AND STIRLINGSHIRE HUNT 



not been for their kindly offices in this respect 

 there might have been some difficulty in inducing 

 Mr Cross to remain in office/ The first of these 

 seasons/ although it passed pleasantly enough, 

 was not productive of any hunt equal to that 

 which compassed the death of the golden fox, 

 or the one from Dechmont to Wallhouse, but the 

 second began brightly, and the sport which resulted 

 from the fixture at the Binns on the 30th of 

 October 1894 was set down as the best which 

 any opening day had brought forth for several 

 seasons. Other good hunts followed, including 

 one on the 3rd of November over an unusual 

 line — from Cairnpapple to The Haining, — but as 

 the last days of the old year flickered out there 

 set in a frost so keen and so enduring, that 

 hounds were unable to take the field until the 

 9th of March following. Thus Mr Cross's master- 

 ship was robbed of the satisfactory finish which 

 it deserved, for his had been a good reign, and 

 none can gainsay the statement that he was one 

 of the best masters which the Hunt has had in 

 the later days of its existence. On his resignation 

 in 1895, he was presented with a piece of silver 

 plate by the members of his field, and was unani- 

 mously appointed a permanent member of the 



^ Minute-book, vol. ii. pp. 101, 106, and 108. 



- Mr Cross states that he killed 34 brace of foxes this season (1893). — 

 Letter to the author dated 16th January 1910. At the end of his 

 mastership he left the country better stocked than probably it has ever 

 been since. 



293 



