The Foxhound. 51 



Hall, Westmorland, in an allotment adjoining his 

 house. A fox jumped up in front of them, and 

 although the going was rough and hilly, and three 

 inches of snow lay on the ground, the bitch never 

 lost sight, and after a grand course of more than 

 a mile, pulled her quarry down in gallant style. A 

 fine healthy fox, too, he was. This " trail hunting " 

 is a favourite diversion in the north of England, and 

 special strains of lightly-built foxhounds are used for 

 the purpose. The line is generally run over an 

 uneven country, and may extend for any distance 

 between four and ten miles. Hounds are started 

 from the same place, and the one coming in first, 

 having completed the course, which was laid with 

 fox's entrails, bedding, or some other strong scenting 

 matter, wins the prize. A good hound will usually 

 occupy less than three minutes in covering a mile. 

 These hounds are almost or quite mute. 



The match at Newmarket, about 1794, between 

 Mr. Meynell and Mr. Smith Barry, was, perhaps, the 

 first means taken to ascertain the pace of fox- 

 hounds. Blue Cap and Wanton, who came in first and 

 second, ran the course of about four miles in a few 

 seconds over eight minutes, but these hounds had 

 been specially trained for the purpose. However, 

 Colonel Thornton's celebrated hound Merkin, whose 

 portrait appears in Daniel's " Rural Sports," ran a 



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