218 HUNTING. 



little difficulty in filling up the gaps, or even to maintain a 

 standard so unyielding. It puzzles an outsider to imagine how 

 the kennel men ever learn their hounds by name so extra- 

 ordinarily similar are they in marking and contour. Every 

 hound has the black " saddle-mark " on his back ; every 

 hound has his " Belvoir tan " head ; while the groundwork of 

 each skin is purest white.' l These beautiful markings, which 

 are the peculiar type of this pack, are said to have been derived 

 from a breed of Lord Monson's which was very famous in 

 Lincolnshire about the close of last century. Much of the old 

 Quorn strain of Mr. Meynell's is also in the pack, for in 1780 

 when Mr. Heron hunted the Cheshire country he bred largely 

 from that blood, and when he left the field his hounds went to 

 the Belvoir kennels. Twenty-four inches was the standard, till 

 the year 1842, when it was lowered an inch by Will Goodall, 

 who then took the horn from the hands of the veteran Goosey 

 who had carried it for six-and-twenty seasons. 



The most central point of the hunt is Grantham, a trim 

 little town of some 5,000 inhabitants, 105 miles from London, 

 two hours and a half journey by the Great Northern line from 

 King's Cross. Six miles off stands Belvoir Castle and the 

 kennels, and all the best meets are within a radius of some 

 dozen miles. 'No country,' says 'Brooksby,' 'presents a 

 greater variety in itself than the Belvoir. Within its confines 

 you may ride over small grass meadows, broad grazing grounds, 

 light heath, and heavy plough.' The most fashionable district 

 lies, of course, on the Leicestershire side. On Wednesdays and 

 on alternate Saturdays the meets lie Meltonwards. Croxton 

 Park, the famous battle-ground of amateur jockeys, lies just 

 midway between Grantham and Melton. Stonesby Gorse, 

 Newman's Gorse, Freeby Wood, and Brentingby Spinneys, 

 are the great coverts in these parts ; but it is, and has been for 

 long, a rule that the fixtures of these hounds never presuppose 

 the drawing of any special cover. It was from Freeby Wood 



1 The Hunting Countries of England, by ' Brooksby : ' a most useful work, to 

 which we have been largely indebted for this and the following chapter. 



