34 



A GUIDE TO THE 



has a practicable hunting country, with light soil and fences, 

 and no great extent of woodlands. It was formerly very well 

 stocked with foxes ; but report speaks unfavourably of it now. 

 The '' friendliness^^ of the country once amounted to a pro- 

 verb. Ever}^ farmer, like Tom Brooks, of Croxby, was born 

 and bred a fox-hunter ; from his very cradle, the love of the 

 animal was instilled into his composition ; and he was taught 

 to look upon fox-hunting as an honour, in the attainment of 

 which consisted the highest earthly enjoyment. But since 

 those days a dangerous and destructive doctrine has gone 

 abroad, and fears have been entertained, lest this manly race 

 should depart from the faith and practice of their forefathers; 

 but we trust the fears are groundless. The Smiths have 

 hunted these hounds for several generations. The present 

 man's father, William Smith, was killed in chase, to the in- 

 finite regret of every one connected with the Brocklesby 

 Hunt. There is a dog and a bitch pack ; the standard is 23 

 inches, and a finer or better lot of hounds never stooped to 

 a scent. Lord Yarborough^s pack has descended, without 

 interruption, from father to son for upwards of 170 years. 



The gentlemen of the Burton Hunt are unanimous in de- 



