SOME ENGLISH COURSING CLUBS 211 



made for this functionary— a well-known follower of coursing, 

 and he, being run to ground in a beer-shop, at once confessed 

 that he had posted the reports in the hollow of a tree as he 

 left the marshes. There surely enough they were found ; the 

 general laugh that followed— in which no one joined more 

 heartily than the unabashed offender — was small consolation to 

 the discomforted writers, who had to witness their handiwork 

 drawn out of a puddle of water, which had entirely obliterated 

 the account of the day's doings. 



LICHFIELD COURSING CLUB 



Since the passing of the Ground Game Act, many coursing 

 meetings have altogether died out in the Midlands, and now Lich- 

 field and Wappenbury, the latter an open meeting, have to do 

 duty for a large tract of country, wherein there are still, luckily, 

 plenty of greyhounds kept. The Shropshire and Worcestershire 

 one-day country fixtures are still in existence, but in Derbyshire 

 and Notts public coursing has almost entirely disappeared, so 

 that the dwellers in those counties have no really good meeting 

 nearer than Lichfield, where, however, there are always two, and 

 sometimes three, lengthy programmes during the winter months. 



The club at Lichfield is well established and of good posi- 

 tion, but of itself is not strong enough to attract outside attention, 

 and therefore its meetings are worked off with valuable open 

 stakes, the latter being really the most important events on the 

 card. All the land coursed over now is the property of the 

 IMarquis of Anglesey, but at one time other estates were re- 

 quisitioned besides Beaudesert, and King's Bromley in par- 

 ticular used to afford good sport. 



The first meeting is usually held in the early days of 

 October, the second about eight weeks later, and the third 

 six or eight weeks beyond that date, the running generally 

 extending into a third day. The programme mostly consists 

 of two thirty-twos, one for puppies and one for all ages, the 

 Anglesey Cup (club) for all ages at 5/. \os., and at least three 



