The Dumfriesshire. 285 



pled strands of wire riiuoiug iVom post to post — a 

 hindrance to forward progress, but no instrument of 

 danger. In short_, a rider to hounds must go with his 

 eyes open ; and a horse must be ready to pop about 

 wherever called upon. A small, active, well-bred, and 

 manageable horse is much to be preferred to one that 

 is over-sized or in any degree rash. The vale is at 

 times very soft and deep, if not exactly holding — the 

 soil being of a description that readily soaks rain in 

 and readily gets dry again. Of permanent pasture 

 there is little, if any, in the low country ; but a great 

 deal of ground is laid down in rye grass for some three 

 or four years, and is then ploughed up again. The 

 hills, on the contrary, are — especially on the east, or 

 Corrie side — almost entirely sheep-walk, on which 

 coarse and wet, but sound grass flourishes, with only a 

 sprinkling of heather here and there. As already 

 mentioned, hounds can always race their fox over these 

 wild slopes. Their followers must be on the look-out 

 for the narrow, open trenches, which — cut down the 

 faces of the hills — constitute the only drainage; and 

 which^ often completely overgrown with grass, afford 

 continual opportunity for a roll on the mossy turf. Big, 

 round, stones scattered among the grass, are apt to 

 vary the monotony of falling upon a velvet surface ; 

 but, as a rule, you may ride in very fair safety after 

 hounds over the uplands — though the pack is likely 

 enough to travel faster than you can. Stone walls — 

 which are occasional on the lower ground — become the 

 only fences on the hills. They are seldom too formid- 

 able to jump ; and, in any case, the loose round stones 

 give way easily — whether to the touch of a horse^s 



