94 HUNTING AND SPORTING NOTES. 



well be iniagined. Seven foxes were viewed away, some 

 of them apparently taldng good lines, but on none of 

 these could the hounds be prevailed upon to come. 

 Holloas and anathemas were useless. At last all the 

 remaining foxes apparently made themselves scarce, and 

 the master gave the word for Blackoe. Here some of the 

 escaped ones had passed through, but stayed not. Iscoyd 

 produced a vixen that was immediately chopped, while 

 her better half in a most ungentlemanly way, went to 

 ground before her very face. Kiln Green Wood was 

 blank, and then we were at the Fens again. One stiff old 

 fox that had had a good lun on his own account was 

 cR-ught, and then at four p.m. Llanbedder Moss was 

 ordered to be drawn. A fox was soon away, and gave us 

 a nice twenty minutes to ground. So much for a very 

 peaty day. 



Haughmond Abbey failed to draw so large a field as 

 usual, and what is worse. Holly Coppice did not hold a 

 fox. There were two or three on the hill, however, and 

 one of these, after a little badgering, essayed to go to 

 Holly Coppice, but he was of a nervous temperament, 

 and was flustered by an excellent sportsman's physiognomy 

 in the road, so that he met his death in the bit of gorse 

 close by. Another fox was poked out of a rabbit hole on 

 the hill, and halloaed, but Thatcher was bent on Eoden 

 Coppice, which was blank, and also Poynton Springs, 

 Ebury AVood, and Sunderton. The Gregories, however, 

 made amends for much disappointment, as a fox broke 

 to the south, skirting the Sundorne Decoy, crossed 

 the main road to Pimley Eough, a most unusual line. 

 Thatcher, before he reached here, had a nasty cropper at 

 the brook ; the old Colonel jumped short, and fell back 

 into it. It looked as if the fox meant crossing the canal 

 and river Severn to Monkmoor, but his intentions luckily 

 were not so severe. He ran parallel with the canal back 

 towards Shrewsbury. Those that liked big jumping had 

 it ; gates were handy for the remainder. When it looked 

 as if he would enter the county town he turned to the 

 right, re-crossed the main road, and went a capital line of 

 grass back to Battlefield, just before reaching which came 

 a check on the Shawbury road. Hitting him off, however,, 

 they ran up to Battlefield, where he dodged about,. 



