The Pytehley. 139 



and gorse. The soil over which you ride is not all 

 under the sod ; but as little of it has been given to 

 the plough as is consistent with grazing farms and 

 the necessity for winter forage ; and, broadly speaking, 

 it fully deserves the title of a splendid grass country 

 — big but fair — competent to carry, and to scatter, 

 the huge fields that embark upon it — seldom entrap- 

 ping, but affording room for all. If there is a fault to 

 be found with the Pytehley country it lies in the 

 frequency of the villages, which come so near and 

 quickly that it is often difficult for a fox to keep his 

 head straight, still more to escape observation. 

 Again, I am not prepared to say (though I am no 

 more willing absolutely to gainsay) that it is con- 

 sistently good scenting ground. A sharp scent and 

 a firm one there often is. But apart from the causes, 

 accidental and atmospheric, which may affect scent at 

 the moment, I am inclined to think that huntsmen 

 would scarcely speak of it as ''a fine scenting 

 country,^' and one they would choose as especially 

 favourable for killing foxes. 



To turn to particulars. Among the nearest meets 

 to Rugby is Lilbourne Village — the Gorse close at 

 hand, a river and railway hemming it in on one side, 

 the field on another, and every knoll, hillside and road 

 commanding the valley. And yet, by one means or 

 another, by a cunning that does their race credit, 

 foxes contrive to escape and give runs — often over the 

 wide vale eastward to Crick, or northward to Stanford 

 Hall. Swinford is almost equally near Rugby, and 

 has Swinford Old Covert, with Stanford Hall (also 

 a frequent meet) and its park coverts close by. 



M 



