204 MEMORIES OF THE SHIRES 



The doings of the " Puddleshire Hunt " have 

 only a purely local interest, and though they may 

 have equally good sport very few people want to 

 read about them. The tendency of the Field nowa- 

 days appears to be to give prominence to provincial 

 packs at the expense of the Shires. 



There is only one Melton Mowbray, and there is 

 no country in the world that can compare with the 

 district surrounding the town. 



It is the ambition of every man with any pre- 

 tensions to ride over fences to make his pilgrimage 

 to the hunting Mecca, and have at least one day 

 there before he dies. 



The doings of hounds in that neighbourhood are 

 therefore of world-wide interest, and should not be 

 hid under a bushel of chaff. 



I remember a very fast gallop with the Belvoir 

 on 13th December 191 1, lasting twenty-five minutes, 

 and every one said at the time that they had never 

 seen hounds go such a pace. The fox was found in 

 Newman's Gorse, and was marked to ground in 

 Eaton Plantation. 



The man who had the best of it all the way was 

 Mr. " Teddy " Brooks. I don't remember men- 

 tioning his name before, because he had only risen 

 to the zenith of his riding powers about 1909, and 

 was not born when these memoirs started. 



I have no hesitation in saying that he was the 

 best man to hounds who has ever ridden across 

 Leicestershire. This statement is made without any 

 reservation, and as I have seen all the leading lights 

 for the last forty years my experience should give 

 me the authority to speak. 



Mr. " Teddy " Brooks was, I am proud to say, 



