in the Seventies and Eighties. S5 



The writer spent more than half the season in Leicester- 

 shire, but Claxon's diary only corroborates the general im- 

 pression left by the season's sport, and it was undoubtedly 

 a lean one. Still there were two good Barmpton days, 

 October 30th and November 27th ; outlying foxes, whipped 

 up by Jack Bevans, being responsible for the sport on each 

 occasion. 



A fine day's sport was witnessed on January 1st, 1886, 

 when the townspeople mustered in force at Great Stainton, 

 and shortly after hounds had been put into Lee Close, the 

 large ash trees in the neighbourhood appeared suddenly to 

 burst into human vegetation. A very large fox, and known 

 to be the same one which had afforded a good gallop in the 

 November previously, sailed away eastwards, but after ring- 

 ing past StiUington Ironworks a second time, hounds began 

 to close upon him, and he paid the penalty for an excessive 

 celebration of Christmas festivities; time, forty minutes. 

 This was followed by a splendid twenty minutes from Fox 

 Hill, by Longnewton and Sadberge, and back to covert. 



On January 4th, a good thirty-five minutes was recorded 

 from the Black plantation, near Sedgefield station, to ground 

 at Butterwick moor. A severe day must March 29th, 1886, 

 have been. A good run in the morning from Jordison's 

 moor terminated with a kill, and an " outlyer " from the 

 neighbourhood of Nodding's whin in the afternoon, whose 

 points were Wolviston village, Sunderland Gate, Close wood, 

 Newton Hansard, Norton Ironworks, Wolviston (re-visited), 

 and Wynyard again (when hounds were stopped), tried to 

 the utmost the stamina of the best horses to be found in 

 the Hunt, and with effect too, for Claxon's account of the 

 day concludes with the ominous words — " all the horses 

 beaten; Lord Londonderry on the road, and Sir William 



