THE MIDDLESEX 



who had come from England to hunt the Meadow Brook in 1905, resigned 

 his position and came to the Middlesex. He was the right man at the right 

 time, and his judgment and skill in kennel and field management made a 

 great deal of difference to the Master, who was practically a novice at the 

 gcune. While he was with the Middlesex the latter ceased to hunt the 

 hounds himself, deeming it wiser to leave that part of the work to the little 

 man from Leicestershire, who, with his experience from Belvoir, Atherstone, 

 Brocklesby, etc., in old England, to aid him, did wonders in New England. 



In 1 905, more hounds came from Mr. Femie's, sent by Charles Isaac, who 

 takes great interest in his " American pack," as he calls it ; and wath plenty 

 of good blood to breed from, Cotesworth succeeded in greatly improving the 

 pack, both in working qualities and general levelness. Among the excellent 

 hounds bred in the kennels during his regime, "Fancy," "Nimrod," "Nota- 

 ble," and " Purity," all entered in 1 906, are worthy of particular mention as 

 having done well, both in the field and on the flags. 



Middlesex County, lying as it does not far from Boston, is very accessible 

 to sportsmen, and although, like all New England countries, it is hampered 

 by wire and the size of the coverts, two obstacles that make it difficult to 

 get as good runs as might be desired, it abounds in red foxes, which give 

 hounds plenty to do. 



The season of 1904, Cotesworth's first, was productive of two results. 

 The first of these was an excellent season, and the second the controversy in 

 the columns of The Rider and Drioer between Mr. Harry W. Smith, 

 Master of the Grafton, and the Master of the Middlesex anent the compara- 

 tive excellence of English and American hounds. This led to the now famous 

 English-American foxhound match in the Piedmont Valley of Virginia in 

 the autumn of 1 905. It is not the intention of the authors to discuss this 

 question here ; it is now a matter of history. Whatever its faults, the match 

 resulted in some very good days in the hunting field, and both contestants 

 came away with a better opmion of their rivals than they had previously held, 

 while from a spectacular point of view it was a great event. America is not 

 England, and when a Field of eighty turns up to meet hounds, as was the 

 case the opening day, on the picturesque lawn of Col. Dulany's country seat, 



85 



