28 HUNTING AND SPORTING NOTES. 



witli ovir fox turiiino- and twisting oininouslj, when a false 

 halloa most perversely came, and saved his life, after a run 

 of an hour and forty minutes from the find. An evening 

 fox from the Corfield coppice took them across the railway 

 to Gonsal and Oondover Park, there darkness, witli sixteen 

 miles home to kennels, made a departure imperative. 



Thursday, the 24th, brought allurements for hunting 

 men at Walford, and New Street Lane. The Shropshire 

 drew largt'ly at the former place from a i^ection of the 

 Wyniistay people, while Sir Watkin himself, on his 

 extreme Market Drayton side meet, drew the South 

 Cheshire and North Stafford men into his field. The 

 Shroi)shire had but a poor day. The Walford shinnies 

 faiknl. Merrington was supposed to be blank, although 

 a fox slii»[)ed away luiheeded. Fitz Coppice came to the 

 rescue, but the field were on the wrong side and headed 

 him from his best point. As it was he slipped back, and 

 gave a ring of a few fields out by the church, and then 

 went to ground. An unpolite fox in the afternoon 

 disturbed the Leaton lunch party, by choosing that 

 inopportune moment for poking up his nose in the home 

 drive. His journey, however, did not extend much 

 beyond the home circuit before he had made himself 

 scarce. 



Sir Watkin found a leash of foxes in Styche Cioi'se, the 

 hounds declining to forsake their close attentions to one, 

 while another good looking one went away. However^ 

 No. 2 had to go or die pretty quickly, which he did 

 towards Shavington, then vainly endeavouring to get 

 home again was met by the rear guard and driven across 

 the road, liovmds settling down ran fast towards Styche 

 Wood, but not entering it kept on to Cloverley Pool, 

 through the park and out by the lodge gates, over the big 

 pastures as if for Sandford. Here, however, we seemed 

 to cross another line of less flavour, for, after a few fields 

 in the neighbourhood of Bletchley, we got slower, and 

 soon had to give him up, although our hunted fox was 

 scarcely out of view leaving Cloverley. A trot back to 

 Cloverley Wood did not produce a fox, and then they 

 went to Shavington, where they found, and brought a fox 

 away to Styche and Cloverley, but the afternoon got very 

 dark and foggy, and none were very sorry when Sir Watkin 



