44 FOX-HUNTING IN THE SHIRES 



imagination could not furnish him with a finer subject 

 for his pencil." Nothing could be more true. From 

 Ranksborough you look over the choicest of the wide 

 pastures, the flying fences and the variety of ground 

 that make Leicestershire what it is. But indeed all 

 this Tuesday country will be found delightful with this 

 one caution to the newcomer : " You cannot ride over 

 it on a bad horse, a weak horse, or a faint-hearted one, 

 nor can you cross it on the best animal that ever was 

 foaled unless he is in condition." 



Many are the charming and fox-haunted coverts of 

 the district. Orton Park Wood, just three miles from 

 Ranksborough, a square wood of thirty-five or forty 

 acres, a refuge for foxes, a landmark to riders, and an 

 almost certain find. Or there is Prior's Coppice, the 

 Fishponds at Cold Overton, the plantations at Knoss- 

 ington, or the Punchbowl at Leesthorpe. Wherever 

 you go, the country is good, and perhaps there is no 

 better scenting grass in Leicestershire than the Tuesday 

 country of the Cottesmore. Nor must we forget the 

 pleasant stretches of the more level lower country, 

 such as the Burton flats or the fields near Pickwell. 



When on Wednesday comes the first time we hunt 

 with the Belvoir hounds, it is an occasion not to be 

 forgotten. Every covert, every field is historic in 

 hunting annals, and it is probable that the prospect 

 of following in the footsteps of the famous riders of the 

 past will inspire us. Such were the gallant Lord 

 Forester, who had at last to be lifted on to his horse, 

 but could always take a good place, no matter what 

 the country, when once in the saddle, or Will Goodall, 

 the great huntsman who never seemed to think of 

 fences at all but only of his hounds, or the late Duke 

 of Rutland who once jumped Croxton Park wall six 

 feet high and a drop beyond. 



