178 ROYAL ROCK BEAGLE HUNT. 



duties of the dog, and his manner of performing them, than distinctiveness of 

 t5'pe ; but still the old-fashioned, genuine lurcher has a well-defined character 

 of his own, which no other dog can lay claim to. The lurcher proper is a cross 

 between the Scotch collie and the greyhound. An average one will stand about 

 three-fourths the height of the greyhound. He is more strongly built than the 

 latter dog, and heavier boned, yet lithe and supple withal ; his whole conforma- 

 tion gives an impression of speed, just as his blinking, half-closed eyes, as he lies 

 pretending to sleep, impress one with his intelligence and cunning. His coat 

 is rough, hard, and uneven ; his ears are coarse ; and altogether there is 

 an air of, not rusticity, but vulgarity, about him. You cannot help associating 

 dog and master ; and to be just, you will admit that there has been neglect or 

 fundamental error in the education and bringing up of both dog and man, for 

 which they may not be altogether responsible ; and to conclude your philoso- 

 phising, you may possibly, with a sigh, regret that so much capacit}^ for real 

 work should be turned into a wrong channel. If we may compare the two in 

 morals, the dog has much the better of it. He worships his master ; he is as 

 ready to defend as to adulate ; his obedience is willing, prompt, thorough, and 

 rendered with a silence that would have commanded the praise of the 

 Chelsea philosopher. No j'elp, 3'ouf, or yowl from the lurcher. Steady at heel, 

 or keeping watch at the style, till the wire is in the mouse and the net across 

 the gate ; then, at a motion of the hand, he is round the field, driving rabbit 

 and hare into the fatal snare. I attribute the wonderful intelligence displayed 

 by some lurchers I have known to their constant and most intimate association 

 with their owners. Both dogs and owners eat, sleep, and thieve together, and 

 if the former were not of Sir Wilfred Lawson's opinion, would, after a success- 

 ful raid on the squire's preserves — like Tarn o' Shanter and Souter Johnny — 

 be drunk for weeks together. 



Some lurchers have a terrier cross, others may have a dash of harrier, 

 pointer, or setter. I knew a dog whose dam was a pure Irish water spaniel, 

 and his sire, I believe, a flat-coated retriever, that was the most perfect hare 

 poacher I ever saw. He was perfect in nose ; and in rough, tussocky, or rushv 

 ground would steal upon pussy on her form in the most cautious silence till 

 within springing distance, when he seldom failed to secure her. This dog, 

 from his manner of stealing on his game, and his success, always reminded me 

 of the description of the "Tumbler" in English Dogges ; but he was not in 

 appearance like a " mongrelle greyhounde " ; but rather a coarse, curly black 

 poodle. Lurchers will run either by nose or sight, as suits them, but always 

 cunning. Let them start a hare, they will probably make for the meuse and 

 meet poor Wat ; but their great game is with crouching, stealthy step to pounce 

 on him in his form. All lurchers will retrieve their game. Watch that itinerant 

 tinker and collector of sundries, trudging behind a thing on four w heels he calls 

 a cart, drawn by a nag that should be at the knacker's ; he has seen the 

 keeper heading for the " Pig and Whistle," says, " Hie in, Jerry," and the 

 lurcher that enters the spinney empty-mouthed, comes out two hundred yards 

 below, and deposits a hare at his master's feet. 



These dogs vary greatly in general size and shape, and so they do in colour ; 

 but my beau-ideal of a lurcher is an animal with a hea\yish gre\hound confor- 

 mation, with just enough of the collie to make him look intelligent, and in 

 colour, red, brindle or grizzle. 





