YORKSHIRE 335 



April 1st. — Arrived at Melton, and had the pleasure of dining at 

 the Old Club. On the 2nd, met Mr. Osbaldeston at Kkby Gate — 

 the Lady pack looking in high beauty, and a thundering large field. 

 Eode Captain Boss's Waterman, brother to Clinker ; and, in spite of 

 the Decalogue, could not help wishing he belonged to my stable. 



A curious circumstance connects itself with this day's hunting 

 There was a fox which has given these hounds no less than three 

 remarkably sharp bursts from Carberry Hill without their being able 

 to catch him, and he had in consequence obtained the name of the 

 Carberry Hill Fox. What was also extraordinary, he always took 

 the same line towards Orton, and the following are the various 

 periods for which he stood before this celebrated pack : first time, 

 twenty-eight minutes ; second time, twenty-five minutes ; third 

 time, twenty-three minutes, defeating them on each.''' On the day 

 I am speaking of, he did not wait to be found ; but we viewed him 

 going gallantly away, and taking his old line — George Marriott close 

 at his brush, with his hat in his hand, hallooing as if the devil was 

 in him ; but George Marriott, I suppose, is a privileged man. 



As may be expected, all the hard-riding men were on the alert, 

 and hard indeed did those ride who went anywhere near the hounds 

 on this day. The pace was truly awful ; but that was not all. If 

 he had picked Leicestershire, this fox could not, I should imagine, 

 have found four or five more distressing fields for the nags than 

 those they had at first to encounter — all against the collar, high 

 ridges with deep furrows, and the latter, between wet and dry, 

 almost enough to pull their legs off. Had it not been for a bit of a 

 check in a road for a minute or two, w^iere several changed their 

 horses for fresh ones, some of the best must have declined ; as I 

 heard Lord Alvanley (who went as usual like a good one) say, his 

 horse had just carried him those ten minutes, and that was all he 

 could do. His Lordship, however, jumped on a fresh one at the 

 check, and went on. As Captain Boss's horses had been thrown out 

 of work, in consequence of his having been an invalid, I was only a 

 looker-on ; but to any one who had never seen Leicestershire before, 

 this burst would have afforded a very pretty specimen. Sir Belling- 



* Mr. Osbaldeston had another turn at this fox late in the month of April, 

 when he beat him again, after a very severe run over partly the same country. 



