62 THE NORTH STAFFORDSHIRE HOUNDS, 



short review of tlie past season, having frequently wished to give you an account 

 of our cloin"-s ; but one good day has followed another in such rapid succession 

 tliat I was always puzzled which to report upon, and I unhesitatingly say it has 

 been the best season ever known in this district. The kill has been six brace 

 more than in any season on record, so that if the principle holds good that the 

 more you kill the more you have, our prospects for next season ai-e glorious, 

 whilst the reputation of the hunt has drawn sportsmen from all quarters ; and 

 any one who has made a point of attending the Friday's meet, must have been 

 struck, not only with the large and influential fields, but with the excellent runs 

 we have invariably had on those days. There has been no lack of foxes, and 

 (what is much to say) we have not had a blank day during the season. We all 

 regi-et losing our excellent secretary, Mr. W. F. Brockholes, who has left the 

 neighbourhood, and taken with hira the good wishes of every man of the Hunt, 

 as he possesses that rare qualification of making every one his friend without 

 making a single enemy. The members of the Hunt are not only indebted to 

 those gentlemen who preserve foxes and whose land we ride over, but to the 

 noble family of Trentham for the spirited and excellent manner in which the 

 country has been hunted four days a week. I am sure all will bear testimony, 

 and join with me in wishing that the North Staffordshire Hunt will always 

 retain a Lord Stafford for its Master. 



"J. C." 



" J. C." was only echoing the general sentiment of 

 regret on Mr. Fitzherbert Brockholes giving up the 

 secretaryship, but he took it up again on the resignation 

 of Mr. Edward Heathcote, in about nine years after this. 

 Both were most admirable and efficient hon. secretaries. 

 The record for the season was seventy foxes killed, forty 

 run to ground. Hunting altogether one hundred days. 



The season of 1876-77 was not by any means a good 

 one for sport. On several days Dickins records that there 

 was no scent, and there were two bad cases of accident to 

 the pack ; in one case three valuable hounds being badly 

 lamed from falling into a stone quarry — a drop of forty 

 feet — and on another day (at Whitmore) two of the best 

 bitches, Relish and Melody, were run over and killed 

 by a passing train on the London and North Western 

 Railway. Dickins adds — 



'' The rest of the hounds went on and killed their fox in Wrinehill Wood. As 

 good a thirty minutes as could be, if it had not been for the accident." 



One of the best days of this rather unlucky season 

 was from Seighford on November 27th, 187G, and is thus 

 briefly recorded in the huntsman's diary : 



