120 iktngs of tbe Ibuntlng-ftelD 



leading huntsman of the day, by reason of its being the 

 country which his hounds claimed as their own, as well 

 as Cheshire being the senior pack. 



' These being the best days of the Tomkinsons, the 

 Gleggs, the Brookes, Jack Ford and sundr}' other first- 

 flight Cheshire men, it may naturally be imagined that 

 a spirit of rivalry amongst men would accompany the 

 trial of speed in hounds, and that Mytton would be 

 amongst the foremost to distinguish himself That he 

 came prepared to do so was evident by the fact of his 

 having had his capital Hit-or-Miss mare reserved for 

 this particular occasion, orders having been given to the 

 groom to " have her right fit to go." 



' Precisely at the hour of twelve the business of the 

 day commenced ; the pack were thrown into what is 

 called the Big Wood in Shavington Park, from which a 

 fox almost immediately broke, and having stood before 

 them for thirty minutes at a very severe pace was lost 

 near the village of Clovely. Mytton very soon got the 

 lead, and very soon lost it, and nearly his life at the 

 same time ; for coming to a deep sunk fence or ha-ha, 

 at which there was a high and stiff rail on the rising 

 side, which he gallantly charged, his mare fell and gave 

 him a severe fall, in addition to his being much hurt by 

 another person's horse, that had followed him, tumbling 

 upon him and crushing him. " Now FOR THE HONOUR 

 OF Shropshire," said he, when he rode at this fence, 

 which indicated two things : First, that he considered 

 the fence something like a stopper ; and secondly, that 

 he was determined not to be beaten by any man in the 

 field, so long as his ipare could keep on her legs. This 

 fall, however, shook him much, and although he re- 

 mounted and went on — bleeding and bare-headed, for 



