The Dorset County Express and Agricultural Gazette.
Dorchester, Dorset, England, 1876-04-04 00:00:00

hr •ix

SONEIIVET:IIIRE OPEN I %IP leAp STEEN,gni ASH of 74,0%
wide I to a eweetwt:ike4 .1 10 wick lft. (to (un.l.).
A winner of fin ll.; 100 40V# 10Ih. extr.t. Thu
Fern, .41 1,,,p4r in o. liu AI it three toile..
Mr, F. W. them'. Stantwt Lynham 1
Mr A. Y3te. IYrt• ~,,,,, 1..... ......... ....,.. .......... 2
Mr. J. r. rohJell'A Rol.ortewli . Daniel 3
W..t. Is t

--
A RUN WITH Witt/ R.IDNOR'S BOUNDS.
Plearant ore the wide I birsetshire down, on a (lir spring
morning, whet, the swallow, are skiouning along the
ttttt oth of the short theme turf, and racing the
sh adows cf the light elnedr ar they pas, over the sonny
alone., and a soft wind blow, in ydur face as yen indef.:o
a our horse 111 3 good gallop acros4 the long rtretela of grass
land that nature designed for a raryeiturre. But there
are days when Itureis leaver his bolding, in the Hyper-
&were, ttttt and reran", with angry I, •el 4 over our
11114 et western downs, brial4ing in hi, make all the northent
horror,, of PIIIOW WWI storm and hail, that according to
Vireil formed the Ely•iiim of the stranely constit.ited
nation ill' VI WI the sun was said to tire
ccii ..et bet "nee a rear. If teeth were the conditions ij
their ii•lieity, we do net envy them the lona leaae of a
thooratt I years of life to which tradition affirm.; they
attained, and are content with our r ttttt paratlvely few
'lee' nle, in a climate where the sun plays no trieks main
11, Of partial eatr.angiiient, bait nersues Ids daily comae
with the regid left y betitt ing the reslicetialde luinial.ary that
he it Not even a steel lel the fleet-footed mares of I)anlartina
whose hoofs scarcely touched the foam of the sea as thee
cr. soled i Leonid softent n .tlie bittern...A of a constant north
easterly wind. Far ulcer., enjoyable are the "southerly
wind and idouily sky that " proclaims a hunting morn-
ing." and the geed I ter that ha, carried It. to the fore
in tnany a rattling run—although maybe the turn of Kneed
cannot always be hi 4 right inalienalife. The llorsetshire
down, were certainly net hearing their softest and sunniest
&react on Tuesday, the lab, when Lord Rarinor's hounds
met at Vernditch, a small covert lying in the midst of
the uplands. Our ancestors, well acquainted with the
vat7ine modes of this raprir.loua month, rightly chnstened
it' March-many-we 'there, and although it is reported
that here and there presumptuous primroses are struggling
unwisely into bloom, yet on this morning there was
certainly no premonition of that reason which,
Rare sweet than softest touch of Doric reed
Or Lydian flute, sail soothe the maddening winds,
Awl thnaugh the stormy deep
Breathe herown tender calm
Masculine Dianna, with her borrowed hatallion of kindred
natured Oceatiiiles, would have scarcely relirhed the
cutting blast, of wind that minesweeping over the downs.
Vernalitch is a popular ifleet, as a fox ir sure to be found
in the covert; and from the unfortunate fact that the
ground lying about it is all open, it result* that everyone
has the chanceof ago, rddart. Adjoining thecovert is • strong
go rse,and it often happ4nr that pug seleeta th ras hi a hold ing
in preference to the little wood clout at hand. We hail a
Food field and Lord Radnor came up presently. There
were some hashes out, notwithstanding the severe wind,
sod, al usual as strong contignient of farmers. Vernditch
generally draws a good Held, for • run is a pretty ,ure
prospect. The only comfortable reflection to be arrived
at in the face of the high wind blowing from the south-
west was, that a fox might thereby be prevented running
into that intersninaltle woodland, Cranborne Chare, which
offers stiff trials of patiene to both hounds and horsemen.
In Veruditch Covert we found no fox, but in the gorse he
WAS at home. After very little persuasion, a fine one
broke away:he did notface the wind for the'chase.butset his
head for Martin Wood, over the clown, crossing the
Salisbury-road, and running south east under the wind.
We got away on capital terms with the fox, and there Wad
evidently • rare holding scent. We were behind one of
the right sort, and we felt that he was going to give
us a breather. Contrary to our expectations, when he
was half way over the downs, reynard bore away o his
right, and, turning away off the open into souse large
inclosures, he left Woodyates Inn on his right and faced
the wind right gallantly. On he went, in the very teeth
of • gale that sounded like the howling of &thousand
wolves; it was a severe trial for both men and horses,
vitae at best pace and breasting • wind that came In
great gusts over the wide country. The pack paced over the
Enclosures without a check or halt of any kind • they are
line, stout hounds, not to be deterred by wilder storm
of any other impediment, but keeping closely and
staunchly to the line—good working hounds, that do
justice to their training, and deserve the good fox that
Is going Do gallantly before them. Presently they come
on to All Saints' Down, and, as if incited to fresh seal
by the canonical associations of the locality, they went at
a pace over the areas, down the steep pitch tato the
bottom, and up the opposite hill, that must have indoced
the heavy weights to imagine something more than
m aerial power and vulpine influence sent the speed that
made the pack look like a flight of birds ahead. The
horses of low lineage had a bed time of it; nothing but
breed and bone and condition could live well with the
hounds and the field was therefore thinned to • few, and
many were scattered, before the steeplechase had cos ered
three miles. It is a thankless office to push a blown
horse down • steep hill, the inevitable result being that
be shuts up entirely at the next rise • and to it came
about that those unwise ones who had tried this futile
proceeding were dirt:ineed when the hounds had crossed
the bottom, and were riring the opposite slope in that
stealing manner which lills the beaten ones with deep
despair as they are forced t 3 acknowledge the heart-
breaking fact that all good things are over for thetn if the
fox makes no turn and a check is unlikely. We are still
racing in the teeth of the bitter wind, and all praise to
the gallant nag. that storm could not bet nor
gusts conquer. It was no small relief to us
when our line crossed the Cranbornerroad and
we came to the welcotne Icrlter. Lord Shaftes-
bury's plantation : for, pleasant ar the down country is on
a day when soft air only fans your face, it is • severe
journey to truce., it with a wind blowing all sensation from
the mile uneavered portions of your frame—when your
nose peeler no longer to he 11 component portion of your
face, and you appear to ltdve ler, all rens° of proprietor-
ship in your ears : then it is that the weitelknils are a
welcome sight to those who are well up in the run. The
fox hail hail enough of the open which lie had faced so
unflinchingly, so he turned into the plantation. It was
evident
and the query was, whether lie could hold out sufficiently
to enable him to reach the refuge of the thick gorse, and
gain breathing time there before he turned his head for
Criehel. Ile Was a stout for, &nil on another kind of day
he might have succeeded in 1113 gallant endeavour. The
hottnila had forced It i ttt over the open in the face of • wind
that would have taken the breeth out of an antelope :
poor pug had done lais bent, le,it hic hour war at hand,
and he war run into after a race of nearly six tulles in
25 minutes.—Pield.