THE WARWICKSHIRE HOUNDS. 99 



then, some gallant hunter will be led up to mount Leamington. 

 or pass with majestic steps beneath the windows, the easy 

 yet graceful position of his rider indicating to the practised 

 eye the finished sportsman. The streets between their 

 slabbed side walks and stately houses present a gay proces- 

 sion during the departure for the hunt, and then in con- 

 trast, seem as silent and lifeless as the aisles of a church. 



Toward evening straggling parties are seen threading th» 

 streets in various plight, showing symptoms of the run ; 

 dismount at the hotels ; and their horses, drooping their 

 heads, with hollow flank and weary carriage, are led to the 

 stables. Then succeeds the savoury dinner, the quickening 

 champagne, the heart-restoring port. Cheeks that were 

 pale with hard riding, now rival the ruddy hue of the hunt- 

 ing coat, and conviviality reigns over the board. 



Such were the scenes which Leamington presented at the 

 period of a late visit, 



I rode from Copp's Hotel on a beautiful morning, the 

 meet was appointed at Eadsley, an old hall in the vicinity 

 of "Warwick. A small wood adjacent to the hall was known 

 to harbour one or two old foxes, and the fine sporting 

 morning, together with the assurance of sport, would, it 

 was thought, call out a strong field. 



A white frost had silvered the tree and cast'a'light, gos- 

 samer drapery over the hedges. In each little inequality of 

 the road the water which had collectod was crystallized, 

 yet the open county was barely affected. It was in all 

 respects such a day as a fox-hunter loves. The jolly sun 

 infused a cheery smile through the atmosphere, the birds 

 twittered in the hedges which were painted with the red 

 hawthorn berry, and the green holly decorated the land- 

 scape, as though it were dressed out for Christmas Day. 



My gallant horse, who knew, as well as his rider, what 

 was before him, trotted easily along the road-side, reserving 

 his energies for the field, and as I sat carelessly in the sad- 

 dle, my heart dilated with the freshness of the air and the 

 richness of the landscape. 



As the landscape opened to my view from the opposite 

 side of the town, I observed the sun had mounted high in 

 the heavens ; and a group of scarlet coats, just turning a 

 bend of the road, admonished me, as they disappeared behind 

 the hawthorn, that I had loitered on my way. I 

 pressed forward, therefore, on a moderate but continued 

 trot and overtook several of my friends at the mouth of a 

 green lane, which, turning abruptly to the left from the main 

 road, leads to Eadsley Hall. Here the ground was soft, 

 and in places muddy, so we picked our way down it at a 

 careful walk. It was one of the green lanes which are the 

 chosen haunts of vagrant gypsies, who encamp beneath the 

 shelter of the hedge sides and the borders of small woods, 

 from which they supply themselves stealthily with fuel 



