FOX-HUNTING RECOLLECTIONS 163 



seldom any necessity to take timber, and the 

 common Shropshire fence was a small hedge on a 

 low bank with only a single ditch. These fences, 

 however, came quickly, had to be taken slowly, 

 and were very apt to stop horses in their pace, 

 especially as the going was almost always in 

 deep ground. In one part of the country, also, 

 the low-lying meadows abound with black boggy 

 drains, which will not allow a horse approaching 

 near enough to be certain of clearing them ; and 

 it may be said of the Shropshire country, as a 

 whole, that a horse which can go well there can go 

 well anywhere. 



In Shropshire, accordingly. Sir Bellingham 

 maintained a hunting establishment little inferior 

 to that he had considered necessary for Leicester- 

 shire. His kennels contained seventy couples of 

 working hounds, and his stables twenty-six 

 weight-carrying hunters. Large hounds did not 

 suit the small enclosures of Shropshire, and there 

 were some in the dog pack bigger than were 

 desirable. 



Vulcan was a favourite hound, but deter- 

 mined and savage if put out. On one occasion 

 when running hare, Joe Maiden, then second 

 whip, caught him a '' broadsider " for it ; Vulcan 

 jumped at him and bit him right through boot 

 and stirrup-leather. Virgin, by Cheshire Vahant, 



