HISTORY OF THE LINLITHGOW 



farmer, he desired them to remember that In 

 following his hounds they were riding over land 

 which was valuable — land to which damage was 

 more easily done and perhaps less easily repaired 

 than in other districts — and asked them to help 

 him by doing as little injury as possible to crops 

 and fences. He also stated that if injury were 

 done to these, he would repair it, and would send 

 in the bills to those who caused it.^ Then, wish- 

 ing every one good sport, he gave Beavan the 

 order to put hounds into covert. An hour or 

 two later one of the field, Mr F. C. Grey, riding 

 an indifferent timber -jumper, was caught in the 

 act of breaking a gate, and was there and then 

 fined half-a-sovereign. But in exacting this penalty 

 Captain Cheape had no motive beyond the preven- 

 tion of damage, and when Christmas came round 

 the offender received from the master the present 

 of a pair of spurs, accompanied by the kindly 

 wish that with their help he would be able to 

 jump over gates and not through them. 



From now until the time when he was pro- 

 moted to the huntsman's place two years later, 

 Cotesworth, who wrote, as indeed he also spoke, 

 extremely well and fluently, was the most regular 

 chronicler of the work of the pack. The articles 

 which he as " Croppie Boy" contributed to the 

 columns of ' Horse and Hound ' are bright and 

 pleasant to read, and from them and other sources 

 of information a few instances of the sport shown 



1 'The Scotman,' 26th November 1887. 



276 



