SOME HORSEMEN OF THE CENTURY 207 



was viewed by some of the field, and started again 

 with the hounds close on his brush over the fine 

 hunting country which lies between Banbury and 

 Bourton-on-the-Water, and for a considerable distance 

 beyond. At a quarter-past four hounds were still 

 running hard, but were whipped off by the huntsman 

 on a borrowed hack owing to the darkness. This 

 run lasted four hours and a quarter, and according 

 to Mr. J. Corbet, who was not prone to exaggerate, 

 the distance was over thirty-five miles. It goes with- 

 out saying that this run is one of the most memorable 

 in the sporting records of " the Warwickshire," both 

 for its length and for its severity. Few horses were 

 able to live with hounds after they left Banbury, and 

 not a single horse which was on anything like terms 

 with hounds when they were stopped returned to the 

 same stable whence he came in the morning, while 

 very few of the sportsmen got home that night. 

 .Providence was equitable in those days, for this 

 famous run took place on the eve of a long spell 

 of frost. But within a few weeks, namely on 

 January 25th, 1802, hounds found at Wolford Wood, 

 and were stopped after running for six hours, the 

 extent of country covered being over fifty miles. 

 Jack Barrow rode the only horse at the end of the 

 day that left covert in the morning, Mr. Corbet's 

 celebrated horse, Trojan, for the first time being 

 compelled to stop at Wichford Wood. "Venator," 

 in his history of the Warwickshire Hunt, published 

 in 1837, says: "This is the greatest distance I have 



