90 



THE WARWICKSHIRE HOUNDS. 



Division of thb 

 Country. 



"NLmrod'a" 

 opinion. 



Di,yision with 

 "the Ather- 

 stone.' 



satisfaction arose among those who had been in the 

 habit of finding good sport there for a period of the 

 season. In 1826, " Nimrod " wrote : — " Warwick- 

 shire is not, neither do I suppose it ever will be, what 

 Warwickshire was. Bericote Wood, the best draw, is 

 now given to Lord Anson ; Frankton Wood, the very 

 best covert of these woodlands, is now drawn by 

 Lord Anson ; ditto, Debdale, a gorse on Theophilus 

 Biddulph's property, whence his lordship has had such 

 fine sport these last two seasons. It may be said 

 they cannot be given to a better man, which I readily 

 agree to. But what is to become of the Meriden 

 country, the finest woodland in the world. The 

 country that, when Mr, Corbet hunted Warwickshire, 

 produced such sport — such real sport to real lovers of 

 fox-hunting. I answer it is gone. The Warwickshire 

 woodlands are now termed the Kenilworth country, 

 which may be said to be a bad exchange. In short, 

 Warwickshire is shorn of its leaves, and they never, 

 I fear, will break forth again." 



It will be seen, therefore, that in looking back at his 

 old country "Nimrod" did not see much to arouse 

 within him enthusiasm for the future. A large slice of 

 the north district had been handed to Lord Anson's 

 Hunt, now ** the Atherstone," and the indifference dis- 

 played by those in authority towards parting with 

 what in the old days had been favourite draws, was 

 viewed by "Nimrod" with concern. Five years, 

 however, after he wrote as above, "the Atherstone" 

 relinquished the district south of Coventry, and the 

 following places were added to the Warwickshire 

 country : —Weston Wood, Wappenbury Wood, Waver- 

 ley Wood, Bericote Wood, Bubbeohall, Bagginton, 

 Princethorpe, Ryton Woods, and Cubbington Woods. 



Still, however, there was a large portion of northern 

 Warwickshire which was never visited by the hounds, 

 and the many good sportsmen who resided within 

 easy reach of this district, and those who took 



