72 FOX-HUNTING IN THE SHIRES 



hunting season ; the railway companies quite recog- 

 nise the hunting traffic, and the officials are both 

 courteous and intelligent. I have known a vixen and 

 cubs to choose a platform for a playground in the 

 early morning, and a friendly signalman has told me 

 he used to watch them and count to see they were 

 all there. I believe, too, that a vixen laid up a litter 

 in Kibworth goods yard for several years. The care, 

 too, which those good sportsmen, the engine-drivers 

 and guards, take not to run over hounds, excites the 

 admiration and gratitude of all who hunt in the Shires. 



Having, then, established the fact that Market 

 Harborough is comfortable to live in and is convenient 

 to reach, let us now consider how a week's hunting 

 may be enjoyed there. I may say at once that, 

 while the fixtures are handy. Market Harborough is 

 not quite so near to those which serve its sportsmen 

 as Melton. But three or four miles can be saved in 

 several directions by living in one of the villages, 

 which are little more than suburbs of the centre. 

 Thus Lubenham, or Foxton, or the Langtons — there 

 are five of the latter I believe, Church Langton, Tur 

 Langton, Thorpe Langton, and East and West Lang- 

 ton, though the last I take on trust as I have never 

 seen it — are nearer to several meets of Mr. Fernie's 

 and the Pytchley than Harborough itself. 



The second drawback, or indeed the real hindrance, 

 to Market Harborough as a hunting centre lies in the 

 fact that it bears an undeserved reputation for 

 being wired. It is well to bear in mind that this is 

 not now so serious a hindrance to hunting as it was, 

 so well is it removed during the hunting season. Every 

 year more of it disappears as each first of November 

 comes round. There is a story told which illustrates 

 the popular if erroneous belief on this subject. A 



