RUGBY 103 



when he sees his hounds casting themselves, intent 

 only on the chase, on the top of a lofty embankment, 

 with an express train due from one direction or even 

 perhaps from both. Nevertheless, with all possible 

 deductions, there are few better countries than the 

 Atherstone portion of Leicestershire. A fixture at 

 Brownsover or Coton House, Newnham Paddox or 

 Bitteswell is sure to bring all hunting Rugby, not to 

 speak of the Pytchley residents who live along the 

 border, and thus command the two superlative coun- 

 tries on either side of the railway and canal. From 

 Coton to Swinford is a possible line and a pleasant 

 one. There is but one railway barrier, and then all 

 the pleasures of the Pytchley are open. In fact, all 

 the best country round Rugby is Leicestershire, or 

 shall we say, to give a wider scope, the grass countries 

 at their best. Description then becomes repetition, 

 and, though riding after hounds over the grass never 

 palls, yet to write more of it might weary the reader, 

 and he would learn little that has not been said 

 already. 



So it will be understood that the man who chooses 

 Rugby will do so because he desires to ride over well- 

 fenced grass, and must therefore mount himself ac- 

 cordingly, and also because he likes the pleasant 

 society of men of the same tastes as himself. The 

 same country can be reached from many towns and 

 villages ; and if a man desires quiet and has a small 

 stud, there are worse places than the town of Ather- 

 stone, which is no great distance from the kennels at 

 Witherley, and is pretty much in the centre of the 

 country. There are of course those who rather shrink 

 from than seek society in the hunting season, who 

 find that early hours are easier kept in solitude, and 

 that the recollection of to-day's sport and the antici- 



