FOX-HUNTING 147 



Well was it the Earl had called for his fox, 

 And brought it from Tring in a little deal box, 

 For three hours and more they drew for a hare, 

 But drew in vain ! All was blank despair. 

 Then said the Earl to the elder Brown, 

 " Open your box and turn him down." 



So they turned him down in Aylesbury vale, 



In front of a fence called a post and a rail, 



To suit the views of a certain gent, 



Who rather liked " Rails," l and thought he went. 



Over the rails the first to fly 



Was the gent of course, but the fox was shy, 



And would have declined, but the Earl and his groom, 



The huntsman and whip, and his man with the broom, 



Two boys in a cart, and the Browns, Sam and John, 



Wouldn't hear of his shirking, and drove him along. 



A pleasant line the captive took, 



Wouldn't have doubles, avoided the brook ; 



As you may imagine, he ran by rule, 



Only taking the leaps he had learned at school. 



1 The "gent" named in verse six was a great speculator 

 in railway shares. 



