

CHAPTER I. 



The York and AinStv Country. 



' Come, I'll show you a country that none can surpass, 

 For a flyer to cross like a bird on the wing. 

 We have acres of woodland and oceans of grass, 



We have game in the autumn and cubs in the spring.' 



Once it was the fashion to decry the York and Ainsty 

 country, and not so many years ago the late Mr. Bromley 

 Davenport, whose spirited writings are well known to most 

 sportsmen, wrote, with somewhat questionable taste, in my 

 humble opinion, about a man deserving to be condemned 

 to hunt for the rest of his days with the York and 

 Ainsty. Even when it was purely a plough country, when 

 the little grass there was in it was mainly confined to 

 riverside meadow, the York and Ainsty was a happy 

 hunting ground, as many a gallant soldier will testify who 

 had his early hunting when quartered at York, Consule 

 Planco, and from its earliest history good runs have been 

 as prevalent as with other, and at one time, more 

 fashionable packs. 



The York and Ainsty country is a somewhat straggling 



one, very irregular in shape, extending thirty-five miles in 



length, and varying considerably in width. Thirsk is its 



most northern point, and it extends nearly to Selby ; on the 



A 



