The Harrier, 129 



perhaps the oldest of all ; the Marquis of Angle- 

 sea's ; the Taunton Vale, and Mr. Sperling's, the 

 latter kennelled at Lamerton, in Devonshire. As 

 already stated, few of them are without the taint of 

 '' cross." 



Generally speaking, the pure harrier should have 

 distinguishing characteristics of his own. He ought 

 to be from 16 inches to 19 inches, and no more, not 

 thick and cumbersome in bone, deep in chest, and 

 not so high on the legs in proportion to his height 

 as the foxhound ; ears unrounded and set on rather 

 low, head thicker in the skull, and tapering more 

 towards the muzzle than is the case with the fox- 

 hound ; legs and feet as good as they can be had, 

 but it is exceptional to find the former perfectly 

 straight in front, and so the pure hounds are at a dis- 

 advantage when competing against the " absolutely 

 straight" foxhound cross. Stern carried gaily, loins 

 as strong as possible, with stifles well turned and 

 muscular. The true harrier is not such a level 

 topped hound as the foxhound. Colour anything 

 you like of the hound shade, although the '^ blue 

 pied," with a dash of tan about the head, is hand- 

 somest ; and one authority goes so far as to say that 

 he never saw a bad hound of this colour ; coat like 

 a foxhound's, though sometimes it is longer and 

 harsher. I have shown that some authorities admit 



K 



