PUBLIC COURSING 169 



that which was in force at Kempton, Gosforth, and 

 Haydock a few years ago. They have a fairly rough 

 field, very short slips, and the hares are so carefully 

 looked after, and kept in such grand condition, that 

 they invariably run well. In fact, the Witham ground 

 is a grand place to give young dogs practice, and, as 

 no monster stakes are run to attract men who only 

 want to bet, there is little difference between the 

 Witham Meeting and the open ones, except that at 

 the former place the coursing all takes place in one 

 spot. 



I mentioned just now that the enclosed meetings 

 attracted a very non-sporting element, and, though 

 it is a ' chestnut ' of several years' standing, I may 

 relate a little incident which occurred at Kempton 

 over the first course one day, and which is absolutely 

 true. A very big racing bookmaker, who had not 

 seen coursing before, put in an appearance. The first 

 brace of dogs were sent to slips, and the wagerer, 

 having found out which was favourite (there was a 

 4 to I on chance running), instantly started opera- 

 tions by offering 5 to 2 against the non-favourile. 

 This led to no result, so he then offered 5 to 4 

 against the other, and proceeded to book his wagers 

 as fast as he could write them down. At length there 

 was a lull in the proceedings, and someone asked 



