First Whipper-in. 189 



was capital, still it was a very hard day for horses, which 

 owing to the lateness of the cub-hunting season were hardly 

 fit yet. 



November 23rd was another good day, when I rode 

 old " Castiron," and we had two famous runs— one from 

 Foxhill, just under an hour, and another from Watt's 

 moor to Camp whin, stopping hounds when it was dark, 

 after about an hour and a quarter's galloping. There 

 was a lot of tumbling about during these runs, but nothing 

 of any particular moment ; the second fox was a singularly 

 light coloured one. Possibly it may have been one of the 

 same litter as a vixen we chopped on Butterwick Moor 

 in the following month (December 21st, I find on looking 

 at Claxon's diary) ; this vixen was not merely light-coloured, 

 but quite white in many places. Foxes vary in colour 

 very much, and we killed a blue one in the West country 

 one season about this time, after finding him at Mainsforth 

 whin. Whilst on the subject of curiously marked foxes, 

 I might say that we once killed three cubs in the Great 

 Stainton district, all of which had more or less white 

 pads. 



Friday, March the 21st, was a Great Stainton meet, and 

 last day of Mr. Ord's mastership. Drew some 20 coverts, 

 and just saved the blank day ; but all earths were open. In 

 Mr. Harvey's time and towards the end of his mastership, 

 we had a similar narrow squeak of a blank day ; after draw- 

 ing the Sedgefield country all round there only remained a 

 very unlikely place, the " Devil's Elbow," near the Asylum, 

 to be visited. As we were on the way to draw it, I viewed 

 a fox in the middle of the Durham road, which undoubtedly 

 had heard us coming and slipped away. We, of course, got 

 a good start with him, left Hardwick and Sands Hall on 



