Foxes, Foxhounds and Fox-Hunting
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|Hp^L^ ^b^^f^T/ Jjll^l JOHNA.SEAVERNS TUFTS UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES 3 9090 014 533 372 Webster Famiiy Library of Veterinany Medicine Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine at Juris University 200 Westborc Road North Grafton, (VIA 01 536 FOXES FOXHOUNDS AND FOX-HUNTING Frontispiece. FOXES FOXHOUNDS AND FOX-HUNTING BY RICHARD CLAPHAM Author of " Fox-Hunting on the Lakeland Fells" "The Book of the Otter" "Bough Shooting" <fcc WITH AN INTRODUCTION BY THE RIGHT HON. LORD WILIvOUGHBY DE BROKE FORTY PLATES FROM PHOTOGRAPHS THIRTY-THREE TEXT FIGURES AND A FRONTISPIECE BY LIONEL EDWARDS HEATH CRANTON LIMITED 6 FI,EET I,ANE LONDON E.C. 4 CONTENTS Pagb Author's Foreword 9 Introduction II Chapter I. The Fox Family 13 II. The British Red Fox 17 III. Cubs 36 rV. The Cub as Hunter 45 V. The Hiinted Cub 51 VI. In the Shires 59 VII. The Hill Fox 72 VIII. Scent 82 IX. Pace 91 X. Earth Stopping, Artificial Earths and Digging Out 98 XI. The Modern Foxhound 115 XII. The Foxhound's Feet 130 XIII. Nose and Tongue 146 XIV. The Hound's Hind-Quarters 154 XV. Fell Hounds 160 XVI. Fell Hunting 180 XVII. Harriers for Fox-Hunting 204 XVIII. The Trail Hound 210 XIX. Kennel Terriers 2i6 XX. The Puppy at Walk 223 XXI. On Halloing 229 XXII. Wire 238 XXIII. Hunting Horns and Hunting Cries 243 XXIV. Old Times and Old Characters 251 XXV. A Famous Lakeland Foxhoimd Pack ... 261 XXVI. Fox-Himting in May 268 XXVTI. Hunting in the Snow 274 XXVIII. Marts and Mart Hunting 281 XXIX. Fox-Himting Abroad 295 XXX. Fox-Farming 305 Index 312 " . LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS Frontispiece The British Red Fox To face p. 18 Fox Cubs .. .. 38 "Hide and Seek" 46 Tired of Play 55 Meet of the Belvoir Hounds at Croxton Park 61 Opening Meet of the Quom Hounds at Kirby Gate 65 B. Wilson, Whipper-in to the Ullswater Hounds 75 9- Wild Hill-Fox running on a waU-top 80 10. The GelHgaer and Talybont Hounds on cold line 85 " II Ullswater Cruel" 94 12 Eskdale and Ennerdale Foxhounds ... 96 13- Drawing a Hill-Fox alive 100 14- Eelvoir Hounds in Kennel 116 ' ' " 15. Belvoir ' Witchcraft " and ' Wisdom 120 i6. The Cottesmore Hounds 124 17- A couple of Quom Bitches 132 i8. Lord Eglinton's Hounds 135 19. Coniston "Stormer" 143 ' " 20. Coniston ' Comrade 147 21. The GeUigaer and Talybont Hounds . 151 " ' 22. Coniston ' Chanter 155 ' 23- Eskdale and Ennerdale ' Kiskin " and " Jovial 163 24. Coniston Hounds in Kennel 166 25. Coniston "Countess" 177 26. A kill with the Ullswater Hounds in Grise dale 197 27. " Mountain" Champion Trail Hoimd with his owner 211 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS—cow^mwei. 28. The start of a Trail at Ambleside ... ...Tc 29. A I^akeland working Terrier 30. Working Terrier and tame Fox 31. Two couple of Milton Puppies 32. A Kill with the New Forest Foxhounds 33. Old Hunting Bugles 34. Two Old Cronies 35. Joe Bowman the Ullswater Huntsman 36. Ullswater Foxhotmds in Kennel 37. Ullswater "Cracker" 38. Taking off the Brush 39. Coniston Foxhounds 40. Himting in the Snow 41. Young Pine-Marten from the Lake District AUTHOR'S FOREWORD THERE are many men, and women too, who can say with ' Whyte Melville ' the best of our fun we owe it to horse and tc hound." For my own part I cheerfully plead guilty to a keen love of the chase, and have seized every opportimity to indulge in it both at home and abroad. It was that famous character John Jorrocks who said, ' ' 'Unting is all that's worth living for. All time is lost wot is not spent in 'imting. It's like the hair we breathe, if we 'ave it not we die." Alas, the day is gone when hunting was the first thought of " the governing classes," and English country life was in its most picturesque stage. We can look back with a certain amoimt of envy to the times when men like Mr. Sawyer in " Market Harborough " lived entirely for the chase, but modem political and economic upheavals altogether prevent such a pleasant existence being led to-day. Whether it be for better or worse we cannot tell, for hunting goes on despite the advent of the motor car, the rush of traflSc, and the glass-like surface of the roads. It takes a lot to prevent a keen hunting man from following his favourite pursuit, and so despite the wire, the petrol fumes, and all the rest of it, big fields stiU forgather at every meet of hounds. The sporting spirit is still