186 MEMORIES OF THE SHIRES 



to Brentingby ; but the fox had not the strength 

 to face the river again, and was killed a few minutes 

 later. I look on this as one of the best hunting 

 runs I have ever seen, in which hounds and hunts- 

 men share the credit between them. Most watches 

 made the time an hour and fifty minutes, though 

 according to my clock it was exactly two hours. 



The run of the season was undoubtedly scored 

 by the Quorn, and came in the last week's hunting. 

 To be exact, it was on Friday, 27th March, the day 

 that " Drumcree " won the Grand National. 



The fox was found in Barkby-Holt and ran first 

 of all to Mr. Carrington's plantation at Ashby Pas- 

 tures. From thence on the run was practically 

 straight to the farther side of Barleythorpe, where 

 hounds ran up to their fox and killed. At the 

 time I made the point to be about eleven or twelve 

 miles, but estimated the distance covered to have 

 been at least twenty. There was only one short 

 check in the whole run, and it is therefore due to 

 the huntsman to consider the fox found was the 

 one killed. 



A very similar run took place during Lord Lons- 

 dale's mastership, about nine years previously, and 

 that one also started from Barkby-Holt. 



My own idea about this later run is that we 

 changed, or may have done, in one of the gullies 

 between Burrough and Somerby. The fox killed 

 was not more than a three-year-old, and I rather 

 doubt the stamina of that age to have stood up 

 before hounds over the distance at such a fast pace. 

 Hounds ran fast enough from Barkby-Holt to Ashby 

 Pastures to have tired an ordinary fox. 



There was a fox in Walter Kyte's time that we 



