com-
mands the North Staffordshire also, and is the nearest
point to London besides. From Euston Square to
Crewe is a journey of some four hours.

It will easily be understood from what has been
written above that a quick-jumping active horse is

The Cheshire and South Cheshire. 383

wanted for Cliesliire. A short strong-backed animal^
with plenty of breeding, is perbapt the most suitable.
Though there is a good deal of work to ■do_, and a
horse is constantly galloping and jumping, the fences
do not knock him about to the extent that happens in
many countries that in themselves are not more trying
to cross. And so it comes about that a man does not
require an overgrown stud in Cheshire; and will find-
a second -horse more of a luxury than an absolute
necessary.

The fields have certainly diminished in strength of
late years, with the depression of trade in the adjoin-
ing great manufacturing centres and shipping bases ;
but still there will often be found a muster of two, or
even three, hundred on the most favoured ground;
though in the north, again, the numbers frequently
dwindle down to some forty horsemen.

Only members of the Hunt subscribe to the main-
tenance of the hounds. But a visitor will probably
contribute to the Covert Fund, and receive cards of
the meets. These are issued a fortnight in advance
(advertising' in the papers having been discontinued) ;
and the six days, as set down for the two packs, are
})rinted on one card — another point in proof that
Cheshire is virtually an undivided Hunt.

384 The Hunting Countries of England.

THE BLACKMOOli YALE*.

Another fine grass country is tliat of tlie Blackmoor
Vale^ at present hunted — well and worthily — by Sir
Richard Glyn. Three to four hours of a westerly
course from London will set you down in its midst,
whether by means of The Great Western from
Paddington or the London and South- Western from
Waterloo. Yeovil is the junction point of the two
railways ; and, once there, you may please yourself as
to whether you settle self and horses on the spot, or
move back to Sherborne or Henstridge.

The Aldershot men as a rule choose Sherborne,
where in their interests, and entirely from a fox-
hunting light, an hotel has been specially thrown up
by Mr. Wingfield Digby, who, at one time hunting
the Blackmoor Vale at his own expense, is now only
able to get about on wheels, yet still retains to the
full the respect in which his name has so long been
held. All the world, within reach, takes train to
Yeovil for the meets in its neighbourhood. For the
Blackmoor Vale is a half-way house between the
brown acres of Hampshire and the unrideable enclo-

* Vide Stanford's " Hunting Map," Sheet 20, and Hobson's
Foxhunting Atlas.

The Blackmoor Vale. 385

sures of Devon and Somerset. Here you are offered
the oldest of turf and richest of scenting ground.
The lines of earthwork that form the fences of the
far west are here modified to practicable enjoyable
proportion ; and, stiff and deep though it be, the
Blackmoor Vale bears a character as a sporting and
riding ground that makes it the Queen of the West.
Deep — undeniably deep — it is, let the season be what
it may. And the deeper it rides, the faster hounds go.
The man and the horse that can consistently and
conscientiously live with hounds over the Blackmoor
Vale must both be good, and determined.

Men come out of the far west glad to launch into a
sphere wherein horse and rider have more to say to the
game than amid the rough coombes and impracticable
enclosures, which, however favourable to hounds,
leave all the fun in the hands of the latter. There is
joy in the spectacle of hounds on a scent ; but there
is other, and to very many a greater, joy in taking an
active vigorous part in the melee and life of a foxhunt.
The soldiers think so too ; and many of them gladly
leave the weak- scenting plains round Mdershot for
the more lively country presided over by Sir Eichard
Glyn.

The Blackmoor Vale Country is in reality, a succes-
sion of vales separated only by slight undulations of
so little elevation as to differ but in a very slight degree
from the lower ground on either side of them, except
that they begin to dry up earlier in spring than the
other. They represent, indeed, little greater difference
of consistency than is perceptible between the furrow
and the ridge of old Leicestershire grazing ground.

E E

386 The Hunting Countries of England.

The extreme north-west is the exception to vary the
features of the country : which there is rougher, more
hilly and wooded. Of the rest we have the Sparkford
vale, the Stalbridge vale, the Pulham vale, besides the
Leweston-and-Caundle Marsh district; and all these
differ more or less in characteristics of soil, scent, and
fence. But before specifying further, it must be set down
as an order distinct and irrefragable, that wherever
you would follow Sir Richard^s hounds with credit, you
WAist be on a strong, shortbacked, horse and a stayer.
In the stiff est part of the Blackmoor Vale he must be
able to take off well away from his fence, light on the
bank like a cat, and shoot himself forward again
without dwelling. To effect this thoroughly and
cleverly, many good judges assert that a certain
amount of pace is requisite. Others have it that you
can best afford to go slow. The truth, as I glean it,
lies between the two. No one would argue that for
such an effort it can ever be permissible to rattle a
horse off his legs — to put it in stableyard Anglo-
Saxon. Yet a horse with a certain amount of way on,
yet fully collected, must surely be able to combat the
height and distance with greater ease to himself than
if called upon to rear and scramble out of deep
ground at a walk. For many of these banks, apart
from the hazel and thorn growth on the top, are five
and six feet — or even more — almost sheer; and a
horse that can cleverly top them and cover a wide
ditch beyond as he changes his legs, would seem to
leave the fence behind him more neatly and with
much less labour than if a slow triple effort were
exacted from him — let alone the fact that while he is

The Blaekmoor Vale. 387

jumping hounds are running, and running as they can
in the Yale.

A welter-weight rides at comparatively little dis-
advantage in the Blaekmoor Vale — always supposing
he is mounted according to his weight and the require-
ments of the country. As a matter of fact^ his
weight will often give him a pull, enabling him to
force his way where a lighter man and horse would be
entirely checked. For the hazel and thorn are fre-
quently matted and stiff, to a degree that calls for no
common momentum to make a passage through.
There are very few fences to be met with in the
Blaekmoor Vale that are not to be pierced and sur-
mounted at some spot in their length ; but it takes a
good eye, much experience, and a horse fitted for the
country, to mark and take advantage of these assail-
able points as quickly as hounds demand. Timber is
freely found — and freely avoided ; for the approach to
it is too often spoiled and poached by the cattle, who
work the ground into a quagmire wherever they can
thrust their heads through post-and-rails.

The Sparkford vale is undoubtedly the choicest
ground of the Blaekmoor Vale country. It is firmest
riding of all ; carries as good a scent as any part ;
its banks are low, with a ditch on a single side, and
every obstacle is to be taken in the stride. You may
sail along as quickly as over the easiest part of
Leicestershire; and hounds will generally give the
opportunity. Now and again a wider ditch than
common is met, but a little extra pace should annul
the difficulty. The Sparkford vale is almost all
grass, though a trifle of plough has crept in of late

E E 2

888 The Hunting Countries of England.

years ; and it is safe to repeat that you may slip over
it at speed. It is a more difficult matter to lay down
a rule as to wliat day of tlie week by custom holds a
particular district of country. Agricultural dinners
and various other considerations materially affect Sir
Richard's programme. The Sparkford vale, however,
is more often taken every alternate Monday; and
its chief meets are Sparkford, Marston, Mudford,
Babcary, Pudimore, and Lydford. Annis Hill is a
fine wood ; and Babcary has a very good blackthorn
covert planted by the Master — and forming an
exception to the rule of the country, where thorn
coverts are little known, though gorses are frequent.
Other Monday meets are likely to be The Kennels
(Charlton Hawthorn), Compton Castle, Creech Hill,
Redlinch (Lord Ilchester's), and Stourton Woods
— leading us into a worse country as we go on. The
largest fields come out on the Yeovil side — though,
after all, what is a field of 100 to 150 as compared
with the attendance with many a Hunt elsewhere.
Were it only better stocked with foxes the whole of
the district north of Yeovil would be charming. The
enclosures expand while the fences dwindle. But the
farther north we proceed the less is Mr. Reynard
a favourite — till at length fox hunting lapses for want
of him and of coverts to draw : and Sir Richard's
almost outside meet of late has been Lydford. By
the way, it is worthy of mention, that in Mr.
Farquharson's time the whole country now occupied
by five packs was hunted as one, to wit — the present
Blackmoor vale, the Cattistock, the South Dorset, the
East Dorset, and the greater part of the South-and-

The Blackmoor Vale, 389

West Wilts. Now there are fifteen days wliere there
used to be five, and many more foxes now than then.
For, with the exception of the Upper Sparkford vale,
the supply is fully equal to all demands ; and Sir
Richard is never at a loss where to draw. The present
Master has hunted the Blackmoor Vale for the last
sixteen years. Leweston House, near Sherborne, is
his residence ; and the Kennels (built by Mr. George
Wingfield Digby, originator of the present Hunt)
being quite in the centre of the country, he is enabled
to turn which way he pleases, and orders his meets
and draws to suit circumstances.

The rest of the country is very varied. The Stal-
bridge vale (extending, perhaps, as far as Fifehead
Magdalen and Temple Coombe), wherein many of the
Tuesday meets are fixed, is not so deep as further
south ; the enclosures are small, and the banks strong
and high. Double fences are not as frequent here as in
some other parts. The drainage is mostly above ground
both . here and in the Pulham vale, and intersecting
drains, four to six inches deep, cross most of the
meadows, and render progress difficult for bad
shouldered ones, or horses unused to such traps. In
such a country you soon learn to gallop over the
drains at an angle, a subterfuge which will generally
keep you on your legs. The Chetnole neighbourhood
may likely enough come in to Tuesday meets ; and so
may Compton House and Pointington (a moderate
country, with some light plough — but always the
chance of getting into a vale), though the two latter
are perhaps more often chosen for a Monday. The
leading meets of the Stalbridge yale are Five Bridges^

390 The Hunting Countries of England.

Fifehead-Magdalen (for Nyland and the Fifehead
coverts), the latter belonging to Mr. Merthyr Guest ;
Henstridge Ash for Stalbridge Park and Inwood.

Wednesday is an off-day; and if you are at Sher-
borne or Henstridge, you may employ it with Lord
Portman and the East Dorset — as that is the day he
usually fixes for his Manston Vale.

Thursday is more often told off for the district com-
prised in the names Leweston (with the Master^s
coverts and Honeycombe to follow), Holnest, Caundle
Marsh, Hay don Lodge, and West Hill Gate. Holnest
Pound has a most popular draw near at hand, in But-
terwick, the property of Mr. Drax of Holnest House.
Butterwick Wood is quite a historical name, being
linked with many great runs in Mr. Farquharson's
time, with Tread well as his huntsman. It is six miles
from the hills, and a fox must fly for his life. And
Thursday may bring you on to somewhat firmer ground
than that of the morrow.

The fourth hunting day is Saturday, and is in the
deepest but perhaps the most sporting of all the Black-
moor Vale. Your strongest and best horse should be
kept for the Pulham Vale ; and he must be clever as
well as stout ; for the fences are chiefly blind big
doubles, with a high bank as their base. Pewy is an
epithet frequently and aptly applied to the Pulham
Vale. The best known meets are the Green Man, or
the King's Stag, Pulham, Thornhill, and Fifehead-
Neville. Near the latter place, which immediately
adjoins Lord Portman's Country, you find yourself in
the stiff est ground of all. But it carries a great scent,
and a great deal of sport has ensued during the last

The Blaekmoor Vale. 391

two seasons from Deadmore (which is well looked after
by Mr. Connop of Fif ehead-Neville, and may be drawn
any day towards the end of the week) — running across
to Lord Portman's hills. Humber Wood is a very
favourite draw in the Pulham vale; so are Pulham
Gorse, and Pontin^s "Gorse (called by Mr. Digby the
" Ranksboro^ '^ of Dorsetshire) . Byde^s Gorse is
another well-known place.

It must not be left unsaid that a brook jumper is a
most desirable acquisition for the Blaekmoor Vale.
For instance the Pulham Brook, the Buckshaw Brook,
and the Annis Hill Brook in the Sparkford vale, are
frequently to be jumped, but demand a bold horse.

Grange Woods (Lord Digby^s) is a great field for
cubhunting in the Blaekmoor Vale ; and Ven for the
Ven Woods (Sir W. Medlycott's) is a meet omitted
above.

One or two of the principal fox-preservers beyond
those already alluded to are Mr. Dendy of Lattiford,
Hon. Sec. to the Hunt, who looks after the interest of
the Wincanton country, and Mr. Bell of Gillingham,
who preserves all that neighbourhod.

Now that Lord Wolverton has relinquished his
bloodhounds (which on most Fridays were in the
vicinity of Hentsridge), the sixth day of the week, from
Sherborne to Hentsridge, will have to be sought with
the Cattistock or Lord Wolverton^s harriers.

392 The Hunting Countries of England.

THE CAMBUIDGESHIHE.*

A COUNTRY of considerable extent — and all that
extent a cold plough flat — is the Cambridgeshire.
The summary is not a flattering one. It is true, but
imperfect. For there remains to be said^ that, with a
cold scent, there is yet plenty of sport to be seen
here — and it is a right good school for either hound
or horseman. You will scarcely be led to visit the
Cambridgeshire country with foxhunting as the
immediate magnet; but finding yourself there from
whatever cause, you are bound to acknowledge that
in making the best of things you reap a reward, and
you will hunt on with content if not exactly with
enthusiasm. Again, you may make a worse start in
your foxhunting life than by graduating from Cam-
bridge. The hot blood of youth is under a cooling
steadying influence while hounds are picking their
way over fallows — quite in contrast with the fevered
enthusiasm springing from contact with the grass
vales of the Bicester, or the choice pickings of other
hunts that surround the sister University. Oxford
men are constantly under temptation to ride — as near

* Vide Stanford's "Hunting Map," Sheet 16, and Hobson's
Foxhunting Atlas.

