1852] GOOD RUN IN THE WALTON COUNTRY. 175 



number of red, black, and green coats, and others of doubtful hue, most of the 

 owners of which partook of the good cheer always prepared for them by this true 

 lover of the noble science. " Gentlemen, I can give you no more time," exclaims 

 the master of the pack, mounting his gallant grey. •' Will you first draw the 

 Grove," says the captain, the fox-preserving owner thereof — so, to the Grove we 

 went, where pug, wondrous to relate, was non est. " Why, the train was 

 late to-day," observed a waggish Lifeguardsman, as Joe called the hounds away. 

 " The varmint will arrive in time," was the captain's reply, " and make you look 

 rather blue before the end of the run." The captain was, sir, what few men are, 

 a prophet in his own country. The words were scarcely out of his mouth when 

 Tom Leedham's joyous " Tally-ho " gladdened the hearts of all, and the captain, 

 in his best and most sarcastic manner, said, " They have turned him out well," 

 which made some of the oi jwlloi really believe that a commercial gentleman had 

 just been enlarged. Were I to describe the distance we went, by Seal Wood to 

 Lullington Gorse, leaving Rosliston on the right, and Catton on the left, finishing 

 a most tremendous ring of twelve miles at the place we found him ; or the 

 numerous falls, the extraordinary pace, the fences that were jumped, the brooks 

 that were floundered into and over, I should fill, dear Bell, many sheets of 

 foolscap, which you would think more suited to my head. Still this gallant fox 

 held on, and skirting an osier bed by the river Trent, gave us a glorious oppor- 

 tunity of viewing him, and judging whether he was fresh or beaten ; and on 

 hearing a heavy-weight exclaim, " A fresh fox for a hundred ! " I could not help 

 thinking of these appropriate lines : — 



"From Drakelowe's plantation he broke cleanly and dry, 

 I've heard it before, ' A fresh fox ! ' was the cry. 

 The gentleman wished to be knowing, of course ; 

 And perhaps he was fresh when compared to his horse." 



But fresh or beaten, his days were numbered, and after ringing round about 

 the plantations for an hour or more, he fell a victim to the energy and stoutness 

 of the gallant pack, thus winding up a run of two hours and twenty-five minutes 

 (the first hour of which was tremendously fast) over one of the deepest and 

 stiffest countries a fox ever crossed. Whilst we were breaking him up, three 

 foxes went away from a neighbouring cover, which is a proof of the vigilance 

 with which they are preserved in that part of the country. Whilst riding home, 

 I heard that many of the feathered pets belonging to the charming mistress of 

 this domain had fallen victims to the incursions of bold Reynard, and was 

 tempted to exclaim with the poet — 



" For these nocturnal thieves, huntsman, prepare 

 Thy sharpest vengeance ! " 



Yours, &c., 



HUMPTY DUMPTY. 



"The hounds closed the season of 1853-54 on 

 Thursday,* March 30th, earlier than usual by a week or 

 two, on account of the spring being early. The meet on 

 this occasion was the keeper's lodge, Chartley Park, and it 

 is only due to Mr. Wilcox to say that, whether his noble 



* This account is copied from a manuscript in the possession of Mr. Henry 

 Charringtou of Tutbury. 



