THE HUNTED FOX AND HIS WILES 171 



Waterford's diary mention is twice made of a fox 

 seeking safety in the same sort of retreat. 



Somerville, in The Chase, notices the fact of the 

 beaten fox betaking himself to the haunts of men for 

 shelter, having discovered many hiding-places in his 

 nightly rambles and being fully aware how certain 

 unsavoury drains would effectually destroy any traces 

 of scent. 



Of stories of foxes and trees there is no end, but 

 I may say that I have seen a large cedar-tree growing 

 close to one of the great houses in the North of Eng- 

 land that I was informed often " held " three or four 

 foxes in its branches. 



One more story. There is an old deer-park wall 

 near my home, and some rough, broken ground on 

 the hillside beyond it. I was shown by an old man 

 an ivy-tree growing several feet away from this ancient 

 wall, and of it he told me the following tale : A certain 

 Major K , long since departed, had a pack of har- 

 riers, and they used to find an outlying fox in a patch 

 of gorse some miles beyond the rough hill. To this 

 deer-park wall they used to run him time after time, 

 and there invariably lose him ; but one day my in- 

 formant was working in the adjacent field, and saw 

 a fox suddenly appear on top of the wall, run along 

 it till opposite the ivy-tree, when he gave a splendid 

 spring, and landed among its branches, where he 

 remained. On this occasion he had evidently defeated 

 hounds earlier in the run, for he was not followed ; 

 but news of the manoeuvre was brought to the Major, 

 and the observer was ordered to take post in the tree 

 on a certain day. On that day, at about noon, sure 



