I70 COURSING THE HARE 



sarcastically how he hoped to win by laying against 

 both dogs. ' What ! ' he replied. ' Do you take me 

 for a fool ? Hain't the bally 'are got a chance ? ' 



And now to return to the coursing grounds. 

 Cxloucestershire still has a few country meetings ; 

 Warwickshire coursers (there are not many of them) 

 can run at Wappenbury and at Lichfield, in the 

 adjoining county ; Salop is much better off, there being 

 several meetings in the Wolverhampton and Shrews- 

 bury districts ; but in Derbyshire and Notts the sport 

 has practically departed, and really nine-tenths of the 

 Enghsh greyhounds are now kept in Lancashire, 

 Yorkshire, Cumberland, Northumberland, and Dur- 

 ham. Lancashire is decidedly the headquarters of 

 the sport, and Avith the Waterloo Cup, the Altcar 

 and Ridgway Club Meetings, the Southport gatherings, 

 and smaller affairs at Bickerstaffe, Burscough, Hale, 

 Halewood, Little Marton, Rufford, and other places, 

 it fairly keeps the game alive, and on the whole 

 })roduces more good greyhounds than any other 

 county, though Cumberland, Northumberland, and 

 the North of Ireland have contributed their full share 

 of great winners in modern times. 



The plains on the southern and western seaboard 

 of the County Palatine are eminently suited for 

 coursing, but much (jf the ground is nol sound 



