THE BRAES OF DERWENT COUNTRY. 103 



hunted. It must be understood, too', that tJie Blanchland 

 country, tJiough not in the regular rotation for meets, has 

 fewer coiverts and fewer foxes than any of the other dis- 

 tricts, and thati, whil&it hounds are there leaa often than 

 elsewhere, they go quite often enough toi do all that is 

 neoessary. 



In like manner the eastern end of the hunt is quartered, 

 the district nearest thei kennels including the Pout, and the 

 coverts round Hamsterley Hall on the south side, and Milk- 

 well Burn on the north side of the Derwent. Beyond, on the 

 south side of the river, are the Gibside coverts, with Thornley 

 Burn, and other places on the north side for the afternoon, 

 and these take another day, while on the north side of the 

 hill there are also' two' groups of coverts, one including the 

 Blaydon Burn country, and the other the country near 

 Prudhoe Hall. And almost in the centre of the eastern 

 portion of the hunt are Chopwell Wood, the Spen Bank, and 

 a few smaller coverts, and when these are drawn the order of 

 procedure may have to' be altered in accordance with what 

 happens. Hounds, for example, meet at Armondside for 

 Chopwell and at Low Spen for Spen Bank, and on these occa- 

 sions it may be that Milkwell Burn is the afternoon draw 

 from an Armondside meet, or that the Blaydon Burn coverts 

 are visited from a Low Spen meet. With the exception of 

 Chopweill and the Pont, the coverts on the eastern side of the 

 hunt are not very large, but foxes found anywhere in the 

 disitrioti may goi from one " quarter " tO' another, or run 

 through the best coverts in two' or three " quarters," and 

 when this happens there may be a rearrangement of plans. 

 V/hat occurs comparatively very seldoim is that a. fox found 

 in the easitem portion of the hunt crosses the Watling-street 

 to the west, or vice versa, and this is somewhat remarkable, 

 seeing that, there is no natural boundary, such as a river or 

 a great woodland, and that on the Watling-street between 

 the Derwent and the Tyne there is only one small village 

 (Whittonstall) of not more than twenty cottiages. At times, 

 cf course, foxes cross the boundary between east and west in 

 good hunts, and most frequently between the Hollins and the 

 Mere Burn; but on five days out of six, if hounds begin the 

 day in the east, they finish in the east, and this also applies 



