Aston village, where he turned to the left for Upton Cressett and to Copthorn, straight to the Down Gorse coverts, which he skirted and went to ground in view near the Down House; pace first-rate. Found again, had another forty minutes, and lost from want of scent.

On the following Monday, being the first day of the Shrewsbury Hunt Meeting, they met at High Ercall; a splendid country to ride over. They found in Cotterell's Gorse; but, being headed, it was some twenty minutes before he could be induced to break covert. A good pace for fifty minutes reduced the fox to his last shifts, when the impatience of the field drove the hounds off their line, and he was lost near to Witheford. The second fox was found in Witheford Wood. After rattling him in covert some ten minutes he broke away, took a line over a beautiful country, and in one hour, without a check, the hounds had their teeth in him: the field large, but reduced to a select few at the finish. At one time there were only three with the hounds-Mr. Webster, Mr. Eyton, and Mr. Baker.

On the following day the fixture was at Acton Burnell, the seat of the well-known sportsman, Sir Edward Smythe; where foxes, good cheer, ale, and hospitality invariably abound. As a matter of course they soon found in the Park; but the fox went to ground in a rabbit-spout, where he was left to his meditations. Found again at Frodesley Hill, had a pretty burst of twenty minutes' duration, and again to ground at Acton Burnell.

On the Friday in the same week they met at Atcham Bridge, where they found in one of the coverts; but the field having disposed themselves in all directions, got over the line of scent, and consequently the fox was very soon lost. Another from Longnor afforded a very fast burst of twenty-five minutes, passing Atcham, nearly to the Railway Station at Upton, where he must have gone to ground, as they could not hit him from the spot where they ran breast high to. They then proceeded to Sundorne, the seat of Mr. Corbet, one of the best preservers of foxes in England. There they were not long in finding; ran a wide ring to ground. Very fast for fifty minutes; and however well the hounds deserved him, digging, under any circumstances, is strictly forbidden by the Squire of Sundorne.

Thus ended the sport with these hounds during the hunt week, since which they have had two capital days; the last of which, for severity, is scarcely equalled in the annals of the chase.

On the 20th of November they met at Faintree. Not finding there, they drew one of Mr. Baker's gorse coverts; but he went to ground almost immediately. Found again at the Lodge Coppice; had a burst of thirty-five minutes, and tasted him without the slightest check. Found another at Meadowly; and after running him thirty minutes he went to ground.

The grand event, however, is now to be recorded. They met at the fifth milestone on the Baschurch Boad. The hounds were scarcely in the covert, at Merrington, which belongs to Mr. Slaney, one of the members for Shrewsbury, a most zealous sportsman, when the fox was viewed away by Pearce, the head whip: after taking a ring round the covert he pointed his head for Leaton Shelf, best pace; without a moment's hesitation he ran through the covert as straight as possible to Preston Gobalds, and away to Pinchill, Harmer Hill, and Middle Park,

nearly to Baschurch; still bearing to the left, he regained the covert in which he was found at Merrington; through it again to Leaton Shelf; he then crossed the river Severn, which, although bank full, Mr. Webster, of Preen, plunged into, leaving the whole field behind him; this was, however, an unprofitable daring, for, having tried a refuge in Bickley Coppice, the fox recrossed the Severn, near Montford Bridge, which afforded Mr. Webster another opportunity for exercising his amphibious qualities; from this point to Forton and nearly to Nesscliffe ; here he turned to the right by Fitz, with the pack close at his brush ; through the gardens at Grafton, when he once more tried the earths at Leaton Shelf, and after a terrific run of nearly four hours' duration, he was run into near Leaton Knoll, the residence of J. A. Lloyd, Esq., a small portion only of the field being up to witness the termination; but of the select few were Mr. Baker, the present, and Mr. Eyton, the late, master of these hounds, Mr. Webster, and Mr. Harnage. Although not up at the finish, Mr. Lloyd, of Aston, went remarkably well; but all the horses were completely beaten, and had it not been for some friendly road which occasionally intervened, it appears impossible that any could have gone half-way.

To determine the exact distance gone over, where so many turns were made, would be quite impossible; but the computation generally acknowledged describes it as upwards of thirty miles.

The county of Salop unquestionably ranks amongst the most celebrated in England as the birthplace of first-rate sportsmen independent of those already mentioned, poor Mytton must be added to the list; excentric as he was in many things, still he was a sportsman in every acceptation of the term.