The Cambridgeshire, 393

hounds as their good sense^ and a master's for-
bearance,, will let them. Cambridge men on the
contrary must either watch quietly and patiently
the instinct and science of the hound at his work, or
else turn quite aside from his track to find a loose off
for their own superfluous spirits. In other words,
Oxford has taught many men to ride to hounds and
some to hunt. Cambridge has taught hunting to
many ; and riding to a few. From Cambridge the
fieriest youth that ever donned pink for the first time
will seldom find excuse to gallop ; from Oxford he
may often go out expressly for a " flutter '' — and get
it to his heart's content. As for the hound, he must
always have his nose down, and must learn to depend
upon that only — which he has a much better chance
of doing in that the scent upon which he has to work
is seldom sufficiently exuberating to lead him out of
bounds. He must be kept in hard and constant
work, though ; or for very spirits he will decline to
stoop and toil at his work, to that degTee that alone
can gain him his object. He must go out full of
condition, but sober as a horse that is fit to run ;
or he will underrate his task and be very flashing
over the mark. Power of nose is his first essential
quality ; perseverance and stoutness are the two next.
These virtues have been cultivated for many years
in the Cambridgeshire pack, chiefly at the hands of
the families of Barnett and Lindsell, with the result
that sport has been obtained wherever, and whenever,
possible. It was as huntsman of the Cambridgeshire
that '' Bob Ward'* first made himself a reputation.
For seventeen years he killed foxes there in his

394i The Hunting Countries of England.

peculiar and inimitable style — whicli, like Charles
Payne's, lias been copied by many a man, only to
entail on bim total loss of caste for ever. Both of
these famous huntsmen may often be said to have
caught their fox themselves, and merely taken their
hounds with them to run into him at the finish.
Indeed, Ward did more than that on one occasion
with the Cambridgeshire. He galloped on and met
his tired fox in a lane, jumped off to seize him by the
brush as he crawled up the bank, and held him till
hounds came up.

Unlike its neighbour " The Fitzwilliam,'' the Cam-
bridgeshire country has been ploughed from time
immemorial, whereas the other was rank deep grass
less than sixty years ago. The saving clause of the
Cambridgeshire was contained in the grass headlands,
which, till removed by '^^high farming,^' gave every
field a border of ten to twenty yards in width. These
headlands were not altogether pleasant riding, for
they were constantly intercepted by sharp-cut open
drains, which in the earlier months of the season were
more often than not completely hidden in rough
herbage. But they carried a tremendous scent ;
hounds flew along them at a pace that frequently
distanced pursuit, and foxes always took them for
choice, as against the draggling fallows alongside.
And, besides robbing the soil of this advantage,
improved cultivation has brought further damage by
means of the steam plough, which is now as generally
used in the counties of Cambridge, Hertford, and
Beds as elsewhere where the vain struggle to grow
wheat at a profit is still maintained. Consequently

The Cambridgeshire. 395

certain parts of the Cambridgesliire Hunt are in
a wet season traversable at no quicker pace tlian
a walk. But it is when wettest that the ground
carries the truest scent ; and then it is that hounds
are often quicker than horses over the country. The
fences are not sufficient to stop either^ being merely
light and low thorn hedges^ with perhaps a ditch on
one side. Though true, this ditch is often well hid in
grass and weeds, and constitutes the chief difficulty
in the path of a rider in the earher half of the
season.

Economy is another strong point of recommenda-
tion that must not be left without mention in any
analysis of foxhunting with the Cambridgeshire.
You require few horses — and those need be of no
extravagant type. Like the hound for the country,
one of his chief essentials is endurance. A good
barrel is his best feature, and an easy disposition his
fittest temperament. With these in his favour he
will take you out and bring you home more often,
and farther, than a more expensive conveyance in
most other countries.

You may easily reach the Cambridgeshire from
London. Biggleswade is little more than an hour
from London (the Great Northern from King^s Cross)
by the best trains ; Cambridge an hour and a half
(by the Great Eastern from Liverpool- street or St.
Pancras) ; and either destination may be attained in
time to show you a good pack of hounds, whenever
advertisement points to their meeting near these
places. Huntingdon (about an hour and three-
quarters from King^s Cross) commands them in their

396 The Hunting Countries of England.

favourite country, and gives full access to tlie Fitz-
william and Oakley too.

Tlie Cambridgesliire take tlie field three days a week
— the district for each day having its distinctive shade
of variety. Monday is in the south-west, as vide
below. Tuesday is their favourite day : for it gives the
Huntingdon woodlands and the chance of a run over
the choicest of the Fitzwilliam country. This is the
north-west corner ; and the woods in it are in some
instances of considerable size — e.g., Brampton Wood
being fully three or four hundred acres. Good wild
foxes are bred here, and seldom hang in covert, but
once on foot will move on for many a mile before
being hunted down or lost. There are also various
woodlands of some extent in other parts of the Hunt —
Potton, Hatley Buff, and Haley Woods for instance^
with many of a hundred acres apiece. The above
named come in of a Friday,, together with those of
Wimpole and Waresley — all large natural coverts.
But from all these it is comparatively easy to get
away ; and open country lies round their borders. As
we get more into the centre of the country — into the
shire of Cambridge (for the Hunt is as much in Beds
as in the country from which it takes its name), the
coverts are much smaller, though still what are termed
'' natural " as distinct from coverts planted pui'posely
for the fox and the pastime of which he is the leading
hero. As a rule, he finds plenty of refuge and due
care throughout the greater part of the Cambridge-
shire territory. Beyond Waresley is a very sporting
district — open^ with small coverts which hold well up
to Christmas, when the undergrowth dies down, and

The Cambridgeshire. 397

it is difficult to lay hand upon Reynard's whereabouts.
The largest fields come out on the Friday side — Cam-
bridge sending out a strong division and Newmarket
a contingent, the whole often amounting to a couple of
hundred.

The following are further particulars of the hunting
of the country, according to the adopted custom of
Mr. C. S. Lindsell, the present Master. Each alternate
Monday is told off to the Warden neighbourhood,
which, belonging to the Oakley Hunt, is hunted on
sufferance by the Cambridgeshire. Here are several
large coverts — Shearhatch, Ickwell, Palmer's Wood,
Warden, and Southill ; Rowney Warren, and Chick-
sands are neutral with the Hertfordshire. The leading
covert-owners are the Duke of Bedford, Sir G. Osborn,
and Messrs. Harvey, Whitbread, and Shuttleworth ;
and foxes have. every encouragement. Meets for this
side are Morhanger, Ickwell Green, and Warden.
The rest of the Monday meets are on the side of
Potton Wood, a large covert belonging to Sir John
Burgoyne, a keen preserver of foxes. Hatley Buff
and Haley Woods follow this, with Gillrags, Rowsers,
Sandy Warren, Sutton Plantations, and Morden
Osiers. Farther east are the Wimpole coverts. All
those above-named are sure finds, and the leading
owners, besides Sir J. Burgoyne, are Lord Hardwicke,
Messrs. Evans and Peel. A considerable property
belongs to Downing College^ whose Bursar Dr.
Perkins, is secretary to the Hunt. Meets for this
district are Potton Wood, Downing Arms, Hardwicke
Arms — Waresley, and Sandy Warren.

Tuesday, as above mentioned, is for the corner of

398 The Hunting Countries of England.

tlie country that runs into Huntingdonsliire. The
chief of the chain of large woods hereabouts are
Brampton, Graffham, Calfer, Perry, Gaynes, Agden
Green, Midloe, and Paxton, owned mostly by the Duke
of Manchester, Lord Sandwich, Mr Duberley, Mr.
Thornhill (to whom also belong KnapwelL and Box-
worth on the Cambridge side)^ Mr. Reynolds, and Lord
Over stone. The latter, however,, leaves the control of
Paxton Wood entirely to the farmers ; and it is never
known to be drawn blank. These woods hold a very
stout race of foxes ; which frequently give capital runs
into the Fitzwilliam and Oakley countries. Pheasants
are held of little account by the covert owners ; who
one and all are determined friends to foxes and
enemies to keepers who cannot show many a litter.
The usual meets for the Huntingdon Woods are
Buckden Tower, Diddington Park, Gaynes Hall, and
Megre.

Friday being for the Cambridge side, the chief
meets are Waresley, Eltisley, Caxton, Childerley Gate,
and Oakington — whence they draw the coverts of
Waresley, Eltisley, Toseland, Swanley Grove, Pap-
worth, Childerley, Madingley, Knapwell, Boxworth,
Long Stanton, Oakington, Hardwicke Wood, Harston,
Newton, and Harlton Spinnies. Mr. Newton is a good
supporter and leading member of the hunt on this side.
Mr Cheere is a good friend; and so is Mr. S. Linton,
who purchased Long Stanton Covert to prevent its
being grubbed up, and out of it sixteen foxes were
viewed away one day during last cub hunting season.
Besides these there are Mr. Linton, Mr. W. Hurrell,
Mr. H. Hurrell, Messrs. Rowley, and others, all of

The Cambridgeshire. 399

whom take great interest in the welfare of the Hunt,
and keep foxes for it.

The Kennels of the Cambridgeshire are at Caxton,
near Cambridge ; and the hounds are the property of
the Hunt.

400 The Hunting Countries of England,

THE DUKE OE GllAETON'S.*

To be reached from anywhere^ and especially acces-
sible to tlie Londoner — a good country, managed
liberally, smartly, and practically — no wonder the
Duke of Grafton^s is a popular and a leading Hunt.
It bas a great deal of fine ground of its own ; abuts
on some of the choicest of the Bicester, the Warwick-
shire, and the Pytchley ; and is backed up by the
Whaddon Chase (or, as it is better known, Mr. Selby
Lowndes'). You may hunt at most of its meets by
means of the morning train from Euston- square ; you
may run up to it from Rugby; or down from
Leigh ton, &c. You may be one of the few lucky
soldiers quartered at Weedon ; or you may find it
convenient to establish a small stud on the spot, and-
eke out the week by work or play in Town. It is not
a country to which many men bring a long string of
horses for a solid six days a week. Such gluttons
are more often found just over the border; they
accept his Grace's liberality once or twice a week;
and make up the rest from the varied fare spread
around. For the northern corner of the Duke of

^Vicle Stanford's "Hunting Map," Sheet 15 and Hobson's
Foxhunting Atlas.

The Duke of Grafton's, 401

Grafton's country dovetails into wtiat is almost a
common junction-point of four hunts ; and a man who
plants himself anywhere near this point can secure an
almost daily change of scene and surroundings.

The finest runs of the Duke of Grafton's hounds
have more often been across their neighbour's ground ;
and this was remarkably the case last season — when
their most notable run of all (from Canons Ashby)
was, after the first three miles, entirely over Bicester
and Warwickshire country, till it culminated at
Shuckburgh. But it is the Duke's country in itself
that we have to consider, and this contains everything
from light plough to strong deep grass, and from
small artificial coverts to dense woodlands and forest
ranges. In some parts the fences are light and easy ;
in others they are as formidable as even those of the
Pytchley. Their favourite fixtures lie along their
northern border — many of those in the north-west
being on ground similar to the stiif grand country
across the boundary ; others nearer Towcester are on
arable ; while some of those in the north-east, on the
Bugboro' and Weedon side are on the same stoutly
bullfinched ground that extends across the Pytchley
to Shuckburgh and beyond.

Through the centre of the country run two good
grass vales, somewhat cut up, unfortunately, by the
lines of railway which thread them : while to the
south are the great glades of Whittlebury Forest and
Wakefield Park; and on the east the rough acreage
of Salsey Forest. The fences throughout the country
are of a simple hedge-and-ditch type ; but range
between the extremes of insig-uificance and imprac-

402 The Hunting Countries of England,

ticability. Open water is met with once or twice in
almost every run — and, though not as a rule of
formidable width, call for a horse that is ready to
jump without dwelling whenever he is asked. And,
in short, a thorough hunter is needed for the Duke's
country — if you would take him over all parts of it.
There are several places that hold out advantages as
quarters within the limits of the Hunt. Buckingham
and Brackley (the former two hours, the latter twenty
minutes more, from London) supply a good proportion
of the fields in the south of the country ; and are on
the borders of the best of the Bicester. Towcester,
which it takes you also a couple of hours to reach
from town, is right in the middle of the country.
Weedon is not only the elysium of the military fox-
hunter, who by good luck or management is estab-
lished there by Royal command and at the expense of
a nation that pays little attention to the desirability
of teaching its officers to ride across country ; but is
much in favour with the ex-militaire, who, having
tasted its sweets during his term of service, continues
to indulge himself with them in after life out of his
own pocket. Indeed, it would be difficult to point to
a better situation than Weedon, for a man who would
hunt with first-rate packs and in first-rate country,
who yet is unable to afford himself the whole of his
time, but must be always within easy journey of
London. For Weedon lays the map of the Pytchley
at your feet ; has the Duke of Grafton's on the other
side, and the Bicester and the Warwickshire, at their
best, running close up — while it is less than two hours
from Town. The Londoners {i.e., men out for the

The Duke of Grafton's, 403

day from London) come down to the Duke of Grafton
cMefly in the spring; disembarking either at Blis-
worth, Wolverton, or Wee don.

The Duke of Grafton's hounds are out three days a
week — his country being by no means an extensive
one^ and only a moiety of that formerly hunted
by Lord Southampton. These days are Monday,
Wednesday, and Friday : and are distributed much
as follows. Monday is alternately for the north-
western, or Fawsley side, where you get both grass
and plough, and every chance of a gallop into the
Bicester territory towards Boddington or Griffin's
Gorse, or over the stoutly-fenced pastures that inter-
vene before Shnckburgh can be reached : These
meets are always attended from Weedon, and fre-
quently from the Pytchley dominion. The other
alternate Mondays are for the Towcester and Blis-
worth district, where plough and small fences prevail
throughout.

