DESCRIPTION OF COUNTRY. 73 



the horse to carry you well in North Staffordshire is 

 a quick, active horse that will not easily tire. He would 

 add to this that the horse should not be too big ; a handy, 

 well-bred horse that will turn quick, and is steady and 

 sensible at banks and ditches, is the horse you want for 

 this country. 



There are two grand points in favour of the North 

 Stafibrd country — foxes are plentiful and generally wild, 

 and the country carries a rare good scent, being largely 

 a grass country, with very little plough as a rule. The 

 country is on the whole well provided with coveyts, and 

 of late years very considerable additions have been made 

 in the shape of several new gorse coverts. Some of the 

 woodlands are exceptionally large, and are great strong- 

 holds for foxes, and splendid schoolrooms for young 

 hounds in the cubbing season, such, for instance, as the 

 Bishop's Woods and Burnt Woods, near Drayton-in-Hales, 

 and Swynnerton Old Park (near Swynnerton Hall and 

 Trentham), as to the merits of which Dickins made an 

 enthusiastic entry (already quoted) in his diary of 1872, 

 his second season with the North Stafford. This is an oak 

 aud fir wood containing (with Harley Thorn and the 

 heath and common adjoining) about eight hundred acres, 

 chiefly covered with underwood, heather, and bilberry 

 bushes, and has long been a noted stronghold for foxes. 

 It has saved the Hunt every now and then from a blank 

 day, and its chief drawback is that, owing to its great size 

 and to its often carrying a poor scent, you can seldom 

 force a fox out of covert without spending a large amount 

 of time and trouble. 



It is the property of Mr. Basil Fitzherbert of Swyn- 

 nerton Hall hard by— a much-respected landowner and 

 supporter of the Hunt, though no longer himself following 

 hounds. The Duke of Sutherland's extensive home coverts 

 at Trentham and Beech Cliffe are near the Old Park, and 

 generally provide the requisite animal when drawn. 

 The Bishop's Woods and Burnt Woods, on the Eccleshall 

 side of the country, are altogether, we believe, upwards 



