WITH THE NORTH COTSWOLD HOUNDS 115 



man to the Ouorn, he sent me one of his old horns 

 and had it engraved as follows : — 



" ' From Tom Firr 



In jnemory of many good gallops since 1886.' 



And he said in his letter he hoped some day it would 

 blow hounds away on a fox for me. At that time 

 I had no idea of taking hounds." 



When Mr. Charles McNeill undertook the master- 

 ship of the North Cotswold in 1901, he purchased a 

 mixed pack from the retiring master, Captain Cyril 



Air. Charles McNeill, M.F.H. 



Stacey, and retained only the bitches, the dogs 

 being sold to Lord Portman. Bearing in mind that 

 a stock of good '' typy " bitches is more than half the 

 way to success, drafts were bought from the Belvoir, 

 Atherstone, Mr. Fernie's, and the Duke of Beaufort's, 

 all being mated with Belvoir sires, possessing one 

 or two lines of the same blood. The improvement 

 came chiefly with the Atherstone purchases, which 

 were three parts Belvoir, all the matrons, amounting 

 to fifteen couple a season, being sent to the Belvoir 

 sires. Substance with quality was the chief point 

 aimed at, and therefore few whelps were brought up 

 by one dam, and none of the dog puppies reared. 



