THE eve of the annual Zetland Hunt Ball on November 6 started with the meet held at Hilton Moor Farm, by kind permission of Mr and Mrs Elliott. Wonderful hospitality was dispensed to a reasonably-sized Saturday field.

Leo Anderson, a keen Zetland Hunt subscriber and my kind horse-loaner at a previous meet, read a declaration of intent, which was also read out by all hunts who met on the same day throughout the country, as follows: "I have never broken the law in my life. I am an (occupation), an ordinary, decent law-abiding member of this community.

"I will not resist arrest, nor attempt to evade punishment, I will accept the consequences of my actions.

"This is not about random lawlessness, it is the act of peacefulness. Orderly civil disobedience is the last resort of a law-abiding minority.

"It is important that laws are fair laws made in a fair way. Unfair laws made in an unfair way will never be respected.

"In the face of an illogical and prejudiced attack on my civil rights this is my way of safe-guarding the integrity of the law and marks the next stage of the campaign to ensure the eventual restoration of our liberties.

"I am not alone; 50,000 normally law-abiding people are committed to following me in disobeying any unjust ban on hunting.

"Senior police officers have already suggested that a ban on hunting would be unwelcome, and many magistrates have made it clear that they will resign if a ban becomes law.

"I hope that it does not come to this, and the Government has the responsibility to ensure that it does not.

"Across Britain today hundreds of law-abiding individuals are saying enough is enough, we will never accept this unjust law. Thank you".

There was a huge roar of applause as Leo completed her speech, which would be echoed nationally.

Hounds moved off, spending the majority of the morning hunting on the Raby Estate with plenty of foxes keeping everyone on the move.

The first fox headed out towards the main Staindrop road, but was quickly turned away back through the woods and into bales, where he took refuge for a while before heading off again to be killed a mile from the start of the hunt.

Thanks to the drivers on the main road, whose patience with the sudden in-flux of horses allowed the hunt to clear the road quickly without incident.

During that hunt a large number of horses tried to fight for a place through a gateway, with the unfortunate consequence of a lady being kicked by both barrels on her lower leg from the horse alongside.

This was an important reminder to leave space between horses, a difficult thing to do when at full cry as horses and riders are so excited.

Luckily for her she had leather boots on, which took a majority of the impact, although I am sure she is left with a huge bruise for the ball in the evening!

A decent afternoon's hunt was enjoyed from Black Bottoms via Langton and Gainford Wood and thence down to the River Tees.

Almost certainly the fox found refuge in the many holes along the river bank and survived for another day.

The wet conditions made the day a little difficult for the Field Master and the mounted field which followed him, but everyone enjoyed themselves.

Covered in mud and exhausted from the day, the riders all headed home to put their horses to bed for the night and hit tubs and showers.

Replacing mud with powder, britches for ball gowns and stocks for dickie bows, riders, hunt supporters, partners and friends headed out to Aske Hall for the annual big bash - The Hunt Ball.

The Zetland land was hunted by the Raby Hunt from Raby Park until 1876, when the Zetland Hunt was formed by the Marquess of Zetland.

He took on the Mastership at his own expense and kennelled the hounds at his home, Aske Hall.

No-one knows how long the traditional Hunt Ball has been running, but it has been held at Aske Hall for many years and, with kind permission from Lord and Lady Zetland, 2004 was not going to be any different.

Four hundred and fifty party-goers in fine attire were wined and dined inside the magnificent marquee until, at least for some, nearly dawn.

The tables all sported an excellent iron-effect fox which one would normally see on the top of a weather vane as the main decoration. They complemented the food very well - County Caterers from Leeds did a splendid job in the kitchens providing food for so many people.

Hot soup and plates of meat and vegetables followed by dessert and coffee covered the rims of the tables, while bottles filled the centres.

Wine seemed to be on tap, the perfect medicine after a hard day's hunting!

The organisers of the ball, hunt chairman William Snaith and Mhairi Mercer, who works directly for the Marquess of Zetland, held the bingo with a difference, chaired this time by Jamie Cameron as an extra fund-raiser for the hunt.

The marquee shook from the tent pegs and wine glasses jumped clean in the air when Jamie spoke to everyone, showing his defiance of the ban on hunting.

The roar of approval to his words was incredible and echoed long into the night.

The fantastic live entertainment came in the form of three ladies calling themselves Pleasure Zone.

And give pleasure they did, making the dance floor creek under the feet of by now slightly worse-for-wear revellers!

The dancing continued late, or rather into the early hours of the morning, with a few hardy party-goers being asked (or thrown) out at 4.30!

As for me, well I left at 2am, secretly wishing the taxi got a puncture on the way.

I was in no rush to leave, having caught up with some old faces from the past and having such a splendid time along with everyone else.

I left with one question that I never got to ask - after all the years this ball has been running, will it continue in 2005 if hunting doesn't, or will it be another 'casualty' of the hunt ban

Published: 26/11/2004