Braes of Derwent. 397 



rushing burns but has many treacherous spots on its 

 banks, wherein horse and rider may be left floundering-, 

 if they try to cross haphazard. And, besides the 

 bogs by the waterside, the banks of the ravines 

 through which the water flows are often deep, rockj', 

 and perhaps precipitous. Witness the bed of the 

 Derwent about Muggleswick, where the sides of the 

 glen are eighty or ninety feet high, and present a 

 continuous precipice for some two miles. This of 

 course is an exceptional and the largest instance ; but 

 in a lesser degree is by no means unknown elsewhere. 

 About AYhitonstall and the higher ground of the 

 west, stone walls come in to vary the fences. And from 

 Whitonstall to, and about, Newlands is considered the 

 best scenting and the most open ground of the Hunt. 

 The hills are everywhere rather severe, though very 

 rideable. The great woodlands of Minster Acre, just 

 beyond Whitonstall and the property of Mr. H. C. 

 Silvertop, are drawn by the Tynedale as well as by the 

 Braes of Derwent — a friendly argument being con- 

 stantly maintained as to the exclusive right of the 

 latter to all coverts south of the Tyne. Whatever may 

 be the i^ros and cons they are never very stoutly urged. 

 The Tynedale are content to rest upon the privilege of 

 time and custom ; and the Braes of Derwent have too 

 many coverts in their undisputed possession to make 

 it worth their while to protest. Were the matter the 

 other way, and some of the favoured country of the 

 Tynedale in dispute between them, the subject might 

 demand more attention. For they of the Braes often 

 gaze very wistfully across the Tyne — and point with 

 candid envy to the smaller coverts and smoother land 