The list of distinguished sportsmen, natives of Shropshire, might be extended to a very considerable length, especially if first-rate riders over a country are included; among the foremost must be enumerated the late and present Lords Forrester. Mr. Lloyd, of Aston, is said to be quite as good as his father was in his best day; and Mr. Lyster, of Rowton, is equally celebrated. At the advanced age of eighty-one years, Colonel Gatacre has recently been taken from his family and friends; nor are they alone the only persons left to regret his loss. A more estimable or more worthy example of the English country gentlemen cannot be found in any county, and truly proud may the Salopians be that he was one of them. In my juvenile days I was for many years a near neighbour to him, and have good cause to acknowledge many acts of kindness which I then received from him; for it was his nature to be kind to all around him. Nothing appeared to occasion him greater annoyance than hearing of malice and evil propensities in individuals, let their station in life be what it might; and he would rather that their bad deeds should be corrected by mildness and example than by rigonr: to return good for evil was his true Christian maxim. As Colonel Gatacre has left a son and grandson to inherit his estates and good qualities, there is every reason to feel assured that, although the course of nature, which must be obeyed, has taken him from this transitory world, they will compensate for the loss of so good a man. Although a heavy weight, Colonel Gatacre was a fine horseman, in his day rode well to hounds, and was a good shot, of which amusement he was particularly fond. Shropshire has also supplied their very experienced

huntsmen-Carter, who has been in Mr. T. A. Smith's service since the Duke of Grafton gave up his hounds; Joseph Maiden, so well known for many years with the Cheshire, and now with the North Staffordshire; and likewise George Mountford. We are accustomed to award less merit to the hunting capacities of men in the early ages than may perhaps be justly due to them, one principal cause for which must be ascribed to the general deficiency of literary information. Before the art of printing was discovered, any books treating on the subject of woodcraft are doubtless very rare. In the old work which I quoted in my last I find many practices were known and adopted which have undergone no change. The animals which they chased for amusement were confined to the stag and the hare; we have added the fox, which, with wolves, boars, badgers, and all carnivorous or offensive creatures, were pursued by the ancient inhabitants of Great Britain for the purpose of destruction or annihilation. So far as wolves and boars are concerned, the end has been accomplished. From the following passage it will be found that the hare was considered the most important object of the chase a distinction generally supposed to have been awarded to the stag:

"I speke how ye hare schall be hunted, it is to wete y' ye hare is kynge of all venery, ffor all blowynge and ye fair termes of huntynge come of ye sechynge and ye fyndynge of hir ffor certeyn it is a m'velous (cunning?) beste."

That the hounds in those as in these days were sometimes given to riot, is apparent. After having found a hare in a wood or coppice, the following directions are given :

"And then schulde ye horsmen holde hem well oute a syde and somedele to fore w' longe roddes in her hondis to mete wt hir and blowe a moote, and rechace and halow and set ye houndis i the rightes if yai see hir. Also for to kepe y' no hounde falow to schepe ney' to oy' bestis and if yey doo to ascrye hem sore and light and take hem uppe and lassche hem well seyenge ware ware ha ha ware ware, and lassche hem forthe to her felowis.'

Their manner of blooding or rewarding the hounds was performed with much ceremony after the following fashion :-"Not w' slondynge hir rysynge squattynge and reietynge so yat by strengthe at last sche be abitte w ye houndis. Who-so is next schulde sterte to gete her hole fro ye houndis and holde hir fro ye houndis ou' his hede highe and blou ye dethe yedir. And whan yay be come yan schulde sche be stripid all saue ye hede and ye gall and ye panche cast away. And all he remendunt schulde be leide on a grete staffe or on a borde who so hathe it on ye erthe. And yan ht schulde be chopped as small at ht myght be so yth honge to gedir. And whan it is so dight yan schulde one of ye Berners take h' up and holde h' as highe as he may i his hondis. And yan who so is moste maister blow ye dethe. And anone as ye begynnyth eny man helpe forthe, and blou i ye best wise he can. And whan ye houndis have abayed as longe as ye forseide maister at there is luste yen schulde the Berner as highe as he may pull eny pece from oy', and caste to eny hounde his rewarde; and then schulde ye most maister blou a note and strake if so be yat him y ynkith yat ye houndis haue done ynough and ellis he schulde reste awhile if ye houndis wer hote till yai were a kelid and yen ledde to ye water to lappe."

F

Here we may recognise some of the customs very similar to those observed in the present day, in "the breaking up" of the fox, except that as the whole field do not carry horns, "the musical honours" are dispensed with. Only imagine the effect of two hundred horns all blown at once in the middle of a large Leicestershire or Northamptonshire pasture. Neither is Charley chopped to pieces, the hounds being permitted more naturally to carve for themselves after their own fancies. The directions for taking them to water after the ceremony of breaking up or rewarding has been performed, when they are sufficiently cool, points out the fact that injury would have been apprehended by giving it to them when overheated by their exertions in chase. I have seen masters of hounds take them to water before they broke up their fox, but I must confess I never could reconcile myself to the propriety of so doing.

