38 MEMORIES OF THE SHIRES 



men and one of the best men to hounds that I 

 know. 



Judging from the stories that have been handed 

 down to us, I should say there is less competition 

 in riding now than was the case forty or fifty years 

 ago. Still there has always been a little ^harmless 

 jealousy between Grantham and Melton, when 

 both towns were equally represented in a Belvoir 

 field. Hounds then were generally over-ridden 

 and the sport had to suffer, but the hard men 

 gain some extra excitement in their struggles for 

 supremacy. Some years since a large landowning 

 baronet ^ on the Grantham side was one of the 

 quickest men to hounds, and when the Belvoir 

 met near Melton his was a foremost figure in a 

 fast burst. 



One day Melton Spinney was being drawn, and 

 the brook below swept down the valley a muddy, 

 swollen torrent. The railway that now lies beyond 

 had not then been thought of, and as foxes generally 

 run a line towards Welby, the first men over the 

 water were not easily caught. On this occasion 

 the brook had overflowed, the ford was almost 

 impassable, and the banks being invisible a horse 

 could not see where to take off, so that there was 

 every chance of a ducking for the man who risked 

 a jump. To every one's surprise and annoyance 

 the fox faced the stream, when how to get over 

 became the burning question of the moment. The 

 gallant baronet grasped the situation and rode 

 straight down with every intention of getting across 

 wet or dry. Fortune favoured him, for a young 

 hound having waded through the shallow water, 



^ Sir Thomas Whichcotc, 



