The York and Ainsty. 4^7 



have to ride to get at them. They are simple enough 

 when your horse is fresh ; but they grow no smaller as 

 a run goes on and his vigour begins to fail. As may 

 be remarked of a dozen other plough countries of 

 similar soil^ the York and Ainsty holds the best scent 

 when the ground is thoroughly wet and your horse is 

 going nearly up to his hocks. Then it is a good 

 scenting country ; and then you want a strong and 

 well-bred horse to carry you at all. At other times a 

 working scent and easy going is as much as you can 

 hope for^ or expect — for the ground dries^ and turns 

 to crust, very quickly under influence of sun or wind. 

 Again, as everywhere else, the running qualities of 

 the foxes vary in proportion to the power of pushing 

 them. On a day when hounds can really press them, 

 they may go pretty straight — even in the Ainsty 

 district, where the coverts are small and very close 

 together. On other and weaker days there are certain 

 parts of the country in which they will scarcely 

 travel beyond the parish in which they were bred. 



The only large woodlands of the Hunt are situated 

 in the south and in the extreme north, besides one or 

 two in the Knaresborough district. The first-named 

 comprise Escrick Wood (of several hundred acres), 

 Moreby, and Nab urn. Those in the far north are 

 Sessay Wood and Brafferton Spring : while on the 

 Knaresborough side are Ribston, Goldsborough Wood, 

 and Goldsborough Moor. These are all the large 

 coverts of the hunt. The rest are small, and, in many 

 cases, artificial (including some five or six winn 

 coverts). Thus the opportunities of cubhunting are 

 very limited. 



