202 



GOOD SPORT 



the face of the map, with a large sHce of Leicester- 

 shire grass country in the vale to the west of Oak- 

 ham, and a wealth of wild woodland district on the 

 eastern Lincolnshire boundary. 



Hunting in the wooded districts either at Tilton 

 on the Leicestershire side, or Morcary on the Lin- 

 colnshire side, where thick and 

 sticky coverts are surrounded 

 by old turf carrying a good 

 scent, is a training in hunting 

 craft, and the making of a 

 pack of hounds. Free from 

 the presence of the crowd, who 

 never wander very far away 

 from the grass, there is room 

 for hounds to hunt a fox, and 

 they take some catching on 

 their own ground in these wild, 

 wooded districts. As Mr. T. F. 

 Dale remarks in his interesting 

 book " Foxhunting in the 

 Shires," " One of the reasons 

 why the Cottesmore show such 

 sport in their Tuesday country, is because they 

 have a master and huntsman who know that no 

 brilliancy in the open can result in good sport, 

 without it rests on a foundation of hard work in 

 the woods. Thatcher works his woods and kills 

 plenty of cubs in the autumn, and the members of 

 the hunt reap the reward in the winter." 



When admiring the hounds to-day we must not 

 forget the excellent work done by former huntsmen, 

 William Neal and George Gillson, who laid the 

 foundation on which others have been able to build. 

 The foxes of the country are stout and wild, so that 

 a pack must be able to hunt as well as race, for 



Mr. Evan Hanbury, 

 M.F.H. 



