72 HUNTING IN MANY COUNTRIES. 



kennel. Doggy men will know that the Master of the Braes 

 of Derwent was a great breeder of bloodhounds and of several 

 varieties of gun dog. He judged at many of the most im- 

 portant dog shows, and was one of the greatest authorities 

 of the day on all sorts of sporting dogs. Much of his hunting 

 took place in big woodlands, and he had an idea that his fox- 

 hounds wanted more nose and less pace for this particular 

 sort of hunting. He therefore tried a bloodhound cross, 

 which was not very successful. The cross-bred hounds cer- 

 tainly hunted well in covert, but they dwelt on the line far 

 too much in the open, and were lacking in drive. At the time 

 I am writing of, more than thirty years ago, the experiment 

 was engaging some attention, and several masters of hounds 

 visited the pack to see how it worked. I do not remember 

 that any of them approved, except perhaps Mr. Maynard, who 

 was then an old man, and who possibly had the same ideas 

 as the Colonel. I have an idea that Mr. Maynard had two 

 or three of these cross-bred hounds in his kennel for a short 

 time, but he very quickly altered his opinion, finding them 

 too slow for the very open North Durham country. Well, 

 one day the Blaydon Bum pack were hunting in the Guards 

 Wood, and foxes went up and down the gill but would not 

 break. I do not think the Colonel cared whether they broke 

 or not that day, for scent was good in covert, and the music 

 was magnificent. The field became scattered and hounds 

 divided. With one or two others I was near the Duke's Hag 

 when a fox and about twelve couples of hounds crossed the 

 lane, and went on towards Hyons Wood. Then it was that 

 I halloaed hard, but of course made no (attempt to stop 

 hounds, because two-thirds of the pack were there, and I 

 had no idea whether this fox had been hunted for an hour 

 or only for a few minutes. Two or three of us followed on, 

 hounds going through Hyons Wood, and very fast to Whitton- 

 stall, where the fox got to ground in a drain at the Mains 

 farm. The Colonel and his huntsman and others of the field 

 arrived a quarter of an hour later, and I caught it hot for 

 halloaing, but we soon made it up, for I explained that I 

 was quite unaware he wanted to go on hunting in covert, 

 and that I did not know the hunt servants had orders that 

 day to stop hounds from running in the open. The dinner 



