372 The Hunting Countries of England. 



as hitherto in Delamere Forest. And thus came about 

 the present division of the county and the present 

 distinctive titles of The Cheshire and the South 

 Cheshire — one Committee still representing the shire 

 and the ownership of the two packs. 



Cheshire is indeed worth a visit — if to be always on 

 grass^ and to see hounds ever running well, where the 

 fences are easily flown, where the field is not too 

 swollen in size, and where anyone and everyone may 

 ride his own line — if such a state of things in any 

 way represents enjoyment. It is not unlike Meath — 

 easy flying fences being substituted for the '^ narrow 

 banks." It is altogether like the best of Derbyshire 

 — its hedges, perhaps, of lesser height and more 

 readily to be cleared than those that bound the 

 meadows of the Meynell. 



Cheshire, briefly and generally, consists of flat 

 grass inclosures of a few acres apiece, fenced with 

 thorn hedges that are trimmed but never "laid." 

 The grass grows freely on the meadows, and lavishly 

 in the ditches and hedges. Thus, in the wettest 

 seasons, you splash along the surface rather than sink 

 deeply into the ground — save in certain well-known 

 holding districts. And, again, you are more likely to 

 tumble about in Cheshire, especially before Christmas, 

 than you will in Leicestershire — though there are no 

 top binders to catch you tripping, and scarcely any 

 timber to turn you over. You may, and probably 

 will, come to grief occasionally through the misplaced 

 confidence of a young one or the carelessness of 

 one that has grown too clever. But in neither case 

 are you likely to meet with the concussion that so 



