TROUBLOUS TIMES. 287 



Exmoor to sea at Foy during the reign of Henry 

 VIII., the run lasting three days. There is no 

 record of what hounds ran in this wonderful run, but 

 the huntsman's name is given as Tom Bestwetherick. 

 It is far more probable that the stag was one of 

 those hunted by the Tavistock hounds. 



That there was more than one pack of hounds 

 hunting concurrently in the West Country is shown 

 by the well authenticated tradition that one of the 

 Arscotts of Tettcott kept staghounds there as well 

 as foxhounds. The well-known old song, " The 

 hunting of Arscott of Tettcott," ending as it does 

 by a leap from a cliff to the Atlantic, looks more 

 like staghunting than foxhunting, though a fox is 

 mentioned, but there are many versions of it, and the 

 date is quite uncertain. 



Probably there were no well defined boundaries of 

 any of the staghunting countries, and each master 

 hunted where he had leave to go. Devon, where 

 enclosed at all, was, from the nature of the farming 

 carried on there, more strongly enclosed than most 

 counties, but there were large tracts of wild hill 

 country with open common land quite unenclosed 

 over which the deer could roam at will. 



On the other side of Exmoor were the Ouantock 

 Hills, where it is probable that a few deer still remained, 

 descendants of those once inhabiting the Royal 

 forest of Petherton. There is, indeed, little doubt 

 that there were always a few deer on Quantock right 

 up to the time when Mr. Bisset took steps to increase 



