Hounds have always been a family passion witli the 

 Wicksteds, and the love and knowledge of them has come 

 down lineally upon the j^resent representatives of the 

 family both at Betley, in Cheshire, and at Ludlow, in a 

 marked degree. If you want to learn anything of the 

 characteristics of a good and perfect hound go and spend 

 a day with Wicksted in his ; kennels, or any one else's 

 kennels, for he is not egotistical or narrowminded in his 

 eye to abound. So it come? that he has, after twenty 

 years' labour, got together a lot of high-bred hounds, that 

 can hunt, speak, and drive through one of the most 

 difficult and intricate contries in the West Midlands. He 

 is backed, too, by the most genuinely sportsman-like 

 set of country gentlemen that Shropshire possesses. His 

 fcxes are almost uniformly preserved, and his fields are 

 select, without any ignorant tail, and include plenty of far- 

 mers. It has not leen Borderer's luck to reach his meets 

 this season more than once, and then only for a few 

 short hours, but he has been able to retail iiore than 

 one excellent run that has fallen to their lot, and has 

 missed several others quite worthy of a place in these 

 notes. 



The Ludlow season has been decidedly a good one, and 

 above the average. Their runs have been remarkable, 

 not only for straightness, but from having started from 

 some of their biggest woodlands and gone straight into 

 Radnorshire or the United Countiies, reaching points 

 never 'before attained by these hounds in living memory. 

 Nothing could speak more strongly for the pack than 

 this, and '' the little Ludlow," as they were once called, 

 have reason indeed to be proud of their doings. The 

 master has handed the horn that he carried for so many 

 years to Johnson, who acted last season as his 

 kennel huntsman and first whip. Johnson is young, but 

 has shown himself to be made of the true metal, as he 

 has picked up all the good points of his master's craft, 

 and adds to them the advantages of being a first-rate 

 horseman, keen, quick, and quiet. He served his 



