The Bicester and Warden Hill Hunt. 191 



in them with hounds until after the autumn rains. 

 Thus^ strange as it may seem, they are not available 

 for cub-hunting ; and the Claydon Woods are seldom 

 entered before October. 



Monday, then, being almost always occupied either 

 in the Oxford Woodlands or the Tingewick Woods, 

 we may get on to those coverts, and take them more 

 in detail. The Oxford Woodlands, or The Quarters, 

 cover an immense area on the east of Oxford. The 

 whole were at one time the privilege and perquisite of 

 the Bicester Hunt; but at various times their boun- 

 daries have suffered — till now it is difficult to define 

 distinctly where the right of Bicester ends, that of the 

 South Oxfordshire begins, and where a mutual interest 

 exists. Briefly, the present boundary lines run thus. 

 Of the Quarters proper. Hell Copse and York Woods 

 belong to the Bicester, fchough dovetailed into the 

 South Oxfordshire Woods of Holton, Waterperry, 

 Shabbington and Oakley. Horton Wood is the right 

 of the Bicester until Christmas, when it goes into the 

 hands of the South Oxfordshire. Staunton Great 

 Wood, Staunton Little Wood and Holly Copse, 

 running into each other, are all neutral between the 

 two packs. 



A rough deep country is this district of The Quarters. 

 Few gentlemen^s residences adorn the neighbour- 

 hood. The land round and between the woods is of a 

 poor, undrainedj description, though carrying a fair 

 scent, especially on the borders of Ott Moor, where 

 the sluggish Ray is ever flooding the country. Very 

 bad indeed is the riding hereabout; but should hounds 

 go eastward, towards Brill and the Vale, they soon 



