SPORT IN IRELAND 165 



son of the late Mr. R. Stacpoole. The country, Mr. 

 Stacpoole tells me, is " very varied, comprising very 

 rough crag-land, hilly country, low-lying corcass land, 

 in which the jumping is all wide trenches, and good 

 pasture land. The best of the country hunted over 

 lies near the village of Six Mile Bridge." The hares 

 in this country, although smaller than the average, 

 are very hardy and stand up for a long time before 

 hounds. The supply of them is fairly good, in some 

 places too good. One of Mr. Stacpoole's best runs in 

 recent years happened in the season of 1901-02, when, 

 from a meet near Ennis, a hare was found which gave 

 the pack a grand hunt, which, measured on the map, 

 is over seven miles and three-quarters. As the country 

 was very hilly, the distance covered could not have 

 been less than nine miles. It is always interesting 

 to have the opinion of Masters in varying districts, 

 and especially Masters who hunt hounds themselves, 

 on the subject of hound blood. Here is a note by 

 Mr. R. J. Stacpoole, who has at different times hunted 

 the Clare harriers for a good many seasons. " I 

 prefer," he says, " a cross-breed between harrier and 

 foxhound, as I think they are more hardy and do 

 better over the rough country we have in parts of 

 Clare. I think the pure harrier cannot stand the wear- 

 and-tear work that the cross-bred can, and the latter 

 seems to me to have more dash than the former. I 

 am very fond of the black-and-tan Kerry beagle ; 

 it is a beautiful hunting hound, particularly on a poor 

 scent, and gives splendid tongue ; but it has the fault 

 of want of dash, and it is a delicate hound generally. 

 I have often had two or three of these hounds in my 

 pack, and always found that they could lead the cross- 

 breds on a poor scent, but with a good scent they 

 required the latter to make them go the pace." The 



