122 HARE-HUNTING AND HARRIERS 



afraid I, for one, scarcely share either of these 

 two opinions. Mr, Cross tells me that he bought 

 about ten years ago a bitch which was " about a 

 quarter either bloodhound, or the old black and tan 

 Talbot." He bred from her and has the strain now 

 and finds it very valuable for nose and hunting when 

 crossed with quick-driving hounds.. It is by experi- 

 ments such as these, undoubtedly, that packs of hounds 

 are improved and shaped. The Aspull have been dis- 

 tinguished at Peterborough Hound Show in recent years. 

 The Holcombe, which hunt near Bolton, number 

 twenty couples of twenty-two-inch Old English harriers 

 (sometimes called the old Lancashire hound), and are 

 believed to be one of the most ancient packs in the 

 kingdom. Tradition asserts that James I., after 

 resting at Houghton Tower, on his way to York, 

 hunted one day with the Holcombe, and was so pleased 

 with the sport that he granted to these hounds the 

 right to hunt three days a year for ever in the township 

 of Quarlton, which was part of the Royal Manor of 

 Tottington. The country consists of rough land 

 bordering the moors, with stone walls, and grazing 

 land with a small proportion of plough. There are 

 a fair amount of posts and rails, and the hunt, to keep 

 down wire, supply rails to the farmers in May, for 

 mending gaps. There is a good stock of hares, which 

 is scarcely to be wondered at, when one remembers 

 that a reward of 5s. for each hare killed is paid to the 

 farmer on whose land she was first started. This 

 fine old-fashioned pack has a rather curious custom. 

 Some of the Northern packs, which hunt a good deal 

 in hill country, have the kennel huntsman out on 

 foot as well as a mounted huntsman. The Holcombe 

 kennel huntsman, as well as a whip, is a pedestrian, 

 and his attire, when hunting, consists of cord breeches, 



