Part 23

The past month will be remembered by hunting people for the number of long, well-sustained hunts that have taken place. Almost any one of them would be entitled to take a place among the historic runs recorded from time to time in BAILY. The most remarkable was the run of the Albrighton on Saturday, December 30th. It will be remembered that this well-known Staffordshire hunt started the season with a new master, Lieut.-Colonel Goulburn, and a new huntsman, Morris, who had been first whipper-in, under Tom Bishopp, with the Grafton, and had succeeded the latter as huntsman. The fixture was at Dudmaston, in the Bridgnorth district. This is a meet which attracts few, for one of the last lessons we learn in hunting is that it is better to go to meets, good or bad by reputation, if you have a horse fit to go. We never know where or when the great run will come off. The first fox went down to the Severn and swam across. The next fox, after a much longer hunt, also ran down to the Severn, near Apley Park, which river here divides the Albrighton from the Wheatland country. Without hesitation he entered the river and, followed by the pack, swam across. This of course threw out the huntsmen and field, but they found a bridge, and Morris got to his hounds in time, by a judicious cast, to hit off the line. Not without checks and difficulty, but with hounds and huntsman working well, the line was kept until at last darkness set in, and after two hours and a half hounds had to be stopped.

The coming change in the Blankney Hunt is a matter of rejoicing, because once more a Bentinck will be connected with a hunt which Lord Henry Bentinck did so much for. Readers of BAILY who will turn back to their old volumes will learn easily how much. Then Lord Charles Bentinck, who is to become huntsman and joint master, is a well-known soldier and polo player. He was one of the team of the 9th Lancers, in their best days a most brilliant regimental team. Lord Charles will no doubt make a good huntsman, and keep up the Blankney record of sport over what is probably the best scenting and perhaps the stiffest country in Lincolnshire. On the other hand, I am sorry that it should displace an excellent hunt servant and old friend in George Shepherd, who, under three masters, has done so well. It is not likely, however, that so good a huntsman will be long in want of a situation. He is one of those instances where a first-rate whipper-in has made an excellent huntsman.

Among the packs that have had noteworthy runs must be included the Heythrop. Theirs took place on Friday, December 22nd. They met at New Barn, and found at once. In the Bourton Vale hounds ran well. The scent, though not burning, was holding, and hounds worked out the line without much help. The finish was a kill in Bruern Wood after a fine hunt of two hours and a quarter. The distance from point to point is ten miles, but hounds must have covered fifteen miles or more. Captain Daly, Mr. and Mrs. Cecil Lord, and Major Scott were among those who saw it all.

As I write the news reaches me that the North Cotswold have found a master. This country, of course, is neighbour to the Heythrop. Mr. McNeill’s successor is Sir John Hume Campbell, at present Master of the Ormond, where he has not found that foxes are preserved as they ought to be. In the North Cotswold there is nothing to be desired. Sir John intends to hunt the hounds himself. It is not stated whether Mr. McNeill’s wonderful pack of Belvoir-bred bitches will be kept in the country, but no doubt this will be the case. Masters are not scarce, for there were no less than twenty-two candidates.

Melton condition seldom fails to carry the sportsman to the end of the day, but on Monday, January 8th, the Quorn, having met at Nether Broughton, hounds led them such a dance in the Belvoir Vale that many horses could not reach the end. No doubt the going was heavy, for there has been a fall of rain which has made up for the drought. In Welby Osier Beds they found their fox, and this covert is a key to the best of the Belvoir. At Bescaby Oaks, the traditional first draw of the Belvoir on the opening day, the fox saved his brush.

Even more remarkable was the run the Woodland Pytchley had on January 8th. The big woods of this country are divided by grass fields and big fences, and it always seems to me that to be practicable at all there are no more formidable fences than some of the boundary fences of this country. During the early months of the year, in a well-preserved country with strong coverts, foxes are on the move, and a stout travelling woodland fox takes a great deal of killing, even with that sharp pack of bitches which Tom Carr handles so well. Hounds ran two wide rings from Carlton Wood, and then perhaps with a fresh fox hunted on to Desbrough. Had there been a kill, this run would have been perfect in its way. In any case, it adds one more to the many old-fashioned runs we have to tell of this month.

