THE SQUIRE OF ASWARBY 



" We have had a most delightful week's sport in the 

 Dunsby, Kirkby, Aslackby Woodlands ; I think I never 

 enjoyed a whole week's sport so much. On Monday last 

 we went to Aslackby Wood, where we found a very great 

 show of foxes, and, although raining in torrents the whole 

 day, they ran as if they were tied to those foxes, and killed 

 a brace after running three hours. 



" On Tuesday I went to Dunsby, which we drew blank, 

 owing to a great party of nutters daily frequenting the wood. 

 On to Kirkby, where we found as many as we knew how to 

 deal with. We soon had a division of hounds, one lot going 

 to Aslackby, the other running in Kirkby, running in this way 

 hard for an hour and a half, passing each other several times as 

 they returned. We, however, got all together at last, and suc- 

 ceeded in killing a cub most handsomely in the Bulby corner 

 of Kirkby Wood, after two hours and a half hard running. 



" On Friday we went to Kirkby Wood again, where we 

 found after drawing a short time. Away we were directly 

 over to Aslackby Wood, back again at Kirkby, where we 

 were running hard with two or three foxes for some time. 

 They, however, broke away at the Grimsthorpe end, away over 

 Bulby Park, through Bulby Hall Wood, back again over 

 the grass fields by Aslackby, and they pulled him down at 

 the corner of Kirkby Wood, after a most brilliant morning's 

 sport of three hours and ten minutes' hard running. 



" On Saturday we went to Aslackby Wood, where we 

 found a beautiful fine old fox with a stiff knee, which they 

 killed in ten minutes. On to Kirkby Wood, where we soon 

 got on a stale scent, which we hunted over to Elsthorpe 

 Springs, where we immediately got up to a real good one, 

 which seemed so much disgusted with my impertinent visit 

 without an invitation that he started off up wind, leaving 

 Bourne Wood on his left, over the Bourne road nearly to 

 Dunsby Wood. Here he unfortunately ran into a field full 

 of ploughmen, which turned him short back down one field 

 as the hounds were going at the other ; back again nearly 

 as fast, leaving Grimsthorpe Park all to the left at the 

 Edenham Bottoms, into Elsthorpe Springs again, where 



201 



