68 Tallyho. 



walls do not a prison make " in these parts, for I ob- 

 served a young lady putting a horse at one in a re- 

 markably handy way, and it landed her cleverly on 

 the other side ; whilst another fair rider, not so cle- 

 verly mounted, '^ upset the whole box of tricks," her 

 clumsy animal bringing the loose stones down with a 

 crash, though neither he nor his rider came to grief. 

 I have ridden over stone walls myself, and, provided I 

 have a bold animal used to this particular style of 

 fence, I would as soon rido over them as not; but 

 with an unhandy or shifty nag I have no desire to 

 negotiate them. 



The extent of the Duke of Beaufort^s country is no 

 less than forty square miles, very varied in its nature, 

 some parts being equal to any that can be found ; and, 

 as railway engineers have apparently had their wicked 

 will with the district, it is to be hoped that no further 

 cutting up of the Duke^s territory will occur. This 

 pack was established by the fifth Duke of Beaufort, and 

 it is on record that on one occasion Will Long, during 

 the time of the sixth Duke, took the field with 49 i 

 couples, with which he went cub-hunting — the largest 

 number I ever heard of. To have heard their music 

 as they woke the echoes of the early morning must 

 have been truly a pleasant occupation. Of the pre- 

 sent Duke it may be said that he fully maintains the 

 efficiency established by his predecessors, as the three 

 packs with which he does the work are as splendid as 

 it is possible for hounds to be. 



As this " country " is much more severe than either 

 Leicestershire, Northamptonshire, or Rutlandshire, a 

 bigger style of hound, combining strength with 

 speed, is required; and the same remark applies to 



