AND STIRLINGSHIRE HUNT 



Mr Hay, who hunted the hounds hmiself,^ 

 showed capital sport, and in his first season 

 there were several brilliant runs — one in par- 

 ticular from Ravelrig, skirting the Pentland 

 hills, being much talked of. Unfortunately 

 almost no details concerning it are recorded, 

 but it would seem that on that occasion hounds 

 distanced their followers, and that no one was 

 actually with them when they ran into their 

 fox. Mr W. R. Ramsay of Barnton, Mr Home, 

 Berwickshire, Captain Christie, Mr M'Bean and 

 Mr Gillon, however, were not far off at the finish, 

 while, amongst others, the Messrs Williamson of 

 Lixmount, Mr Hay, Major Shairp, Mr Home, 

 Linhouse, and Colonel Holmes and Mr Dyson 

 from Piershill Barracks, came up shortly after- 

 wards.^ In his second season, after some 

 excellent runs in the Duns country, a long and 

 good hunt took place on the 3rd of November 

 (1829) from a fixture at Linlithgow Bridge. 

 Hounds found twice in Kinneil wood, but other- 

 ways the morning proved uneventful, and when, 

 from Bowden, a small but good fox broke covert, 

 the best scenting part of the day was over. The 

 first burst was sharp, but after about five miles 

 had been traversed, hounds came to a check, — 

 so long that half the field departed ; and perhaps 

 to this circumstance may have been due the rest 

 and best of the run. Although the afternoon was 

 cold and most unfavourable for scent, it afforded 



' 'Sporting Magazine,' April 1831. « Ibid., February 1829. 



103 



