HUNTS AND THEIR HISTORY 135 



and wilder, and for that reason possibly leave a better 

 scent. 



Doubtless other packs can show bursts as brilliant 

 for the satisfying daily bread of hunting, but for runs 

 that are long but not tedious, for chases that are 

 hunts but not slow, the Cottesmore, like its neigh- 

 bour the Belvoir, is the country. 



For more than a quarter of a century now this 

 hunt has been thoroughly worked and well hunted, 

 and the tide of fashion has flowed towards it. It is 

 a hunt to settle in and to take a pride in. But still, 

 for the casual visitor, the man of two or three seasons 

 in the Shires, I hold to Melton and the Quorn. When 

 you come to the Shires you want to have not only 

 the best of hunting but the best of country ; and, 

 with the exception of part of the Tuesday and Saturday 

 countries, I may say plainly the Cottesmore is not 

 as a riding ground equal to the Quorn or Mr. Fernie's. 

 There are parts, too, of the Tuesday, or Leicester- 

 shire, country that are very rough ; and Tilton, 

 Loddington, Tugby, Skeffington and Launde are 

 places where none should venture unless he has a 

 stout horse. The present pack is one of the most 

 successful instances of judicious introduction of Bel- 

 voir blood. 



III. The Belvoir 



The first day that we hunt with the Belvoir will 

 always remain in our memory, so associated is the 

 pack with the history of fox-hunting and the fox-hound. 

 So many men in the past have looked on this hunt 

 as the very embodiment and type of the best side 

 of our national sport that we feel that a day with 



