312 REMINISCENCES OF 



CHAPTER XIX. 



PYTCHLEY. 



I RECEIVED on 27th February the following letter from 

 George Whyte-Melville : 



"WOOTTON HALL, NORTHAMPTON, 

 " 26th February, 1864. 



" MY DEAR JACK, 



" Under the influence of a ripping fifty 

 minutes over grass, up wind, and all just as it should 

 be, I write you a line as a feeler about our country. 

 I have only just heard that you have really given 

 up the Fife Hounds. 



" I know your tastes so well that I am quite sure 

 that you would not be yourself without a pack of 

 hounds ; and, indeed, the longer I live the more I 

 find cause to agree with Jorrocks, that 'all time is 

 wasted that is not spent in hunting '. Now do you 

 think you would like this country ? We shall have 

 no master after this season, as Spencer has quite 

 decided finally to give them up. You know the 

 advantages and disadvantages of this country of 

 the Pytchley as well as I do. It has the best 

 woodlands in the world, and you can hunt from 

 August till May, both inclusive, as they say. The 

 disadvantage is the crowd on a Wednesday, which 