To this must be added the run of the Blankney also on January 8th, which was one of the days that have provided a good scent in many countries. Mr. Edgar Lubbock took his hounds, by Sir Gilbert Greenall’s invitation, to Aswarby. Sir George Whichcote is such a careful fox preserver that the Belvoir, with their wide extent of country, cannot come often enough. It was a gallant old customer that they found in one of the plantations. The line was very straight, and that they travelled a nine-mile point in fifty minutes shows that the pace was more than ordinarily good.

No country has, without adding to our list of historic runs, had a better average season than the Atherstone under Mr. Munro and Whitemore. But for a long and sustained chase ending with a kill the palm must be awarded to the Fitzwilliam at Tillbrook. The bitch pack dropped on to an out-lier. Starting close to his brush, the pack settled to hunt at a fair pace, and, best of all, never left the line till they reached Barnwell Wood, through which good scenting covert hounds ran furiously for blood, and were not long in catching their fox. This was one of those runs not too fast for the horses, with no checks, and hounds doing their own with lots of drive and merry music, that keep up one’s love for foxhunting.

Still another long and good run is to hand. There are people who tell me, and I can well believe it, that Dursley is an admirable centre. Indeed, many West country people migrate thither after Christmas in search of sport, and are seldom disappointed.

The Fitzhardinge, meeting on January 9th, at Empney, on the Gloucestershire side of their country, drew Monkshill, and found a fox which within a radius of five or six miles knew a lot of country. He stood up for two hours. Several times hounds went very fast, and the fox was kept moving the whole time. Nevertheless, he beat them after all, fairly running hounds out of scent. Then came a bright scurry; but perhaps it is on a working day the Fitzhardinge pack are seen to the best advantage. No “sleeping partners of the chase” are allowed in the Berkeley Castle kennels.

Foxes and stags choose strange refuges, and this month has seen a fox found on a lime-kiln and in a coal-hole; a stag was hunted through the streets of Lancaster town. This season I saw a fox run up a lane on the road, spring on to the bank, and double back along the top of the bank, and lie down in the hedgerow. Naturally the hounds hit it off in the lane, and running up some distance, were then cast on either side of the road, but of course without effect. It was late in the day, and the Master had actually started for home, when some one saw the fox, which, however, deserved to escape.

No pack has had a better season on the average than the Duke of Beaufort’s. Their country always seems to me to hold a scent well, and the Duke and his huntsman are such masters of the science of hunting that it is a pleasure to see them handle hounds. Though the day in question, January 6th, at Hullavington, afforded nothing extraordinary, yet if every day we could hunt over a line as pleasant and varied as this side of the Duke’s country we should have nothing to complain of. Foxes, too, are always plentiful, and the more I hunt and the more experience of different countries I have, the more fully do I appreciate Beckford’s wisdom in liking plenty of foxes.

