338 THE RED DEER OF EXMOOR. 



leaving the Master and his men a weary ride home 

 on a very bad road to Exford. 



HADDON. 



Second only to Cloutsham as a stronghold of the 

 deer is the big collection of thick woodlands, extend- 

 ing over some thousands of acres, to which most 

 people apply the general term Haddon. 



The brown, heathery ridge of Haddon Hill is a 

 prominent landmark from any part of the district ; 

 almost surrounded by deep valleys clothed with the 

 densest and most impenetrable oak scrub, and 

 watered by the dashing stream of the Haddeo, a 

 tributary of the Exe, it has from the earliest been the 

 favourite refuge for the deer when other and smaller 

 coverts were disturbed and unsafe. So much was 

 this the case that there were always said to be two 

 herds of deer, the forest herd and the Haddon herd. 



The road through the Haddeo Valley is a private 

 one, and, save for one cottage at Clammer and the 

 few cottages at Hartford Cleeve, there is nothing 

 whatever to disturb the quietude of the valley from 

 end to end, and it is small wonder that the deer 

 have made it their headquarters on the south-east 

 side of the district. Beyond Haddon to the east- 

 ward are large coverts at Bittescombe, belonging to 

 Sir John Ferguson Davie, through which deer 

 constantly pass and repass, but they do not very 

 frequently lie there. Further to the eastward again 

 are the big plantations between Huish Champflower 



