NORTHERN COUNTRIES loi 



kneaded the fleshless ribs, drew out the sinewy limbs, and 

 mercilessly pounded the recent bruises of his victim — 

 preparing him thus to visit fresh fields and pastures new. 

 (I must be allowed a sequel in brief parenthesis. It has to 

 do with hunting only indirectly, and with that of the fox 



► not at all ; but it embodies a veracious example of the 

 risks and chances of life. Stranger in same dressing-room, 

 having completed his toilet while Fox-hunter is undergoing 

 treatment as above, gives boy a shilling to pack and de- 



^ spatch his things after him. Boy carries out the order 

 instanter ; but includes also the whole of Fox-hunter's kit 

 except his Sunday hat. F. turns up cleansed and re- 

 freshed, with just sufficient time to allow of his fulfilling 

 luncheon engagement. Question at issue between Fox- 

 hunter and the officials, and prolonged till F. is very late 

 indeed — in fact, I think, still in abeyance — Will, under 

 the circumstances, a well-ironed beaver be held sufficient 

 to frank wearer to a luncheon party, however select and 

 intimate ?) 



Arrived north, what I saw there you shall find briefly 

 sketched below. 



The Morpeth 



I Tuesday, 5th April 1892, gave me the pleasant privilege 

 ! of seeing this pack in their best country — viz. that ad- 

 joining the Tynedale boundary, and in the neighbourhood 

 of the Master's (Mr. Cookson) seat at Meldon. 



A change of scene and a change of subject are welcome 



alike to sportsman and penman ; and when the change 



involves a run in a new grass country — at a time when 



our own cherished Shires have practically put up their 



shutters for the summer — the novelty has a double 



charm. 



I I am not one to declare ever that the last country seen 



' is the best I have known. But I believe that few of us 



who affect the Midlands of England are at all aware what 



, good ground exists in Northumberland. Amid the pressure 



' of hunting and of its happy concomitants, I confess I found 



it impossible instantly to do any justice to the green up- 



