176 FOX-HUNTING IN THE SHIRES 



was worthily succeeded by his son-in-law, the late 

 Mr. Inge, and then by Mr. Gerald Hardy, who has 

 now become Master of the Meynell, in the county 

 where he was bom and where his property is situated. 

 The present Master is Mr. J. C. Munro, who has had 

 the East Sussex and the Albrighton hunts suc- 

 cessively. 



If it had no wire, the Atherstone country would 

 be one of the best in England, but then as much might 

 be said of several others. There is, however, now, 

 as in the past, much good sport, and if two days in 

 the week the country is better from a riding point 

 of view than on the others, that is equally true of the 

 Quorn. The Atherstone is fortunate, too, in having 

 the support of the chief landowners. Lord Den- 

 bigh's coverts at Newnham Paddox are in the middle 

 of an excellent country, and the same may be said 

 of Combe, belonging to Lord Craven. Gopsall is the 

 property of Lord Howe, whose father was Master of 

 the pack, and Lady Howe was at one time one of 

 the five horsewomen who were said to be the best 

 with the Quorn and Cottesmore. Then there is Mr. 

 Newdegate, of Arbury, whose place has been made 

 famous by George Eliot as Cheverel Manor in Mr. 

 Gilfil's love story. I can recollect, when staying at 

 Atherstone, that there were people who identified, 

 or professed to identify, many of the characters in 

 George Eliot's novels. Certainly her brother, Isaac 

 Evans, was a keen follower of the hounds. But the 

 Warwickshire and Leicestershire borders, even within 

 my recollection, retained many of the old character- 

 istics of English country life, and there was perhaps 

 a more marked individuality and more character 

 there than could be found nowadays. Fox-hunting 

 at all events is indigenous, and not all the changes of 



