Mountain^ moor, bog and woodland. 3 



There are some sportsmen and sportswomen, however, who, so 

 soon as they reach the foot of Arncliffe, Thimbleby, or Silton, 

 say " No thank you," and turn their horses' heads homewards. 

 They have exaggerated visions of bogs, open drains, precipices 

 and what not. I once heard a very able hunter-judge say that no 

 horse could be called a perfect hunter till he could gallop over 

 a moor without putting a foot wrong. If this is the case then 

 there are very, very few perfect hunters, but, despite this, the 

 moors do not present nearly the dangers or difficulties to horse 

 and rider most folk, who have not followed hounds over them, 

 imagine. Bog a horse once, and let him fall into an open 

 drain once, and he'll be very careful on future occasions. By 

 drawing rein at the foot of the hills, those who have funked 

 taking the rough with the smooth have probably missed some 

 of the greatest runs recorded in Hurworth Hunt annals. Of 

 this, however, more anon. 



As I have said, the Hurworth domains contain very little 

 moorland, and you may ride a whole season without ever having 

 occasion to jump a stone wall. With the exception of Arncliffe, 

 heretofore mentioned, and Thimbleby, a little further on round 

 the bend in the hills, there are no extensive woodlands in the 

 Hurworth country. Arncliffe, of course, is a hill-side wood like 

 Thimbleby, and it cannot be said the draw is a very favourite 

 one nor that very much sport has its origin directly from this 

 covert, though foxes are well preserved therein. 



We all of us know those long waits and funereal rides along 

 Arncliffe's boggy paths, where once the Carthusian monks 

 paced and where now, thanks to the preservation of the late 

 Sir I. L. Bell and his son. Sir Hugh Bell, the badger's pad 

 marks are not infrequently seen. One passes the ruins of 

 Mount Grace Priory several times during the course of each 



