366 THE OLD BERKS HUNT 



" Bad luck attended a brother and sister, 

 ' Tradesman ' and ' Trespass,' by Lord Coven- 

 try's ' Tradesman.' The former fell down into a 

 quarry fifty feet and broke his jaw only. The 

 bitch got caught by a Midland express which 

 cut her flag short off and dragged the skin 

 from her stern and shoulders. Some stitches 

 were put in and after rubbing with castor oil 

 she was left with Mr. Edward Simpson, of 

 Walton Hall. Both hounds were out in less 

 than two months. 



"Christmas Eve, 1883, was a day's work 

 out of the common. Hounds met at Bretton. 

 The first draw was Lightcliffe, where we found 

 and ran by Shelley, Moor Top Covert, to 

 Bentley Spring, where we killed. We found 

 again in Bank Wood, ran by Embley and to 

 ground in Bretton Low Tile Yard, under the 

 main road. Four hounds went to ground up 

 the culvert. This was at 3.30. We started 

 digging with some fourteen feet of soil above 

 us, as the road ran upon a high embankment. 

 The time wore on, workers fell off, and I only 

 contrived to keep three colliers with me by 

 very liberal payment. Not a breath of wind, 

 but night bright and starry. These colliers 

 worked a drift in for over twenty-eight feet and 

 at last we got the four hounds out at 4.40 a.m. 

 on Christmas Day. The four hounds were 



