16 The Lanarkshire and Renfrewshire Hunt. 



" Here's your fox, Judd ! " and there he was, sure enough, crouched under 

 the banks of the River Gryffe. From here he was quickly ousted, and, with 

 the hounds jumping in, both they and the fox were carried down the river 

 by the strong current. " Get in, Judd ! " shouted Sir David, when excite- 

 ment was running high. " Your hounds will be drowned," and although 

 the huntsman had a great aversion to water, he scrambled in, to luckily lay 

 hold of the fox's scuffle, and although whip and horn were lost the hounds 

 eventually devoured the carcase of this fox on the banks of the river. A 

 run, which ended with the memorable " Kill in the Clyde," on 30th 

 December, 1893, also commenced at Elphinstone, and hounds simply raced 

 from here over the valley to the left of Corslie Hill by Drums to West Ferry. 

 Here the fox disappeared, but latterly from the rocks on the north side of 

 the woodlands the hounds could be seen swimming out into the River Clyde, 

 and before they could be reached by the whips they had mangled the fox 

 to such an extent that only the mask could be recovered. 



In season 1 893-1 894 a run to be remembered was that commencing at 

 Wraes, and after going through Elphinstone the pack traversed the country 

 by High Barlogan, Duchal, and Slates Hill at a great pace to Knock- 

 mountain. From here they ran by Finlaystone, Barscube Hill, and West 

 Ferry, right down to Erskine, where the fox was killed in the open. 



In England it is no uncommon occurrence for two packs to clash, but 

 in this part of the kingdom, where meets of neighbouring Hunts are gener- 

 ally far apart, it must be regarded as an extraordinary happening. The 

 incident on 24th December, 1894, was not without its touch of humour, 

 culminating as it did in a dispute as to the rightful possession of the fox 

 when killed. 



These hounds had hunted a fox from Greenside by Craigton to the 

 corner of Castle Semple policies, near Howwood, where they killed in the 

 River Cart, and one of the pack retrieved the carcase to the bank. Just as 

 the customary obsequies were about to be performed, Jim Beavan, who was 

 hunting Lord Eglinton's pack at the time, came swooping down with his 

 hounds to claim that his fox had been killed. Judd was, however, positive 

 on the point, and saw to it that his hounds completed the breaking up process. 

 It was rather amusing to see the rival huntsmen separating the two packs at 

 the entrance to Castle Semple. At this period many brilliant runs were 

 enjoyed over that fine stretch of country from Skiff to Gleniffer, and 



