22,^ The Pytchley Html, Past and Present. 



Harrowden may be unknown to the present generation, 

 and ia associated with no great deeds of doughty horse- 

 manship — though by him the "hog-backed stile ^' and 

 the brook with rotten banks and muddy bottom were 

 objects to be avoided rather than encountered — his 

 memory as an old and honoured lover of the chase lingers 

 kindly in the hearts of many an East-side follower of the 

 '' P.H." of a former day. 



A tenant of the Hon. George Fitzwilliam, and occupant 

 of a stretch of grass over which hounds are bound to run 

 " hard, all," in spite of flocks and herds ; to the worthy 

 old Sportsman there was no pleasure in which he so 

 much delighted as to watch hounds cross the valley be- 

 tween Harrowden Ness and Vivian's Cover. 



By the non-adventurous the enlivening scene may be 

 witnessed in safety from the heights above, an almost 

 irresistible line of gates leading from and to the respective 

 points, with a probable drawing of the rein for a few 

 seconds at the interposing " Blackberry." For those 

 who ride to, rather than from, hounds, the line is not 

 without its perils — the intervening fences and a nasty 

 bottom being objects requiring some negotiation, and not 

 a little hardness of heart. At the time here referred to, 

 it was as a " caretaker '^ rather than a ^' pursuer," that 

 '^old Bill Widdowson" took his place as a marked and 

 well-known character in a Pytchley Field on the Monday 

 side. 



Of venerable aspect, with snow-white hair, and a long 

 great-coat coming well over his knees, he bestrode a 

 placid and sensible-looking old steed, which well matched 

 the rider. 



The two well-known covers, Blow Hill and Harrowden 