I suppose that the present season will be looked back on by the followers of the three staghound packs in the West as one of the best hind-hunting seasons on record. In the first place, the inclement weather which often makes hunting on Exmoor in the winter months a doubtful pleasure has this year not been endured. A few days of frost, a few of fog, and some wet days, but on the whole the weather and the scent have been in favour of the hounds, and hounds have run very straight. That is, they have made good points, but a red deer hind generally runs a ring or two, and then just when you think she is beaten away she goes straight and hard as if she never meant to stop. Mr. Stanley’s hounds, meeting by invitation of the Devon and Somerset at Slowley Wood, on Saturday, December 30th, had a run which was remarkable for straightness and pace. It lasted about three hours. There is always some preliminary work with a hind. Much depends on whether hounds can be kept at her. This one had little peace. She was found in the open, and about half an hour later the Master sent for the pack. He was enabled to steal a march by lifting hounds into the Avill valley, where they took up the line by the well-known farmhouse, and at once climbed the hill at its steepest part. Going up with them one lost ground, as they ran well and straight into a linhay behind Alcombe Village. This seemed to be the end, but some excited lads frightened the hind out. She dashed right through the pack and then went straight away for Dunkery Beacon. Those who had ridden the run had been galloping hard for two hours, and horses climbed the steep sides slowly: far more quickly did hounds reach the top. Three-quarters of an hour later this hind soiled in the stream at Nutscale and, unable to leave it, was killed. The first point to Alcombe was five miles, the second about seven, and the hind travelled quite twice as far to make her points. Allowing for the turns, though the pace was very good, hounds hunted beautifully, and every one was up at the finish. Perhaps even more remarkable was the run of January.

The Devon and Somerset met on Thursday, January 11th, at Heathpoult—a geographical expression—near the famous coverts of Throatcombe and Chargot. Three hinds were roused, and one was quickly singled out. From that moment till the hind was killed hounds hunted continuously. It was an exceedingly fine performance on the part of the hounds and huntsman. About eight couple of tufters were out, and on these fell most of the work. One incident showing the control of the huntsman over his hounds and what can be done to make foxhounds handy. These hounds, be it remembered, are big doghounds with a few large bitches. Now doghounds, as we all know, are apt to be self-willed and headstrong. I may also note that the heel-line of a red deer is often very tempting. Well, the huntsman was on one side of a valley, and the hounds were working on the other, when two or three couple hit the heel-line and threw their tongues eagerly. “Ware heel,” said the huntsman, naming the hounds. They stopped, looked across, and as if seeing it was their huntsman, left the heel-line and drove forward, and picked up the line of their quarry which had gone on. Once again the huntsman delighted me when hounds divided, by going to fetch those running on the fresh line. He saved the situation in a most difficult place. After a long, interesting and intricate hunt, we at last emerged on the heather, and for some miles stretched over the heather as far as Exford Common. Twice the hind took refuge among other deer, and each time she was driven out.

Then at the nick of time the Master (Mr. Greig) brought up the pack, and we had a glorious gallop right back to Annicombe. Then away to Cloutsham, and then the whole length of Horner to the mill; then up over the hill and across the valley to West Luccombe, where hounds took their deer. We ran from about 10.30 to 2. Besides the Master and hunt servants, only three of those who had started from Heathpoult were present. Several joined us by the way, and some good and true followers were left on Dunkery. The pace was good at times, but formed an intricate piece of hound-work, and an example of how handy foxhounds can be made, and how they can hold to the line of their quarry; for we saw at least thirty other deer on the way. With this run may be compared the very fine bit of hound-work displayed by the Cottesmore when they met at Luffenham. Thatcher is another huntsman who has made his big doghounds as handy as beagles.

I believe with these the whole secret is personal attachment to the man who hunts. Self-willed and sulky if knocked about or rated, a dog-hound will do anything for the man he loves.

The Cottesmore ran from Luffenham, though in the first place a hunt for the lover hounds, was not without interest for the riding man, since the line lay over that wild and delightful tract of the Cottesmore country which lies round Wing and Manton. From field to field hounds hunted, always working forward, always on the line, ever drawing nearer to their fox. If the fox regulates his pace, as I believe he does, by the strength of the chorus behind him, this fox could have had but little rest, as the sustained roar of the pack told him that they were relentlessly pursuing. The end came at Glaston Gorse, when a thoroughly wearied fox succumbed at last to the pack. During the past week—Thursday, January 11th—the Cottesmore and Mr. Fernie’s hounds met at East Norton, which is on the border of the two countries. Charles Isaac, Mr. Fernie’s huntsman, handled the combined packs, with his late whipper-in, Thatcher, of Cottesmore, to help him.

