THE ZETLAND HUNT. 171 



by the pack. Oiily once in Mr. Cradock's day did I see hounds 

 draw the Black Banks (which are, I believe, the property of 

 Mr. Herbert Straker, the joint Ma&ter of the Zetland), but 

 I have seen Lord Zeitland's hounds there many times since, 

 generally in the lat.e spring, when they had ceased advertising 

 and were trying to mop up a few more foxes in the wilder 

 parts of the hunt. The Black Banks and the neighbouring 

 ooverta about Shull, Hoppyland, and St. John's are quite 

 close to the moors, and are what Surtees wo'Uld have called 

 " extra-parochial." I have not been there for many years, 

 but the place used to swarm with foxes, and Champion used 

 to do his best toi prevent them crossing the river. My re- 

 collection is that when they did so they generally came back, 

 not necessarily into the Banks, but into some of the other 

 ooverta which lie between tlie entirance of the Bedburn stream 

 to the Wear and the Black Banks. A feiw miles siouth of 

 the Banks, round Hamsterley, there is a delectable hunting 

 country, and it was here on many Saturdays that " John " 

 and I found hounds in our pony days and saw many a, useful 

 hunt. We had to leave early, however, for he came fro^m 

 Broomshields and I from Woodlands, nearly four miles fur- 

 ther north, and not only did we generally want the same 

 ponies for the Durham country on the Monday, buti we always 

 had a long distance to travel both before. and after hunting. 

 At times hounds would cross the river and run on. Mot more 

 than four seasons ago the North Durham ran on to the moors 

 south of Shull, and when I was living at Broomshields in tlie 

 'eighties I remember some six or seven couples of hounds run- 

 ning a fox into the main earths on Westi Carr Hill, but a 

 v/hipper-in was following on, and he quickly took them away. 

 I have one very vivid recollection of a big run with Mr. 

 Cradock'g hounds. It was, I think, in 1872, and the meet 

 was at Cockfield. It was towards the end of the season, and 

 on the previous day the North Durham were at Colepike Hall, 

 and had one of th.e worst days I ever remember in that 

 country. There were) plenty of foxes, but according to the 

 huntsman they were all vixens, and hooindg were stopped 

 from running three or four times and sent home early. With 

 my father I had driven to the meet from Shotley, and he had 

 left the trap at the place of meeting. When I got back to 



