Harriers 143 



than the hunter of the present day to that ridden by 

 our grandfather. In fact, he is now nothing less than 

 a Foxhound in miniature. Further on he says that 

 " the qualities of the Foxhound and the Harrier are 

 as opposite as their form ; the one delighting to dwell 

 upon the scent, the other a httle inclined perhaps 

 to the other extreme." The old-fashioned type of 

 Harrier was evidently far too slow, and the pro- 

 duction of the improved Harrier resulted from the 

 introduction of Foxhound blood from some of the 

 principal packs. Hare-hunting with Harriers is 

 distinctly inferior to that of hunting the fox. It is 

 a much lower form of sport, and fox-hunters look upon 

 sportsmen that follow a pack of Harriers with an 

 air of superiority. That hare-hunting with Harriers 

 is a tolerably favourite pastime is supported by the 

 fact that there are about eighty-five packs in England 

 and Wales, forty packs in Ireland, but only one in 

 Scotland, the last named being founded by the late 

 Marquis of Linlithgow. One of the oldest packs of 

 Harriers is the Pennistone,estabhshed many centuries 

 since, consisting of thirteen couples of 22- to 24-inch 

 pure Harriers, or hounds of the English type. The 

 Halcombe Harriers is another very old pack, having 

 been estabhshed about 200 years, and during a 

 century and a half of that time these hounds were 

 trencher-fed. It is composed of twenty couples of 

 22-inch Old Enghsh Harriers. 



