158 Frank Beers' Diaries. [1880-81 



Bradden, back to Barford's faggot stack. The hounds 

 pulled him out and killed him. A real clipper ! all the 

 horses done to a turn. Pillbox carried me well first to 

 Bucknells, pace terrific ; but he was so done at Bradden 

 that Mr. Leopold de Rothschild lent me his second horse 

 to finish on. Stovin, the Bicester huntsman, was out, 

 and a large Field besides. 18^ couple bitches, including 

 two couple dogs. 



" Feb. 25th. — Whistley Wood. Found after a com- 

 plete ring round the wood ; w^ent away over the brook 

 a.t the bottom, and hounds ran through Whitfield 

 Coppice to Westbury, and lost him near Stratford Hill. 

 We then found a fox at Brackley Gorse. Away almost 

 before hounds were in at a tremendous pace pointing 

 for Halse ; they turned over the bottom, flew along 

 through Mr. Bartlett's Covert to Whitfield and W^estbury 

 Wild, and turned short back by Turweston to Great- 

 worth and Farthinghoe, through Cold Ready, Brackley 

 Gorse, away toward Halse, to the left over the Great- 

 worth grass fields, nearly to Cockley Brake ; away to 

 Hinton-in-the-Hedges, all through the gardens there, 

 on nearly to Croughton, bore away back nearly to 

 the ^Barley Mow,' and stop'd the hounds running 

 for Evenley Park late in the evening. This has been a 

 most severe day for hounds and horses, all the horses 

 were tired to death ; in all directions they were ridden 

 to a standstill. I rode my first horse to a standstill, and 

 my second was so beat that I could scarcely get him 

 home. We changed foxes two or three times. It only 

 wanted a kill to make it one of the finest day's sport I 

 ever saw. I rode Pillbox first and Clansman second, 

 and he carried me magnificently and proved himself to 

 be as stout as steel, although he was quite done, or I 

 think we should have killed our last fox. We viewed him 



