A Forest Run With " The Queenh}'^ 163 



thing that the deer should have so studiously avoided 

 the forest/' 



Considering the time of year, this was a severe run, 

 the sun shining brilliantly throughout the whole time, 

 the heat at mid-day being equal to any period of this 

 somewhat eccentric summer; and it speaks well for 

 the condition of the hounds that so few strao-o-lers 

 were to be found, though here and there one was to 

 be seen showing symptoms of distress. On the whole 

 the work was done in a highly satisfactory way ; and 

 my opinion as to the fitness of the pack was confirm.ed 

 by the performances during this exceptional day. In 

 order to see the " Queen's Hounds '' to the greatest 

 advantage, a day should be selected when the " meet '■* 

 is fixed either at Gerrard's Cross, Pole Hill, or 

 Maidenhead Thicket, from either of which places I 

 have usually had the luck to drop in for a good thing, 

 the country being suflSciently open to give you a 

 breather. Starting from Pole Hill, you will, if fortu- 

 nate, have a taste of the Harrow country, which 

 rides well in the early part of the season ; but after 

 heavy rains it becomes, as the winter advances, very 

 deep and holding. Should you have the good fortune 

 to follow a stout deer in a run of an hour and a half, 

 or thereabouts, going by way of Pinner, leaving 

 Harrow on the right, and making for Finchley, you 

 will find, if you go well up to the hounds, that you 

 have had nearly enough of it by that time. 



In olden days one of the best fixtures of the Royal 

 Buckhounds was Elmore's Farm, at Uxendon, within 

 five miles of Hyde Park corner, and about an equal 

 distance from Harrow spire. This, in the pre-railway 

 era, was the cream of the " country " hunted by the 



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