Before proceeding further, perhaps I should mention that this is not my own description of"an historic meet and an unprecedented and hitherto unequalled fox-chase, but the story as I heard it from eye-witnesses on many a winter's night by the firesides of my native district. It is a story that was invariably rehearsed on the eve of a meet of the United Hunt Club Fox-hounds at Aghern.
The passing of one of those nartators a few weeks ago, in the person of the late Mr. James Condon, Bally-mac simon, Ballynoe, prompted the penning of this article. Mr. Condon, when describing the events of what he used to refer to as the greatest day in the history of southern fox-hunting, always laid special emphasis on two incidents connected with it, viz, the playing of "The Fox Chas by a celebrated local Uillean piper, when both packs intermingled at the meeting place, and a local sportsman's vivid description of the great fox as he broke cover to initiate one of the greatest tests of endurance on the part of hounds, horses, and riders rarely, if ever, recorded in the annals of fox-hunting. the most sporting little animals ever roused from a lair of tangled briar and bracken, When Reynard broke cover he stiffened his neck and flung himself over the fields with the speed of a greyhound. His fur was soft and glossy and he was as clean and graceful as if he had spent days on his toilet, His ears were erect, his yellow eyes wide open with a hunted look in them of the wild animal that was being chased for his life. Nevertheless, he appeared to be an experienced sports-giver who moved with his head as well as his feet; a cool persevering fox that appeared to smile as he went off into the glory of a beautiful hunting day and quickly put fields between himself and his pursuers.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.