The chief Monday meets on the north-west are
Preston Capes, whence the usual draws are Church
Wood and the Fawsley coverts (owned by Sir R.
Knightley), or the deep Badby Wood, a neutral covert
with the Pytchley. All these are full of foxes and
prolific of sport. From Woodford they get to Hinton
Gorse — quite on the outside of their own territory, and
bordering on a grand spread of country, belonging
part to the Bicester, part to the Warwickshire. The
great deep grass fields and the dense bullfinches of this
region call for the highest and boldest qualities on the
part of the horse — only to be employed to the full at
the hands of a high- class rider to hounds. Close to
p F 2

404 The Hunting Countries of England.

the above covert is another, Charwelton Osier Beds.
Canons Ashby has two nice coverts of its own ; while
Stowe-Nine-Churches has Stowe Wood, which is
neutral with the Pytchley (mark this and Badby
Wood, Mr. Stanford !), besides Everdon Scrubbs.
Foster's Booth is usually for Drayton Osier Bed and
Ascot Thorns' — falling back from there upon the thick
gorse Bushy End, close to Grub's Copse. From the
meets of Tiffield Toll Gate and Shosely Grounds follow
the draws of Tiffield Allotments (a very thick thorn
covert), Blisworth Gorse, Nun Wood, and Plane
Woods — rather large woods near the London and
North- Western Railway. Foxes are also well pre-
served at Easton Park (once inhabited by the Empress
of Austria) ; but the coverts are not of a very holding
type.

Wednesday is, by custom, considered the woodland
day ; and is held alternately in the neighbourhood of
Wakefield and in the Salsey Forest district. Wake-
field Park, with Whittlebury Forest and coverts give
the perfection of woodland hunting (amid open rides
and hollow glades) ; and it generally happens that
hounds eventually work their way into the open. For
instance, they often get out to Wicken Spinnies (Lord
Penrhyn's), adjoining which is some good country,
while only the river close by which separates them
from Mr. Selby Lowndes' is often crossed for a trip
over nice ground beyond. Salsey Forest, in the
alternate weeks, furnishes rough but sporting ground,
beyond the L. and N.W. Railway on the east of their
country, adjoining the Oakley. Of the meets in the
southern woodlands — Stratford Hill is for a wood of

The Duke of Grafton's. 405

that name_, with. Shalston Spinnies and afterwards the
great woods of Wakefield, Whittlebury, Stowe, &c.
Meeting at Wakefield Lawn they occasionally trot off
to a nice little covert in the open, and by the Canal
side, known as Friary Furze (well preserved by a good
old sportsman, Col. Fitzroy). After this they pro-
bably go on to Stoke Park. Wicken Park is a good
place on the southern border, with the forest to fall
back upon. The meet of Tilehouse is for Tilehouse
Wood and other coverts where foxes are well cared for
by Mr. Robarts. In Salsey Forest the most familiar
fixtures are Keeper^s Lodge and Ranger's Lodge ;
and those whose taste points to good rough woodland
hunting may here indulge it to the full.

Friday is the most popular day of the week, with
the men of the Hunt ; is in the north centre of country ;
and on ground pretty nearly equally divided between
grass and plough. Some of the Bicester men fre-
quently attend ; and, as the season goes on, the train
brings numbers from London, Leighton, &c. When
Brackley or Whitfield are advertised, the likeliest
draws are Brackley Corse, Halse Copse, and Whitfield
Spinnies. Whistley Wood is a meet, as well as a very
large and first-rate fox covert. Some three seasons
ago they had an extraordinary fine run from here —
fifty-five minutes with an old dog fox. Hounds were
never cast ; and ran right into their fox in the middle
of a grass field. From Astwell Mill they take Weedon
Bushes, a nice but not altogether a sure covert ; or go
to Allithornes, which by many people is held to be the
best place in the Hunt — being a certain find with a
good country all round. Braddon is for Braddon

406 The Hunting Countries of England.

Spinnies and Kingthorne Wood ; Blakesley for Seawell
Wood and Grimscot Heath. To draw Plumpton
Wood, a favourite covert of considerable size — they
meet at its outskirts.

Once a year hounds are run through Huntsbury Hill,
near Northampton — once a good covert, but now
almost — if not entirely, wiped out.

Among the chief covert owners and fox preservers of
the country are the Duke of Grafton, Lord Penrhyn,
Sir R. Knightley, Mr. Kobarts, Mr. Loder of Whittle-
bury, &c., &c.

The kennels are at Wakefield Lawn near Stony
Stratford ; and His Grace has had the hounds quite a
score of years — during which they have always been
maintained on the most liberal scale, and, as now, well
hunted and whipped- in to. As a pack they have
attained a very high degree of excellence, both in field
and on the flags.

The Holderness. 407

THE HOLDERNESS.*

The horse and the hound are the pride and dehght of
every Yorkshire man, are a subject with which he has
been famiHar all his life, and a topic on which he is
always eloquent and enthusiastic. High class horses
and high class hounds are apparently the natural
product of the county ; and men ride a better average
of hunter amid these northern ploughs than we see
bestridden even in the midlands — certainly if we con-
fine the comparison to animals indigenous to the two
localities. Lincolnshire and Yorkshire alike are
mostly given up to cultivation ; but they stand apart
from the bulk of other plough countries, in that they
decline to admit that foxhunting may, under such
condition, be carried on in a more plebeian style than
on fashionable galloping ground. They meet the facts
of cold plough and deep plough with the argument that
the colder the scent the cleverer the hound required,
and the deeper the plough the better the horse must
be to live with him. So their packs have for genera-
tions been cultured from the best blood in England ;
and the farmers breed and ride nothing that cannot
lay claim to both quality and strength.

* Vide Stanford's " Hunting Map," Sheet 6, and Hobson's
Foxhunting Atlas.

408 The Himiing Countries of England.

Tlie Holderness does not come under the head of a
*^ cold-sceuting country." For a plough country it
carries an exceptionally good scent ; and hounds can
generally work their way well whether on the lower
area of Holderness proper or on the Wolds — the two
sections offering very distinct descriptions of ground,
as will be shown below. The late Mr. Hall, who had
the pack for nearly thirty years, was most particular
about legs and feet ; and the hounds could stand any
amount of work — coming home sound and compara-
tively fresh, even after being twelve or fourteen hours
out of kennel. He got his blood entirely from three
packs, viz., the Belvoir, Brocklesby, and Burton.
The season immediately following his death, they
hunted one hundred times with only fifty-one couple
in kennel ; and notwithstanding the long distances
were never short of hounds. And cubhuntiug did
not begin till the last week in September.

The Holderness country is, perhaps, larger in extent
than any other in England; and the Hunt has been going
uninterruptedly for more than a century — having been
first established by a Constable, an ancestor of the
present LordHerries. Hull is its chief present source
of support ; Beverley is the best resting place for the
visitor. By road or train every meet can be reached
from these places ; and the Humber crossed occa-
sionally for a day with the Brocklesby. From London
you are landed at either town in four or five hours.
Etton near Beverley is the site of the Kennels — Mr.
Arthur Wilson last season assuming the reins of
government.

For practical purposes the country may be treated

The Holderness. 409

of in two divisions — the Eastern and the Western (or,
rather, Holderness and the Wold) — each of which
might, indeed, well form a country of itself. The
Eastern portion, or Holderness proper, runs along the
sea border, is quite flat, and holds a capital scent —
being a rich soil, only reclaimed from sea and swamp
some sixty or seventy years. The enclosures are
very large; and the chief obstacles encountered are
large open drains — some few of which are far too wide
to jump, and must be forded where practicable. The
other fences are small and of an easy description,
except in parts of North Holderness ; and nowhere is
much timber to be met with. There is little — but very
little — grass to ride over ; but the plough is well
drained.

The coverts of Holderness proper are almost all of
gorse (or, as it is termed in the vernacular of the
country, whin) the sole exception being at Rise and
Burton Constable (Sir T. Constable\s) . The most
famous of these gorses, and the one which is
credited with perhaps as many good runs as the rest
put together, is Dringho. It has always been noted
for an expecially stout breed of foxes ; and belongs,
together with all the credit due to its excellence, to
Mr Bethell of Rise. There are also good whin coverts
at Catfoss, Wassand (Mr. Constable's), Barmston,
Owstwick, and Humbleton, with Blacksmith's Whin,
&c., and stick heaps here and there that are very
tempting to foxes. Hounds have every chance in
Holderness proper ; for the enclosures are large, there
are very few hares, and the coverts are often six or
seven miles apart, while their field is a small one and

410 The Hunting Countries of England,

gives them plenty of room. The farmers of Holder-
ness are a thorough race of sportmen. They go out
to see all the sport they can; and besides the con-
sideration which they are naturally ready to pay to
hounds, they do not forget that their one horse has to
last them the day, which may be a long one and may
moreover end in a twenty-mile ride home. Conse-
quently they watch hounds without riding too close on
their backs. Some of the chief meets for Holdernesa
proper are Brandesburton (from which Dringho Gorse
is drawn, and whence sport is always had), Fording-
liam Bridg-e, Rise Park, Wassand, Hatfield Station,
and Danthorpe Hall. The above are all situated in the
best part of Holderness proper ; and the most favourite-
coverts are drawn from them. Burton Agnes must be
added as a good meet and sure find in North Holder-
ness. It belongs to Sir H. Boynton. And Lowthorpe,.
too, is another popular fixture for the same day of the
weetc.

Monday and Thursday are the days for Holderness-
proper; Tuesday and Friday for the Wold district.
On Mondays and Thursdays hounds generally have
fifteen to twenty miles to go to covert and frequently
still longer distances to return. On Fridays, too,
they often have very long journeys.

Taking- Beverley as about the point of division, on_
the other side of it is the wold section of the country ;:
which is very different — being very hilly and light,
though also all plough, with the exception of several
steep grassy dales, not unlike the declivities of
Brighton Downs. As scenting ground it is very
inferior to Holderness proper ; though in spring and

The Holderness. 411

autumn hounds occasionally run hard over it. The
inclosures are of great extent ; the fences of little
magnitude — being low quicksets without a ditch.
But on such days as hounds run, only a strong well-
bred horse can climb the hills quick enough to live
with them. Indeed, there is only one qualification
that a hunter for Holderness need not possess.
Timber- jumping is an unnecessary accomplishment.
Water- jumping', on the contrary, is a virtue that is
absolutely indispensable. You may put it, indeed,
with regard to Holderness as to many and many a
country that aspires to no higher than Class II. in the
list of foxhunting countries — it costs as much to buy
a first-rate horse for such a country as to find a
suitable animal for the cream of the Shires. Is it
worth doing ? Of course it is ; if your foxhunting
lines lie in such places. If you are obliged to be
there, you will naturally like to be as well mounted as
you can. You are not likely to select an inferior
country of your own choice : but if you are looking
about for a sphere in which to spend money upon horse-
flesh, you will in all probability choose a part of the
world which seems to you to offer most in return for
the investment. That taking part with the Holder-
ness is viewed from this light is proved by the fact
that very often not more than two or three red coats
reach the covert-side — and these do not invariably
accompany hounds in their search for an afternoon fox.
The landowners of the county mostly preserve foxes,
because it is according to the spirit and custom of
Yorkshire so to do (and it is said the stock of foxes is
increasing rapidly with the Holderness). But they

412 The Hunting Countries of England.

are by no means all open to tlie soft impeacliment
tliat they are rabid foxhunters. On the contrary^ tbe
farmers are the men who cbiefly ride and bunt. Witb
tbem it is a sworn principle and practice, inherent and
maintained, and tbey are the truest friends of the
Hunt.

The coverts of the Wolds are of a much larger
description than those found in the lower ground by
the sea, and there are many woods of considerable
size — some of the principal ones being Lockington
Wood, Neswick and South Dalton Woods, the coverts
about Londesborough, the Bygate, Bentley, and
Bishop Burton Woods. Mr Christopher Sykes has
large woods at Brantingham Thorpe, and Colonel
Broadley the same at Welt on. Lord Herries always
has plenty of foxes at his coverts at Everingham.
Houghton Wood is never without one ; nor are Mr.
Burton's coverts at Cherry Burton : and there is a
good wood at Etton near the Kennels. The Ray well
Woods are generally tenanted ; and in the hilly
country of Kilnwick Percy Admiral Duncombe has
large coverts. There are also good coverts at Arras :
and a fine wood at Holme.

Among the best Wold meets are those of Sunder-
landwick, Neswick, Arras, and Etton Kennels, with
Everingham Park, which is amid flat low ground and
in as good a country as any part of Holderness.
Beverley Grand Stand is occasionally advertised as a
kind of holiday-meet for the people of Beverley.
There is, however, nice country near Beverley and
Scorboro', where Mr. Hall lived for so long.

Between the foot of the Wolds and Howden is a

The Holderness. 413

large tract quite equal to any part of Holderness
proper ; but more difficult to ride over, as tlie fences
grow mucli stronger. This district, thougli, lias
hitherto been but little hunted, and foxes have been
by no means too plentiful.

