The Albrighton. 293 



described under the head of The North Staffordshire 

 and The Cheshire. In the centre of the country vou 

 will meet with little else but light thorn fences 

 generally on low banks and seldom with any ditch 

 worth mentioning. Yet these hedges, partly from 

 their very insignificance, very often upset a careless 

 horse; for a strong grower or a stout stake may 

 intercept progress when least expected, and a complete 

 turn over is the result. 



The hounds are kennelled in a charming situation 

 and at a very convenient point, Whiston Cross (some 

 two miles from the little town of Albrighton), whence 

 a sweeping view of the north-west of the country is 

 obtainable — the wooded height of The Wrekin, across 

 the Severn in Shropshire territory, being a prominent 

 landmark in the distance. The pack was formed by 

 Sir Thomas Boughey some sixteen years ago ; but 

 about ten years since the kennel was attacked by 

 hydrophobia, and the dogs were destroyed. Drafts 

 from Lord Coventry, the Dake of Grafton, Mr. 

 Musters, and from other sources, formed the fresh 

 foundation, upon which has been worked in the best 

 acknowledged strains from the Belvoir, Milton, &c., 

 &c. ; and at the present moment there are some fifty- 

 five couple of most workmanlike hounds in Kennel. 



The Albrighton, as it now stands, may be said to be 

 made up of the old Enville country (from Ean Dans to 

 Wrottesley, hunted by the Earls of Stamford in the 

 last century and beginning of this), together with the 

 Albrighton district and a piece of the old Woore 

 country in the extreme north. This last was added 

 on the retirement of the late Sir Thomas Boughey in 



VOL. II. X 



