214 COURSING 



and integrity in running were, of course, rigidly insisted 

 upon, social status was not an important factor when the ballot 

 was in requisition ; thus we find at the present moment a 

 membership of 215, ranging from all the most prominent 

 northern coursers to small village tradesmen and even sporting 

 colliers. This liberality with regard to election has really 

 been of enormous benefit, for it has made the club 

 exceedingly popular with all classes of northern coursing- 

 men, and now its hold upon the affections of the districts 

 where it flourishes is so strong that nothing is ever likely 

 to interfere with its well-being. The present patrons are the 

 Duke of Portland, the Marquis of Londonderry, the Marquis 

 of Ripon, the Earl of Ravensworth, Sir William Eden, Sir 

 John Lawson, Hon. W. C. Ellis, Admiral Carpenter, Mr. 

 W. D. Russell, and. Mr. V. W. Corbett, all of whom grant 

 leave for meetings. There are in addition several shooting 

 lessees, who occasionally allow small meetings to be held 

 on their ground, and between Eslington in Northumberland, 

 the most northerly fixture of the club, and Rainton, near 

 Boroughbridge, the most southerly gathering, there are at least 

 a dozen estates where the North of England is received. The 

 two places just named are more than one hundred miles apart, 

 and this fact alone will convey to the uninitiated some idea of 

 the magnitude of the club's operations. Of late years quite the 

 most important fixture has been the three days' meeting held over 

 the Marquis of Ripon's estate at Rainton, which usually takes 

 place in the week following Waterloo, and always brings out 

 a fair class of greyhound, with, generally, several of the pre- 

 vious week's Waterlooers in the principal stake. The Rainton 

 meeting has been in existence some sixteen or seventeen years, 

 and from a very humble beginning it has risen to exceedingly 

 large dimensions, the programme now consisting of a sixty- 

 four, a thirty-two, three sixteens, and some minor stakes. The 

 ground lies on the east side of the town of Ripon, and consists 

 for the most part of large enclosures, of an average of from 

 thirty to forty acres, which are divided by small fences, 



