30 GOOD SPORT 



better at the end of it for a fine sight, a pleasant 

 picnic in the open, and a modicum of excitement. 

 " Taking on " a day's hunting in such a way is 

 surely an idealistic form of the " rest cure " ! 



Melton must be proud of the splendid dignity of 

 her fine church tower, which rises superior to the 

 modern invasion of trade factories and chimneys. 

 Placed in a grass country valley, through which 

 runs the river Wreake, the town appears to be 

 divided in opinion as to whether its prosperity de- 

 pends on cheese and pork-pie making or fox-hunt- 

 ing. To posterity the fame of the town will be 

 handed down as '' the metropolis of fox-hunting," 

 its desirability for a centre of sport being discovered 

 about the beginning of the last century by Mr. Cecil 

 Forester when hunting with the Duke of Rutland's 

 hounds and Mr. Hugo Meynell's. For a long time 

 Melton was a resort for hunting men only, who put 

 up at the hotels and stabled in the town — this pro- 

 bably being the most prosperous period in its his- 

 tory. Since ladies generally took to hunting and 

 graced the field with their presence, palatial hunt- 

 ing-boxes and mansions have sprung up all around 

 the district, out in the country and within easy 

 distance of the four crack packs of the shires. 



On a Kirby Gate day the procession from 

 Leicester or Melton more or less resembles a race- 

 go-meeting crowd, the carriage company being enor- 

 mous ; every degree of vehicle being represented, 

 from the motor-car to the milk float — the ordinary 

 cart of the country. Then there are the heavily-laden 

 brakes out of the towns, full as they can stick of 

 people who look as if they meant to enjoy them- 

 selves, the big hampers up by the coachman pro- 

 mising well. Thousands of spectators on foot turn 

 out to take their stand on the high ground by 



