. Old sports and sportsmen : or, The Willey country. long the rocksof Benthall and Apley; and the otter, which stillhaunts portions of the Severn and its more secludedtributaries, and occasionally afibrds sport in some partsof the country higher up, was far from being rare. Onthe left bank of the Severn are the Brock-holes,or badger-holes, whilst near to it are the *Fox-holes, where tradition alleges foxes a generation ortwo ago to have been numerous enough to have beena nuisance ; and the same remark may apply to theFox-holes at Benthall. As the district became morecultivated and the country
. Old sports and sportsmen : or, The Willey country. long the rocksof Benthall and Apley; and the otter, which stillhaunts portions of the Severn and its more secludedtributaries, and occasionally afibrds sport in some partsof the country higher up, was far from being rare. Onthe left bank of the Severn are the Brock-holes,or badger-holes, whilst near to it are the *Fox-holes, where tradition alleges foxes a generation ortwo ago to have been numerous enough to have beena nuisance ; and the same remark may apply to theFox-holes at Benthall. As the district became morecultivated and the country more populated, the rangeof these animals became more and more circumscribed,and the cherished sports of our forefathers came toform the staple topics of neighbours oft-told tales. EOYAL CHASE OF SHIRLOT. 53 Within our own recollection the badger was to befound at Eenthall Edge; but be bad two enemies—tbe fox, wbo sometimes took possession of bis denand drove bim from tbe place, and tbe miners ofBroseley and Bentball, wbo were usually great doo--. fanciers, and wbo were accustomed to steal forth asthe moon rose above the horizon, and intercept himas he left bis long winding excavation among tberocks, in order to make sport for them at theirannual wakes.
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1870, booksubjecth, booksubjecthunting
