THE TYNEDALE COUNTRY. 137 



there is still the difficulty about getting horsesi to' a, distant meet 

 in a. country where there are noi trains, and practically no' inns 

 with good acoommodation for nags. The Tynedale countiry 

 lies west, of Newoastle-on-Tyne, and north of the river Tyne, 

 which to' all intents and purposes form itis southern boundary. 

 On the westi it extends up the North Tyne valley for many 

 miles, and on the east the high road from Newcastle to Belsay 

 separates it from the Morpeth country, while on the north the 

 boundary varies a little, the Morpeth being on the noirth- 

 east and tha Border on the north-west of Tynedale territory. 

 West of Belsay the line between the Tynedale and Morpeth 

 is a little irregular, but clear enough tO' those who' live and 

 hunt in the country; but all this particular district' of either 

 hunt is grand galloping ground and as sound as a bell; 

 wherea? on the extreme north-west of the country, and at no 

 great distance from the moors, soane of thei land is not. so* well 

 drained, and is in places inclined to be boggy. Hounds hunt on 

 Mondays in the west of the country, the meets ranging 

 between the kennels and such places a,s Kirkharlei, Kirk- 

 whelpington, and C'apheaton. Buti there are alsoi several 

 meets in between, such as Whittington, Hallington, Bing- 

 field, Bavington, and so forth. Mat fen and Matfen Piers are 

 alsoi Monday meets, and to explain the situation all these 

 fixtures are in the western half of the country, but on the 

 plateau of high-lying grass land, while the Wednesday meets 

 are for the Tyne Valley, and the Friday meets for the eastern 

 section of the country, all the way from the Tyne to Belsay. 

 The Wednesday meets, though nearly always in the Valley, 

 are in two distinct districts, one set including fixtures in the 

 lower Tyne Valley between Corbridge and Whittle Dene, and 

 the other the fixtures in the North Tyne Valley, from St.. 

 Oswalds to ChoUerford, Chipchase, Nunwick, Giinnerton, and 

 as far as Countess Park, which is so far away as to be what 

 Surtees would call " extra, parochial." Since the war hounds 

 ha.ve not been out. so regularly on Wednesdays as they 

 formerly were. I have to thank several correspondents 

 for sending me accounts of good hunts with the 

 Tynedale in the long ago, and these I will mention in due 

 course; but first I may say that I am not. presuming to 

 pose as an historian of the Tynedale Hunt, for there have 



