NIMROD'S NORTHERN TOUR. 185 



appeared had gone exactly in a contrary direction ! It is by 

 such doings as this riding forward to points without knowing 

 why. that so many foxes are headed in woodland countries, and 

 much sport spoiled. 



Then again, at Bishop's Gorse, something occurred to amuse 

 me. I saw " old James" as Lord Rothes's groom is called, and 

 an excellent one he is, for I knew him well in Warwickshire 

 riding a clipped horse of his master's, through gorse higher than 

 his belly, and expressing surprise that he did not at all relish it, 

 and at his jumping every now and then to avoid it. "What's 

 come to you this morning, you f old fool?" said he; "you don't 

 seem to like it." " I should think not, James," was my remark, 

 being close to him at the time ; " neither would you like to walk 

 through such thick whins as these." " And without your breeches 

 too, James" added Captain Balfour of the Guards (who made 

 one of our party at Mount Melville), in allusion to the horse being 

 clipped. " Thank ye," said I, " for the climax ; I shall book it/' 

 I may also here remark, that this was only the fourth horse I saw 

 in Scotland that had been clipped, and in the large stud of Mr. 

 Ralph Lambton, whom I visited on my return homewards, I 

 could not find one. 



My hack being at Cupar, I made the best of my way thither, 

 after this bad day's hunting was over, and got to Dundee to my 

 dinner, sleeping there that night, to be ready for Mr. DalyelFs 

 hounds on the morrow. But here I was once more foiled. He 

 had kindly offered to mount me, and had one of his own horses 

 at the place of meeting for me, but the frost was so severe in the 

 neighbourhood of Dundee, that after sliding upon ice for two 

 miles on my hack, I returned to whence I set out, supposing it 

 to be impossible to hunt even at any time of the day. About ten 

 o'clock, however, Mr. Stewart of St. Fort made his appearance, 

 and we agreed we would make the attempt, as it was probable 

 Mr. Dalyell would draw some covers near the sea (near Arbroath), 

 which he did, and we were lucky to arrive at one of them just as 

 he had found his fox. But our luck was of short duration. 

 Five couples of hounds had slipped away with the scent, and got 

 three fields a head of the body, and although Mr. Stewart and 

 myself, who met them, had it in our power to stop them, still the 

 mischief was done. The ground was stained and the scent bad, 

 and had not old Racer most scientifically marked him into a whin 

 cover, for which his master cheered him, we should have seen no 

 more of our fox. But here our evil genius pursued us. He was 

 handsomely refound ; twice attempted to break cover ; but having 

 been twice headed back by the second whipper-in, he fell a prey 

 to the pack. This was death to the hopes of all the field, for the 



