1880J A YULPECIDE. 57 



along the hillside towards Warinington, sunk the hill, and went at a great 

 pace over the Yale to Burton Hills, and on towards Burton Toll Bar, near 

 which place the huntsman lost the fox by casting back. Found again at 

 Angel's Piece, and away at once, and ran a capital twenty-fivo miutites right 

 up to the town of Banbiiry. The pack went between Chamberlain's Gorse 

 and Hanwell Spinney. They beat all the field, as the country was deep and 

 stiff, and all the gates locked and the brook swollen. When we caught them 

 they had thrown up in a field close to the workhouse, and wo never crossed 

 his line again. 



December 30th, Snitterjield. — Found at Snitterfield Bushes directly, a 

 nearly white fox with a mangy brush ; two or three turns round the Bushes, 

 then away, leaving Lingy Furlong on the right, and Luscombe Wood on the 

 right, and as if for Hampton Wood, turned to the right on Dairy Hill Farm, 

 and went straight to Scar Bank. The fox tried all the earths and passed 

 on, and made for Hatton Rock, but left that on his left, and was run into in 

 a cart shed near Rhine Hill, after one hour, without a check. Found again at 

 Wellesbourno Wood, had a deal of knocking about round the wood, and lost 

 at last at Friz Hill, owing to getting on a stale line in Walton Wood. Rode 

 Boycott and Bona. 



Allusionhas of necessity been made in Lord Willoughby's 

 diary to the over preservation of game, and scarcity of foxes 

 in consequence in certain coverts of the Hunt. 



This reminds us of the following anecdote, which 

 appears in Vyner's " Notitia Venatica ": 



Mr. Musters' hounds had killed a fox after a middling fair run, and as the 

 horses had not had enough to take the pull out of them, and as there was no 

 chance of finding a fresh fox, the squire put in practice the following ruse, 

 not only to amuse and deceive the field, but also to lay a trap for a scoundrel 

 of a keeper, who was known to be the most remorseless vulpecide in the 

 country, and who had nearly extirpated the foxes throughout the covers 

 wherein he was that day hunting. When the hounds were breaking up their 

 fox, he told the under- whij) to put the head in his jjocket, and, as soon as he 

 had trotted on a bit, to go back to a certain spinney to the right of the place 

 where they had killed the fox, fasten his whip-lash to it, and drag it to a 

 cover in the neighbourhood of Oxton Warren, about five miles distant across 

 the country, and where there was a well-known strong head of earths which 

 belonged to the property over wliich this base fellow, the keeper, presided ; 

 and upon his arrival, to poke the head as far as he could down the main earth 

 and make himself invisible at the other end of the cover, and there wait for 

 the arrival of the hounds. 



After Mr. Musters had loitered about for some time, and drawn a few 

 covers where he well knew he should not find a fox, and when he thought the 

 whipper-in had got nearly to his journey's end, he suddenly remembered a 

 very likely spinney, from which place the hounds had formerly had a good run. 

 He threw 'em in and began to draw, and then getting forward, view halloed 

 him away. Away they went, sterns down and bi-istles up, running frantic for 

 blood. The pace was, of course, first rate, and no check for one moment 

 occurred. After a good eighteen or twenty minutes they ran to ground, and 



