The Foxhound. 55 



together, being matched according to size as nearly 

 as possible, The dog hounds are, of course, the 

 bigger of the two, and run from 23 to 24 inches at the 

 shoulder, the bitches being from one to two inches or 

 so below that standard. One of the smallest pure 

 foxhounds that ever ran with hounds was the Blue 

 Ransom, of the Pytchley, and said to be about i 7^ 

 inches, whilst the giant of the race, the Warwick- 

 shire Riddlesworth, was 27 inches. At the present 

 time our largest packs are the Blackmoor Vale, with 

 80 couples of hounds ; the Duke of Beaufort's, 

 75 couples ; the Belvoir, 62 couples ; whilst the 

 Berkeley, Crawley and Horsham, Berks, Fitzwilliam, 

 and Mr. Garth's have each 60 couples of running 

 hounds in kennel. Other packs number anything 

 between the nine couple of the Coniston to the 

 58^- couple of the Oakley. 



For a hundred years or more, it has been been, 

 and still remains, though some packs now dis- 

 countenance it, the custom to "round" the ears 

 of fox hounds, which is neither more nor less than 

 shortening their aural appendages, to prevent the 

 latter getting torn in covert, or in going through or 

 over the fences. This is done at about four months 

 old. Most hound puppies leave the kennels, after 

 being taken from the dam, to be located, " walked " 

 with the farmers and other friends of the hunt. 