alive, but the motor-cycle and the car vie with the horse and hound for the patronage of present- day youth. The primeval instinct for the chase is someu'here embedded in most Englishmen, and only requires fanning to enable it to bvust into flame. In some cases the spirit is w illin g, but outside influences unavoidably turn it into other channek, and so many a man with a love of sport has to content himself with reading about it, with little opportunity for actual practice. It has been my aim in putting together the following chapters to interest both the naturalist, sportsman, and general reader. My views regarding certain anatomical points of the modem fox hound may be antagonistic to the teaching of modem breeders, but I put them forward becaase it seems to me that certain points are being unduly intensified, which if carried further will assuredly lead to permanent evil results. The hunting countries of Great Britain differ very consider- ably in character, and the type of hoimd suited to one, may be entirely tmsuited to another. I have for instance seen south- country hounds absolutely lost when put to work on the Lake- land fdls, and numerous other examples could be given. AUTHOR'S FOREWORD Although a great many people hunt, comparatively few are familiar with the life of the fox, and so I have devoted the first half of this book to the habits and characteristics of this popular beast of chase. Two chapters, viz., "The Ullswater," and " Fox-htmting in May," have previously appeared in the Bad- minton Magazine, to the Editor of which I express my thanks for permission to re-publish them here. R. CI.APHAM. Troutbeck, Windermere. INTRODUCTION By LORD WlLIvOUGHBY DE BROKE lyiR. CLAPHAM is at once a naturalist and a Foxhunter. *• • He writes of sport with the keenness of a true devotee and of the habits of wild animals with the authority of an acute obser\'er. His book is craniiiied with information from cover to cover. He begins with a chapter on the history of the Fox family, and from that starting point he treats of almost every aspect of Foxhimting at home and abroad. The only omission that \ye can discover is the omission of any mention of horses. But he gives us much compensation by taking us into his con- fidence with regard to himting on foot, and shrewdly suggests that all boy and girl Foxhunters should at some time be made to run \^-ith the beagles, and be thoroughl}' distressed in the doing of it, in the hope that they may have some sympathy with their horses when they join in the mounted pursuit. It may be added that a salutary lesson in the art of making the most of a horse has been leamt by some of us who have been thoughtless enough to ride a blown horse at a fence with a stiff binder on the top of it. The thud of the horse's knee against the binder, the rapidity with which the earth seems to spring up and hit us in the face, and the sickening sensation of being " winded" are not soon forgotten. Of all Mr. Clapham's chapters perhaps the most entertaining is his essay on the British Red Fox. The life of the anim.al from the moment he is bom is traced by the hand of one who loves him and all his kind, and understands them. It is refreshing to read Mr. Clapham's disposal of the popular m>i:h, even now be- Heved by man}^ who have hunted for several years, that a white tag to the brush is the distinctive mark of the Dog Fox. It would be rather diverting to put the question " Can a \ixen have a white tag ? " to each member of the field at a large meet in the Midlands and see what answers one would get. Mr. Clapham says the average number of cubs to a fitter is four, but that nmch larger fitters are reported from time to tune. When I was a boy I was taken by my father to a marl-pit near Stratford- on-Avon. In the side of the pit was a large hole. A m^an put his head to the mouth of the hole, and whistled. Out came eleven cubs who all began to lap milk out of a trough, and then turned to fighting desperately with each other over a tempting plate of bones. Those who think that foxes cannot exist on INTRODUCTION anything except such delicacies as chicken and lainb should not miss what the auhor has to say about the varied diet of the Fox, which includes among other things, rats, moles, mice, frogs, fruit, insects, musseb, and dead fish. This varied regimen is dealt with in a chapter of remarkable insight in which every statement is either highly rational, or else capable of positive proof.