32 FOX-HUNTING IN THE SHIRES 



with the other packs as a visitor ; of the Quorn he is 

 a member. On Monday, then, he rides with the Quorn, 

 and he will find the hounds at no great distance as 

 a rule from the stable door. Much of the Monday 

 country, which lies north of the Wreake, is at its best 

 near Melton, though the farther north we travel, the 

 rougher, the wilder, and the deeper becomes the char- 

 acter of the district. Nor is the latter much favoured 

 by the more fastidious sportsmen. Six Hills or Seg's 

 Hill, is, as Brooksby has well put it, the Croydon 

 Junction of the Quorn country. In Sir Richard 

 Sutton's day, if hounds went north of Six Hills to 

 draw the Widmerpool country, many men would turn 

 their horses homewards. " These Melton gentlemen 

 are wonderfully afraid of a little dirt," was Sir Richard's 

 remark, as he trotted off to Widmerpool with a much 

 diminished following. But, after all, we hunt to amuse 

 ourselves, and if we do not like sticky plough and boggy 

 lanes, or ten-acre enclosures, there is small blame to 

 us if we turn homeward and save our horse for another 

 day and a better country. Moreover, every man knows 

 his own stable secrets, and the horse that may be gay 

 and safe on the springy turf may flounder and fall on 

 deep ground. 



What the hard riding division go out for on Monday 

 is, first, a gallop over the beautiful grass lines near 

 Hoby or Ragdale or over the Belvoir Vale. South of 

 Six Hills is the Hoby Vale, which is not far from being 

 the most delightful line in the Shires. But this, the 

 best of the Monday country, is not to be played with. 

 For if the turf carries, as I believe it does, a better 

 scent than elsewhere, and if the pastures are pleasant 

 to gallop over, they are divided by fences which are 

 stiff and strong. There are, too, here and there oxers 

 to test the boldness of the horses and the courage of 



