u 



CHAPTER III, 



SECURING COUNTRY. 



" Wilt thou hunt? 

 Thv hounds shall make the welkin answer them, 

 Anil fetch shrill echoes from the hollow earth." 



rii7itiiig of the S/treiv, Induction, scene 2. 



The cordiality with wliich the landowners and farmers of Wirral 

 received the application of the Royal Rock Beagle Hunt to sport over their 

 estates and land, is worthy of our highest admiratiqn, and we cannot but 

 feel proud that tiiis permission, granted fifty years ago, has in only one 

 instance ever been withdrawn by either the original grantors or their 

 successors. Tliis withdrawal, the first painful incident in the history of 

 the Hunt, will be referred to more explicitly on a subsequent page. 



\\\\.h one exception, all tlie landowners approached by the members 

 readilv granted permission to hunt over their estates, subject to the hounds 

 not being allowed to interfere with the sport of the foxhounds, or to enter 

 the fox covers. Tiie exception was Mr. Mainwaring, of Bromborough Hall, 

 who could not be persuaded, thougli persistently entreated, to iilacc his 

 nice little estate at the disposal of tlie Hunt. 



Time has overcome tiiat particular difficulty, and now there is no 

 part of Wirral, suitable for hunting, where beagles are not welcome, save 

 and except that choice bit of country, belonging to Sir Thomas Brocklebank, 

 lying around Storeton. This bit of country, extending from Landican to 

 Prenton, Higher Bebington, ]]rimstai:e, and Barnston, covers some four 

 square miles of lovely hunting country, and we live in ho[)e that some day 

 we may be permitted to run on this land, at any rate to the extent of 

 following a hare put up outside the forbidden ground ; for many a good 

 run has been spoiled by having to " whip off! if hounds run on Storeton." 



It is, perhaps, not an unmixed evil that this paradise is barred to us, as 

 being strictly preserved it acts as a nursery for hares, from which surrounding 

 districts are supplied, should they from any cause become depleted. When 

 in 18S7 tiie R.R.B., in conjunction with the AMrral Harriers, put down 

 eighty-five imix^rted hares, there was no need to place any around Storeton. 