414 The Hunting Countries of England.

THE OAKLEY.*

Feom Bedford to Wellingboro', and from Kimbolton
to Newport Pagnell, Bletchley, and Leighton Buzzard^
gives an approximate idea of the extent of the Oakley
country, as at present hunted. A large strip along
the southern border has long been on loan to the
WhaddonChase;,the Hertfordshire and the Cambridge-
shire, and the greater part of this has recently been
reclaimed. Thus, though Mr. Stanford's map was
practically correct at the time it was coloured in, it by
no means shows either what is the range of Oakley
territory, nor the boundaries to which the Oakley
limit themselves at the present day. Briefly, then,
they now hunt down to their limits at Bletchley_,
Leighton, and Toddington, but still lend Silsoe and
Chicksands to the Hertfordshire, Northill etcetera to
the Cambridgeshire, and Southill to both packs.
This renewal of their right of country became neces-
sary on the alteration in the management of the Hunt,
as arranged four years ago. Mr. Robert Arkwright,
who had for six and twenty years so ably carried on
the Hunt, wielded the horn so successfully, and

* Vide Stauford's " Hunting Map," Sheet 16, and Hobson's
Poxlmutiug Atlas.

The Oakley. 415

brought the pack to so high a standard^, found himself
unable longer to sustain the strain of four days a
weekj and accordingly tendered his resignation. Not
unnaturally, it was found difficult to hit upon a
successor at all adequate to fill his place. At length
the gap was bridged over by Mr. Arkwright finding a
collaborateur who would share the work with him :
and, since then, he and Mr. T. Macan have, with the
help of a committee, kept things going as smoothly
and satisfactorily as ever. Mr. Arkwright hunts
the lady pack twice a week in the northern, or wood-
land, part of the country, while Mr. Macan, with
Whitmore as his huntsman, works the more open
country of the south and east with the dog pack two
other days. Mr. Arkwright continues to superintend
his Kennel, with Whitmore as his kennel huntsman
(and as first whip on the days Mr. Arkwright hunts) .
Mr. Macan sees that the stable is kept up to service
pitch.

The present series of sketches does not aim at
touching more than passingly on the packs of the
different countries; but, were it permissible, too
much could scarcely be said about the Oakley hounds.
At least fifty years ago the pack existed as the
property of the then Duke of Bedford. Next they
belonged to the country, who sold them to
Mr. Arkwright. The latter added to them large
drafts from the Belvoir and Brocklesby, and, by
dint of a quarter of a century of skilful breeding,
built up a grand pack — which, on his proffering his
resignation four years ago, the present Duke of
Bedford purchased from him, and generously presented

416 The Hunting Countries of England.

to the liunt. Tliey are remarkable for true symmetry,
thorough working qualities, and striking fashion.
The Kennels are at Milton Ernest, near Oakley
Station, about half a dozen miles from Bedford.

A fair notion of the Oakley Country — or at least of
its more open portion — may be gathered from the
window of a railway carriage as it bears you from
Bedford to Wellingboro'. Pay the Bxtra shillings for
a seat in a Pullman car, and you may almost dwell at
the fences and give time for the pack to feather over a
fallow. A quiet undulating surface of tillage, glorious
in summer, dull in winter : cut and partitioned by easy
thorn fences with ditches that, like all others, look
delightfully insignificant from the cushioned seat of a
train, but that vary up to unexpected width when
under trial from the pigskin — this is the view pre-
sented. You see nothing of the woods; and your
soul, unless mated to agriculture, is not likely to
be deeply stirred as you whisk through the corn-fields.
There will be none of the blood-rushing that, after
four summer months of London and with the Sundays
half through Trinity, makes you rise to the gleam of
the Harboro^ pastures, and may even tempt you to
frighten a sleepy fellow-passenger out of his wits with
an unmuffled view holloa. But there is honest prose
about the view. It looks like steady foxhunting —
noses down and sterns waving, a fox to be wearied
down, and a pack to be marked and watched for the
work it is doing. And such is truly the Oakley
country. It is mostly flat; it is very mostly plough ;
and the rest is woodland. But it is a right good
hound-country; and a fair horse must be ridden there.

The Oakley, 417

The steam ploug'li lias been driving* its villanoua
grooves througli the soil of late years — perhaps to the
benefit of hounds., certainly to the discomfiture of
horses,, and — with the sad experience of two wet
seasons — apparently to the disadvantage of farmers,
who in many cases will have no more of it. So, when
a scent rages, horses cannot live with hounds — though,
truth to tell, scent does not rage here more habitually
than on other well-tilled ground. The woodlands
have the better scenting soil, at all events in early
autumn and late spring. And the woods of the
Oakley are everywhere well-rided. It is always
possible to get about them. They are of no great
width, and only a stranger need ever be afraid of
getting lost.

It is only in the lately reclaimed Woburn district
that anything like a real hill is to be seen. Here the
soil changes to a sandy description, and rises and falls
in some stiff slopes. Just north of this, again, we
come to the only part of the country that lays claim to
possessing more than the thinnest scattering of grass.
Round Newport Pagnell there is a good deal of nice
meadow land. But, it may be repeated, the Oakley
country as a whole is flat plough, containing very
many coverts. These coverts are, generally speaking,
excellently preserved — and so, though it is always
easy to find a fox, it is often equally easy to change on
to a fresh one, as hounds bring a line through a covert.

The fences are much the same throughout — except
that round Thurleigh are a certain number of doubles.
The ditches are often blind and often wide. Water in
a jumpable form is seldom met with. The horse,

G G

418 The Hunting Countries of England.

like the hound, for the country^ must possess both
strength and breeding ; else he will tire in the long
days in deep ground, or fail at a pinch, when called
upon to gallop and jump under difficulties. The
shorter his legs and the stronger his back, the more
serviceable is he likely to be.

From London you may easily see the Oakley for
yourself. From St. Pancras (Midland) to Bedford is
but little over an hour, and will put you in reach of
most of the open country on that side. Bletchley
Junction (by L. & N. W.) will do the same for you on
the west, while Sharnbrook, some eight miles farther
on than Bedford, is the best landing-place for the
woods in the upper portion of the country.

The line of division marking that part hunted by
Mr. Arkwright in person and that worked by his
confrerej runs at about right angles with the Midland
Railway, cutting it at Sharnbrook, reaching to
Kimbolton on the one side, and following the River
Ouse to Olney on the other.

Tuesday and Saturday are the days for the wood-
lands— of which those in the extreme west, viz.,
Easton Wood, Yardley Chace, and Horton Wood, are
neutral with the Duke of Grafton. These all possess
excellent grass rides, that even in mid-winter are
scarcely too deep. They hold a capital scent, and are
of the greatest value for autumn and spring hunting,
but are not now so well stocked with foxes as for-
merly. No absolute rule for distribution of days and
meets is followed ; but Tuesday is more often in the
Harrold district, of which some of the leading fixtures
are — Dungee Corner, a very favourite meet, for the

The Oakley. 419

Harrold Woods (Lord Cowper's)^ whence they get
on to Strixton, where are some nice, and smaller,
coverts of Lord Spencer^s. These last are looked
after by some very sporting farmers and produce
many a run. Nunn Wood is another good draw here-
abouts. Odell is named for Odell Wood, and
Colworth for Mr. Magniac's coverts. Knotting Fox
is the Duke of Bedford^s and a great stronghold.
Easton Wood is generally advertised when The
Chace (the property of Lord Northampton) is to be
scoured ; and round the outsides of these great woods
is a good deal of grass, which also extends to Bray-
field and on by Newport Pagnell, as above-mentioned,
and to Northampton on the north-west.

Saturday is almost always for the Kimbolton side,
where perhaps the best sport is had, and a run over
the most favoured of the Fitzwilliam country is
frequently looked for. Risley Toll-Bar is one of the
best-known meets, and commands Melchbourne,
Keysoe Park, or Shelton Gorse. Melchbourne itself
is often advertised. It belongs to Lord St. John,
who, though not riding himself, is an excellent fi-iend
to the Hunt. Keysoe Park is Mr. Crawley's, and
well-cared for in the interests of foxhunting. Shelton
Gorse is the only artificial covert in the Oakley
country, and lies close to Stanwick Pastures, the well-
known Fitzwilliam covert, just over the border. For
the Kimbolton Woods themselves Kimbolton and
Swineshead or Peetenhall are the fixtures. The Duke of
Manchester not only has his coverts always full of the
stoutest of foxes for the Hunt, but he and all his
family take an active part in the field.
G G 2

420 The Hunting Countries of England,

Mr. Macan^s days for the lower^ or open^ portion of
the country are Monday and Thursday. Monday is
usually told off for the south and south-west of the
town of Bedford — e.g., Bromham, for the coverts of
Hangers^ Bromham Spinnies, and Salem Thrift;
Wootton_, for a good covert of Sir C. Payne's ; Cran-
field, for Marston Thrift (where the Duke of Bedford
has always plenty of foxes) ; Moulsoe Village for
Moulsoe Wood and Drake's Gorse (the latter planted
by Lord Carrington^ who owns all Moulsoe^ and is
another right good friend to the Oakley Hunt) ;
Chicheley (Mr. Chester's) for the fine covert of
Thick Thorn and on to Sherrington Woods (Mr.
Tyrringham's) ; and Turvey, round which Mr. F.
Higgins has many foxes.

Thursday is for the Thurleigh side, where the
coverts are smaller and the country more open than
anywhere else. From the White Lion^ Ravensden,
they may draw the coverts of Ravensden Grange or
Putnoe ; from Renhold Capt. P. Turner's good wood
is adjacent. In the St. Neot's neighbourhood are
the meets of Roxton^ Hail-Weston (where is a good
covert), Bushmead (on the borders of the Cambridge-
shire), Little Staughton and Thurley Windmill.

No Hunt is more staunchly supported by its
members, and the country generally, than the Oakley.
Foxhunting is actively upheld throughout its breadth
by preservation, and, if need be, by purse. And
conspicuous among the leading supporters are the
Dukes of Bedford and Manchester, Lord Cowper,
Mr. Whitbread, Mr. Magniac, Mr. H. Thornton,, and
Lord Charles Russell. The last-named has taken the

The Oakley. 421

greatest possible interest in the Hunt for nearly half
a century, and maintains it to the utmost still. In
former days he was a celebrated rider, and though
now over seventy years of age, he still stays out with
hounds till they turn for Kennel, and will ride longer
distances to meet them than will most younger men —
while their breeding and kennel-management is ever
a source of keen enjoyment to him.

422 The Hunting Countries of England.

THE NORTH HEREFORDSHIRE.*

Much excellent foxhunting is enacted all along tlie
border of Wales — and even as far up the sides of its
rugged mountains as is by any means practicable.
Herefordsbire is a county of apples and bullocks,
hops and cereals. Orchards and meadows, hop
gardens and cornfields succeed and intermingle with
each other in curious confusion ; and the hound
throws his note among them all, every time he leaves
covert on a scent. Herefordshire is cultivated as
carefully, as miscellaneously, and almost on as minia-
ture a scale, as a poor-allotment garden. The same
red clay apparently serves equally well for all
purposes. Doubtless it has its degrees of virtue, or
why should the grazier often be called upon for four
pounds rent per acre, the tiller of the soil but twenty-
five shillings for his oatland, while the cider maker
pays heavily for his orchard, and the hop grower a
fancy price for a snug corner ? But, for all that, each

* Vide Stanford's " Hunting Map," Sheet 14. Hobson's
Foxhunting Atlas has a patent, and therefore unimportant,
misprint in entitling the country in question the South Here-
fordshire.

The North Herefordshire. 423

occupies the said red clay — a cold, unscenting soil^
differing of course according- to what is grown on its
surface, and differing also according to the weather of
the moment^ but never offering more than negative
assistance to the efforts of the foxhound.

The North Herefordshire Country undulates more
gently than some of its near neighbours. It is not
so rug'ged and hilly as the Ludlow, nor broken with
such heights as cross the face of the Ledbury. It has
more than an average of grass along its river sides ;
corn is grown on the top of every rise, and hops and
apples crowd in wherever they are best sheltered and
the soil is suitable. A hill rises here and there, and
its sides usually offer footing for a large covert, or
chain of coverts. The most notable of these is
Dinmore, which stands up alone in the middle of
the country, and bears several good woods on its
shoulders. Round its base winds the River Lag,
which runs down the middle of the Country, and
whose valley is the greenest, the most open and the
best scenting, district in the Hunt.

The position of the North Herefordshire with
reference to London is a point that need scarcely be
touched upon : as a five hours' journey (by Great
Western) is likely to require some attraction more
powerful even than foxhunting (be it of the purest
as well as of the simplest type). You know where
the city of Hereford lies ; and it is sufficient to say
that between it and Leominster (some twelve miles
due north) lies the bulk of the North Herefordshire
Country, bounded on the east by the River Froome,
and having some recognised but intangible boundary

424 The Hunting Countries of England.

line to divide it on tlie west from The Eadnor and
West Hereford.

The Kennels are at Whitecross, close to the town
of Hereford, were built by Mr. John Arkwright, and
are now lent by him to the country. The present
Master is Col. Hey wood; and under his care the
little pack has risen to high proficiency and is built of
the best of blood.

How the Hereford, whole and undivided, came to
be formed into two separate Hunts was briefly as
follows. Some years ago Sir Velters Cornwell and
Mr. J. H. Arkwright, as partners, hunted the
Herefordshire Country in its entirety — the former
working the southern portion with half the pack, Mr.
Arkwright the northern with the other half; and the
hounds being kept at the Whitecross Kennels. This
led eventually to Mr. Arkwright building other
Kennels at his place at Hampton Court, and to the
Country being divided into North and South. Capt.
Helme afterwards reunited it for one season; but it
soon relapsed again into a division. Mr. F. Piatt
bought a pack of hounds of Mr. Villebois for the
North Herefordshire Country ; and the ladies of these,
with additions made by Col. Heywood, have formed
the present pack — which is said to have worked an
improvement in sport, commensurate with the trouble
that has been taken with its development.

