SEASON 1884-85 183 



greatly punished the young hounds when covert- 

 hunting, and drought, with great heat, lasted 

 right up to the middle of November, destroy- 

 ing scent, making the ground so hard that 

 the opening day of the season was delayed until 

 the 8th of November. Though rising at cock- 

 crow four mornings a week for cub-hunting, Gillard 

 found time to go to Quorn to judge the puppies 

 for Lord Manners, who succeeded Mr. John Coup- 

 land this season. The best morning's sport with 

 the cubs was on September 12th, in that good 

 forest of oak, Ropsley Rice, which always holds 

 one or two litters. A dense white fog brought 

 a great scent, and the pack raced in the open for 

 forty minutes, killing their fox a hundred yards 

 from Belton Park. Very few saw anything of the 

 run, the field riding about all over the country 

 hopelessly lost in the fog, only to learn the interest- 

 ing details next day. At the end of October there 

 was quite a gathering at Weaver's Lodge, but the 

 ground was almost too hard for anything but 

 covert work. Amongst those present were Lord 

 and Lady Middleton, who drove to the meet and 

 hunted on foot, Mr. Rawnsley, master of the South- 

 wold, Mr. Mansell Richardson, the Rev. Cecil 

 Legard, and the huntsman from the Brocklesby, 

 Mr. Preston and Mr. Holliday from Yorkshire, 

 professedly to see the stallion hounds in their work. 

 The last-named sportsman used to pay an annual 

 visit to Belvoir, coming with old Mr. Hall, a 

 friend of the late Duke of Rutland's. He was 

 a fine type of yeoman, belonging to the old school, 



