124 Reminiscences of a 



said, " There's a capital ' bolt ' hole at the corner," and 

 popped through a hole in the fence underneath the boughs 

 which were thick overhead. He followed and being a big 

 man on a big horse, which jumped rather too high over 

 some laid thorns, was caught round the waist by the 

 branches, and the horse seemed to jump from under him. 

 and he was left on the ground. I thought of this two years 

 later when I was popping over or through the same fence 

 after a hound which was running riot, and was caught in 

 the same way by a big rose briar, which dragged me off 

 curiously enough just the same way, and left me swinging 

 in the air for a second or two. 



Mr. Henry Fawcus, the field secretary, was fond of all 

 sports, and a good fox preserver at Cole Hill, where he 

 took the shooting for the sake of the foxes. We never 

 drew the Cole Hill coverts blank during the three or four 

 years whilst he had the shooting there. In the season 

 1874-5 (my first with the South Durham) there was a very 

 noted fox at Cole Hill, that gave us many a hard day's 

 work and good gallop round to Close Wood, and then, as a 

 rule, bearing to his right by Redgap, over the Sunderland 

 road on to Brierton and Dalton crag. Sometimes he would 

 take a bigger circle than at others, but that was his usual 

 route. He was a very " kittle " fox, and always away in a 

 second, and I used to trot on to the top of the hill to 

 command a good view of him if possible, and generally saw 

 him going over the grass bottom just as I arrived on the 

 hill top. He was a very big, grey fox, with a beautiful 

 brush and large white tag, and must have been five or six 

 years old. We were often in that country in those days, 

 and had many a good run with this " Cole Hill fox." We 

 never killed him, but about Christmas time, 1875, the fox. 



