Echoes of the Hunting Horn 



objects may be well within one's range of vision and 

 moving objects are more easily seen than stationary 

 ones, yet a dark-coloured hound can slip across a cleft 

 in a mountainside quite unnoticed, even though one's 

 sight is exceptionally keen. There is nothing to attract 

 the eye. 



With a light-coloured hound it is different; his 

 slightest movement immediately focuses one's attention, 

 and his white markings fling him in clear relief against 

 even the haziest background. One might argue that the 

 cry, plus the movement of dark-coloured hounds, should 

 make the observer instantly locate them. Hound music 

 is a very helpful, but not an infallible, guide to the 

 whereabouts of the pack, especially on the mountains. 



There are days when the mountain storms, wind 

 direction and echo, all combine to nullify even the most 

 expert huntsman's calculations. Hounds used to hunting 

 in the hilly Fell country are lighter in frame and bone 

 than the modern Peterborough foxhound. Their colours 

 are mostly white, with lemon, black, tan, or badger-pied 

 markings, and although some Fell packs are trencher- 

 fed, those housed in kennel give their huntsman little 

 trouble in distinguishing each hound; owing to the 

 variety of the colourings. 



The same remarks might be applied to Welsh hounds, 

 except that they are invariably rough- coated. They are 

 built rather like Fell hounds; hare-like feet, flexible 

 pasterns and light bone; differing altogether from the 

 massive, straight foreleg of the Peterborough hound. 

 Like their Fell prototype they have splendid tongue and 

 are reputed for their ability to hunt even the coldest 



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