1SS4I WILL DALE. 139 



severed his connection witli Brocklesby. It was in 1884 

 that Dale came to Brocklesby. Mr. J. Maunsell Richard- 

 son had hunted the dog pack during the years 1882 and 

 1883, and he did so for the next two years ; then Dale 

 had charge of both packs, and c(jntinued to hunt them till 

 1895, when Lord Yarborough found it necessary to cut 

 down the expenses of the establishment, and the beautiful 

 dog pack, the result of years upon years of skilful hound- 

 l)reeding, was sold to Lord Lonsdale. 



Dale commenced cub-hunting on August iMth, 1884, 

 he then having thirty-one and a half couples of old 

 hounds in kennel, and twenty-one couples of young 

 ones. It was not a promising beginning — at Rough 

 Pastures, it might be mentioned — for there was not a 

 scrap of scent, and hounds failed to get hold of a fox. 

 There was, however, a capital run of two hours and a 

 half with an old fox from Thomas' Wood on September 

 25th, over a very blind and ver}- dry country, the 

 first forty minutes of which was very inst. Hounds 

 ran over Immingham, Habrough, and Killingholme to 

 Zincs, from which covert they set out across the lordships 

 of Ulceby and Wootton round to Brocklesby Station, then 

 through the Brocklesby woodlands to Pond Close "Wood, 

 and back over the deer park to the railwa}' at Habrough, 

 where they ran into their fox. They were out cul)- 

 hunting forty-one times that year, and they killed forty- 

 tive foxes. The first run of note in the regular season 

 took place on November 10th, when an lumv and twenty 

 minutes' gallop up and down the marshes finished with a 

 kill in the open. I believe I am right in saying that there 

 was only one blank day during Dale's stay at Brocklesby, 

 and that was on Noveml)er 15tli in his first year. To a 

 meet at Kirton Station belongs the unique distinction, 

 and although cubs had been reported at Grayingham, 

 Redbourne, and Scawby, they could not be found that 

 day. November 19th was marked by a fine run of an 

 hour and twenty minutes from Langmere Furze at the 

 close of the day. Hounds ran very hard about midway 



