154 THE COMPLETE FOXHUNTER 



Blackmore Vale is spoken of as ''chiefly pasture, 

 there being very little plough," the Cattistock as 

 ''chiefly pasture, with a little light plough and some 

 downlands " ; the Morpeth has " 70 % of pasture, 5 % of 

 plough, 15% of woodlands, and 10% of moorland," 

 while the description of the Tynedale states " north of 

 the Tyne it is practically all grass ; south of the Tyne 

 it is woodland country." (Hounds only go south 

 of the Tyne during cub-hunting and late in the 

 spring.) Then in Ireland the Meath country is 

 "nearly all pasture with very little plough." The 

 Kildare country is " practically all grass," the Galway 

 is "nearly all pasture, there being no plough and 

 no great extent of woodland." The East Galway is 

 "chiefly grass with a good deal of moorland," the 

 Muskerry has "about 80 % of pasture," and the Tipper- 

 ary is " practically all grass, there being little woodland, 

 and neither moorland nor plough." 



Thus we see that there are other grass countries 

 beyond the Shires, but nevertheless that group 

 of Midland hunts to which the first place for excellence 

 of country is always given, is beyond doubt the finest 

 hunting arena in the kingdom. To begin with there 

 is a far bigger tract of the really first-rate country 

 in Leicestershire, Northamptonshire, and Rutland- 

 shire than is to be found elsewhere. Half a dozen 

 hunts, all closely adjacent to each other, may be said 

 with truth to form the grass countries, or "Shires," 

 and as to which of these half-dozen is actually the best 

 there is, and there always has been, great diversity of 

 opinion. Pasture lands, strongly fenced, are the 

 galloping grounds of these highly favoured countries, 

 and when it is added that the enclosures are for the 

 most part of wide extent, that during the winter there 