The fertility of the soil of North Hereford extends
its influence to the growth of timber as well as to the
varied and lighter assortment already enumerated.
Every hedgerow is set thick with spreading trees;
and, as the inclosures are, as a rule, of very narrowed

The North Herefordshire. 425

dimensions, the whole surface of the country is more
or less draped with foliage. The bearing of this
upon foxhunting is that the range of sight is
consequently very limited; and a sinking fox is
never to be viewed till he is handled. And, what is
still more to the point, the small size of the enclosures
is all against hounds — as they are debarred from
flinging wide or carrying a steady head for any
distance, while their fox is constantly tempted to
dodge down the hedgerows and seldom even runs the
middle of the field.

The' Iisdges are of thorn, hazel, and what-not — of
no great height, but ragged and thick. Sometimes
they are set on a low bank, but more often rest on a
level surface, with a ditch on one side, whose depth
may be probed, but is seldom apparent to the clearest
vision of horse or man, owing to the veil of grass and
**" rough stuff ^' that generally shrouds it. The fence
that most often impedes the way of the North Here-
fordshire sportsman is one that is most dangerous to
the daring ; but, while really safer to the timid man,
cannot but prove a trial to one who has in any way
lost his nerve. He who is rash will hold light such
an easy fence ; and may fall in his careless hurry.
He who fears a fall will give his horse plenty of time
to pick his way, but will find it impossible to forget
that this is the trap that caught him so often in hot
youth. It is not a country that I, for one, should
select for my declining years and nerve. Bach veiled
fence would then be as a jog to the memory of mishap,
and each blind ditch would seem a pitfall set to bring
one^s hunting career to a miserable close. To secure

426 The Hunting Countries of England.

safe conveyance over it at any time, your horse should
be steady, cautious and clever — one that will stop for
some seconds well away from the brink of the half-
hidden ditch, examine it carefully with eye and nostril
full-extended, and be ready at the word '^Come Up !"
to spring far enough to light in the middle of the
hedge, and finally to bore his way through. It is,
perhaps, advisable to give a friend a mount before
committing yourself to a late-purchase, of whose
capacities, as above defined, you are not quite certain.
In most Hunts you will find some unsuspecting man,
who is fond of a ride and thinks he is being mounted
for charity's sake. Failing such a personage ready to
hand, it will be as well to send your groom (who has
already learned a little too much to volunteer for the
saddle) with a lungeing rein and an assistant, to lead
the new acquisition over some trappy places.

As regards other requisites for the horse for Here-
fordshire, it must be borne in mind that he has to be
a good deal in stiff clay that is always tiring and
often deep. He may not be required to go a great
pace over, or through, it ; but he has got his journey
home to perform afterwards ; and it is just as well for
your sake that he should not be tired before he sets
about it. So let him have strength enough for the
day^s work : and to bring you back without
endangering your joint safety. For the rest — if you
want " appearance " you must of course pay for it.
Appearances are, no doubt, as much a matter of
moment in Herefordshire as elsewhere : but if you
can afford to set them at naught, you can further
afford to mount yourself with tolerable economy to

The North Herefordshire. 427

ride to hounds there. Many horses of high-class
used to be bred in the county ; but of late years it
has become an axiom that bullocks pay best, and the
nobler beast — though not entirely set aside — has lost
much of his nobility.

There is one difficulty to straight progress over the
country in question which has yet to be described.
This is what is known in local parlance as a " dingle/^
and is much equivalent to the " nullah '' of India, and
the ^'^ bottom'^ of Leicestershire. The latter answers
most closely to it ; as, with the watercourse, it gives
in a guard-hedge on one side or both. It is seldom
to be jumped ; and can only be scrambled through in
places where the stream runs over sound ground,
where the banks are not too deep and steep, and
where the overhanging hedge can be bored through.
Frequently your passage may be entirely stayed by
one of these dingles ; and you may wander up and
down its banks for half a mile without a chance of
crossing. A knowledge of the country is the only
means that will avail to keep you clear of such a
difficulty; and till you have acquired this you must
be content to rely upon others for warning and for
guidance.

The North Herefordshire hunt twice a week —
Monday and Thursday to wit. The former day is for
the Leominster side, the latter for that of Hereford.

Among the Monday meets are Berrington for Lord
Rodney's preserves on the hillside above Leominster,
the chief covert being the Long Wood. Docklow is
for Marston Firs, notable for good runs, and Bilfield
Gorse another favourite draw. Hampton Court, the

428 The Hunting Countries of England,

seat of Mr. J. Arkwright, the late Master, is a very
leading fixture, and his home- coverts always provide
sport for the Hunt — the Kennel- covert. Hell Holes,
aaid Wig Wood all being full of foxes. Fordbridge
or Hope-under-Dinmore is the usual advertisement for
the great woods on and near the Dinmore Hill. These
and the coverts round Brierley constitute the chief
woodlands of the Country — the names of the most
important items being Ivington Camp, West Hope,
Burghope, and Wellington Wood (under which last
runs the railway tunnel). From Edwin's Wood (the
property of Mr. Childs) they go on to draw Breden-
bury Plantations, which belong to Mr. H. Barneby,
and which are always a sure find, though the owner
takes no part in the chase. From England's Gate
they draw the wood of Tankard's Walls, with Dewdale
Hope to follow. Pencombe is often named; and
Ullinswick for Brox Ash and perhaps Duke's Wood.
From the Trumpet the draw is likely to be Hennor.
Burton -Court and Dilwyn are two meets in the
north-west.

Among the Thursday meets are Sutton Walls, for
the fringe of rough covert round the edge of the old
Wall Hill Camp, where a fox is generally to be found
early in the season. Burley Gate is the probable meet
for Morton Wood. Ocle Court is the seat of the
present master ; and from it they draw Cowarne
(belonging to a good fox preserver. Major Bourne)
and Whit wick. These are two celebrated coverts in
the best country in the Hunt, and furnish many good
runs — often to Hall Court and Cannon-Froome, which
last is also a good meet and is the property of Mr.

The North Herefordshire. 429

John Hopton. Hall Court belongs to Major J.
Browne, Master of the South Staffordshire, who
always has a good fox at home — giving frequently a
run back to Cowarne. West Hide is a great wood of
perhaps three hundred acres in all, clothing the side
of a steep ridge in a semicircular course, and is a great
stronghold. Ashperton is a meet with some good
coverts ; while to the south-west again are other
extensive woods — e.g., Credenhill, Badinage, and
Garnons (Sir H. Coxwell's). Lugwardine Court is
the seat of Sir H. Croft, and is always the scene of the
meet following upon the Herefordshire Hunt Ball — an
old and well-sustained institution. The coverts drawn
are usually Swanley Wood, Moorend Covert^ and
eventually, perhaps. West Hide Wood.

430 The Hunting Countries of England,

THE DUKE OE BUCCLEUCH'S.*

Part of Northumberland^ all Roxburgh^ part of
Berwickshire and all Selkirk go to make up tbe
territory now bunted by tbe Duke of Buccleuch's
bounds — forming altogetber an area some forty-iive
miles across, eitber way. Tbe Holderness is a big
country ; but tbe Duke\s leaves it in insignificance.
At first sigbt it would appear marvellous bow a five-
<iays-a-week pack can deal witb sucb an extent of
ground. But steam power, if it cannot, like elec-
tricity, altogetber ignore distance, can at least modify
it; and a bandy railway offers covert- conveyance to
tbe more remote points. It is only tbis year (1880)
tbat bis Grace bas added Englisb ground to bis
Scotcb dominion — tbe dissolution of tbe Northumber-
land and Berwick Hunt baving led to tbat country
being absorbed in tbree sections, by tbe North
Berwickshire, Lord Percy, and the Duke respec-
tively.

The basins of the Tweed and the Teviot virtually
form his present bunting-ground — which, in its main
characteristics, will be found much alike on eitber

* Vide Stanford's " Hunting Map," Sheets 1 and 2. Also
Hobson's Foxhunting Atlas, and Rutherford's Border Map.

The Duke of Buccleueh's. 431

side of the Border. Waves of rich, undulating,
arable form the ground-work, broken here and there
by detached olf-shoots of the mountain ranges
looming- on the outskirts. The soil, though fertile
and highly tilled, is never deep, and carries a scent
as it carries a horse — firmly and steadily, almost
uniformly. The in-country hills are steep but ride-
able ; and breed a race of foxes that can travel like
wolves. When winter weather, or a hill-pack, has
driven them down from their upper fastnesses, they
are often to be found at great distances from their
former home, and will give fine sport in their efforts to
return. A blown fox can no more mount a steep
ascent than a blown horse ; and so, if pressed at first,
they will scarcely do more than skirt the hillsides or
turn down again, as soon as he reaches them. The
ploughed land of these open vales possesses a stronger
combination of the essentials for enjoyable sport than
are often credited to cultivation and crop-growing.
The five-years- system on which it is tilled gives two
years to grass, one to turnips, and two to corn. A
foxhunter need not be a farmer to know that even
new grass will carry a scent on most soils, or that
turnips generally speak strongly to a fox^s passage.
But he must accept the testimony of the natives that,
whether in Northumberland or just over the border,
hounds can almost always bring a fair head across
these northern fallows. Again, the grass — which a
mind of very ordinary mathematical capacity will
understand to be at all times two-fifths of the whole —
is of course sound going; while the same evidence
vouches for the fact that turnips and fallows may be

432 The Hunting Countries of England.

galloped over more readily than deep grass elsewhere.
The steam cultivator has had its turn at the land, is
generally considered to have played its part for the
present, and the soil has been allowed to settle
again — to be subjected only to the milder combing of
the horse plough. The fact that the soil is but a kind
of decayed " whinstone " lying on the top of the stone
itself, will account for its riding so light under all
conditions.

Each field is from twenty to fifty acres in extent —
more of them, perhaps, being near the latter size than
the former. There is nothing, therefore, to hinder a
fox if inclined to a straight course — which, to do him
justice, he generally is, at all events if a member of
the hill breed. In Northumberland there are but few
trees in the hedgerows ; and the undulating slopes lie
open to the view for miles — all to the advantage of
the huntsman, and all against the fox. Over the
border, frequent belts of trees break the view, and
tempt foxes to run their length. Hounds can press
them then more readily than in the open ; and horse-
men, galloping freely outside, can keep pace readily
enough — till, perhaps, a sudden turn throws them a
field to the bad, and sends them round to seek an
outlet. In Northumberland the Hunt is entirely
dependent on whin (gorse) coverts — all of natural
origin, but in many instances now civilised into the
category of rent-producing property. In Roxburgh
there are two fine woodlands. Long Newton and
Beaumont, each of which is dignified by the inhabi-
tants of its neighbourhood with the title of The
Forest. These, with Ancrum and the Eildon Hills,

The Duke of Bueeleueh's. 433

are not only valuable for cubliunting, but^ wben well
rattled,, serve as a source of supply to tlie surrounding
country. Within the borders of Berwickshire again
are the Hirsel Woods (Lord Homers) which answer
the same purpose.

The kennels are at St. BoswelPs^ on the line of
railway which joins Berwick-on-Tweed, Kelso, and
Edinburgh. The pack has been in the Ducal family
for some generations ; and has long been noted for
speed and stoutness. The present hounds, whose
breeding has, until quite lately, been confined almost
entirely to home resources, retain these qualities in a
remarkable degree, can run all day on hill and plain
alike, and drive as closely at the end of a long run as
at its commencement. The fences of the Duke's
country are, at least on the plains, much the same
throughout — viz., chiefly thorn hedges, mended with
light post and rails, and many of them with a ditch on
one side. Sometimes the hedge is planted on a low
bank, with width enough to make it obligatory for a
horse to take it in two. These hedges are never laid
{i.e., stake-and-bound), seldom even trimmed; but
stand up ragged and thin, to form partial shelter for
cattle and sheep in the chilly winter. In many places
)^ou may force your way through them ; or, again^ by
steering somewhat to the right or left as you approach,
may hit off a spot where timber has been employed to
fill up a gap. Thus your horse should be ready to
face thorns, pop over timber, or double on-and-off.
He will seldom be called upon to fly water ; but should
be able to creep in and out of any complication. It is
especially a country in which to make a hunter clever;

H H

434 The Hunting Countries of England.

aud it is a school through which a young rider may
graduate with the greatest advantage. A big loose-
made horse is altogether out of place here. He must
be compact and well bred ; and, with strength to go
up hill and shoulders to come down, had better be on
a small scale than on an exaggerated one. In fact, a
sturdy clever thoroughbred is the best mount with the
Duke of Buccleuch^s hounds.

As a rule, but small fields go out in the Duke^s
country ; but on Mondays and Thursdays, when the
railway brings in recruits, and Northumberland,
Berwick, and Koxburgh all supply their forces, as
many as sixty to a hundred horsemen muster for the
fray — and hard riding may be witnessed in fully due
proportion to the numbers.

The country, as at present constituted, is arranged
to be hunted much as follows — the days of hunting
being, Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. A
Friday is given once a month to the rough country up
the valley of the Gala ; and once a month the same
day to the extreme north corner of Northumberland
(hunted in common with the North Berwickshire and
Lord Percy's).

Monday is for what is known as the Kelso country,
south of the Tweed and Teviot to the Cheviots, and
takes in much of the Duke's best and most open
ground. Some of the principal meets are C railing,
Eckford, Blakelaw, Lurdenlaw, and the famed Hadden
Rigg, from which so many great runs took place in
days gone by — when men used to come even fi^om
Edinburgh by coach to meet hounds at Hadden Rigg.

