PRIVATE COURSING 129 



working miner won the Ciosforth Gold Cup of ^1,000 

 with his own dog, Kangaroo II.) ; and as such gentry 

 had no land to course over, and very little chance of 

 leave, they would travel great distances — money never 

 seemed any object to them — to obtain a satisfactory 

 trial. The late squire of Broomshields ^ was almost 

 as fond of coursing as he was of hunting, so that 

 when his health made it imperative that he should give 

 up riding to hounds, he cast about for means of pro- 

 curing good coursing with as little trouble to himself 

 as possible, and hit upon the idea of allowing trials to 

 all respectable people on a Saturday. The fact soon 

 became wndely known in the district, and at one time 

 the squire was literally swamped with applications. 



The supply of game, however, was not equal to 

 any great demands ; but for two or three seasons it 

 was a case of ' first come, first served ' on a Saturday, 

 and I have entered the Broomshields stable-yard at 

 9 A..M. to find from thirty to forty greyhounds waiting 

 to take their chance. One Saturday in January 1883 

 we had one of those doubtful mornings when frost, 

 snow, and mild weather seem to be struggling for the 

 mastery, and when a regular advertised meeting would 



' John Maddison Greenvvell, of Broomshields, one of the 

 best all-round sportsmen the North Country ever produced ; he 

 died in 1886. 



