XI 

 HUNTING IN ENGLAND 



PACKS OF HOUNDS — HUNTING CENTRES — COST — GRASS COUN- 

 TRIES — RACING PACKS — FOXES — WHERE TO GO — NATIONAL 

 CH.VRACTERISTICS. 



THERE are in the United Kingdom (England, Scotland 

 and Ireland) something like four hundred and fifty 

 organised Hunt Clubs that follow the chase on certain days of 

 the week from the first of October to the first of April or JNIay. 

 This is to say nothing of numerous trencher-fed packs and 

 small garrison hunts to be met with in many parts of Great 

 Britain. Bailey's Hunt Directory gives the number of packs of 

 foxhounds with regular fixtures in England as one hundred 

 and sixty-five, Ireland twenty-four, Scotland eleven; total, two 

 hundred. H. A. Brayden in his interesting book "Hare Hunt- 

 ing and Harriers," says, "There are but two less than two 

 hundred packs of Harriers." There are also sixteen packs of 

 staghounds in England alone. It is safe to say there are forty 

 or fifty packs of otterhounds, and foot beagles, to say notliing 

 of draghounds, which number only nine for the United King- 

 dom. It is also safe to say that of the one hundred and sixty-five 

 packs of foxhounds in England, over one hundred are within a 

 radius of fifty miles of Leamington, which may be considered 

 the hunting centre of England. This is spoken of as "The 

 Midlands," "The Cream of the Shires," "Grass Countries,'"' 

 etc. 



If we take for instance, I^tica, N. Y., for a centre and from 

 it draw a circle of the same radius, the outer edges of the circle 

 would include Watertown on the north, Albany on the east, 

 Binghamton on the south. Auburn on the west. Think of 

 ha\'ing over one hundred organised packs of foxhounds within 