THE RACING KNELL OF 'FORTY-NINE, WITH A TELESCOPIC PEEP AT THE CANDIDATES FOR 1850.

BY GOLDFINCH.

"The trim-booted jockey no more mounts his steed
To traverse his course with endurance and speed;
No more their gay jackets are seen on the flat,
With the finishing rush of FRANK BUTLER or NAT.
No more HIBBURD's flag drop't denotes the start law;
The Hay and Corn Meeting' is now 'in the straw.'
The scales and the weights are no more in request;
The chair of the judge e'en is wheeled to its nest.
The shouts of the victors no longer are heard;
The course is deserted by all but the Bird."

The knell of 'forty-nine has boomed forth the requiem of our greensward pastimes, and until the "joy bells" of returning spring are heard recalling to life the dormant energies of the turf, all that is left us is to gossip o'er the past, endeavour to gather instruction from its experience, hoping" on and ever" for the bright future.

The past racing season has been more fruitful in its results, and produced a greater amount of sport of one sort and another, than any of its predecessors on record. Book horses, money favourites, "rig races and "ropings" have multiplied to no trifling extent; turf malpractices of various kinds have been on the increase; for as a facetious friend of mine terms it," how to best them" has been the chief study of the many and the great gain of the few, who consider "there is no trust, no faith, no honesty in men; all perjured, all forsworn, all nought, all dissemblers;" and accordingly make the most of such opportunities as the fickle goddess sends them, or their own wits can devise.

This may well be termed "the betting age," for speculation of this kind has steadily increased; the suppression of "sweeps" and

"little goes" serving only to divert the gambling mania into another channel; hence the leviathan multiplication of betting lists and list bettors, which now far outnumber the ring bettors, and possess another immense advantage over them, viz., the fingering of the cash beforehand. The daintily-baited hooks of "the angling sharps" have been swallowed with avidity by the "flat-fish," and from the commencement of the racing season at Liverpool last March, to its close at the Yorkshire Union Hunt in November, but one desire has been manifested by the racing community, viz., that of "outdoing all former doings "-in this respect at least, if in no other, exhibiting the greatest perseve

rance.

The seven stipulated gatherings at the racing metropolis-Newmarket -inclusive of stakes, plates, and matches, produced a total of two hundred and sixteen races! with fourteen "walks over " and only three dead heats. At the first of their autumnal ré-unions no less than eight first favourites were "bowled over" in one day, to the great delectation and profit of the "gemmen fielders" alias round bettors, who had reason to sing Jubilate! The money run for, inclusive of match forfeits, at these seven meetings amounted to the enormous sum total of fifty-four thousand five hundred and sixty-four pounds ten shillings! no small lump of capital to be offered for competition at one emporium of racing alone.

The two great events of the year with the sporting world, namely, the Derby and St. Leger, produced less speculation, and caused a smaller amount of money to change hands in the ring, than on any similar occasion for many years. This was chiefly attributable to the exceedingly small price taken throughout the entire season about the Flying Dutchman, the first favourite for and winner of both, and the firmness and steadiness he displayed in the market, the result of unbounded public confidence in his noble owner, whose well-known straightforwardness, combined with a conviction of the speed and powers of endurance of the horse, produced the effect of bringing within the narrowest compass the investments on other animals. If the excellent example of the Earl of Eglinton was but more generally followed, the result would go nigh towards bringing back the palmy days of your Fitzwilliams, Scarboroughs, Leeds, Pierses, Watts, and Garforths; but there will be no symptoms of a healthy pulse in the turf constitution until the malpractices which have disgraced it are abolished; "reform them altogether.'

The

The betting-ring, too, still requires the energetic mind and purifying hand of another Lord George Bentinck to cleanse it from the leprosy which has done so much towards destroying, and which will, unless checked in time, effect that unwished-for result; but little good can be accomplished in the shape of turf reforms, whilst the infection of turf adventurers is permitted; men who stick at nothing that ingenuity can devise or scheming accomplish to "put money in their purses. removal of Mildew to Newmarket, par exemple, although seeming in itself a trifling occurrence, has given a severe blow to one clique of turf tricksters; without for a moment impugning the honesty, skill, and invariable integrity of his former trainer John Gill, those who had the power, and have used it, of changing Mildew's training quarters will know very well to whom these observations are intended to allude.