It was immortalised by the famous run from thence

The Duke of Bueeleueh's. 435

— more than forty years ago — to Middleton Hall, two
miles south of Wooler, where they killed their fox
without a check. The hounds found in Hadden Eigg
old plantation and went off in a moment, running fast
eastward for two fields, and then turned sharp to the
south and never put nose to the ground again, the late
Sir David Baird riding as usual alongside of the pack
got half a field's start of everyone else and was never
caught till they reached Kirknewton Tors although he
was closely pressed by the huntsman Old Williamson,
the whip Hugh Burns, Lord John Scott (the Duke's
brother), young George Grey of Milfield Hill, Mr.
Spottiswood of Spottiswood, Mr. Todd of Drygrange,
&c., &c. Out of that gallant field, Mr. Grey is per-
haps the only survivor.

On a Tuesday they go north of the Tweed, as far as
Greenlaw, West Gordon, Spottiswoode and Meller-
stain — a rougher country than the previous days. The
fences of this district are frequently faced on the one
side with stones, on the other with railings — making
it necessary for a horse to drop his hindlegs quick-
and-clever. Gorses and plantations constitute the
coverts of this neighbourhood : and the ground rises
a trifle deeper than elsewhere.

Thursday is given to the new Northumberland
portion, south of the Tweed and west of the Till —
Wark Common (with a gorse of such size, that only a
third of it is maintained up to mark at one time, the
remainder being cut as occasion requires). Fallings
Barn (Mr. Askew' s, a former master of the Northum-
berland and Berwickshire, and who provides an un-
failing gorse near by), Milfield (Mr. Grey's) — with its
2 H H

436 The Hunting Countries of England.

gorse coverts and plantations, and tlie wood o£
Flodden Hill, the property of the Marchioness of
Waterford. Mindrum is another meet, from which
the covert of that name is drawn, and afterwards
perhaps the gorses of Downham, Pawston, and
Kilham.

Saturday scatters itself over a very wide area to the
west of the Kennels. Hounds may be taken by train
to Hawick, and thence reach a considerable tract of
country on the banks of the Teviot and the Borth-
wdck. Here they get into a hilly grass district
abounding in stone walls, the coverts being chiefly
plantation. Minto, nearer home, is a leading meet,
as also is Drinkstone. The Kennels, St. BoswelFs, is
generally named with a view to Long Newton Forest,
or for the Eildon Hills, whose three peaks rear their
heads as a landmark visible over the whole of the Duke's
country. Far away, again is The Haining, near the
town of Selkirk, where there is also much hilly moor-
land. Round his Grace's residence at Bowhill, too,
are hills covered with coarse grass. And, as we get
higher into Selkirk we come upon more mountainous
ground, fit for fox-hunting only when spring has
driven it from elsewhere.

The occasional Friday, when given to the Gala
water, takes us into a wild, often precipitous, country,
where sheep find a short herbage and the fox hunter
climbs as best he may — his progress constantly stayed
by stone walls whose height is proportionate to the
number of stones to be cleared off, rather than to the
requirements of fence-making. The other Fridays
when made use of, lead to the neutral corner of Nor-

The Duke of Baecleuch's. 437

thumberland above mentioned — viz._, east of the Till
and south of the Tweed as far as Ford and Lowick —
which is not only good as a tillage country, but also
includes some thousand of acres of old grass. The chief
coverts to be drawn by the Duke's hounds will be
Riffington and Newbiggin (gorse coverts), and the
wooded banks on the east of the Till to Etal and Ford
(where the late Lord Fred FitzClarence for many years
resided and hunted). At Ford are Lady Waterford's
well-preserved coverts. Bury Hill Gorse and Wood
End Wood (about 500 to 600 acres, and the only wood
of any size in the neutral territory) are both good
coverts.

Some other leading fox preservers, besides those
already mentioned, are the Duke of Roxburgh, Sir
William Scott of Ancram, Mr. Charles Cunningham,
Sir John Majoribanks, Mr. Sprott of Riddell, Mr.
David Henderson of Abbotrule, Mr. Robert Oliver,
Mr. Baird of Stitchell, Lord Dunglass of Newton Don
(now Earl of Home), Lord Haddington (to whom
belong the Mellerstane woods). Sir George Douglas,
Lord Polwarth, Sir Hugh Campbell, Mr. Paton of
Crailing, besides many others.

Great tracts of land throughout his country belong
to the Duke of Buccleugh himself ; and it is needless
to say that on these, as on his Grace's other properties
in various parts of Great Britain, no effort is spared
to secure the wellbeing of the foxes.

438 2he Hunting Countries of England,

THE TYNEDALE.*

The first association tliat_, in the mind of a stranger,
would naturally enougli associate itself with the Tyne,
is coalmining rather than foxhunting. To ask him to
believe that the Tynedale is the best hound-country
in the North of England would probably startle him
as something altogether incongruous. " Canny New-
cassel, where arle the coals come frae" keeps itself,
comparatively, " to itself ; " and interferes with
hunting but little beyond the scope of its own smoke-
drift. Taking train on the Newcastle and Carlisle
Line, you are very soon free from black dust and tall
chimnies ; and, running along the southern bank of
the beautiful woodgirt Tyne, are shortly in as purely
a rural scene as even the river Bxe could offer. From
the railway you will not see the pick of the country —
in a hunting sense. For that you must disembark
before you get opposite the Kennels ; and strike
northwards — the Kennels being at Stagshaw, some
three miles from Corbridge Station, and about
eighteen from Newcastle.

Taking up your map, you will easily follow me in

* Vide Staufoi'd's " Huntiug Maj)," Sheets 1 and 2 ; and
Hobsou'b Foxhunting Atlas.

The Tynedale. 439

dividing tlie country into four parts, all of wliicli are
of distinct character, and in accordance with whose
variety the system of hunting the country is alone
regulated. Tyneside is one division, comprehending
the light valley and the coverts along the northern
bank of the Tyne — which it will be seen flows from
west to east along the southern edge of the Country.
Another division is the Eastern, with Stamfordham as
a centre. The third is the Western; with the kennels
as the base. And the fourth consists of the rough,
wooded, strip of the south bank of the Tyne.

The peculiarity — and superiority — of the Tynedale
among its fellows lies, however, in the fine grass of its
Western district, where for miles the hills are covered
with firm crisp turf, and the valleys with equally
green, but ranker, herbage — stretching westward
while the hills grow gradually steeper and the turf
wider and wetter, till the rugged moorland is no
longer fit for foxhunting. Nothing could be finer
than these splendid grass slopes, were they not marred
by a drawback that neither valour nor horseflesh —
nor the happiest combination of both — can avail to
efface. Were it not for this, there would be a rush to
the Tynedale that would at once ease much of the
pressure off the Quorn, the Cottesmore, and similar
suffering, overpopular, packs. This one imperfection,
so detractive as regards the country, and deterrent as
regards visitors, is found in the presence of stonewalls
such as a stag might turn from. Designed purposely
to pen in the black-faced mountain sheep, no wonder
they are beyond the wants of the veriest thruster that
ever loved a fall. Yarying fi^om four to six feet high.

440 The Hunting Countries of England.

they owe tlieir bnild in many cases to tlie '^ expert "
with lime and trowel, rather than to the simple
labourer who merely piles stone upon stone with a
guileless indifference to how soon he may be called
upon to be paid to do the same work over again. Their
tops are coped with angular pieces of rock, more often
cemented together with plaster, and whose sharp
edges will cut a horse^s legs as readily and deeply as
an operator's knife. Frequently a wooden railing
lends further assistance to the stone coping, and laughs
at the approach of anything with less power of flight
than a bird — or a foxhound. Consequently, riding to
hounds on the Tynedale grass is little more than a
fagon de parler ; and in actual fact is limited to
watching them, with awe and respect, in the more or
less remote distance. While they are glancing over
the greensward and flinging the wall behind them,
you and others (luckily not many) are taking your
turn in single file at the bridle gates, and regarding
their doings the more intently that you can have none
of the fun of riding over them. In this way men have
an open page laid quietly out before their eyes, and
from it they may, no doubt, learn better than from
page after page hurriedly skimmed; They cannot
devote talent and energy to '' brilliant horsemanship ^'
here ; so there is nothing for it but to watch and study
hounds. This they fully recognise — and claim to
carry out. In a word, the cream of the Tynedale is a
hound as opposed to a riding country. If you know
your way about, or are content to follow some one
who does, you may see a great deal of what hounds
are doing. Go beyond that, attempt to ride to them.

The Tynedale. 441

and your career will soon end in mortification and a
return to the ways of tlie more modest. The latter
(perhaps with scorn in their glance) have been work-
ing along the upper ridges^ taking advantage of gates
where they offered,, or, failing these, of gaps now, or
previously torn down in the stonewalls. All the time
they avoid as much as possible the lower and deeper
ground, trusting to their knowledge of country, and
of the run of foxes, to keep them on sound going and
on some sort of terms with the pack. As above noted,
all the Tynedale country is of a very undulating
character; but as you get westward it becomes more
and more confirmedly hilly, and the valleys attain a
softer consistency. That they may cope with the hills
and walls, it follows, naturally, that hounds must have
the strongest of backs and quarters to carry them up,
and the best of shoulders to bring them down, in
their jumping and galloping. Mr. George Fenwick^s
pack possess these essentials in the highest degree.
And another requisite, to which they have been bred
and schooled, is to be as much as possible independent
of extraneous help. As a matter of necessity they can
receive little or none in their strong-scenting stone-
wall country ; and they are educated to look for vtvj
little elsewhere. Lest the power and pace of the
grass should tend in any degree to induce flightiness,
it is made a rule, for each division of the pack, that a
day on the grass shall be succeeded by a day in the
East Country or the Yalley of the Tyne, where they
must work hard and ^' turn short. ^' Mr. Fenwick
purchased the foundation of his present pack about a
dozen years ago from Mr. Allgood, who held the

442 The Hunting Countries of England,

country for two seasons after the retirement of Major
Bell, who established the Tynedale pack and hunted
the country thirteen seasons. Since then he has
added the best and oldest of blood from whatever
direction it could be obtained.

The East, or Stamfordham, country (except that
the soil is more akin to clay) is on the other hand of
the ordinary Northumberland type — to wit, undu-
lating tillage ground with a certain intermingling of
old grass, and fenced in the same crude untrimmed
fashion as prevails further north. It is not to be
supposed by this that the fences can be galloped
through for want of repair. The Northumbrians ara
too good farmers to allow of that. Every fence is
carefully mended up at once, with either fir-strips or
dead thorns. The latter by the way, though equally
efficacious in stopping the way, and much more dis-
agreeable, one would imagine, for either horse or
bullock to force his way through, are in Northumber-
land looked upon as betokening a much less refined
and intelligent soul on the part of the farmer. The
fir-strips, though puny-looking indeed as compared
to a Leicestershire ox-rail, have quite virtue enough
in them to turn a horse over, when, as is generally
the case hereabouts, he has to meet them at a walk or
slow trot, or finds them erected on a bank where he
can only reach them in a second spring. The term
unkempt merely refers to the growth of the hedges
themselves. These, partly for the sake of shelter and
partly because it has never become the custom of the
country to lay them, are allowed to grow as high and
ragged as they please — except in some few favoured

The Tynedale. 4>^S

localities, where their top-twigs have been trimmed
annually. The fences of the Stamfordham district
also vary a good deal_, especially where this side
begins to merge into the western. Stone walls
appear by degrees ; double ditches are frequent ; and
banks are common. And this is the side most in
favour with the members of the Hunt ; for here they
can ride with hounds all day and be present at all that
goes on. The whole of the Tynedale may be said
to be good scenting-country ; and this, the open
ground, is well-favoured in this respect. Foxes are
not only well preserved and sufficiently plentiful ; but,
being a mixture between the native-hill breed and
Scotch importation of some years ago, are very stout
travellers, and very long runs have been registered
during the last few seasons. Many of the Newcastle
division of the field keep their horses at Stamford-
ham, and the Master himself finds it convenient to
lodge a couple there for his own riding. It is in this
neighbourhood that by far the largest attendance
prevails.

So far we have been speaking only of the higher
ground of the Tynedale. The third division, the
valley of the Tyne — or Tyneside — is lighter soil.
From its woods, which are individually small and
in which foxes never hang long, the upper country is
very soon reached, and a run may carry you any-
where.

Fourthly and lastly, across the Tyne is a rough
deep woodland strip — most useful for cub hunting
and spring hunting and for disciplinary purposes at
all times — and touching on an indefinite area of hill

M4^ The Hunting Countries of England.

and moorland to tlie south. The Tynedale territory,
as a matter of fact, reaches in this direction much
farther than is credited in the maps referred to.

For a visit to the Tynedale you would probably go
to Newcastle^ whence you may find yourself at Stam-
fordham, or may avail yourself of the Newcastle-and-
Carlisle Railway and be dropped at Corbridge or
other stations along the line.

The Tynedale hunt Mondays, Wednesdays, and
Fridays, with a frequent byeday on Saturday. No
particular district is told off for any one day of the
week — the requirements of the hounds being chiefly
studied in the selection of locality. The chief meets
along Tyneside are Horsley Wood, Whittle Dean,
By well Hall (the residence of the Master), Sty ford,
Aydon Dean, Beaufront, and Brunton backs — all
of which are for the nice woods along the Tyne. It
is a maxim in the country that no fox ever hangs
in covert north of the Tyne.

Among the fixtures in the east of the Country are
Dissington (the nearest meet to the town of New-
castle), Stamfordham (for Stamfordham-Heugh, a
famous covert). Belsay (near which is the good
Bitchfield Gorse, the property of Sir Arthur Middle-
ton), Shafto (Lord Decies), Matfen (Sir Edward
Blackett's), and Capheaton (Sir John Swinburne^ s)
Plantations form the chief covert in this — the most
open — part of the country.

