m HUNTING AND SPORTING NOTES. 



TWENTY THIED WEEK, Makch 31st to Apeil 7th. 



Pilletli, in Eadnorsliire, has an historic interest. It was 

 here that the Welsh and English tried conclusions many 

 centuries ago, when Eoger Mortimer had to take a licking 

 from Owen Glyndwr — a feat that drove back the supremacy 

 of the Lords of the Marches for many a long year out of 

 this Border country. It was at Pilletli where Shakespeare 

 has immortalised the cruel behaviour of the Welsh women 

 over the bodies of those hated Englishmen. 



Now all that is happily forgotten and forgiven. To-day 

 we meet in good tempered rivalry with no ideas of Chevy 

 Chase pervading us. Here come the descendants of Roger 

 Mortimer — there is a Harley amongst them — a lineal 

 representative of Oxford and Mortimer, and here are the 

 Owen Glyndwrs of to-day — the representatives of those 

 whose tombs in yonder little church carry us back to former 

 centuries, when foxhunting was not preferred to fighting. 



A curious old parish register hereabouts gives us a clue 

 to the date when fox destruction was meritorious, and 

 when the tide turned in the favour of foxhunting. Here 

 are some extracts : — 



In A.D. 1704 For killing a fox 1/- 



1711 Paid Edward Lucas for digging out the 



fox 1/- 



1715 Killing two urchins, John Price 2d. 



1718 For destroying Kewotts 1/- 



1721 For ale when fox was killed 2/6 



1721 Mary Vaughan for expenses at killing 



Foxes 2/6 



For killing six foxes 12/- 



Ditto two Foxes 5/- 



1725 Mary Vaughan for expenses of killing- 

 two foxes 10/6 



1730 For killing a fox 5/- 



Ale at ditto 2/6 



This goes on uj) to 1800, when the practice ceases, and 

 no doubt hunting began. These exploits came out of the 

 Church rates, and no doubt Mary Vaughan kept the village 

 public. Supposing we charged foxhunting on the rates 



