CHIEFLY HISTORICAL 7 



in Warwickshire. Edstone, in the parish of Wootton 

 Wawen, Hes in the very heart of Shakespeare's country, 

 about seven miles from Stratford-on-Avon, and about 

 four from Henley-in-Arden. Here Somervile, during 

 many long and happy years, devoted himself, heart 

 and soul, to the sport of hunting, rousing in turn hare, 

 fox, and otter from their various lurking-places. 

 " The site of his kennel," says a writer in the Sporting 

 Magazine of February 1832, " was well chosen, on a 

 little eminence erect, facing the south-east, with a 

 grove of willow, poplar and elm at the back, to shield 

 it from the north and west winds. The kennel was 

 spacious, with a fine brook babbling through. He 

 kept about twelve couple of beagles, bred chiefly 

 between the small Cotswold harrier and the Southern 

 hound ; six couple of foxhounds, rather rough and 

 wire-haired ; and five couple of otter-hounds, which 

 in the winter season made an addition to the fox- 

 hounds." In this passage " beagle " should read 

 " harrier " and vice versa. The mating of the slow, 

 ponderous Southern hound with the fleet Cotswold 

 beagle would produce a first-rate harrier, and that, 

 undoubtedly, was the strain cultivated by Somervile. 

 The coupling of Southern hound and harrier would 

 not produce beagle, but, conversely. Southern hound 

 and beagle would produce harrier. This strain, by 

 the way — Southern hound and beagle — is still plainly 

 apparent, sometimes crossed with a dash of the fox- 

 hound, in most of the old-fashioned packs of pure 

 harriers still hunting in the United Kingdom. For 

 the chase of the hare there is nothing to surpass it. 

 " The country he hunted," continues the same writer, 

 " was chiefly woodland, except that where his beagles 

 were generally thrown off ; and every parish, being 

 uninclosed, yielded excellent sport. To the feeding of 



