The Otter Hound. 



otter hounds any man ever possessed. Each hound 

 was perfect in itself, and the pack might have 

 found and killed an otter without the slightest assist- 

 ance from their esteemed master, who had taken 

 years to bring them to that state of perfection. 

 " You will soon get another pack together, Mr. 

 Lomax," said a friend. " No," was the reply, " my 

 old hounds took me the best part of a lifetime to 

 obtain, and should I recommence again, I should be 

 an old man and past hunting, before I got another 

 lot to my liking." Mr. Lomax for years hunted the 

 Ribble, Lune, and other big rivers in the north. 



Mr. Gallon, of Bishop Auckland, who met his death 

 whilst otter hunting in Scotland, was another great 

 authority on this hound, and his opinion was pretty 

 much the same as that of Mr. Lomax. But good 

 sport can be had without having hounds quite so 

 perfect as those mentioned. 



I am, however, getting a little in advance of my 

 text, and something must be said of the earlier days 

 of the otter hound. King John is said to have had 

 a pack, of which he was very fond. Although thus 

 early otter hunting was considered royal sport, the 

 otter was only placed in the third class of the beasts 

 of the chase, ranking with the badger and the wild 

 cat even the timid hare and the marten taking pre- 

 cedence. However, that he was highly valued, even 



[VOL. I.] I 



