Lord Fitzhardinge's. 3-i:) 



position of his country. Except in tlie far north lie 

 has no neighbours but the Duke of Beaufort. The 

 latter hunts along the south and eastern border of the 

 Berkeley; and, as his hounds take the field five days 

 a week, the members of his Hunt have little leisure 

 for going elsewhere. The broad Severn is an effectual 

 barrier to protect most of the upper side of the countr3\ 

 In the Tewkesbury district just mentioned a famous 

 gallop occurred two or three seasons ago — hounds 

 running hard and unchecked from Tewkesbury Park 

 till they killed their fox at the end of some fifty 

 minutes. The chief leaders in this memorable run 

 were Mr. H. Baker, Mr. R. Chapman of Cheltenham, 

 and F. Archer, the jockey. From Frampton to the 

 hills is, perhaps, as pretty a sample of the flying vale 

 as can be instanced; and the Hardwicke neighbour- 

 hood is, again, remarkably good. Immediately south 

 of Berkeley the ground is for a while a trifle more 

 undulating; then comes the Oldbury district, which 

 stands alone as being the only at all impracticable part 

 of the vale. An oval about Oldbury^ to include 

 Shepherdine, discovers a style of fence that puts direct 

 progress out of the question — the hedge being very 

 broad, very high, and backed up by a ditch that alone 

 should be sufficient to keep bullocks in a field. The 

 land here being all rich pasture, and naturally fully 

 exposed to the strong winds that sweep up the Severn, 

 the hedges are encouraged to grow as luxuriantly as 

 possible, with a view to providing in an effectual and 

 economical form the shelter needed by the cattle. You 

 may get about it after hounds, as in the too stoutly 

 fenced districts of other parts of the world ; but you 



