146 MEMORIES OF THE SHIRES 



fixture beyond the Melton area, and not usually 

 associated with a gallop over grass. The result 

 was the majority who usually attended a Bel voir 

 Saturday did not go, and as my abode was five miles 

 the wrong side of Melton, I also was an absentee, and 

 am still regretting it. The fox was found in Harby 

 Covert, and was killed less than a mile from Brooks- 

 by. I am not going to harrow my own feelings 

 over again by going into details which were supplied 

 me by different and reliable men, but will just give 

 you the outlines. For the first twenty minutes, 

 hounds never hesitated or checked, and it was all 

 the first flight men could do to keep in touch with 

 them. At the end of the twenty minutes there was 

 a slight check by Old Dalby Wood, where the fox 

 had been headed, and had it not been for the 

 momentary stoppage, no horse would have had the 

 wind to continue. It had been a veritable steeple- 

 chase, in which light weights and blood horses had 

 the best of it. There were several fresh foxes in 

 Grimstone Gorse, but Gillard managed to stick to 

 the hunted one, and running out towards Asfordby 

 swung right-handed and killed him on the banks of 

 the brook that divides Hoby and Frisby. 



This run in itself should make the season memor- 

 able. 



The Quorn had a very hard day on 3rd March, 

 running for three hours and a half without stopping. 

 At one moment they were close to Norton Gorse, 

 and eventually killed their fox a field from Cream 

 Gorse. Of course there must have been a change 

 somewhere, but no other covert was drawn after 

 leaving Botany Bay, though both Baggrave and 

 Barkby-Holt were run through. The pace at times 



