CHAPTER LV 



APRIL HUNTING ; NOW AND THEN 



Back to its icy cave again 



Has sped the wintry blast, 

 And Nature, with a loving smile, 



Is waking up at last. 



'Tis sweet Spring-tide, and down the vale, 



The flowery meads along, 

 The mountain torrent gently glides, 



Singing a quiet song. 



But hark ! the din of sylvan war 

 Is rolling from the woods afar 



Upon the peaceful plain ; 

 And hounds and men are flashing by, 

 Like meteors in a northern sky, 



Till riot seems to reign. 



Ring-Ouzel, Baity s Magazine, May 1866. 



There are still a few packs of hounds in the 

 North of England which hunt through most of 

 the month of April, and one or two who prolong 

 operations to the month of May, in the hope 

 of killing a May fox ; and very enjoyable is the 

 April hunting, though, at the risk of being added 

 to the number of the laudatores tempo r is actz, I 

 must say that to my mind it is not so enjoyable 

 now as it was under the old conditions. 



For the last few years no sooner has the middle 



