250 England's oldest hunt. 



great many of the field, we found hounds hud gone back, and were 

 running in the direction of Habton Whin. When we had rc-crossed 

 the river and got to Salton Hill, hounds were out-of-sight, and we 

 rode through Butterwick and by Whin field on Barton Moor to Newsham 

 Bridge ; but not hearing anything of hounds in that direction, came 

 back, and Thatcher went back the way we had come, and hit off hounds 

 in the Whin-field, while Miss Musters and I went on to Amotherby where 

 M. went home and I went on through Slingsby, and hit off hounds at 

 Barton-le-Street just in time to kill the fox, who had been run by a 

 sheep dog Hounds had checked, but the fox was viewed dead beat, and 

 I took hounds to him, and they killed him. . . . Mrs. 

 Sherbrooke was out driving, as she had had influenza, but saw a 

 good deal of the run, which was about two hours. 



March 23. — Riccal Bridge ; found in Riecaldale ; fox went 

 straight away for Skiplam, where we lost him. Found again in Skip- 

 lam ; ran hard with one or two checks for two hours) in the wood. Fox 

 then went away to Pinder Hill. Tom Horsman and Mr. A. Pearson only 

 with them ; all the rest of us left in Skiplam. The fox camo back 

 towards Skiplam, but hounds lost him about half-way between Pinder 

 Hill and Skiplam, Capital scent. 



Saturday, March 30th. — Hunted with Lord Middleton's Hounds 

 at Malton. Found at once in small cover near Espersykes, and 

 hounds began to run hard in the direction of the River Rye. 1 got 

 a fall at the fourth fence away from the covert, and took no further 

 part, as I broke my collar-bone. Went into Malton, got it set, and 

 drove home. Hounds ran on by Amotherby, Slingsby and Barton- 

 le-Street, and after one hour and 25 minutes, with only one slight 

 check, killed their fox at Hovingham, two fields from Hoviri^hain Lodge 

 (Mr. Horton's house). The run of the season ! 



Of a necessity, Thatcher now hunted hounds for some 

 days. At Cropton Bridge on April 19 a mangy three-legged 

 fox was killed, and no other was found all day. On April 

 27, Mr. Sherbrooke again appeared in the field for the last 

 day of the first season. 



Hunting began on October 30, and the season end April 

 27. Five brace of foxes were killed, and 5 J run to ground. 

 This does not include the 4J brace killed during cubbing. 

 season 1895-6. 



Entries at the commencement of the cubbing season of 

 1895 show that there " were not so many foxes as there 

 ought to have been, in spite of the reported mange in 

 Riecaldale," but " a capital lot " at Lastingham Banks and 

 Dawson Wood. 



