Town End
to the Rubbing House at the starting post of the Beacon Course. The hounds were laid on the scent, and accomplished the distance in a few seconds more than eight minutes. Mr. Barry's Bluecap came in first, his Wanton (very close to Bluecap) second. Mr. Meynell's Richmond was beaten by 100 yards, and his bitch, the second string, never came in at all. The betting was seven to four on Mr. Meynell's hounds. Threescore horses started with the hounds, but of these twelve only were up at the finish, and the mare which carried Cooper, Mr. Barry's huntsman, who was first up, became quite blind. Merlin, a bitch bred by Col. Thornhill, was very speedy, and it is recorded of her that she ran a trial of four miles in seven minutes and half a second. This bitch, we read, was eventually sold for four hogsheads of claret, and the seller to have two couples of her whelps.
The horses appear to have cut a poor figure in the trial over the Beacon Course, and this probably led to the frequent discussions which took place with regard to the relative speed of hounds and horses.
About 1860, if the writer's memory is correct, a match was made between the Duke of Beaufort and Lord Glasgow, in which the former undertook to run his hounds against horses named by the latter over the Beacon Course at Newmarket.
The match gave rise to a good deal of speculation at the time, and each side had its champions, but for some reason or other it was abandoned. The general opinion at the time was in favour of the horses, and considerable odds were betted that they would prove victorious.
Great Runs. We are all familiar with historical runs such as the Waterloo and Great Wood days, which will always be quoted as runs of exceptional merit; still, there have been other remarkable perform ances, which may not have attained the same notoriety, partly because these may not have been recorded at the time, and partly because they may have happened in comparatively unfashionable countries. The writer often looks back to a run when he hunted the North Cotswold country, which he thinks will always be acknowledged as a day to be remembered. It was on the last day of the year 1868, and the hounds met at the Lygon Arms, Broadway, where an unusually large field assembled at a hunt breakfast. The morning commenced inauspiciously, for several favourite covers were drawn blank, and it was past two o'clock when the first fox was found in Leazow brakes. Hounds got away on his back, and for twenty-five minutes were scarcely ever out of the same field with their fox, running into him in the open within a hundred yards of Buckland Wood.
When he had been broken up, hounds proceeded to draw this cover, and struck a line at once. They carried the line slowly through the large wood and out at the bottom of the cover, but the second whip, who had been there ten minutes at least, was not in time to view the fox, so it was never known what start he really got.
Hounds soon began to settle to their work, but it was not until they got to the summit of Middle Hill that they began to rui. hard.
Then they carried a great head until they killed in the open close to the town of Stowin-the-Wold. The distance was thirteen miles from point to point, fifteen as hounds ran. There was no check, and the time was I hr. and 22 min. -a day never to be forgotten.
Hound Shows. - Hound shows, which were held at Yarm, York, Cheltenham, and other places, have finally found a resting place at Peterborough, where they are annually held in the month of July.
The advantages of comparison are generally acknowledged, and without doubt these shows have done much to improve the breed and awake fresh interest in the noble science. No one would think of sending a crooked hound for exhibition; and masters and huntsmen from north and south and friends of the chase make a point of being present; for the meeting at Peterborough is a sort of hunting parliament where changes are discussed and views ascertained and given on intricate cases, where any difference of opinion exists.
Mr. Vyner, writing in 1841 in Notitia Venatica, foreshadowed the good work of hound shows, and remarked that nothing would be more likely to improve the breed of foxhounds. He pointed out that the awarding of prizes to the best breeders and feeders of cattle has been attended with the most beneficial results, and he could see no reason why improvement in the breed of the foxhound should not be promoted by the same means; and he further observed that, a few years before, three celebrated masters of hounds-Mr. Hodgson, Mr.
Wickstead, and Mr. Foljambe-made a practice of showing a few couples of their new entry for a prize, which was most appropriate-namely, a piece of scarlet cloth to be made up into hunting-coats.
COVENTRY.
FOXHUNTING ON FOOT.-Harehunting on foot, with packs of harriers or beagles, is familiar to most people who take an interest in sport. Hunting the fox on foot is, however, much less well known, the reason being that this form of chase takes place for the most part in wild and odtons ai pality. John Peel, the hero of the immortal song, was, it is true, not entirely a foothunter. He rode when he could, but as often as not his fox carried him into regions where no horse could follow, and he had to pursue his quarry afoot. Many another tough Lakeland huntsman, whose name and memory have not had the good fortune to be perpetuated in lyrics by some enthusiastic admirer, has shown just as good sport on foot alone, and has delighted the hearts of [Photo. by C, Woodley.
