182 THE BROCKLESBY HOUNDS. [I'JOo 



on the very opening day, they brought off perhaps the 

 best season in my experience. The foxes ran very stout. 

 if not particularly straight, and there were only two hard, 

 dry days for hounds to register in the spring. AVrangler, 

 Foreman, Sailor, Shamrock, Stormer, Harkaway, Finder, 

 Satellite, Archer, Advocate, Dormant, and Trimmer all 

 proved hard-driving hounds, and two young hounds, 

 Rubicon and Auger, were showed to possess good noses 

 And throw their tongues well. No huntsman could have 

 been better mounted than Smith, and Bridge, a wonderfully 

 good little blood horse, particularly over a big country, 

 ^nd Belvoir, perhaps the most perfect mannered and 

 best hunter Smith ever rode, were as good as any 

 man need wish to cross. The stallion, St. Andrew (by 

 Ascetic), Bedouin, Builder, and Beryl were all first-class 

 hunters, and all fast except the last named, who was, 

 however, a charming mount and a beautiful jumper, as 

 I can myself vouch for. Smith was admirably served by 

 his two whippers-in. Jack Bell and Will Freeman, and 

 it is indeed a pleasure to conclude the history of a great 

 pack with such satisfactory records. The 1900 entry was 

 a wonderfully good one, and the youngsters all proved 

 workers ; so, with a good Master, a good pack of hounds, 

 a good staff of Hunt servants, and a good country to ride 

 over, the prospects of fox-hunting in North Lincolnshire 

 are as bright as ever they were. 



As previously mentioned, the season opened brightly 

 on November 5th, from Riby Cross-roads, a capital hunt 

 of an hour and forty minutes from Riby Bratlands being 

 the chief item of an enjoyable day ; but the first day's 

 sport of exceptional interest came off on November 21st 

 from a meet at Aylesby Manor, the home of that most 

 hospitable of good sportsmen Mr. Robert Walker. Hounds 

 ran continuously for two hours and fifty-five minutes, of 

 which two and a half hours was as good as one could wish 

 for ; but they had to be stopped at last, as all the horses 

 were beat and no second horsemen could be found. They 

 had effected a nine-mile point. Proceedings commenced 



