A BRILLIANT SCURRY 349 



Tuesday, November 12th. — Our fixture with the Ouorn 

 this morninor, was Houo-hton-on-the-Hill ; " Little Chancellor," 

 fidgety as ever since the commencement of the season, 

 carried me there in his clever style, and I accompanied Mr. 

 McGildowney, who knowing something of the road took me 

 by a very pleasant line from Twyford by way of Ouenby and 

 Ingarsby, and passing by a very fine old mansion called 

 Ouenby or Oueeniborough Hall, formerly occupied by Sir 

 Walter Carew, but at present tenantless, I could not but be 

 surprised that so fine an old place in a pretty situation of 

 Leicestershire, and so admirably placed in the centre of the 

 best country, should be without a tenant considering the many 

 men of fortune who resort to Leicestershire for the season. 



The morninof was cloudv and cold with the wind in the 

 east, the country very dry, and the glass high and with but 

 little promise of rain. I felt rather stiff and tired from my 

 exertions of yesterday in riding and walking, and rather shaken 

 from my fall and rap of the mouth. Glen Gorse produced us 

 a fox who gave us a fair hunting run of between an hour 

 and an hour and a-half, circling round by King's Norton 

 or Norton by Galby, where we lost him. We then drew a 

 small covert or gorse on the way to Billesdon just by Galby. 

 Here a fox broke in the direction of Rolleston ; returning to 

 the covert he broke in the opposite direction with the hounds 

 close at his heels, and went away over a very stift' line of 

 country and at a racing pace, crossing some very big and 

 awkward fences. Of the whole field though several got away 

 with them, only four could live with the hounds down to 

 Neston Brook, where we came to a slight check, viz., Dick 

 Sutton, Captain Coles, Mr. Shepherd and " Champagne,"* 

 five or six couples of hounds, who did not get well away with 

 the rest of the pack, were unable to join them until the check 

 at the brook. We lost a little time at the brook in crossing- 

 through it at an awkward place, and here we dropped Shepherd, 

 who took some other direction and let in Lord Gardner and 

 other fast riders, who knowing the country had made a cut 

 to join us. Coles led through the brook followed by Sutton, 

 who had some difficulty getting his horse through, but had 

 led up to that point in such workmanlike style that I thought 

 it onlv fair to wait until he had the first chance of oettino- 

 through ; and he continued at a racing pace for about five 

 minutes longer, over a stiff but fine line of country, crossing 



* Mr. Vickerman's horse. 



