AND STmLINGSHIRE HUNT 



Atkinson still carried the horn, and allowinp- for 

 the fact that the country had suffered somewhat 

 through the working of the minerals in several 

 estates, and through intersection in one way or 

 another, sport was quite up to the average. On 

 the 11th of December 1877, after meeting at 

 Houstoun House, hounds ran well from Livingstone 

 wood by Cousland to Seafield and thence, swinging 

 left-handed across the Almond, by Bellsquarry 

 and Williamston to Calder wood, where they rolled 

 their fox over at the end of an hour and fifteen 

 minutes without a check. ^ The fixture at Belstane 

 on the 11th of March 1880, resulted in a long- 

 hunting run in which the distance covered must 

 have been about twenty miles, although the 

 farthest points touched are not more than seven 

 miles apart. Breaking eastwards from Selms 

 moor, hounds ran through Ormiston policies, bent 

 right-handed by Belstane, crossed the Lanark road 

 and water of Leith and eventually marked to 

 ground in the rocks on Dalmahoy hill. To get 

 the fox out took some time, but this having been 

 accomplished he was turned down near Boll o' Bear, 

 and after crossing and recrossing the Lanark road, 

 was pursued by Ormiston, the railway junction 

 near Oakbank, and Selms moor to the banks of 

 the Linhouse water. From these, after a turn 

 towards Morton, hounds went on by Burnbrae, 

 Broadshaw, Limefield House, and the Wilderness 

 covert to Bellsquarry wood where, "as the red 



^ 'Edinburgh Courant,' 12th December 1877. 



251 



