78 FOX-HUNTING IN THE SHIRES 



care to leave certain sport close at hand for chances 

 equally good but farther afield. The man, however, 

 who loves hounds will naturally watch for the chance 

 of seeing the Pytchley dog pack, as it is generally 

 the bitches that hunt round Market Harborough. 

 But if the visitor is one of those to whom a hound 

 is a hound, whose chief business it is to get out of 

 the way of his horse's feet, then Monday with Mr. 

 Fernie should never be missed. 



Tuesday generally offers a choice. If the Cottes- 

 more is selected, then a horse-box must be ordered 

 for Tilton or John o' Gaunt, unless, indeed, Loddington 

 or Tilton Wood or Robin-a-Tiptoes is on the card, and 

 then the distance may easily be done by road. Most 

 probably Mr. Fernie will be out, but he may be at 

 Blaby Wharf or somewhere in the Leicester district, 

 where he has a little strip of country lent him by the 

 Quorn, which, however, the growing prosperity of 

 Leicester is rapidly curtailing ; or again he may be 

 at Rockingham Station or Seaton, in a country which 

 is as wild and picturesque as the Leicester end is 

 tame and suburban. If none of these courses suit 

 the hunting man, Tuesday will not be a bad day for 

 going up to town on business or taking a rest. It 

 is not obligatory in Market Harborough to hunt six 

 days a week. Tuesday is market-day at Harborough, 

 and of the many sportsmen who live in the town there 

 are few but have some business on that day to prevent 

 them from hunting. 



It is not possible for the Market Harborough visitor 

 to think of his first Wednesday without a thrill. There 

 is magic about such names as Lilbourne, Crick, Stan- 

 ford and the Hemplow, which draws us almost against 

 our will. We know that there will be a greater crowd, 

 but not necessarily better sport, here than elsewhere 