In consequence of the prolonged ill-health of Mr. C. E. Green, the Committee of the Essex Hunt have decided to seek a new Master, and the following advertisement has appeared in the papers: “As a Master will be required for the Essex Hunt at the end of the season, any gentleman wishing to offer himself as Master is invited to apply to the Hon. Secretary, Mr. A. Waters, Coopersale Lodge, Epping, Essex.”

HUNTING IN YORKSHIRE.

Fine open weather continues, and at the time of writing—the day on which the mean temperature is, on an average, the lowest in the year—it is so mild that one would almost think the season would get through without any lengthy stoppage. Whether sport does not benefit by a little frost is a question which is open to discussion, and at any rate it cannot be said that the most open seasons have been distinguished by the most historical runs.

Nor has there been a great average of sport since I last wrote, though there have been a few runs the records of which are worth preserving; the disposition to fog, however, is decidedly against sport, and we have had a lot of fog this season, hounds having been stopped by it several times.

It should be noticed that the good example set by Lord Helmsley in the early part of last month has been followed in many parts of Yorkshire and the neighbouring counties, and it is satisfactory to see that the Hunt Servants’ Benefit Society is likely to benefit to a considerable extent by the plan which had such a happy inception when the Sinnington met at Habton Village early in December. It may perhaps interest some of my readers to know that over £80 was collected on the day the Bramham Moor met at Tockwith. That same day when they met at Tockwith (December 15th) they had a good day’s sport. White Syke Whin, which has been a certain find this season, and has now got to be a very fine covert, provided a brace of foxes to begin with, and with one of these they had a brilliant forty-five minutes by Marston Whin, which they skirted, Bilton Grange, Bickerton Village, and Ingmanthorpe Willow Garth to Lingcroft, where they rolled him over. A second fox from the Rash took them by the banks of the Nidd, and over it to an osier-bed near Kirk Hammerton Hall, where they marked him to ground; and a short but merry burst from Hutton Thorns to Collier Haggs, ending in a kill, brought a good day’s sport to a close.

On Monday, December 25th, they had a very good hunting run of a couple of hours. The fixture was Woodhall Bridge, and as they were moving off to draw, a travelling fox was viewed near Addlethorpe. Smith soon had hounds on his line, and they ran fast by Lund Head to Ingham’s Whin, and through it by Parkin Wood to Cocked Hat Whin. They checked for a moment, but ran on again cheerily over Barrowby Hill to the Punchbowl. Then came some slower hunting to Leconfield Whin, and nearly to Rudding Park; and then over the railway, when the pace improved, and they fairly raced over the grass of Spofforth Haggs to Ingham’s Plantation. Here they checked, but they hit off the line again over the Spacey Houses road, and hunted nearly to Swindon Wood, where the fox beat them.

They had a useful day’s sport on Friday, January 5th, when they met at Walton. Walton Wood, as usual, held foxes, and one went away without much pressing in the direction of Thorp Arch.

Whether he was headed, or whether it was a travelling fox making for the wood, it is difficult to say, but as Smith was taking hounds to the holloa they met a fox, and soon ran into him. Then came a long draw before they found again in New Spring, whence they hunted at a holding pace by Heslock Field Rash up to Cowthorpe Village. A right-hand turn took them thence through Lingcroft, where the pace improved, and past Bickerton Village, and they finally marked the fox to ground not far from the York Road. Champagne Whin held a fox, which after half an hour’s ringing round about the Igmanthorpe coverts was killed in Hatfield’s Plantation. They found again in Thorp Arch Whin, and hunted with no great scent over the park, and by Walton to Walton Wood, where the fox beat them.

