A HISTORY OF DURHAM 



If a scarcity of mounted packs of harriers has 

 existed in Durham, an exactly opposite state of 

 things presents itself with regard to ' foot ' 

 harriers or beagles. Without going quite so far 

 as a cynical friend who warned the writer before- 

 hand, that everyone in the county who owned 

 a pair of thick shoes and could afford to pay for 

 a dog licence, kept a pack of beagles at some 

 period of his life, he must confess to having been 

 appalled at the number of pedestrian packs of 

 hounds that has been brought to his notice. 

 Space alone would forbid reference to each of 

 them, and at the risk of giving unintentional 

 offence to many excellent sportsmen, he is 

 obliged to confine himself to the mention of two 

 packs only, the Durham Beagles and the Dar- 

 lington Harriers. 



The first-named were originally a private pack 

 of Mr. Marmaduke Salvin of Burn Hall, who 

 gave them up about 1850, when they were sold 

 to a committee of the undergraduates of Durham 

 University, and became the ' University College 

 Beagles.' The pack consisted of about fifteen 

 couples of pure-bred 15 in. beagles, and was 

 kennelled at Lowes Barn, fresh blood being 

 introduced about 1854 by a draft from Lord 

 Sefton's. The expense of the hunt was entirely 

 borne by the members of the University Hunt, 

 assisted by subscriptions from some of the fellows, 

 notably the present provost of Eton, then a tutor 

 at Durham, and the warden — the late Archdeacon 

 Thorp — to whom the first hare of the season 

 was always presented. Another good friend to 

 the pack was the late Mr. Parrington, then 

 agent to the Brancepeth estates, who was able 

 to procure leave for much additional country. 

 He invariably hunted the hounds (on horseback) 

 during the University Christmas vacation, with 

 the inevitable result of making them too fast for 

 pedestrians. In those days, it must be borne in 

 mind, the neighbourhood of Durham was much 

 better adapted for hunting than at present, the 

 Auckland railway was only in process of making 

 during the 'fifties,' and Brandon Hill and the 

 adjacent county were innocent of coal-pits. 

 The University Beagles flourished for many 

 years, providing admirable sport, but the pack 

 was dispersed in 1874. They next passed into 

 the possession of Mr. Creighton Foster of Dur- 

 ham, who sold them in 1886 to Mr. J. E. 

 Rogerson, the present master of the North 

 Durham Foxhounds, who thus served that 

 apprenticeship to hare-hunting, which so many 

 authorities have held to be the best training for 

 the pursuit of the fox. During Mr. Rogerson's 

 mastership his hounds were kennelled at Crox- 

 dale Hall, near Durham, until 1889, when he 



sold them to Mr. Craig of Bishop Auckland. 

 They were subsequently disposed of to Mr. 

 Deevey of Wolsingham, when they became 

 known as the Wolsingham Harriers, a pack 

 which has now ceased to exist. 



Having traced the history of the original 

 Durham Beagles,^' we must now turn to the 

 more famous Darlington Harriers, which date 

 back to 1872, when Mr. 'Tom' Watson of 

 Darlington formed the nucleus of a pack. On 

 the dissolution of the Durham University Beagles, 

 he obtained a pure-bred bitch called Violet, 

 which he mated with a dog from a scratch pack 

 kept by some lead-miners at Middleton in Tees- 

 dale, and her first litter formed the foundation 

 of the famous Darlington foot-pack which for 

 eighteen years hunted all the western dales of 

 Durham, besides a considerable slice of the 

 Cumberland and Westmorland fells, in addition 

 to its home country. The pack usually con- 

 sisted of fifteen couples of trencher-fed hounds 

 which were gathered up the evening before 

 hunting, and on the conclusion of the day's sport 

 were left to find their own way home to their 

 respective kennels. The little pack showed 

 most extraordinary sport. During Mr. Watson's 

 mastership it accounted for 1,042 hares, and the 

 average number of kills for the last six seasons 

 was 103 — all fairly hunted hares — those chopped 

 in covert, &c., not being counted. This is 

 believed to be a record for a pack of foot harriers, 

 and is a really remarkable performance in view 

 of the wild country which the master preferably 

 hunted. Small wonder that when he gave up 

 his hounds he should be presented with a por- 

 trait of himself and his favourite hounds by 

 Heywood Hardy, subscribed for by friends and 

 followers of the pack. The hounds were sold to 

 go into Hampshire, but one dog and bitch were 

 reserved, and the resulting litter formed the 

 foundation of a small pack which was hunted 

 for a few seasons by the present Sir Spencer 

 Havelock- Allan, and was then taken over 

 by a committee. This little pack still hunts 

 the district, and shows good sport with Mr. 

 Watson's former whip, George Robinson, as 

 huntsman. 



Other existing packs of foot harriers in Dur- 

 ham at the present time are the Stockton, and 

 the Woodlands Beagles. 



" These must not be confused with the existing 

 Durham Beagles, a subscription pack which was 

 started about 1 890, and is kennelled at Shincliffe. 

 The first master was Mr. Hall of Shincliffe, who was 

 succeeded by Mr. Roberts of HoUinside. The latter 

 in turn gave way to the present master, Mr. C. G. 

 Wilkinson of Newcastle-on-Tyne. 



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