U HUNTING AND SPOBTI^G NOTES. 



gallop of about seventeen minutes, on which there was 

 plenty of room, and to spare, for those who cared to go. 

 Shaw^bury Heath held one that jumped up in view, and 

 hounds w^ere in the same field with him to start w-ith. 

 No time to take a dive into Sir Vincent's gorse, so leaving 

 it on his right we w^ent a rattier to Hardwicke, to the 

 right of the house, and into the road as if Grinshill was 

 his point, but the invariable turnip gatherer was here, 

 and he swung back into the plantations only to be forced 

 away again over the road to the left, and across the 

 railway — a nice little boundary fence with a fair ditch 

 on the landing side, gave the hounds room, and stopped 

 the ardour of a new i^ink — over the big fields tow^ards 

 Preston Gubbalds we flew merrily until our fox suddenly 

 changed his mind when within two fields of it, and 

 re-crossed the railway near the factory, to the inevitable 

 Hadnal village, which appeai-s to have a charm for these 

 jShawbury foxes — hounds hunted patiently through small 

 enclosures and cottage gardens, but eventually came to a 

 stand, and w^e failed to mark him in anywhere, although, 

 no doubt, he was not far off, as he never crossed the 

 turnpike road. All, except a few, now went home, 

 while the lingering hope of another gallop on what 

 appei^red to be a good scenting day, took the remnant, 

 Borderer included, to Matthew's Coppice, in the e.-ist 

 corner of which there were a brace that took some 

 persuasion before one of them could be forced to leave 

 his comfortable quarters. When he did slip away 

 towards Moreton Corbet w^e had a pretty start ; but, alas ! 

 the scent of the morning had gone, and in a few^ fields 

 the fun of the day was over, and not a bad one either. 

 Booker, probably, had never hunted hounds before, so 

 that it w^as trying him high on this occasion. I trust 

 Thatcher w^ill soon be all right again. 



The pi-esentation to Lady Boughey of her own and 

 her husband's picture on Wednesday, at Wolverhampton, 

 bv the Earl of Bradford, w^as, I hear, in every way a 

 success ; but, speaking only for myself, I should have 

 preferred to have seen it given at a lawn meeting at 

 Aqualate or Weston Park. Never has there been a 

 more deservedly popular gift. 



There has been another marriage in Shropshire ! Mr. 



