BILSDALE AND SINNINGTON. 123 



be less than forty-eight miles as the hounds ran, 

 and it seems incredible that one fox should have 

 lived so lono' before hounds. We are inclined to 

 think that they changed foxes when they got 

 back to Jay Nest the first time. It must not be 

 lost sight of, however, that the hill foxes are very 

 stout, that the country over Avhich they ran is 

 exceptionally favourable to foxes, and that in a 

 country like the Bilsdale, there is no oppor- 

 tunity of ' bursting up ' a fox in the first ten 

 minutes, a circumstance which greatly favours a 

 fox living what appears to be an abnormally long 

 time before hounds. But whether they changed 

 or not, a day or two after they killed what they 

 supposed to be the same fox. He was so stiff 

 and weak that he could scarcely crawl, and did 

 not run more than a few hundred yards. 



A hound named Bluecap, kept by Bobby 

 Dowson, distinguished himself very much in the 

 Jay Nest run, and had the lead so long as they 

 saw him. 



One of Bobby's experiences he relates with 

 great glee. The hounds met some twenty years 

 ago at Kepwick in the Hambleton country, and 

 amongst the field was a stranger, a most unusual 

 occurrence in Bilsdale. ** He was a man 'at went 

 ti see all 't packs o' hounds i' England," said 

 Bobby, " an' he was mounted on a fine twea 

 hundred pund horse. He cam up ti me an' said, 

 ' Huntsman, you are very poorly mounted,' an' 



