54 THE BROCKLESBY HOUNDS. [1832 



proceedings showed that no one fox could possibly have 

 stood up before hounds all the time at the pace they 

 maintained throughout. Short of the main drain at Little 

 Coates the hounds then turned left-handed into the marshes, 

 and still bearing gradually to the left, crossed the Old 

 Fleet, and went on over the Stallingborough and Imming- 

 ham marshes nearly to Houlton's covert. Here they 

 turned short to the left through Primrose Holt to Foxholes, 

 and still to the left over Mr. Drewery's large Walk, where 

 hounds got into trouble, the why and the wherefore I will 

 leave Will to explain. " I think I may say it was entirely 

 through Will Mason holloaing hounds from their line of 

 scent." This was in consequence of information received 

 from a man who had seen the fox go over the Walk, who 

 said that he could not possibly have got out of the 

 field by the time hounds entered it. It was an hour and 

 thirty minutes from finding, and all the horses were run 

 to a standstill ; the fact that the huntsman's horse w^as 

 reduced to a walk at Immingham no doubt accounted for 

 the loss of the fox, for when he got to his hounds the 

 mischief was done, and although Smith tried his best to 

 recover his fox, he failed to do so. His own opinion is 

 that the fox turned up the Immingham road till he met 

 some of the stragglers of the hunt, and then the ground 

 was too foiled by horses to allow hounds to pick up his 

 line again. Neither of the whippers-in nor the l)ulk of 

 the field had been with hounds after leaving the Old 

 Fleet drain till they came upon them in the field, where 

 hounds lost him. 



There was a good run of two hours and ten minutes 

 from Reeds Mere on February 7th, which finished in 

 orthodox fashion with a kill in the open. Hounds got 

 a good start with their fox down the marshes to Stalling- 

 borough kiln, and turned right-handed over the main drain 

 towards Healing, Stallingborough being on the left. 

 They then swung right-handed over the Healing Field 

 towards Riby Slingsmere, at which point — the covert 

 being on the left as hounds swung right-handed — Smith 



