HUNTING HORNS AND HUNTING CRIES 



and when hounds are eating their fox he sounds 

 the " rattle." At the end of the day he may 

 blow a long note or several short ones followed by 

 a long one, to warn the field that hounds are going 

 home. 



Without expecting the hunt servants to be 

 armed with horns to blow elaborate measures 

 such as the French " fanfare de l' equipage," there 

 are a few calls that might usefully be added to 

 those now in vogue. 



In addition to the old-time calls already men- 

 tioned there are others which were at one time in 

 regular use. Of these one or two are suited to 

 present day requirements. There is the 



* ' Straking from covert to covert " in two windes, 

 which would let the field know that the huntsman 

 was drawing on after a covert had been drawn 

 blank. The call ' ' For a fox gone to ground ; 

 if to dig " also has its place to-day ; as well as the 

 " Call for the terriers at the earth." The " Call 

 away ; if not to dig " would likewise prove useful. 



In the Southern and Western States of America 

 cow horns are still used by the local hunters who 

 own scratch packs. These horns have been 

 handed down from generation to generation and 

 are great y prized by their owners, particularly as 

 regards their tone and quality. Field trials for 

 hounds are regularly held in America, and one 

 often hears a score or more of cow horns being 

 blown at the end of the day by the owners of the 

 canine competitors. The tones of all these horns 

 are different, and the hounds show no hesitation 

 in going to the calls of their individual Masters. 



Closely allied with horn music are hunting cries. 

 The hound language used in early days was much 

 akin to the same terms employed in France to-day. 

 The cry ' ' Tally-ho " is of French origin. At the 



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