10 THE BEST OF THE FUN 



tainstown, though they found plenty of foxes everywhere. 

 Of the two in Bog Wood they had some pretty hound 

 work, especially road-hunting, with one who eventually 

 beat them in the direction of Newtown. There was a 

 leash in Headstown little wood and gorse, the first one 

 going away across the front, too frightened to think of 

 anything but a straight course and a distant point. We 

 had only fifteen minutes with him ; but that fifteen 

 minutes, under the leadership of Mr. John Watson, was 

 quite sufficient to expound fully the fashion of the country 

 and its original method of fence-making. A narrow-back 

 of loose boulders gave him his initial subject of exposition ; 

 a great loose-stoned bank (beyond a first deep ditch) gave 

 him foothold before he disappeared altogether from view, 

 till his cap was seen bobbing happily across the pasture 

 beyond. No need to continue the series. The railway 

 at length put a temporary stop to it, and before the 

 thread was taken fully in hand again, hounds had run 

 their fox to ground, short of Mountainstown. Then we 

 had an hour's ring under difficulties from Bengerstown, 

 one of the gorses ■ built by the great Sam Reynell, the 

 Alexander of Meath. 



The field of Thursday was not so large (though very 

 representative of that side of the country) but that I was 

 enabled to learn a great number of the names. Lord 

 Headfort (and others of his party driving), Mr. and Mrs. 

 Pollock of Mountainstown, Major and Mrs. Kearney, Mr. 

 and Miss Gargen, Miss Flatten, Major Everard (Mrs. 

 Everard on wheels), Mr. and Mrs. Donovan, Mrs. Single- 

 ton (driving), Lord C. Bentinck, Captain Hone, Messrs. 

 Caldwell, Carden, Coppinger, Hopkins (2), Law, Lembarde, 

 Newland, Tierman, W. Waller (ex-M.F.H.), Walker, &c. 



On Friday the same hounds were again in a totally 

 different variety of country — the demesnes of Killeen and 

 Dunsany (the places of residence of Lord Fingall and 

 Lord Dunsany respectively). In brilliant sunshine but a 

 cooler air they were able to run with more venom and 

 determination than on any day of the week. To the lady 

 pack was given the task of rattling this chain of coverts 

 and parkland ; which they did very effectually, though 



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