The Bedale have been having some good old-fashioned hunting runs during the month. On Friday, December 29th, they met at Scorton, and found in a small covert named Greenberry. The fox had apparently been gone some time, for they hunted slowly at first by Hewson Hill to Streetland. Here the pace improved, and hounds ran smartly, pointing for Pepper Arden, and then by Rushwood to the Hobden Hill Plantation at Kiplin. They hovered for a moment when they got through this covert—it was scarcely a check—and Freeman held them over a sticky fallow on to the grass, and away they raced again nearly to Ellerton. Then they turned along the Swale-side to Loughton Village and Loughton Hall. Then crossing the Swale a little further on they pointed for Kirby Fleetham. Then skirting Scruton Wood they ran by Morton Flats up to Morton Bridge. The fox crossed the Swale again at the bridge, and hounds ran on by Morton Grange and Langlands, and over the Howe-beck, and past Greenhills and Low Sober, to the Low Plain Plantation at Solberge, within a couple of fields of which they ran into their fox after a good run of two hours. The point would be from seven and a half to eight miles, but hounds would run over twice the distance.

On Monday, January 8th, they met at Rudd Hall, and had another good sporting run. They found in Goskins, and ran first by Tunstall Village, pointing for Brough. Scotton Village was next reached, and then they made a wide circuit past Hawxwell Hall and Garriston. A long check took place at Garriston, and then hounds hunted through the Constable Burton coverts, and then turned to the right over Barden Moor. They hunted steadily on by Laverock Gill, and ran parallel to the Richmond Road down to Hipswell coverts, where they worked up to their fox, and they rolled him over in the open midway between the railway and the River Swale, opposite Easby Abbey, after a good hunting run of two hours and three quarters.

The Cleveland had a capital run on Monday, January 8th, when they met at Marske Station. They had a long draw, all the low coverts being blank, but they found a good fox on the historic Briar Flat in Wilton Wood, and ran him at a great pace by Dunsdale and Court Green to Guisbrough Park. Thence they ran along the brow of the hill to Osborne Rush, and skirting Jackson’s Plantation, passed Upsall, and ran by Hamilton Hills and Marton Gill, where they bore slightly to the left and hunted with a much worse scent by Grey Towers and Sunny Cross to Seamer Whin, where the fox beat them after a good run of an hour and twenty-five minutes. It was a seven-mile point, and hounds crossed a lot of country of varied kind.

Lord Galway’s had a capital day’s sport from Gringley-on-the-Hill on Monday, January 8th. Finding in Gringley Gorse, they raced over the grass to Pear Tree Farm, where the fox was headed, and crossing the Beckingham Road, ran by Clayworth Wood and Beckingham Village, and over the Great Northern Railway to Morton Point, where they turned left-handed over the railway again and ran by Walkeringham on to Mr. Naylor’s farm, where they ran him to ground in view after forty minutes at top pace. Another fox that had evidently done some work was found in Gringley Gorse, and killed after a sharp short burst on Red Hills. They found again in a patch of gorse on the banks of the River Idle, and ran by Drakeholes, nearly to Everton, and then crossed the Chesterfield Canal, took a line by Prospect Hill to Winton New Covert. Then recrossing the canal they ran by Mr. Otter’s thorns, and marked their fox to ground between Hayton and Clayworth after a good fifty minutes.

This is the time of year when changes in hunting establishments begin to be talked about, and an important change will take place in Lord Galway’s country, for Sam Morgan, who has been at Serlby for twenty-nine years, has resigned his appointment. Morgan will have been forty-one seasons with hounds at the end of this season. His first place was as extra whipper-in under his father, Jack Morgan, when the latter was huntsman for the sixth Lord Galway. He held this place for a year, and then went to the late Lord Portsmouth, with whom he stopped nine years, two as second whipper-in and seven as first whipper-in. From there he went to the Percy, then under the mastership of Major Brown, as first whipper-in, and from Northumberland he went to Serlby again. Forty-one years as a hunt servant, and only in three places during that time, is indeed an honourable record, and all hunting men will be sorry to learn that Morgan is leaving the country with which his name and the name of his family is so closely associated. I also hear that Freeman is leaving the Bedale, and rumour has it that he is going to hunt one of the Midland packs.

AMERICAN v. ENGLISH FOXHOUND MATCH.