The Lanarkshire and Renfrezvshire Hunt. 15 



from one to three inches ! The gamekeepers of the period were a thoroughly 

 dependable lot of fellows, and some of the fathers of the profession who are 

 still remembered were Gavin Scott at Barochan, Tom Burnett at Houston, 

 James Murdoch at Linwood, and Matthew Gilmour at Craigends. These 

 men could be regarded as of the older type of gamekeeper, and have all 

 joined the great majority. 



Many were there of the soul-stirring runs that set the blood tingling 

 in one's veins provided by such stout-hearted and long-winded foxes, and 

 when they were dead beaten I have known them seek sanctuary of a curious 

 order. During season 1 884-1 885 a fox found in Wraes had kept the fun going 

 for fully three hours, and when he eventually returned to his home haunt 

 to find no quarter, he gained an entrance to Wraes farmhouse just below. 

 He was hardly inside the threshold, however, when he met the guidwife, 

 besom in hand, and in a state of panic natural to the occasion poor 

 Reynard was dusted out into the yard, where he ran right into the jaws 

 of the pack, by this time coming on the scene. 



Many will recollect the time when a tree near Finlaystone House was 

 nearly always a safe find, and Ritchie, who used to run regularly with the 

 pack, was entrusted with the task of dislodging the varmint. The most 

 extraordinary instance of foxes occupying trees came under notice in Scart 

 Wood, where an old dog fox habitually climbed a high spruce and curled 

 himself up at the top so as to resemble a crow's nest. 



In giving brief accounts of some memorable runs of the distant days I 

 am at a loss to know the correct dates, as diaries were not kept. Early in the 

 'eighties Sir Michael Shaw Stewart and Mr. Durham Kippen were still to 

 the fore, and others very hard to beat over a country at this time were Mr. 

 Richard M'Farlane and Mr. John Craig. One of the finest runs enjoyed 

 at this time was with a fox found at Finlaystone, and the route lay over 

 Barscube Hill, Corslie Hill, through Wraes and Houston Wood to Craigends. 

 From here the fox attempted to reach Linwood Moss, but doubling back he 

 was rolled over. Another great run made all the more noteworthy by its 

 exciting termination was had in season 1887-1888. Elphinstone was the 

 starting point, and at a rattling pace the hounds swept through Corslie Hill, 

 Cleaves, and Houston Wood into Craigends. Here it was thought that 

 Reynard had vanished, but the Master, who had been well up throughout, 

 discovered what had happened, for he came up with the exclamation, 



