FOXHOUND 



3284 



FOX HUNTING 



Foxhound. Breed of hound 

 specially maintained for hunting 

 the fox. Of mixed origin, it is 

 generally believed to be descended 

 from the old type of bloodhound 



Foxhound. Hound from the kennels 

 of the Oakley foxhounds 



and the pointer, with perhaps a 

 dash of the bulldog strain. 



Fox hunting dates from the days 

 of Edward I, but the dogs then 

 used were entirely different from 

 the present breed of hounds, which 

 is probably not more than 300 

 years old. The breed has received 

 much attention, and such packs as 

 the Belvoir and the Quorn are of 

 world-wide fame. 



The foxhound is notable for its 

 speed and for its endurance, 

 having been known to follow the 

 fox for ten hours. A good foxhound 

 should stand about 24 ins. high at 

 the shoulder, but the females are 

 usually 3 ins. shorter. The head 

 should be large and full, the nostrils 

 wideopen. The short, rounded shape 

 of the ear is the result of cropping 

 when a puppy, and is intended 

 to prevent the ears from being 

 torn when going through thick 

 cover. The back and shoulders 

 should be strong and muscular, 

 the hind quarters well formed, and 

 the legs straight. The coat, which 

 is always parti-coloured, should be 

 short, thick, and smooth. See Dog. 



Fox Hunting. Popular English 

 sport. Fox hunting, as carried on 

 in the 20th century, is a compara- 

 tively modern sport. The old time 

 sportsmen went out early in the 

 morning, they hit on the drag of the 

 fox, and the pack hunted steadily 

 up to his kennel, where the fox had 

 laid up for the day. Then began 

 a chase which might often last for 

 an hour or more. The hounds 

 worked out the fox's line and wore 

 him to death. But about 1750, the 

 modern system of hunting was 

 introduced in the Quorn country 

 by Meynell and by Lord Spencer 

 in the Pytchley Hunt. Hounds 

 and horses were bred for speed, 

 and the foxchase became, in the 

 words of Beckford, " short, sharp, 

 and decisive." The <stud records 

 of the Earls Spencer show that in 

 breeding their hunters they tried 



for speed, using the very best racing 

 blood of their time. A number of 

 hard-riding men of all classes were 

 attracted to the sport. 



The ideal hunt was one lasting 

 about 15 or 20 minutes. The fox 

 was raced, not hunted to death. 

 It required a good horse to live 

 with the pack even for this short 

 time, but it was not only the horses 

 and hounds that were the faster ; 

 the huntsman was quicker in his 

 methods. The older school would 

 wait when the fox broke until all 

 the pack were collected ; the hunts- 

 men of the new school went away 

 with three couples, leaving the rest 

 to come as they could, or trust- 

 ing to the whippers-in to bring 

 them on. In the same way the new 

 school of huntsmen would not per- 

 severe after a fox if he was lost. 

 They went on to find another. 

 This rapid style of hunting, and 

 the taste for short, sharp bursts 

 remains, but it flourishes chiefly in 

 those hunting countries which con- 

 sist of wide, spreading grass fields, 

 of from 50 to 100 acres, and where 

 the coverts are rarely above 40 

 acres in extent, and in many cases 

 are little spinneys or gorses, like 

 Norton Gorse, or Sheepthorns, in 

 the South Quorn country, of about 

 three or four acres. 



It is clear that where there are 

 large woodlands, wide heather-clad 

 moorland, or where the enclosures 

 are small, these methods of hunting 

 must be modified, and while in the 

 most fashionable countries, or in 

 parts of them, the ideal of a short 

 and fast gallop remains, there are 

 many hours of steady, slow hunting. 

 One of the charms of hunting is its 

 infinite variety, and riding to 

 hounds is not its only, not indeed, 

 for many men, its chief charm. 



This is shown by the fact that 

 hunting flourishes, not only in the 

 Midlands and in grass countries, 

 but also in the rougher, colder 

 scenting districts, where wood- 

 land and ploughland abound. 



Many men find their chief 

 pleasure in the working of the pack, 

 and there is also great interest 

 in the woodcraft required to find 

 and kill a fox. For example, a 

 good woodland huntsman, in coun- 

 tries where the woods extend from 

 1,500 to 3,000 acres or more, knows 

 that it is useless to look for a fox 

 in all parts of the wood, but leads 

 his hounds to those spots which 

 his experience or observation tells 

 him are likely haunts. In the same 

 way a good huntsman learns the 

 run of his foxes, i.e. the course 

 usually taken by individual foxes, 

 and is thus able to help his pack 

 at critical moments. 



The great popularity of hunting 

 may be gathered from the fact that 

 there are about 240 fox-hunting 

 establishments in Great Britain. 

 The cost of hunting is met by those 

 who hunt. In most cases the master 

 finds from half to two-thirds of the 

 money required, which is roughly 

 estimated somewhere near 1,000 

 per annum for each day in the 

 week hounds are out. Thus a pack 

 going out two days in a week would 

 cost 2,000 a year, four days 4,000, 

 and so on. Some country packs 

 might cost less, but the Quorn and 

 Pytchley, Badminton or Belvoir, 

 for example, would require 8,000 

 or 9,000 a year at least. 



This money is spent on wages for 

 the huntsman, two whippers-in, 

 two second horsemen, a stud groom, 

 a feeder, and two or more kennel 

 men or boys, according to the 

 number of hounds kept in kennel, 



Fox Hunting. Scene with the Quorn hunt at Twyford Brook; the pack in full cry 



After A. C. Httvell. by eourtety of Forei 