In the west there are more gorses; and the best-
known meets are as follows — Stagshaw Kennels (with
a whin covert on the common close by), Swinburn,
Bavington, Chipchase, Countess Park (quite on the

The Tynedale. 445

edge of tlie country hunted)^ and Little Harle (Mr.
Anderson^s). Dunsmore should be mentioned as a
covert of great note not far from the Kennels. Over
the North Tyne on this side are Chesters and
Nunwick, beyond which hounds are seldom taken,
for^ though practicable for them, it would be next to
impossible to follow on horseback.

Finally, on the south bank of the main river the
meets for the woodlands are Bromley and Minster
Acres (Mr. Henry Silvertop's) — and behind these
you soon come upon grouse ground.

446 The Hunting Countries of England.

LORD PERCY'S.*

'On the maps referred to yoii will find, under the
denomination of Major Brown's, an approximation of
the country now hunted by Lord Percy in Upper
Northumberland. A part of that set down as ^^the
Northumberland and Berwickshire '' was in his hands
even previous to the demise of that Hunt ; while of
late a considerable further addition has accrued to him
by the apportionment of the territory of the deceased
between its three nearest neighbours. Belford and
Wooler were already on his northern boundary.
Now he goes as far as Ford and Lowick, and has a
joint right (with the North Berwickshire and the
Duke of Buccleuch) to the topmost corner of Eng-
land. The Cheviots on the west, and the North Sea
on the east, are his lateral boundaries — and serve to
denote his general whereabouts. A mixed and
various country is Lord Percy^s. Some of his best
will take rank with anything that is under tillage ;
some is rough and mountainous ; some is soft and
sedgey ; and a strip of it is a neat pretty vale.
Foxes are strong and plentiful ; and whatever ground

* Vide Stauford's " Hunting Map," Sheet 2, and Hobson's
Foxhunting Atlas.

Lord Percy's. 447

they run over, they seldom fail to leave a scent —
while here and there they can scarcely get away from
hounds on a day at all favourable to the latter.

The river Coquet, which cuts Northumberland into
its two divisions of North and South, acts as the
southern boundary to Lord Percy^s country. The
simplest plan — if the driest — of giving some idea of
the latter will be to take it in longitudinal sections as
Nature has laid it out, and call them respectively
A, B, C, and D, with E as the new acquisition from
the late Northumberland-and-Berwick.

Section A, then, is the sea border, and forms
about the best of the country. The railway from
Newcastle and the South to Berwick-on-Tweed runs
along this ; and introduces you to a very fair view of
it — except that it picks out little but the best of the
grass for its route. From Belford by Alnwick, down
to Felton — and between the sea coast and the Old
North Road (Newcastle to Edinbro^) defines this section,
which, as a tillage- country, is as good as anything in
England. At least such was the verdict of old Tread-
well, who came to hunt it after long experience of
crack Hunts, and laid it down that hounds carried
a better head over the plough here than over many
vaunted grass countries. It is a stiff er soil than that
of the former Northumberland-and-Berwick ; and its
enclosures, while equally extensive, are less undulat-
ing than there. With a considerable sprinkling of
old grass, the bulk of it is employed in growth of
turnips and corn, which — at all events before the
stubbles are once again under seed and the turnip
roots ploughed in — carries an extremely good scent.

4ib The Hunting Countries of England,

•and is always firm enough for galloping. The fences
— throughout Lord Percy^s country — are light and
various with characteristics much the same as belong
to the best of the Duke of Buccleuch's (already
described) — and the horse that will do for the one will
do for the other. The foxes of the country, through-
out, are of stout hill stock ; and take a great deal of
killing.

Section B may be the title of the rougher district
of Chatton, Chillingham, Eglmgham, &c., which lies
immediately west of the Old North Road just alluded
to. Here broken moorland alternates continually with
soft mossy ground, unfavourable for riding, but carry-
ing by no means a bad scent.

Next, as section C, we have the narrow vale of the
Till, or, in its earlier course, the Beamish — a pretty
but very limited strip. It is nowhere much more than
three miles broad ; and at any point a fox is likely to
run out of it either to the moorlands or to the western
hills.

Section D is still more to the west, and takes in the
lower spurs of the Cheviots — ground that only just
runs short of being absolutely mountainous. For all
that, it is better riding than is offered by section B —
for, though hilly, it is grassy and firm, while the latter
is constantly robbing your horse of his shoes and
condemning him to overreaches in its treacherous
sloughs. Ilderton, Ingram and Alnham denote where
this hilly district begins : and it stretches away in a
rideable form to Biddleston and the woody crags of
Thrunton. What is known in the north as a hill-
horse (Birth, shape, and education must be combined

Lord Percy's. -449

to meet tlie definition) can travel about this part of
the world very comfortably and safely; but it is
scarcely suited to the capacity of the southerner who
has been brought up only to gallop loosely over the
flat. There are many fine country places scattered
over this picturesque district — instances being Esling-
ton (Lord Ravens water^s) and Callaly Castle (Mr. H.
Brown's). Beyond Biddleston and Alwinton a hill-
pack carries the sport of foxhunting into the heart of
the mountains — its title being the Redewater, under
the Mastership of Mr. Rob son.

Section B is the new territory bequeathed by the
Northumberland — and^ Berwick^ with a still further
uppermost corner hunted conjointly by three packs.

Some leading meets in the different parts of Lord
Percy's country are as under — the days of meeting
being subject to arrangements scarcely concluded at
the date of writing. Monday,, Wednesday, and
Friday have hitherto been Lord Percy's days; but at
least one more per week will now be taken in.

Along the coast (which will probably still continue
to be Monday ground) are, among others, Bamburgh
Castle (once the residence of Lord Crewe, Bishop of
Durham) . There are various gorse coverts to be drawn
near, and other fixtures may be selected for the same
programme of work. Ellingham (Sir John Hagger-
ston's) comes next, with woods round it, and a fine
gorse (The Hagg, associated with many great runs)
close by. Doxford is the residence of Major Brown,
the late Master ; and there is a good gorse at Brunton
(Sir G. Grey's). About Lord Grey's seat at Howick
are woods on every side. At Ratcheugh again there

I I

450 The Hunting Countries of England.

are rocky crags to be drawn ; and almost in tlie same
district is Craster (the property of a gentleman of that
name) where the seabanks are covered with gorse.
From the kennels (at Green Eig, close to Bilton sta-
tion) or from Lesbury they draw a long wooded glen
called Callasies ; and Bank House is for the banks of
the Coquet — Newton Hall being another meet.

In the district we have denominated Section B,
Belford is advertised with the word west after it, to
denote the way hounds will " gang^' to draw — after
coming by train to Belford. With this index sub-
joined, it is understood that the adjacent moorland,
with its gorses and young plantations, will be visited.
Chatton is a meet from which it may happen that Lord
Tankerville^s park at Chillingham may be run through
— in which case hounds must '' ware " wild cattle and
deer, and you, as an unprotected horseman in a red
coat, should keep well on the look-out for the pat-
riarch-of-the-herd. Common Flat is another meet ;
and so is the great rocky fastness of Hebron Wood.
From Eglingham they draw Beanley Wood, etc. ; and
at Leamington Branch are good plantations.

In section C is Fowberry Park, the principal covert
from which is a rough damp place, in Northumberland
yclept a moss. Thence they get on to Lilburn (Mr.
Collingwood's), Ilderton Decoy, and Percy's Cross (a
fine gorse) . By the way, the Northumberland gorses
were as completely nipped, and rendered useless, by
the frost last winter as were those of the Midland
Counties.

Section D comes into most notice in the spring, and
gives Lord Percy the chance of making a later — and

Lord Percy's. 451

an earlier — season than falls to tlie lot of most masters.
Ilderton is a favourite meet, for whicli hounds come
overniglit to the kennels at Powburn_, and from which
they have whins and hills to draw, as well as the dell
of Roddam Dean. From Ingram they look for a fox
among the " glitters " {Anglice, stones and boulders),
and may draw on to Percy's Cross or go to Glanton
Pike (a fine large gorse on the hillside) . There are
good coverts at Burton — the meet being there, or
at Trewitt (Sir W. Armstrong's) where many new
plantations have been made. Thrunton Crag is a place
that might fairly be drawn every day of the week —
being some miles of wooded rocky hill.

Lord Percy's newly acquired country (Section E in
our classification) is of a somewhat rough description.
Here they ma}^ meet at Belford, to draw north — by
Middleton Hall, Detchant, and Kyloe. These are all
large woods, composing the only real woodland in that
part of the country. On the other hand, they may
meet at Beal, with a view to working homewards.
Speaking generally, the whole of this district is made
up of woodland and moorland. Doddington is a likely
meet — or Ford, for Lady Waterford's home coverts.
A good deal of whin grows here, as also on Fenton
Hill (Mr. F. Lambton's property and place of resi-
dence). At Horton Hill are plantations and gorses,
belonging to Mr. G. Culley of Fowberry.

All that now remains to be mentioned of Lord
Percy's territory is the uppermost part of the country,
which he is to visit once a month (the Duke of Buc-
cleuch and Major Baillie-Hamilton — of the Berwick-
shire— engaging to do the same). To do this hounds
I I 2

452 The Hunting Countries of England.

will have to be brought overniglit, or by train — in the
latter case probably to Beal station. The principal
meets on Lord Percy^s side have hitherto been Hag-
gerston (Capt. Leyland's) — drawing on to Bowsden
Whin (Mr. Gregson^s) and Berrington Dean (the
property of Lord Grey). Woodend Wood (Mr. Sit-
well^s) lies in the centre of this neutral ground — and
is full of foxes. Round Berrington Dean is a great
deal of nice grass. Longridge and Cheswick are the
points marking a good district which may be drawn
from either.

Good and long runs as so often take place in
Northumberland,, it seldom happens bnt that a single
horse will do the day^s work. In fact^ second horses
have never been made an institution of the north. A
sturdy well-bred one is the horse of the country ; and
it is expected of him that he should be equal to as
many hours in the field as a foxhound. In most of
the county of Northumberland he travels on the top
of the ground — though that ground may often be hilly,
and at times even rocky. It is probably his native
soil; for horse breeding is much in vogue on the
border^ whether with a view to profit or to pastime.
The fences, though intricate, fail to puzzle or distress
him ; while they seldom possess breadth or height
enough to call for great effort. Thus, if his shoulders
be good and his back strong, he is likely to reach home
again at night without undue exhaustion of frame or
limb — though his stature may not approach the
standard that the same burden he had been carrying-
all day would demand in a heavier country.

I am told — as a peculiarity of North Northumber-

Lord Percy's. 458

land — that it has tlie effect of making all hounds run
mute^ and that^ however much cry they possess on first
introduction to the country, they invariably lose it after
a short experience there. The scent may possibly have
some curious property, leading to such a result ; but
why that result should be universal it is difficult indeed
to understand. That hounds already naturally inclined
to silence (in their case deserving any other epithet
than golden) should be encouraged and confirmed in
it by the nature of the country, is intelligible enough ;
for the wide open inclosures and thin straggling fences
offer no check whatever to their direct progress. Their
fox is not led to deviate much as he goes ; while they
can carry a head all the time, and keep moving as
quick as the scent will carry them.

Lord Percy resides at Alnwick Castle ; his Kennels
being, as above mentioned, at Green Rig. His hounds
were purchased from Major Brown, who had previously
bought them at an almost unprecedented price from
Lord Poltimore. Alnwick and Eothbury are the
points a visitor might select as posts of observation,
for hunting intended. And, finally, it may be noted
that, for spring and autumn hunting, no better sphere
than that of Lord Percy's exists.

454i The Hunting Countries of England,

THE MORPETH.*

Mid-Northumberland lias for the last three years
been hunted by Mr. J. B. Cookson — his father,, Mr.
John Cookson, having, for many years previously,
also presided over the fortunes of the Morpeth. The
River Coquet separates his country from Lord Percy's
on the north ; he touches the Tynedale on the south-
west, and goes southward as near Newcastle as coal-
pits and coal-railways and colonies of pitmen will let
him. The sea limits him on the east; while, as he
only hunts two days a week, he is not called upon to
go farther west than the country is tempting. For,
beyond the westward line coloured on the map, hill
and moor become so confirmed that foxhunting is
virtually discontinued. And below the town of
Morpeth, again, the ground becomes almost at once a
broken network of railway and coalmine ; and the
chase has no longer any status.

But between Morpeth — or, rather, its river the
AVansbeck — and the Coquet a great deal of pretty
hunting ground is to be found, less hilly on the whole
than Lord Percy^s, and varying from flat clay, grass,

* Vide Stanford's " Hunting Map," Sheet 2, and Hobson's
Foxhunting Atlas.

The Morpeth. 455

and plough in the east to rough moor on the west.
All the country carries a steady, seldom a flying,
scent; and the foxes are of the stout hill-bred sort
common to Northumberland generally. It may be
noted of the hills and moors respectively that a scent
is generally to be found on the former when damp
from recent rain ; but w^hen the rocky surface is dry
hounds have much difficulty. The moorlands, on
the other hand, being more consistently wet, seldom
fail to hold a workable scent. A fox found in the
immediate neighbourhood of the hills is pretty sure to
strike upward at first, run the upper ground for a
time, and come down again as he feels himself
getting distressed. Thus, when a whin on a hillside
is to be drawn, men generally post themselves above
to view the fox away and to be in a position to follow
him. A start being effected, they will then spread
out — assisting each other by voice and signal to
keep the chase in view as it winds along the ridges
and twisting slopes.

