HUNTING LOCALITIES 189 



is no exception, as it is in the heart of the Burton 

 country, not far from the northern part of the Blank- 

 ney, which was at one time part of the Burton country, 

 and within reach by rail of some of the Brocklesby. 



For the last-named pack Market Rasen is the 

 most central town, but Lincoln is, after Grantham, 

 the best hunting centre in Lincolnshire. From Louth, 

 on the borders of the Brocklesby and Southwold, it 

 is also possible to see a good deal of sport, but to 

 secure all the four hunting days of Mr. Preston 

 Rawnsley's capital pack (the Southwold) Horncastle 

 is the best-placed town, as it is in the centre of the 

 country. Retford is in the centre of Lord Fitzwilliam's 

 Hunt (the Grove), and from Worksop, a few miles 

 to the west of Retford, the Rufford can also be reached. 

 Both countries are mixed, but plough land — some of 

 it heavy clay — is much in evidence in the Grove 

 country, whereas the Rufford have a lot of grass 

 on the Derbyshire side of their country. 



Continuing north, Doncaster is a poor quarter, 

 being too near the fag end of two or three hunts. 

 The Badsworth and Lord Fitzwilliam's countries are 

 nearest to it, but the best country of either pack is 

 not very near the great racing town, on the south- 

 east side of which one quickly reaches salt marshes, 

 and other unhuntable country. 



If Doncaster is a poor, York is a good hunting 

 quarter, where the busy man can, with a little trouble, 

 hunt nearly every day of the week. York is situated 

 in the heart of the curiously shaped York and Ainsty 

 country, but so narrow is this centre that the Bramham 

 Moor come to within seven miles on the west side 

 of the city (the boundary is on the Weatherby road near 

 Rufforth, where a year or two ago we saw chalked 



