HUNTING RECOLLECTIONS. 89 



1877. 



HER MAJESTY'S HOUNDS IN THE 



COTTESMORE COUNTRY. 



(Taken from The Field), 



Ever since the days of the great Meynall, 

 Leicestershire has been considered to be first 

 and foremost of all other counties when con- 

 sidered as a district suited for fox-hunting. Its 

 prestige has been sustained up to the present 

 day in that respect, although it has laboured 

 under many difficulties. At one time the 

 plough threatened to invade the " Siberian 

 waste of grass " ; iron in another form is at this 

 moment putting its unwelcome mark upon the 

 country in the form of many, and — as sportsmen 

 think — uncalled for railways. Racing masters 

 of hounds, political masters of hounds, many 

 other varieties of M.F.H.'s., have all had a share 

 in letting the glories of the Shires diminish; 

 still, like a phoenix, Leicestershire raises lier 

 head after each apparently extinguishing blow, 

 and the conclusion at which we arrive, is that 

 there are worse places from which to hunt than 

 Melton. 



But it is as a fox-hunting country that the 

 reputation of Leicestershire has been made. 

 Harriers are unknown in the county, though by 

 means of earnest research I discovered that a 

 pack of harriers had once, in the dark ages, 

 existed somewhere near Melton; but to whom 



