282 HUNTING REMINISCENCES 



(1890) were two sons of Pirate. Gillard said, 

 " Prodigal was a remarkable hound when a fox ran 

 the road, often setting the pack right on these 

 occasions." 



This season, 1895-96, owing to the hard state of 

 the ground, which retained all its August con- 

 sistency right into the month of November, it was 

 found impossible to start in the shires until 

 Monday, November llth. When we say that 

 scarcely a drain-pipe ran since the snows of the 

 previous spring melted, it is easy to realise how 

 hard the ground was, and how low was the stock 

 of surface water in ponds and dykes. Consequently 

 cubbing work was delayed, and one of the worst 

 for damage to hounds' feet. A pad of the first cub 

 killed, Gillard had mounted as a paper-knife, and 

 gracefully presented it to Miss Lucy Heathcote 

 on her marriage, September 12th, with the writer 

 of these pages. The wedding was from Newton 

 Hall, where a representative Belvoir following, 

 including the chaplain of the hunt, the Rev. J. P. 

 Seabrooke, and the huntsman, assisted at the cere- 

 mony, Mr. W. T. Maud being best man. 



On the opening day, November 12th, good sport 

 was enjoyed from Fulbeck, for after a welcome 

 rain the plough lands in the vale carried a holding 

 scent, and hounds made the best use of it. The 

 little square covert, Parson's Thorns, held a fox of 

 the right sort, leading the way over the Leadenham 

 and Wellingore Vale to within a field of the famous 

 gorse. Then wheeling round past Broughton, he 

 crossed the river and made straight for Leadenham, 



