HISTORY OF THE LINLITHGOW 



mended and the field had to gallop their hardest 

 In order to keep in touch with the pack which, 

 skirting the east end of Longmuir covert, went on 

 over the farm of Ochiltree mill and the fields below 

 Hangingside and Oatridge. From the Ecclesmachan 

 road to Lampinsdub the pace slackened only to 

 be increased ag-ain between the latter and the 

 Edinburgh and Linlithgow road, on the far side of 

 which the fox was viewed not more than a couple 

 of hundred yards ahead. Near the lodge gate east 

 of the twelfth milestone they dwelt a little, but 

 with Cotesworth's help, ran well through the Three- 

 mile-town coverts, and finished by putting their fox 

 to ground on the canal banks opposite Craigton, 

 after having covered fifteen miles of varied country, 

 with a point of eight, in something like an hour 

 and three-quarters.^ 



All seasons, however, do not bring good sport, 

 and many dull and uneventful days followed the 

 bright ones which up to this time had been the 

 rule. Scent went from bad to worse, frost not 

 infrequently bound the country, and in consequence 

 of the death of Queen Victoria the work of all 

 packs was brought to a temporary stand-still early 

 in the year 1901. Nevertheless there were occas- 

 sions, such as the 9th of December 1899, and the 

 24th of November 1900, when after a hunt and a 

 kill, hounds were satisfied, the state of matters 

 brightened, and it seemed as if the spell of ill 



1 'The Scotsman,' 5th December 1898; 'Land and Water,' 10th 

 December 1898. 



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