JACK PARKER. 199 



hill tops. The author has had a fair share of experience in 

 moorland countries, and knows full well that ere a man can 

 hunt with hounds over them he must not only know their 

 peculiarities, but have a horse used to them, and know how 

 to ride him. Bogs, holes, concealed with heather, peat beds, 

 blind runners, precipitous descents, and steep climbs all have 

 to be met with. It is truly said, that the low country horse 

 and Nimrod are out of their element on the hills, and that a 

 man who can ride on them can ride anywhere. Perhaps more 

 attention was paid to the moorlands in Jack's day than is 

 the case with the Sinnington of to-day.* It was the fashion 

 then to hunt knee deep in heather, just as it was in the early 

 days of the Roxby and Cleveland, when those who followed 

 hounds came out on foot with long staves, each urging on 

 the hounds they " brought up." " Ah nivver gits bogged," 

 said Jack to Mr. Dixon. " If ya giv hosses ther heeads an' 

 ram t' spors in, they'll alius gan through bogs ; its pullin' 

 at 'em 'at maks 'em stick fast." There is no small amount 

 of truth in this. Once properly bogged (like, by-the-way, 

 Mr. Gervaise Scrope's hunter was in December, 1906, when it 

 had to be dug out), and a horse will be careful how and where 

 it gallops on a soft moor in the future. When on boggy 

 ground it is always wise to keep on the ling (heather) as much 

 as possible, for no matter how bad the ground is underneath, 

 it will support horse and rider, and if a horse is likely to be 

 bogged " keep him gannin." We are told, " Jack's preaching 

 in this respect, at any rate, is followed by his practice ; 

 and it is a sight to see him splashing through treacherous 

 boggy ground, which most men would either avoid or stick 

 fast in. It is his delight to see a man bogged, especially, 

 adds Mr. Parrington (who kindly read the proofs of this, 

 and other chapters), "if he had been pressing on the hounds." 

 Shakespeare say, " Every man who wears spurs does not 



♦When Mr. Conyers Scrope was meditating forming the Wensley- 

 dale pack which became established in season 1906-7, but is now un- 

 fortunately abandoned, he wrote to me and said : " Like you, I am 

 old-fashioned enough to think that the moorlands, and moorland 

 foxes, provide the best sport." 



