150 England's oldest hunt. 



which still marks them — the colour, which is almost peculiar 

 to themselves now, though as I have mentioned in dealing 

 with the history of the Bilsdale Hunt, the Cleveland 

 were, as the Roxby hounds — the first chapter in their 

 interesting history — black and white, and the Bilsdale by 

 using some of the Farndale stud hounds, now have one or 

 two which are thus marked. It is interesting to note 

 that Sir A. E. Pease surmises that it is impossible 

 the Roxby originated with drafts from the Bilsdale, 

 or at any rate contained a good deal of the blood 

 of the pack which the Duke of Buckingham brought with 

 him in his banishment to Helmsley Castle. Therefore, 

 seeing that the Roxby Hounds were light- coloured, and when 

 the Bilsdale were breeding all their own hounds they too 

 were light-coloured, it may not be extravagant to suggest 

 that the Farndale might have their origin or re-origin by 

 drafts from these two packs, and from the Sinnington. 



At any rate, whatever was the origin of the pack with 

 which Joe Buck commenced to hunt about the year 1833, 

 small as they were, alike in number and height, they showed 

 some wonderful sport. They were essentially trencher-fed, 

 as they are to-day, though in the first Duck's era nearly 

 the whole of the five or six couple were kept in the dale 

 itself. In those days it was something of a privilege to walk 

 a hound, and every man knew not only a good deal regarding 

 the science of the chase, but the technique of hound-breeding 

 and the points of a hound so far as the best stamp for hunting 

 this rough moorland country went. Mr. Alexander 

 tells me there was considerable competition between the 

 dalesfolk as to which were to have the best hounds. With 

 the Farndale and Bilsdale, and I suppose with most trencher- 

 fed packs, those who once take a hound do not ' walk him ' 

 for only a few months, and then, sending him in to the kennels 

 receive another puppy to rear. They keep to one hound till he 

 becomes too old for hunting and then take another, which is 

 invariably given the name borne by the former. Thus one 

 finds many families who have kept hounds for over a 

 century, and father and son have ever given them the same 



