WITH THE NORTH COTSWOLD HOUNDS 119 



place every second or third season to make room 

 for young ones coming on. The North Cotswold 

 hunt horses when sold made the extraordinary 

 average of ^253, two that had carried the master 

 hunting hounds and won chases, making 500 and 

 400 guineas. Reviving Leicestershire memories and 

 impressions of the ideal in horsemanship, Mr. 

 McNeill said, "No finer horseman than Tom Firr 

 ever crossed Ivcicestershire ; apparently only canter- 

 ing when others were galloping, and yet always in 

 front, arriving at the best place to jump as if by 

 instinct, he sHd over and was gone ! Many a fall 

 and many a crumpler have I seen, and had myself, 

 from thinking there was nothing to jump, when it 

 turned out to be a wide bottom, which he had jumped 

 in safety, without any apparent effort." 



Those who have never yet seen Broadway, the 

 Worcestershire village in which the North Cotswold 

 kennels are placed, have a pleasure in store. It is an 

 old-world place, with picturesque houses, whose stone 

 roofs are hung all over with jessamine, honeysuckle, 

 and mountain-climbers. There is a wide street with 

 a village green and a fine hotel, the resort of American 

 tourists, who know Broadway and its charms ! The 

 kennels are exactly opposite, nestling under the 

 Cotswold Hills, with a grim old weather-worn tower 

 on the summit, grinning defiance down on you. The 

 yard is most compact, and there is the huntsman's 

 house with walking paddocks, meal-room, and 

 feeder's house, making as pretty a picture as any 

 sportsman might wish to see. 



The row of stabling for twenty horses is close by, 

 under the charge of Allan, the stud-groom, who 

 came from Sir Bache Cunard, when he gave up the 

 Leicestershire country, now known as Mr. Fernie's. 

 The occupants of the boxes were as interesting as 



