37 



the quarries, but headed for Bishop's Hall, beside the ruins of which, 

 in a grass field, he was pulled down. Sixteen miles ; one hour thirty 

 minutes. Miss Stubber (now Lady Stalbridge) went brilliantly 

 through this fine but trying run. She was alone up at the kill, 

 having fairly pounded the few then with the hounds at the big fence 

 into Bishop's Hall. Ungallant, no doubt, but so chagrined did I 

 feel at having been planted by a lady, I went off home without 

 looking at the fox being broken up, although he was killed within 

 twenty yards of me ! 



Perhaps the best run which the Curraghmore had in the present 

 Marquis's time was that had on the 9th December, 1873, when they 

 met at Tullagher in the Ross country. Found in Brownstown, ran to 

 Weatherstown, to within two fields of Knockbrack ; on towards Tory 

 Hill, leaving it on the right, to Cat's Rock. Here the fox was seen 

 dead-beat, toiling up the side of that steep gorge, but he gained Gal- 

 way's Covert, where he got safely to ground. Distance, twenty-two 

 miles ; point to point, eleven miles ; time, two hours twenty minutes. 

 The only men who rode this fine run from end to end were Lord 

 Waterford on Irishman, Captain Slacke on Crocus, Duke on Quinine, 

 and Mr. Arbuthnot, a visitor at Curraghmore, on a horse of Lord 

 Waterford's called The Cure. 



Not, perhaps, as fine as that just referred to, but a wonderful and 

 magnificent run was had from Mount Neil to Tory Hill, when Lord 

 Waterford carried the horn. Point to point the distance is eight 

 miles ; line run over, eleven to twelve miles ; time, one hour and 

 ten minutes. There was only one check. Tory Hill being so far away 

 from where a fox was likely to run that day the earths were not 

 stopped, so he got to ground. 



We had exceptionally good sport under circumstances very adverse 

 as well as favourable. 



Any hounds possessed of ordinary nose power, if they have fairly 

 good shoulders and feet, can run a fox when there happens to be a 

 good scent, but give me the pack of hounds that can hunt their fox 

 upon a bad scenting day, and he a long way ahead, over an extent of 

 rough and poor scenting country intersected by numerous cart-tracks 

 and pathways along which the fox runs and suddenly turns or doubles 

 out of, getting thereby still farther ahead, but by steady and deter- 

 mined hunting the pack sticks to its fox and accounts for him in 

 sporting style after a long and arduous chase. 



I think the finest exhibition of that class of hunting which I ever 

 saw was towards the end of Briscoe's or begi nning of the presen 

 Marquis's time, when the Curraghmore found their fox in Clo- 

 nassey and hunted him without ever changing on to another along 

 the line of the Welch mountains till they ran him to ground in a 

 rock near Birch wood, running as they did over Listrolin, Milltown, 

 and Garryduff Hills, and through the coverts of Carrig-a-tubrid, 

 Corbally, Glenbower, Owning, and Birch wood. This was a splendid 



