112 HUNTING IN MANY COUNTRIES. 



here during the latter part of his mastership, and the place, 

 though quite near a good deal of industriali&im, isi very smug, 

 with a good covert called Brockwell Wood, not a, quarter of a 

 mile from the house. A mile beyond is Chickens Wood, and 

 beyond it Reely Mires, and, though all three are little places, 

 they furnish a, great deal of sport, for cubs are always bred 

 at the Brockwell, and in most years at Reely Mires as well. 

 Then on the north side of Blaydon Burn there is a sitrong, 

 inclosed gorse covert, known as Cow en's Whin. The country 

 hereabouts is very open, for the Blaydon Bum coverts are in 

 the open valley of the Barlow brook, and well away from the 

 collieries, while on the north side of the valley there is a 

 broad plateau of farm land, with no covert in it beyond 

 Cowen's Whin. I have seen foxes come from all parts of the 

 country to Blaydon Burn, many which have gone to 

 Axwell; but if any of these foxes have come from a distant 

 point the earths at the Brockwell have generally given them 

 shelter. From Axwell itself the best hunt I ever saw came 

 late in the afternoon. We had run a fox into the park, and 

 were there for at least an hour, there being several lines. At 

 length hounds found the line of a fox which had left near the 

 Axwell Spa, and here there is a gate, which came in handy, so 

 that no time was lost. The hunt which followed was not a 

 fast one, but it took hounds over a great deal of country, 

 and lasted all the afternoon, terminating in a kill on one of 

 the main rides of Chopwell Wood and hard by what once was 

 the official residence of " Mr Prettyfat." From Chopwell 

 the best run I ever saw — and the best days I ever heard of 

 in this country — took place on Jan. 9, 1904, and is described 

 in The Foxhounds of Great Britain as follows: " Hounds 

 met at Horsegate (adjoining Chopwell), found immediately, 

 and ran for threie hours, always driving on with a holding 

 scent, and always in the open. In fact, in a run which was 

 reckoned to be quite twenty-five miles, they only crossed 

 through two strips of plantation. Later in the day, with a 

 greatly attenuated field, they ran over the very best of their 

 country for one hour and twenty-five minutes, and hounds 

 were never handled until they had been running for an hour 

 and a quarter. In this run there was a point of about eight 

 milesi; but the first run was circular, and, though hounds 



