MR. RUSSELL.— 1833. 24? 



THE SAME, BY VENATOR 



* Come, mount boys, to liorse, and away.' 



What Sportsmen describe as a beautiful thing, 

 They tell us 'tis noble and fit for a King. 

 Take pug as you find him, in dingle or gorse. 

 As men take their wives — that's for better or worse. 

 An old fox broke cover at Radbourne to-day. 

 That ran like a Belgian when splitting away. 1 

 Off to Watergall first, and then he ran straight 

 Thro' the covert, not daring a moment to wait ; 

 Then up Dassett Hills — now hold hard ev'ry steed, 

 Reserve well the strength they will presently need. 

 To the right he soon left Fenny Compton, when 

 He play'd us a trick we ne'er dreamt of till then. 

 Here a witch and her fiends, as legends indite, 

 Tho' not seen by day, hatch'd up mischief at night, 

 To pug had imparted, on Long Compton Hill, 

 A lesson or two of her cunning and skill. 2 



1 Leopold, the newly-made Kin^ of Belgium, led his army ap^ainst 

 the Dutch. As soon as his troops caught sight of the enemy, they all 

 tlircAV down their arms and ran away ; and it was not without some 

 difficulty that the King and his personal staflF escaped. 



2 There is scarcely a district in England, where oral tradition has 

 not conveyed to us some mysterious event — the handiwork of some 



wizard or witch — some fairy or fay — of some hobgoblin, or sprite or 



other invisible agent — who have performed most wonderful things, 

 occultly, to the surprise and consternation of the natives. On the top 

 of Long Compton Hill, it is said, an old witch used to assemble, at 

 times, her associates and myrmidons, to project mischief against any 

 of the inhabitants of the surrounding country who disputed their 

 power, or did not obey their injunctions ; and, many years ago, the 

 traveller was shewn several large stones, set up endwise, like so many 

 pillars in miniature, as the representatives of those midnight devilkins, 

 who, to the great joy of the neighbourhood, had, by some superior 

 power, been most miraculouslv turned into stone. 