Mr. Cookson not only finds foxes in fair numbers ;
but has the reputation of being able to kill them quite as
readily as his neighbours — his score being more than
up to the average for two days a week. His pack are
excellent workers, and well in hand. His Kennels
are at Newminster, near Morpeth; and he himself
lives with his father at Melton Park on the
Wansbeck.

As with Lord Percy^s country, the Morpeth runs
down from north to south in strips that differ con-
siderably one from the other. The Morpetn must
be divided into three, to give any idea of its com-

456 The Hunting Countries of England.

position — tlie tliree divisions being the east (or coast),
the centre, and the west.

I. Parallel with the sea is a stiff clay country, with
rough hedges, planted on earth banks — old ragged
hedges that have never been cut or trimmed, and
where necessary have been strongly mended up with
dead thorns. Most of this eastern country is under
cultivation; though a good deal of grass is to be seen
alongside the line of railway — as you run from New-
castle to Berwick-on-Tweed — and may give the
traveller a scarcely justifiable idea that he is in a
second Yale of Aylesbury.

II. Down the middle of the country runs a district,
for the most part under tillage but with some grass.
It has less of clay in its soil, and is not so stiffly
fenced as the east. It is much intersected by small
wooded glens, puzzling to hounds, baulking to horse-
men, and leading foxes to turn. All the Morpeth
country, in fact, is much cut up by burns — the
accepted distinction in the north between brooks and
burns being that the latter run between trees and are
to be scrambled through, while a brook is held to be
a stream with steep banks and to be jumped at a fly.
From the presence of these, and from other causes,
the Morpeth may be spoken of rather as a hunting
than a riding country. And though, as above men-
tioned, its foxes are stout and strong, they are by no
means invariably straight runners.

III. The West portion has in it a great deal of
rough moor grass land, with woods of considerable
size (plantations and small woods being the general
coverts of the rest of the country). But it is not till

The Morpeth. 457

you reach the extreme west of all — south of Rothbury
— that you meet with hills of any severity. Touching
the Tynedale^ again^ is lighter^ better-going ground,
merging into what that Hunt consider their best
territory — and foxes are continually passing from the
one country into the other.

The horse to show you sport with the Morpeth
needs to be such as yoii might usually denominate an
" useful sort " — meaning thereby an animal blessed
with no special high qualities^ but endowed with
substance, endurance, and a good constitution. If
his -^jkiii is a trifle thick, and the hair on his legs
somewhat robust in texture and exuberant in growth,
he will be none the less capable of forcing his way
harmlessly through thick thorn fences. An excitable
blood horse would run considerable risk of knocking
himself about, both here and in Lord Percy's country.
One of sturdier limbs and more stolid temperament
will be likely not only to keep his value together, but
to carry you in comfort from day to day. Unlike
those of the Duke of Buccleuch's country the fallows
cannot be galloped at all times as they come ; and a
fast horse is therefore not so much wanted. The
Morpeth days of hunting are Tuesday and Saturday,
with an occasional bye-day, and some of their chief
meets are as follows :

In their Eastern district they go, by train, to
Acklington Station, to draw the Duke of Northumber-
land's plantations near at hand_, and probably those of
Lord Grey at Chevington Wood. By the same means
they reach Widdrington Station, for Mr. CresswelFs
woods close by. These are a certain find; and then

458 The Hunting Countries of England,

come a number of other large woods_, to wit, Ulgliam
(which no southerner would suppose to be pronounced
Ufham !), The Blubbery, etc. The meet of Cresswell
or of Seaton Delaval means the coverts in the neigh-
bourhood— these, hke most of the Morpeth, being
wood-plantations, as against the more frequent whin-
coverts of the extreme north. From Morpeth-
Quarry-Banks, however, besides the extensive over-
grown banks of the Wansbeck, they have Middlemoor
Whins (the property of Mr. Lawson of Longhurst
and the Duke of Portland) to draw. The Wansbeck,
like the greater number of the Northumberland rivers,
is prettily wooded for many miles of its length.
Below this point are soon found coalpits with their
yawning mouths and busy populace.

In the middle portion of the country are Blagden
Park (Sir Matthew White-Eidley's) Benridge,
Kirkley Hall, Whalton Village — all of which are
meets in turn, for their adjacent coverts (chiefly
plantations of inconsiderable size). In the neigh-
bourhood of Whalton is a very fine gorse, Edington
by name ; and not far from it are Lord Carlisle's
woods at Morpeth Common. Another meet is Meldon
Park Corner, commonly called Meldon Dyke Nuke —
a dyhe being a roughly built wall, without mortar, or
of alternate layers of stones and turf, in contradis-
tinction to a stonewall, by which is meant a wall built
by masons with lime ; a nulze being a corner^ or a
bend in a fence. From this fixture the Banks of the
Wansbeck, as far up as Hartburn, may be drawn, or
else they may go to the woods of Nunriding and on
to Pigdon. Further north are Horslev and Lindon,,

The Morpeth. 459-

where there are woods_, and at Bywell a gorse ; and a
little to the west are Todburn Gill (a little wooded
glen) and Wingates^ with young plantations and some
more grass.

In the Western district are Nunnykirk, with wood-
lands amid a grassy country. West of these come the
Tomboy Plantations, called after a racehorse of Mr.
Orders — who was also the owner of Beeswing. Every
pitman was wont to put his money on the latter mare ;
and, fortunately for them, she won all her races —
except on one hapless occasion^ when each pitman in
Northumberland had to sell his pig or proclaim him-
self a defaulter. The present Mr. Orde is great
nephew of that celebrated sportsman, and a great
patron of foxes and hunting. Nether Witton and
Rothley are meets, in the midst of rough well-wooded
country, which carries a good scent and is very useful
for spring-hunting. Finally, Wallington (Sir C.
Trevelyan's) is close upon the edge of the Tynedale —
the plantations being within half a mile of the dividing
river.

The town of Morpeth would be found the best
central point from which you could see the Morpeth
hounds in the field ; and it lies on the main line of
railway along the east coast to North Britain. Roth-
bury and Newcastle also give access to the country
from its north and south margin respectively.

460 The Hunting Countries of England,

THE RUPEORD.*

The County of Nottingham, thougli a next-door
neighbour of Leicestershire, is where the great
northern area of plough begins, and grass conies to
an end. As you cross the Trent, in fact, you leave
'' The Shires " and embark upon The Provinces. You
may wander northwards, and find first-rate foxhunt-
ing everywhere as you go. But it is foxhunting of a
less elastic, perhaps less gaudy type than you left
behind. Hounds are as good — in some instances even
better. Foxes may be ditto ; horses very nearly so.
Huntsmen are quite as clever ; and Masters just as
fond of the game. The falling-off is found in the
ground, the scent, the dash, and the go. The gain (?)
is the freedom from a crowd of good company. All
the world does not care about coffeehousing. No,
but foxhunters are a sociable race, whether at work or
play. Eigorous sport, alas, does not go on all day
and every day ; and pleasant companions at your
elbow are very often a godsend.

The South Notts, as their name implies, take all the
lower part of Nottinghamshire. The Ruff or d follow

* Vide Stanford's " Hunting Map," Sheet 9, and Hobson's
Foxliunting Atlas.

The Rufford. 461

along their nortliern border, aud lumt its centre,
leaving the north of the county to the Grove. Plough
and big woods are the portion of the Rufford : but, if
dealt out to them with a lavish, it is not altogether
with an even hand. They take in a strip of Derby-
shire on the west. This is also plough ; but a much
lighter plough than where they near Lincolnshire and
the Blankney on the east — the Trent running between
the two Hunts. Sherwood Forest is their great play-
ground in spring and autumn ; and this is a vast
extent of light covert and open glade. Eastward they
have deep dense woodlands amid stiff clay, where
when hounds run they can leave horses out of sight.
In short, Sherwood Forest and the Derbyshire strip
form the lighter side of the country ; ^^ The Clays ''
(as the east is aptly termed) the heavy side.

Sherwood Forest, whether as existing woodland or
as reclaimed forest, occupies an immense breadth of
the Rufford Country, and spreads even into the Grove
and the South Notts dominions. Much of it, of
course, has been disforested since the days of Robin
Hood and his merry men. But the green woods still
flourish in all their old magnificence over thousands of
acres ; and the Dukeries are masses of woodland
beauty such as England can show nowhere else.
Clumber (the Duke of Newcastle's), Welbeck (the
Duke of Portland's), Thoresby (Lord Manvers'), and
Rufford (Mr. Henry Saville's) compose the Dukeries —
the two former being in Grove territory, and the whole
being kept up by their owners with the greatest pride
and care. The broad grass rides are tended so unre-
mittingly, that the mossy turf will bear a carriage

402 The Hunting Countries of England.

wheel — yet is so firm that a horse^s hoof sinks to no
great depth even in the wettest winter. Radiating
from various central points these beautiful green cut-
tings throw the view in every direction through the
masses of rich old timber. At the foot of the spread-
ing oaks is a carpet of low bracken covert, which
scarcely hinders fox or hounds, and altogether fails to
hide the latter in their work. Tlius, as you gallop
the rides from point to point, your eye may follow the
chase almost as freely as in open ground. It may
indeed be said, without fear of contradiction, that no
more lovely site for cubhunting exists than the
Dukeries. To move through its grassy glades, and
mark its bubbling trout streams, your heart goes back
at once to sympathy with the bold outlaw, whose life
was sport and whose food was the forest game, though
he drew bow with a halter round his neck. The fat
fallow-buck was guarded by penalty of death in
those days. If Reynard were but as well cared for
by the paternal government of modern times, sport
would be more plentiful than it is in the forest of
Shirewood.

Here and there in the forest is a patch of strong
covert — possibly willow growth by a brookside —
where a fox is most likely to be found. But the bulk
of the great area that comes under the denomination
of The Forest is either such as described above, or else
has been broken up for cultivation, having detached
woods scattered over its extent. An immense propor-
tion of the Rufford Country — whether the Forest or
the Clays — is, in fact, taken up with covert of one
description or another. The Forest occupies the heart

The Riifforcl 463

'of the country ; and deep strong- woodlands figure
largely amid tlie Clays.

The latter district, again, apart from its covert, is a
totally different sort of country. The light soil of the
Forest and Derbyshire side is replaced by a stiff
holding clay of the most absolute type — cloggy, sticky
and tenacious as wax. And yet field is separated from
field by strong stake-and-bound fences that must be
jumped, and with ditches that are only too ready to
take in exhausted horseflesh. When the ground is at
its wettest and deepest hounds can run best ; and only
a light man on a very high-class horse can hope to live
with them then. Mr. Percy Williams, the most
successful huntsman and horseman in the history of the
Rufford, could skim like a swallow over the Clays.
But then he was comparatively a feather in the scales,
and rode horses that would have carried a welter
weight over Leicestershire. He hunted the Rufford
for fully twenty years, showing great sport. As a
rider he had few superiors ; and as a quick clever
huntsman he could overcome many difficulties. He
gave up the country about a dozen years ago ; since
which it has been in various hands, and Mr. Algernon
Legard has now been succeeded by Mr. Harvey
Bayly.

It will be seen that two distinct classes of horse are
required to hunt with the Rufford. For the Forest
side the best conveyance is a thoroughbred that can
gallop the rides and jump a small fence outside; while
for the Clays you must have a powerful horse that can
go through the deepest dirt and jump a strong fence
out of it. The one side entails easy work upon horses ;

464 The Hunting Countries of England.

the other is not only tiring but is as difficult to live
over, with hounds when they really run, as is to be
found in any Hunt in the three kingdoms.

Very small fields attend the Rufford in any part of
their country. There are no towns of any magnitude
within range, unless we except Chesterfield on the
western border — and that is not a very sporting place.
Again, the number of resident gentry is but small —
the Dukeries and other large properties usurping so
much of the ground. The farmers have usually turned
out in some strength ; but the " bad times ^' have
affected them, and limited their hunting, as much in
Nottinghamshire as elsewhere. If you were minded to
run down from a distance to see the Rufford, you
might come to Mansfield or Tuxford (each about four
hours from London) . But a visit to Ollerton in spring
or autumn would repay you best. You would see the
Forest under its best conditions, and the Rufford in
their prettiest sphere. Ollerton is quite in the centre
of the Hunt, and touches upon the thick of the
Forest.

The kennels are the property of Mr. Henry Savile
(one of the strongest supporters of the Hunt), and
occupy a charming situation in his park at Rufford
Abbey. Four days a week see hounds in the field —
Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday being the
days chosen.

For the Forest some of the chief meets are Thoresby
Park, Rufford Abbey, Clipstone, Edwinstowe (the
residence of Mr. Harvey Bayly, Master of the Rufford),
Lang with Lodge (Col. Welfitt's, a former master),
Mansfield-Wodehouse, &c. ; while further west, in a

The Rufford. 465

more open country of light plougli and some grass, are
Sutton Scars dale. Hard wick Hall, &c. In the extreme
south, where the Forest runs down to Newstead Abbey,
some small portion of it is drawn neutrally by the
Eufford and the South Notts.

Turning to the Clays, we find woods too frequent to
enumerate, and plough of one sample everywhere
outside, excepting the meadows alongside the Trent,
which foxes seldom touch. It is more than a fair
scenting country, however ; and foxes are as plentiful
as they need be. The most notable woods, perhaps,
are Wellow Park Woods, Ossington Woods (Lady
Ossington's), Winkburn Woods (Col. BurnelFs), Kel-
ham Woods (Mr. Manners Sutton^ s), and Kirkling-
ton (Mrs. Boddam-Whetham's) . With these, Kneesall
Grreen, Laxton, and Walesby may be mentioned as
chief meets on this side of the country.

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