TJie Otter Hound. 165 



It would have been interesting to know as a 

 certainty the class of hounds the above were, but 

 there is little doubt they were hard in coat and 

 rough in hair, much as they are at the present day. 

 Some time later the otter hound appeared to become 

 less fashionable. He was kept by the " tinkers," 

 and similar class of roving individuals, on the 

 northern borders. There were a few in Wales. 

 Early in the present century they were not uncommon 

 in the south of Scotland, in Devonshire and the 

 west, and in the north of England. Since, the otter 

 hound has become a greater favourite, and at the 

 present time, during the season, which may be said 

 to last from the middle of April to the end of 

 September, some eighteen to twenty well regulated 

 packs hunt the otter in various parts of the 

 kingdom. 



In a few cases, usually in Devonshire, foxhounds 

 are almost entirely used ; elsewhere the packs are 

 composed of the rough-haired otter hound, with 

 occasionally a couple or so of foxhounds to assist 

 them. Still, each variety of the hound should stick 

 to that game for which nature intended him, the 

 foxhound to the fox, the harrier to the hare, the otter 

 hound to the otter. The latter is mostly followed on 

 foot, and the foxhound is too quick and fast, though 

 many like him because of his dash. In the staid- 



