CHASE OF THE WILD RED DEER 179 



prowess in the field of the noble ancestor of some 



proud peer is the topic of conversation in the 



stately hall— the past borne by the grandsire of 



some good yeoman in an oft chronicled and well 



remembered chase still forms the theme whereby 



the winter evening at ' the Barton ' is cheered and 



enlivened, 



' when round about the cottage 

 Roars aloud the tempest's din,' 



and the youngest bairn of the family, fired by the 

 tale, reaches down his good sire's iron-mounted 

 hunting-whip, and leads the mimic chase round the 

 oaken 'setde,' and the ponderous arm-chair, in 

 which once rested the stalwart limbs of the hero 

 of the tale. 



I cannot anticipate that the amount of runs 

 collected in the Appendix will be of much interest 

 to any save those who have witnessed a chase in 

 our country, or at least are acquainted with the 

 localities in which the events detailed occurred. I 

 am well aware that many of those who may do me 

 the honour to read these pages would feel that 

 short accounts or notes of runs should find no place 

 in the body of the work, and if such appeared, they 

 would perhaps be 'skipped.' To the general reader 

 such accounts would probably be uninviting. To 



