6 FOXHUNTING ON LAKELAND FELLS 



boot tops. Shoes are not to be recommended, as 

 they give no support to the ankles. The clothing 

 should be fairly thick and wet-resisting, as the 

 weather on the high tops in winter is often 

 pretty wild. Loose knickerbockers are better than 

 knicker-breeches, as the latter restrain the free 

 action of the knees, and, therefore, make cHmbing 

 harder. A stick of some kind is a great help, but 

 I do not recommend the long, alpenstock affairs 

 which are sold to summer visitors. On steep 

 ground there always comes a time when a long 

 stick trips its user, and a stumble of this nature 

 may easily lead to a very nasty fall. An ordinary 

 stout walking-stick is the best, as there is Httle 

 or no chance of getting one's feet mixed up with 

 it going downhill. 



On the high fells the exigencies of the weather 

 have far more influence on sport than they have 

 in the low country. At an altitude of 2000 feet 

 snow is apt to be deep, while the frost is often 

 extremely severe. Snowstorms, unless unusually 

 heavy, seldom stop hunting, but when the snow 

 becomes frozen, and the crags are a mass of ice, 

 it is unsafe for either hounds or followers. The 

 greatest bugbear of the fell foxhunter is mist. 

 Once the tops are shrouded in an impenetrable 

 grey pall there is nothing but the cry of hounds 

 to direct you, and when the music gradually fades 

 into the distance you stand in a silent world of 



