240 THE CREAM OF LEICESTEESHIRE, [Season 



TO GROUND IX VIEW. 



A FEW light showers on March 11th prepared the ground 

 for a good Tuesday with the Cottesmore. There can he no 

 prettier meet than Launde Abbey — a picturesque huihling, 

 nestling under its old elms, and smTounded by the woods of 

 the centre of High Leicestershire. And not onl}- does it hold 

 out a scene, fascinating in itself, and doubly attractive (in some 

 senses, at least) on a morning of gayest sunlight such as 

 Tuesday ; but the rendezvous has a further advantage. It is 

 only to be reached, come whence you mux, bj^ riding through a 

 •wild grass countr}', the glory of the Cottesmore — every yard of 

 Avhich must help to kindle the fire of memory or imagination 

 in the mind of the hurrying sportsman. Canter to covert, for 

 instance, by way of Twyford and Owston, and I wager that (as 

 has been said in other words by better men before me) it will 

 take the edge off your appetite for any countrv wliere the sickle 

 holds the place of the shepherd's crook — wliere the enthusiasm 

 of the chase is sluggish, and its poetr}- inert. 



Launde Park "Wood has many acres, and its rides are deep ; 

 so 'tis no easy matter to insure that hounds shall not leave it 

 without the advantage of your company. On this bright, clear 

 morning the holloas on the side of the Abbey cut shrilly 

 through the air and pierced the wood — just when you, perhaps, 

 fearful of the undrained depths within (tlKuigh, by the way, the 

 Park "Wood in this respect suffers nothing b}^ comparison witli 

 the ordinary run of big woodlands) had again betaken yourself 

 outside the covert. Make up your mind quickly to get round or 

 get through. A mile, you know, will scarcely carr}' you round 

 either half circle. The cheer of the huntsman and the quick- 

 repeating twang of the horn already tell of departure ; and a 

 chilly sensation, almost of despair, creeps within your hunting- 

 vest. Through the wood is your only chance — though hard 

 men are galloping to the right and veterans careering to the 

 left. Down the ride as fast as you can struggle and blob and 

 splash ! Hocks and sinews be — forgotten ! If you're late you'll 



