Lord Percy's. 447 



they run over, they seldom fail to leave a scent — 

 while here and there they can scarcely get away from 

 hounds on a day at all favourable to the latter. 



The river Coquet, which cuts Northumberland into 

 its two divisions of North and South, acts as the 

 southern boundary to Lord Percy^s country. The 

 simplest plan — if the driest — of giving some idea of 

 the latter will be to take it in longitudinal sections as 

 Nature has laid it out, and call them respectively 

 A, B, C, and D, with E as the new acquisition from 

 the late Northumberland-and-Berwick. 



Section A, then, is the sea border, and forms 

 about the best of the country. The railway from 

 Newcastle and the South to Berwick-on-Tweed runs 

 along this ; and introduces you to a very fair view of 

 it — except that it picks out little but the best of the 

 grass for its route. From Belford by Alnwick, down 

 to Felton — and between the sea coast and the Old 

 North Road (Newcastle to Edinbro^) defines this section, 

 which, as a tillage- country, is as good as anything in 

 England. At least such was the verdict of old Tread- 

 well, who came to hunt it after long experience of 

 crack Hunts, and laid it down that hounds carried 

 a better head over the plough here than over many 

 vaunted grass countries. It is a stiff er soil than that 

 of the former Northumberland-and-Berwick ; and its 

 enclosures, while equally extensive, are less undulat- 

 ing than there. With a considerable sprinkling of 

 old grass, the bulk of it is employed in growth of 

 turnips and corn, which — at all events before the 

 stubbles are once again under seed and the turnip 

 roots ploughed in — carries an extremely good scent. 



