The Ather stone. 159 



visit to Coombe. But the ordinary meet for the great 

 woods in Coombe is Shilton Village — and no sounder 

 coverts are to be found. Like all large woods they 

 will bear, and require, hard and frequent work. Bran- 

 don Wood is the southernmost covert — for which 

 Binley Common is usually on the cards. Newbold 

 Bevel and the wood of All Oaks, bring us back to the 

 immediate neighbourhood of Rugby. 



Continuing with their Mondays we find ourselves in 

 the Leicester — or Market Bosworth — district. The 

 latter town has more right to give a title ; for Leicester 

 is over the borders while Bosworth is almost the 

 centre point of this division. On a Monday you will 

 be taken over a lighter country than that of Friday — a 

 very sporting country withal, carrying a fair scent and 

 more than tolerably well supplied with foxes. There 

 is a good deal of grass, and the ploughed land is not 

 very deep or sticky. The fences are not difficult, but 

 may be taken much as they come. The coverts — as is 

 the case over a great part of the Ather stone country 

 — are principally small. Hounds can thus usually get 

 away on good terms with their fox, which is at least 

 half way towards killing him. 



The opening meet of the season is always Bosworth 

 Park (the seat of the Dixie family), where there are 

 the home plantations, with the coverts known as the 

 Cow Pastures and the Decoy to draw. Then within 

 three miles of Bosworth is Sutton Ambion — which 

 may be termed the mainstay of the Monday country. 

 This grand covert consists of a large horse-shoe 

 shaped wood, with strong brambly undergrowth, which 

 foxes frequent in number inexhaustible. Within its 



