76 Hounds 



Cecil) that the fifth Duke had a run with a fox in 

 the year mentioned " which so delighted the young 

 sportsman that the hounds were forthwith steadied 

 from deer and encouraged to fox." 



Evolution! It is an awkward word to deal with 

 in a chapter. If we attempted to touch upon the 

 evolution of hounds we should also have to renew 

 the whole evolution of social life and sport, for the 

 one has influenced the other, and the twain have 

 combined to bring about the evolution of manners, 

 customs, hfe generally, and the horse and hound 

 essentially. Turbervile, in 1576, and writers before 

 him, give directions for the breeding of various 

 hounds for the chase of the hart, hare, stag, fox, 

 badger and so on, but here one must observe (i) What 

 was the objective of the chase — sport, culinary, or 

 merely extermination? (2) What were the means 

 adopted, the speed of the hound, and its quickness 

 as in coursing, or its endurance, perseverance and 

 olfactory powers as in hunting — was it the eye or 

 the nose which was to be employed? These matters 

 of course materially influence the formation of the 

 hound and the character of the sport. In many cases 

 one discovers a few old hounds were kept to rouse 

 the quarry from its form or kennel in the then huge 

 forests and woodlands, and so soon as it took the open 

 hounds more of the Greyhound type were slipped 

 from the leash. With no other purpose than that 



