14 THE COMPLETE FOXHUNTER 



country hunted is a huge one, almost the biggest in 

 England, though the Warwickshire claims a larger 

 acreage. The variation of country is very great ; there 

 is grass in fair quantities, light plough, heavy plough, 

 vale land of mixed arable and grass, and much hilly 

 country. Indeed, it is probable that the Badminton 

 and the Belvoir stand alone in the matter of variety, 

 for in the last-named hunt it is all grass on the 

 Leicestershire side of the country, while in Lincoln- 

 shire almost every description of country is to be found. 

 In the Badminton country the hills are much steeper 

 than those of the Belvoir and the woodlands are 

 bigger, but the great charm of the whole district is the 

 wonderful fox supply, which never gives out. How 

 this is managed one must be in the country to under- 

 stand, but a most important factor in the great result is 

 the extraordinary personality of the present Duke, 

 who has made foxhunting the chief business of his 

 life, and whose influence is so widespread that his 

 example extends to the furthest confines of his hunt. 



It has been shown that the three greatest family packs 

 became foxhounds about the middle or towards the end 

 of the eighteenth century, and now one may very 

 briefly glance at some of the big subscription countries, 

 merely with a view to showing how long they have been 

 in existence. The Quorn has been mentioned ; Mr. 

 Fernie's Hunt is an offshoot of the Quorn, hunting part 

 of the original Quorn country, and only dates from 1856. 

 The Cottesmore, on the other hand, is one of the very old 

 countries, which was originally hunted by a family pack, 

 but has been for long enough a subscription pack. 

 The country was, in fact, first hunted by the Noel family, 

 and the first record of the pack occurs in Thomas Noel's 

 Book of Hounds^ dated 1732. Until 1788 the Noel 