IN FULL CRY ALONG A FELL BREAST. remote parts of the country, where fields are small and only the inhabitants of the surrounding district take a hand. Yet, at the present time, there are at least a dozen packs of hounds which are hunted on foot and pursue the fox in the mountainous parts of England and Wales; not only do these packs show excellent sport, but they render essential service to the neighbouring sheepfarmers, and are therefore particularly encouraged by all classes in the districts in which they carry on their operations. To the country people inhabiting the wild hill country of Lakeland and of Wales, the chase of the fox with hound and horn naturally appeals. It is a pleasant thing to hear the deep notes of hounds ringing and echoing about the rocks and scaurs of these high regions, and for generations foxhunting on foot has been regularly pursued in Cumberland, Westmorland, and the Princijust as many followers as did old John Peel himself.
The packs of hounds hunting the hill country in the Lake district and in Wales are naturally much more modest in their proportions and turn-out than are the richer and more luxurious establishments in other parts of Britain. Subscriptions are small, fields are scanty, and sport is carried on in very plain yet exceedingly workmanlike fashion. For the most part, ten or twelve couples of hounds are maintained. These are usually of an old-fashioned type, having fine deep voices, which are requisite when hunting such a wild and severe country on foot. They are extraordinarily staunch, have grand scenting powers, and get over the tremendous country in which they work in marvellous fashion. The foxes of all this fell region are wild, hardy, greyhoundlike customers, which yield tremendous C2 runs, and demand very high qualities from the hounds that have to pursue them. Yet in the season of 1903-4 the Blencathra, one of the old-established Cumberland packs, [Photo. by C. Woodley.
BOLTING A FOX WITH TERRIERS. THE FOX HAS GONE TO GROUND IN THE SCREES. brought to hand no less than eighty-four foxes during the season. The Blencathra are an old-established pack, which were for many years in the Crozier family.
Mr. John Crozier mastered them from 1839 till his death in 1903, and his father had them before that date. The country is wild and mountainous, and for the most part has to be hunted on foot. The best centres are Keswick and Penrith, whence meets of the Cumberland and Ullswater packs can also be reached. The Coniston, another Lakeland pack, which number twelve couples, are kennelled at Greenbank, Ambleside, near Windermere. They hunt a most beautiful fell and moorland country, taking the field three days a week. For many years they were mastered by the Rev. E. M. Reynolds, who died in 1908. This hunt, which has always shown good sport, dates from 1825, when it was founded as a trencher-fed pack to hunt fox, hare, and marten. Martens are still occasionally found, hunted, and even killed by hounds in the Lake country.
The Eskdale and Ennerdale is another ancient fell pack, which has been hunted in the neighbourhood of Whitehaven, Barrow, and Coniston for many generations.
Mr. Thomas Dobson, of Eskdale, who died in 1910, himself owned the hounds for less than forty-three years. The country hunted lies in Cumberland, Westmorland, and Lancashire; it is nearly all wild mountain land, and the best centres for reaching the pack are Eskdale, Wastdale, and Langdale. The pack are hunted entirely on foot. no The Mellbrake is another foot-hunting Cumberland pack, having an ancient history of its own, and pursuing fox in the country between the Derwent and Ennerdale, and from Bassenthwaite Lake to Branthwaite. The pack number twelve couples, with kennels at High Park, Lowswater, and hunt two days a week.
The country hunted over is chiefly rough mountain land, but here and there sport lies in lower ground, amid pasture, plough, and woodland. The best centres to hunt from are Scale Hill, Cockermouth, and Lowswater. Lambeth Public Libraries The Ullswater are a very workmanlike foot-pack of thirteen couples, which are kennelled at Patterdale, and show excellent sport two days a week over a wide extent of mountain country in Cumberland and Westmorland, in the neighbourhood of Penrith, Appleby, and Troutbeck. The best centres for these hounds are Penrith and Kendal, but Patterdale is also a good place to stop at. The Bewcastle and the West Cumberland foxhounds, although classed among the mounted packs of England, are in their hill country much more readily to be followed on foot than on horseback; in fact, the Cumberland and Westmorland hills are not often negotiable by mounted folk.
Going further south as far as Wales, we come to the Gelligaer, a small pack of 12/2 couples, which hunt fox in the hill country of Glamorganshire and Brecon, and are hunted to Welsh cries. Nominally, a man can get about the country on a Welsh cob or hill pony, but here, as in the Lake country, the sportsman on foot sees as much fun as his mounted brethren. The Llangammarch pack, which hunt in Brecon, Carmarthen, and Radnorshire, are again nominally ridden to with cobs; but with them, as with other Welsh hill packs, the man on foot sees most of the sport. The Llangeinor, a trencher-fed pack of sixteen couples, may be placed in the same category. These hounds, which are also hunted to Welsh cries, are accessible from