First Whipper-in. i97 



of viewing a fox, and got rather excited when he saw a 

 beaten one ; which reminds me of a very fine gallop* we 

 had from Bleach House moor, through or by Lee Close, 

 Barmpton whin, the village of Haughton-le-Skerne, and 

 killed just outside Darlington, after forty-five minutes. Just 

 before we got to the young plantations at Skerningham, Mr. 

 Forster viewed the fox in a piece of plough, and came 

 galloping up to me, saying, " By God, yonder he goes Jack." 

 I said, " Hold hard a bit, and keep quiet, I 've seen him long 

 since ; we '11 have him directly ; didn't you see him going up 

 the bank of the Skerne at Barmpton, where he stopped to 

 shake the water out of his feathers ?" But the gallant 

 fox stood up for about other three miles after this, and fail- 

 ing to negotiate the wall into the cemetery, fell back into the 

 hounds' mouths. Old " Agent," a very dark tan hound, 

 pleased me tremendously that day, being the first to hit off 

 the line after crossing the Skerne; he was, I think, by 

 Brocklesby Ranger, out of Actress ; — by Brocklesby Ambrose, 

 out of Scandal — and was an extraordinary hound on cold 

 scent, road, footpath or cold fallow. Many a time was he 

 the means of our seeing the end of a good run or a kill, 

 which we would otherwise have had to give up, but for his 

 extraordinary nose and persevering qualities ; but at the 

 same time, when there was a scent he was always there. 

 His only fault was a little bit too much tongue, but that 's 

 a fault of not only the canine but also the human tribe ! 



Mr. Joseph Forster used to hunt as well as his brother, 

 and was a patron of the South Durham on the south side, 

 generally mounted on a good sorty bay, or a dark brown, 

 or rusty chestnut horse ; it was a point which colour 



• Described in Chapter IV., March 3rd. 1882 Met at Longnewton on October 13th, 1882, 

 when " Agent " equally distinguished himself. 



