74 THE MEYNELL HOUNDS. [1819 



in those days, for more than once there is a mention of 

 running a fox- into one, and a hound, or sometimes two, 

 getting in and killing him ; Costly, who is the very first 

 hound in the Meynell Kennel Book, being an adept at 

 this, which she did several times — once, even bolting 

 a badger at Kedleston. On the 7th of December, hounds 

 ran clean away from them between Ireton Rough and the 

 Lilies, and Joe staked Chance. The squire bought Moses 

 and Pigg in her place, so next day Tom was on Aaron, and 

 Joe on Moses, and hounds ran at a tremendous pace from 

 Blythmore by Newtonhurst, through Kingston Woods, 

 over the river at Blythbridge, across Chartley Park, up 

 to Sandon Wood, and round to Fradswell, killing him at 

 Milwich Heath after an hour and fifty minutes. 



On February 2nd they had an old-fashioned day 

 from Bretby or, as the diarist spells it, Bradby, They 

 did not do much in the morning on account of the snow, 

 but in the afternoon they found in Repton Shrubs, and 

 went away fast by Smisby Common through South Wood, 

 Staunton Springs, and Staunton Harold, back to South 

 AVood, where the fox was all amongst the hounds, but 

 gave them the slip somehow, and they changed and came 

 away again by Calke Abbey, by the house at Staunton 

 Harold into South Wood again, where they stopped them. 

 They did not get back to kennels till near ten o'clock, and 

 heard afterwards that the hounds killed near Calke. 



As an instance of how far foxes travel, there is a 

 mention of killing in the Brakenhurst a marked fox on 

 April 5th, turned down by "Trevanion at Sutton," in 

 November, at least nine miles away, and on the other side 

 of the Dove. The last day of the season was rather a 

 fiasco, for, meeting at Bramshall, hounds found a fox in 

 Draycott AVoods, and ran clean away from every one, and 

 were found at Stone, where they had lost their fox. This 

 was on April 13th. They had hunted eighty-two days, 

 killed nineteen brace of foxes (and two badgers), lost 

 twenty- eight brace, and ran six and a half to ground ; 

 and had ten blank days. 



