268 THE COMPLETE FOXHUNTER 



have a country of their own : this particular hunt dates 

 back to 1260, and quite lately its history has been pub- 

 lished in book form. Another West Yorkshire pack 

 hunting where no foxhounds are is the Craven, and in 

 Lancashire such ancient establishments as the Bury, 

 the Holcombe, the Vale of Lune, the Rossendale, and 

 the Pendle Forest may be quoted. Some of these 

 packs hunt over moorland country, and others — the 

 Bury to wit — over high-lying agricultural land, which 

 though still suited for harehunting is far too thickly 

 populated and too devoid of coverts for foxes. Another 

 famous pack with a rough but rideable country is the 

 High Peak in Derbyshire. Here there is some vale 

 land and a good deal of stony moorland, but it is fine 

 harehunting ground, and at the moment the pack is 

 undoubtedly the finest in the kingdom, proof of which 

 is afforded by the numerous successes which it has 

 achieved at recent Peterborough shows. Then, again, 

 the Wirral Harriers in Cheshire have a country of 

 their own, the Cheshire hounds having long since 

 ceased to draw any coverts in the Wirral peninsula. 

 This particular district embraces all the country which 

 lies between Chester and Birkenhead, and is for the 

 most part a grass country of dairy farms. It has, how- 

 ever, been greatly built over in recent years, and parts 

 of it are full of wire. Still, it is fair harehunting 

 ground, and the hunt a very popular one with the local 

 people. Then in Somerset there are at least two packs 

 of harriers hunting where there are no foxhounds, viz. 

 the Wells Subscription and the Weston. The first- 

 named have their country on the Mendip Hills, and 

 the Weston nearer the sea coast, and both districts are 

 outside the area of any foxhound pack. Another hunt 

 of whose district the greater part is free from foxhounds 



