CLOUTSHAM. 333 



both for the stag and hind, at Cloutsham, and perhaps 

 this somewhat dulls the appreciation of it as a really 

 sporting meet. Yet it is second to none in the 

 country ; indeed, the recorded good runs from 

 Cloutsham are considerably in excess of those from 

 any other meet, but as hounds go there very often, 

 there must necessarily be a corresponding number of 

 bad and indifferent days, and certainly a bad day at 

 Cloutsham is very bad indeed, worse than almost 

 anywhere else. When deer hang about the coverts 

 all day one is sorely tempted to leave Cloutsham 

 Ball, and plunge into the deep combes to see what 

 hounds are doing. It is not until a stranger has done 

 this, and found out for himself how impossible it is 

 to see and hear, and how easy it is in those dense 

 woodlands to lose all touch of hounds, and until he 

 has ridden a stout horse to a standstill in a vain 

 attempt to find them, that he begins to appreciate 

 at its full value the quickness and local knowledge of 

 the hunt servants, and the condition of their horses. 

 " When in doubt in Horner, get up on to Cloutsham 

 Ball as quick as you can," is a maxim of universal 

 acceptation ; from there, and from there only, one 

 commands the whole range of coverts. 



Some of the greatest runs in the old days took place 

 from Cloutsham. One of the earliest recorded took 

 place on September 8th, 1786, when a very old stag, 

 known as the old Badgworthy stag, was found in 

 Hollowcombe on the side of Dunkery, and led the 

 field away on the line so often followed by deer in 



