Related article: hounds all by themselves running merrily on the line. Down the hill we Actonel 75 Mg Discontinued had to scramble, and four only got to hounds, with the master's wife, Mrs. Stacey, not far behind, when they killed a tioe old dog fox after an hour and half and something very like a twelve- mile point. The North Cotswold men were jubilant, they have had four good runs and killed a fox in each of the Croome, Hej-throp, Cotswold, and Warwickshire countries ; it is said they did not actually cross the border into the Warwickshire, but the fox was a Warwickshire fox and the dis- tance so small "as makes no matter," as they say in these parts. Ireland— The Kildare. — This pack are losing their huntsman, Frank Goodall, who retires at the close of the season. Irish weather has been much the same as ours, and frost and sleet, rain and sun have alternated, so that hunting has been somewhat un- certain and precarious, and io the Kildare we have often been for days together uncertain whether or no we can go out to hunt. My correspondent says that being still doubtful of the weather on February 4th he did not join hounds till late and was rewarded for his prudence or pusillanimity — whichever you like to call it — by sharing in twenty minutes of the best from Cooltime Covert to Knockinally, where the fox went to ground. The huntsman of the Templemore Staghounds having faced a fence that stopped the whole of the rest of the field, had a fine gallop ^vith these hounds all to himself. This fence and a wired enclosure prevented the field seeing much of the sport, but hounds ran beautifully for the greater part of an hour. Jim Brindley, of the Wards, has had a bad fall, so on January 30th the i«99J " OUR van/ 219 whipper-in carried the horn, and young Jim Brindley (aged 14) acted as whipper-in. Hounds soon struck on the line of an outlying hind they were looking for. Anxious to take her, hounds were clapped on to her back, but an hour and a half later the hind was grazing at her ease and a weary baffled pack were trotted back to kennels. The ground was deep, and horses could do no more. It will be seen that in Ireland, as in Eng- land, the stag-hunters have not had the worst of the deal this season. LordRothBchild's Staghoands. — ^January 19th found these hounds at Oving House, where Colonel Caulfied Pratt entertained a large field. The guarantee of that hos- pitality being summed up in the words of the late Hon. Robert Grimston : ** Oving House is the only decent public house between Bicester and Leighton Buzzard." The new member for the division, the Hon. Walter Rothschild, M.P., was in command of his father's pack, but the responsi- bilities of the preliminary arrange- ments fell on Mr. Gerald Pratt, who acted as pilot to a hard riding field throughout the brilli- ant gallop which followed. The horn was carried by W. Gaskin, the first whipper-in, while those who accepted Colonel Pratt's hospitality must have been struck by the manner in which their •host kept the memories of the past achievements of this beautiful pack vividly before them, by excellent portraits of their late huntsman, Fred Cox, being hung prominently to view, a pleasing tribute not only to the past history of the hunt, but to the respect and esteem with which that fine sportsman is held. The deer van had been taken to Suttermilk Hall and thus the gallop found origin at that point, hounds covering a good line of grass to Hurdlesgrove, thence over the Aylesbury road in the direction of Dunton, which was on the left as the hunt entered the valley under Hurtwell Hill. There was no question about the pace from that moment, and hounds literally raced on to the Cublington brook, which our leaders took in their stride, the two first over being Lady Lurgan and Mr. Gerald Pratt. Alter that came a scene of demoralis- ation, and in a few minutes the stream was full of men and horses. Bearing to the left under Cublington hill, the chase swept on by Kingsbridge to the Warren Farm, Stewkley, where their deer was re-captured and the day ended. January 23rd Whites- fields was the fixture. Mr. J. W. King the host of the hour, • and *'a good hunt over a bad country" the verdict pronounced by those who rode the run. Going away by Masons Gorse to Winchendon, hounds crossed the Thame Valley to Dinton, and having brought a deep and gap- less district between that point and Kimble under immediate notice, succeeded in shutting their stag up at Halton. Monday, January 30th, found them at Pitchcott. The Hon. Walter Rothschild, M.P., held the reins of office, and uncarted his stag on the hill overlooking the Aylesbury Vale. A preliminary ring was worked out round the base of this eminence, and thus many men reserved their horses until the hunt crossed the ridge between Oving and the fixture, and sinking into tl^e valley the fun began in earnest. Holborn Hill was on the left and Lionel Gorse . on the right as the hounds ran on to Hardwick, crossed the Ayles- bury road to The Lilleys, and leaving Weaden behind them, 220 BAILY S MAGAZINE. [Maech passed Dunsham Farm to Bier- ton. Cutting the village trans- versely, they drove forward to Broughton, crossed the London and North-Western Railway and the canal, in which one man and a horse took an impromptu bath, and a delectable line of country was traversed to Aston Clinton. Crossing the Tring and Ayles- bury road at that point, Halton was reached, and turning over a series of small enclosures at the back of Weston Turville, they ran their stag into some farm buildings in the village, where he was safely housed. Thursday, February 2nd. found the Vale in the grip of King Frost, so that Actonel 25 Mg the staghounds were confined to kennel, but on the 9th of the month they made ample amends for the stoppage by running com- pletely away from their followers, and setting their stag to bay before anyone got to them. By a curious