1 84 BRITISH DOGS 



to see hare and hound fairly matched, they love to watch the pack 

 " hunting," and are not anxious to total up at the end of the season 

 an immense number of kills. In such packs the type of the old 

 Southern Hound is generally conspicuous; sometimes slightly 

 enlarged Beagles of lyin. to i8in. are clearly in evidence. 



The Bexhill Harriers are a black-and-tan pack very striking in 

 appearance. Some show pronounced old Southern Hound charac- 

 teristics, but not all. They are as large and powerful as Foxhounds. 



Probably the nearest approach to a distinct Harrier " breed " 

 has been attained by some of the old-established Lancashire packs, 

 a county in which hare-hunting has always been extremely popular. 

 The Holcombe can, it is said, show hounds with a Harrier pedigree 

 of over one hundred years ; but of course this at once brings us back 

 to the question of what is a " Harrier " pedigree. In size these 

 Lancashire hounds (Fig. 49) usually equal Foxhounds (22in. to 23in.). 

 A favourite colour is blue-mottle with some tan markings. This 

 is never seen in the Foxhound, but is common enough in the 

 Beagle, one of the most ancient breeds of our country. Although 

 they are too big to suit some Hunts, or to be generally accepted 

 as the ideal Harrier, they would doubtless afford the best and 

 safest foundation on which a Master could build who had 

 sufficient enthusiasm and skill to set before himself the task of 

 establishing a Harrier pack free from the pottering of the old 

 Southern Hound, and the dash, drive, and pace of the Foxhound. 

 A few determined breeders, by forming themselves into a Club 

 and acting together, could very soon revive a type of hare-hunting 

 hound with characteristics of its own, suitable for most districts 

 in which hares are hunted ; and would help to save the Harrier 

 from becoming only another name for " draft Foxhound." 



Caius describes the Harrier as " that kind of dog which Nature 

 hath endued with the virtue of smelling, whose property it is to 

 use a justness, a readiness, and a courageousness in hunting " ; 

 and, further : " We may know these kind of dogs by their long, 

 large, and bagging lippes, by their hanging ears, reaching down 

 both sides of their chappes, and by the indifferent and measurable 

 proportion of their making ; this sort of dog we call Leverarius, 

 Harriers." 



Such a description, meagre as it is, applies more to the old 

 Southern Hound than to the Harrier of to-day, for it is long 

 since hare-hunting was revolutionised, and the slow, plodding hound 

 that would dwell on the scent giving vent to the keenness of his 

 own enjoyment of the chase, and delighting the sportsman with 

 melodious tongue whilst following puss in her every wile and 

 double has had to make way for the modern hound, possessing 

 more dash and speed, thus forcing the hare to depend on her 

 swiftness, rather than on cunning devices, for evading her pursuers. 



