1899J HOUNDS DUG OUT OF A DRAIN. 309 



retracing his steps to the Common Nursery, was lost. They then drew Parson's 

 Gorse, which has been laid since last year, making a grand fox covert, but one 

 which it takes a very resolute hound to face. A fox was there, and they forced 

 hira into the open, across the road to the left, ran him down the lane to ground 

 in a drain on one of Mr. Meynell's farms. The famous Rough proved the piece 

 de resistance of the day, for it furnished a fox, who ran a nice ring of eighteen 

 minutes round Mr. Frank Newton's house, and back through the Eough to a 

 point beyond, where they lost him. The bridges by the Rough proved unequal 

 to the call made upon them, and gave way, so it was lucky hounds did not run 

 far or fast beyond the Rough, or there would have been nobody with them 

 probably. Sutton Gorse, Arbour Field, and Dussy Bank were all blank, but they 

 found in the osiers below the Ash, with only a score or so of followers left out of 

 a field of nearly three hundred, and ran along the brook by Dussy Bank and 

 Sutton Gorse, over a line of country which takes a lot of doing, to gi'ound in a 

 field by the Ash, after a capital hunt of thirty-eight minutes. 



Saturday, Wichnor. — They found in the big wood, and ran out towards Dun- 

 stall and lost him, scent being wretched. Found again in the Fishpond Covert, 

 ran up to the Dunstall road, and lost him. They found again in the "White Wood 

 at HoUyhurst, and ran back to Wichnor to ground in the covert on the side of 

 tlie hill, where they killed something like five brace of cubs in one morning, cub- 

 hunting two years ago. Hounds then went to the Brakenhurst, where there were 

 plenty of foxes, but not an atom of scent. 



Rough, boisterous weather is not usually accompanied by brilliant sport, 

 though, as every one knows, hounds can and do run under all sorts of climatic 

 conditions ; nor can we expect great things of young foxes in November, and it 

 is not sui-prising that there is nothing much to chronicle in the past week, 



Monday, November 6th, Tutbury Station. — Hounds drew Marston bottoms 

 and osiers blank, but found no less than four foxes in Hilton Gorse, a brace of 

 which were chopped in the gorse. A third went away as if for Sutton, but turned 

 left-handed by the brook, and, making the best of his way downhill, crossed the 

 main Derby and Uttoxeter road. Bearing a little left-handed, he found refuge 

 in a drain in a cottage garden at Hatton. Hence it was decided to eject him at 

 all cost, for it was quite possible that he was the robber of henroosts who has 

 been creating sad havoc amongst the poultry in these parts. As the digging 

 proceeded, " the first thing they did find " was Dampish and Truelass, who had 

 followed their fox down the drain and could not get out again, thus adducing a 

 novel argument in favour of the unpopular practice of digging. No sooner had 

 they been rescued than a good terrier bolted the fox handsomely, who ran parallel 

 with the road from Tutbury Station up to the turnpike road. Crossing this, hounds 

 ran him on to Mr. Archer's farm, Hoon Cottage, and caught him. They had 

 been nmning twenty minutes when he got to ground, and they ran him seven 

 minutes up to the time when they killed him. They then trotted off to Barton 

 Bloimt, and found in the Rookery Plantation. Crossing Mount Pleasant farm, 

 they ran pointing for Hilton Gorse, and, turning left-handed, came back to the 

 Rookery Plantation. Without dwelling here, they ran another ring nearly up to 

 Church Broughton, and back again to where they found hira. To make a long 

 story short, they kept ringing and changing for an hour and twenty minutes, by 

 which time most people had had enough, and hounds went home. 



Thursday, Swarkestone Bridge.— They drew the Osiers and Back Cuttings 

 blank, while the same bad luck pursued us at Sinfin Moor and Sale's Covert. 

 Hell Meadows, however, held a fox, who took us a ring by Mickleover to the 



