NIM ROD'S NORTHERN TOUR. 9$ 



Men certainly run great risks who follow hounds in rough and 

 wild countries. Williamson and his first whipper-in were in some 

 peril for their lives last winter, and I will detail the circumstances 

 of the case, as they were detailed to me by the latter. The 

 hunted fox faced the Cheviot hills towards the close of a cold 

 day in January, and all the field dropped astern after ascending 

 to a certain point, with the exception of Williamson and himself, 

 whose duty compelled them to proceed. After a time, they also 

 lost sight of the hounds from two distinct causes. First, they 

 were somewhat defeated by the pace ; secondly, a mist came on, 

 which prevented their distant view. Williamson, however, 

 pushed forward in the line he thought they were taking, and, 

 fortunately, getting to windward of them, was able at length to 

 hear, and finally to stop them. But what was their situation 

 then ? The mist became a fog, and they found themselves worse 

 than benighted, without rule or compass, in a wild and trackless 

 region, many hundred yards above the level of the sea. Surely 

 the goddess of the chase must have befriended them ; for, as if 

 she had sent him thither for the purpose, a farmer, who had been 

 looking after his sheep, and had also got out of his latitude, 

 crossed their path, and with great difficulty conducted them into 

 a road that led them as well as himself towards their wished-for 

 home. It is more than questionable whether they would have 

 survived the night, had they been condemned to pass it on the 

 mountain. Hence the necessity of every fox-hunter in wild 

 countries, having after the manner of old Corcoran a small 

 flask of brandy in the side-pocket, which would, in this case, have 

 confirmed its title to the rank it holds in the French, vocabulary, 

 namely, " the water of life."* 



The stature of Williamson is below the average height of man, 

 but his person is well turned and very well proportioned ; and 

 the exact fit of his clothes sets it off to advantage. The sit of 

 his cap, the fall of his shoulders, and the junction of the breeches 

 with the boots a great point in a horseman, as far as the eye is 

 concerned are all equally good ; and the general cleanliness of 

 his person, renders the tout ensemble complete. He has a keen, 

 penetrating eye ; carries his country in his face, as well as its full 

 dialect on his tongue; is, as Lord Kintore says of him, "an 



* Perhaps many of your present readers may not have seen my account 

 of the sayings and doings of this conspicuous character in the late Lord 

 Derby's (stag) hunt. Being apparently dead from a fall, the question 

 was asked *' Has no one got any brandy ?" by way of the last resource. 

 " You will find some in my side-pocket," whispered the dead man with 

 a sigh. 



