THE BRAMHAM MOOR COUNTRY. 



25 



southern part of the country, and about this there is not 

 much to say. It is a network of railways, and coal-pits 

 follow one another throughout the length and breadth of it. 

 Of course such a country is ill-adapted to fox hunting, at 

 any rate in its best aspects ; yet somehow there is a good 

 deal of fun in this part of the country at times. Indeed, 

 given a scent, a good fox, and a good pack of hounds, and 

 there will always be plenty of fun for the sportsman, no 

 matter what the country may be like or what difficulties 

 there may be to contend with. Amongst the coal-mines 

 there are any number of hunters on foot, but the miners 

 are rare good sportsmen, and as a rule are well behaved 

 and do what they are asked to do. They like to get hold 

 of a rabbit if one gets up within their reach ; but after all 

 that is only human nature, and I fancy most of us would 

 ''eave 'arf a brick' at Lcpiis cuniciilus, if he came temptingly 

 near us, and the ' 'arf brick' were handy, and could be used 

 with precision. 



Taken on the whole the Bramham Moor country must 

 be regarded as a good one, and though it has its drawbacks, 

 amongst which may be reckoned the multiplicity of the 

 coverts and their nearness to each other, factors which tend 

 at times to make foxes run short ; and though there is in 

 some portions of it a larger proportion of plough than is 

 fashionable or liked by many of the modern school, there 

 is no lack of sport with the Bramham Moor, and the 

 Bramham Moor hounds make as good an average as any 

 pack of hounds in the country. Indeed, difficulties only 

 seem to exist in order that they may be overcome, and 

 given anything like a scent, the Bramham Moor foxes are 

 not given to hanging about and running short. At any 

 rate, those that try the experiment on once seldom live 

 to repeat it. 



