On Saturday, March 9th, 1805, the famous Berkeley Hunt began in Mad Bess Wood. The hunt finished well, for the fox, he escaped after what seems like an immense chase, but not so well for a "very favourite and valuable horse", which was killed.
The magazine article below which mentions this fox hunt in "Ryslip", I've been informed by one of, if not the leading historian of Ruislip, is a contender for the earliest appearance of the name Mad Bess Wood.
The Sporting Magazine Or Monthly Calendar of the Transactions of the Turf, the Chase, and
every other Diversion interesting to the Man of Pleasure, Enterprise and Spirit. March 1805.
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