214 Hunting Countries of England. 



bound to follow. From Baulking Green hounds work 

 down the valley of the Rosey — the Whissendine of 

 the Old Berkshire — a brook feasible enough in many 

 places, but generally with treacherous banks and bad 

 bottom — a plunge into it more frequently involving a 

 lengthy stay. Hounds run well over all this part of 

 the Vale — in the Challow district more especially ; and 

 the country being all grass and the fences rideable, 

 there is little room for improvement. Shillingford is 

 a meet near Faringdon, with a gorse at Coxwell that 

 always holds : and from Hatford they go up to Pusey 

 and Buckland. On the north bank of the Thames 

 they have a piece of Oxfordshire, which they hunt 

 sometimes on a Monday, sometimes on a Friday. By 

 the river side is ShifFord with another meet, Yelford, 

 just above. From here they work up to Cokethorpe 

 Park, Boys Wood and Barley Park — which almost 

 touch each other. A very natural line for a fox to take 

 from here would be by way of Lew Gorse towards 

 Bradwell Grove or Whichwood Forest, in the Hey- 

 throp Country. Curbridge would be fixed for Lew 

 Gorse — once a capital covert — now recently restored, 

 and should again be very valuable as a connecting link 

 with the big coverts of the Heythrop. From Black 

 Bourtou they begin by drawing Hadden Copse and 

 several other small coverts — from which they might get 

 at once over the stone walls of the Heythrop. In the 

 other direction, down the Thames Valley, are beautiful 

 grass water meadows, which, however, are often very 

 deep — while the fences are tremendous, the ditches 

 being in many cases wide open drains leading down to 

 the river. 



