76 



THE WARWICKSHIRE HOUNDS. 



Mr. THORNHILIi. 



•1^33-1836. 



Some more Farn- 

 borough sport. 



An incident. 



A good line. 



I have now another sample of Farnborough sport, 

 and sport indeed ! The meet was on the 12th of 

 February, 1834, and it was, therefore, an item of the 

 same season as the foregoing. There was a brilliant 

 field, and just as the hounds were about to throw off, 

 a fox was halloed away from Mr. Holbech's magni- 

 ficent terrace in the direction of Mollington. The 

 hounds were soon on his line, and he took them 

 gallantly along the line of the brook in the valley 

 between the Banbury and Southam Road 

 and the Banbury and Warmington Road. 

 Leaving Warwickshire for Oxfordshire, he passed 

 through Hanwell Spinney and ran, as for a 

 time was supposed, into a drain near the Neithrop side 

 of Banbury. The time so far had been twenty minutes. 

 Now a check of about ten minutes ensued when a 

 farmer whipped up the fox from the grass out of a 

 ditch and away he went at his very best pace over 

 Wroxton Grounds with the Park to the right. Then 

 turning to the left he crossed over Crouch Hill and 

 ran down to Wykham Mill. Here, as Mr. H. 

 Horley was riding by the side of the dam, his horse 

 ••Shakespere" swerved and fell backwards into the 

 water. Captain Lambe came up at this time on a 

 chestnut and assisted Mr. Horley to get his horse out 

 of the water. They overtook the hounds about half- 

 an-hour before they lost. Mr. Horley and Lord Howth 

 had a good start together and cleared the first brook 

 abreast, five successive times. 



But to follow the chase. The fox took his line along 

 the right bank of the Wykham brook, and a short 

 check occurred in one of the meadows. The hounds 

 returned over the brook — which was cleared by 

 Lord Howth — and there was some doubt as 

 to whether the fox had crossed or not. Picking 

 up, however, the line again, some beautiful 

 running ensued, by Broughton, near the Castle 

 Gardens and over the Park. Then up the fields and 



