SPORT ANCIENT AND MODERN 



pack of hounds of his own at Holm Hill, while 

 the Cumberland foxhounds hunted the other 

 half under the joint mastership of Mr. Howard 

 and Mr. C. J. Parker, the latter acting as 

 huntsman, and under this regime the country 

 is at present hunted. 



There are altogether six packs of hounds 

 and six packs of harriers in Cumberland. 

 Four of these hunt the hills almost exclusively 

 and are generally followed on foot. The 

 oldest of these packs would appear to be the 

 one named at present ' the Blencathra Hounds.' 

 And it is generally believed that the hounds 

 mentioned in the earlier part of this article 

 which were sent from Keswick to Hertford- 

 shire, and on being let loose were not heard 

 of again till they reappeared at Keswick, were 

 the predecessors of Mr. Crozier's present pack. 

 To that gentleman I owe the following ex- 

 tracts which he has kindly sent me gathered 

 by the honorary secretary of the hunt. 



' The story of the origin of the Blencathra 

 hounds is similar to that of most of the moun- 

 tain packs. The ancient books of the church- 

 wardens in many of the Lake parishes contain 

 numberless entries of payments made for the 

 heads of foxes. As much as a guinea was paid 

 for the head of a " greyhound fox " and 10s. 6d. 

 for a cub ; but the hill farmers could not de- 

 pend upon this method of capture, and there- 

 fore many of them kept a hound or two. 

 These animals had no pretension to purity of 

 breed, and would hunt the hare as an alter- 

 native to the fox. Gradually the dalesfolk as 

 well as their neighbours on the hills began to 

 organize hunts, especially in the spring when 

 foxes became dangerous to lambs. News- 

 papers were scarce in those days and seldom 

 seen in farm-houses. But a very effective 

 method of advertising hunts was adopted. 

 Immediately after service the parish clerk 

 mounted a tombstone in the churchyard and 

 announced to the assembled crowd the dates 

 and plans for meets and sales by auction dur- 

 ing the ensuing week. Mr. Crozier recol- 

 lects perfectly being a witness of this, nor 

 has he forgotten the Sunday fox hunts which 

 were a highly popular institution, the farmers 

 asserting that Sunday was the only day they 

 could spare for hunting purposes. Over 100 

 years ago Mr. Crozier's father kept several 

 couples of hounds, including some which be- 

 longed to the famous hunter of the western 

 country, John Peel. His son, Mr. John Cro- 

 zier, was born in the year 1822, and while still 

 a boy his father handed over to him the master- 

 ship of the hounds which office he has now 

 held over sixty years, the first thirty of which 

 he maintained the .hunt at his own expense. 

 The longest run he remembers was an after- 



noon run when a fox started on Skiddaw, and 

 after attempting to elude his pursuers by 

 travelling in a ring but rinding it of no avail 

 was forced to take a line through Portinscale, 

 Borrowdale, over the mountains into West- 

 morland, and under cover of darkness got 

 away towards Broughton-in-Furness in Lanca- 

 shire. The dogs were found the next morning 

 lying asleep near Coniston Crag. The dis- 

 tance they had travelled in a straight line 

 being 35 miles, but at least another 15 would 

 be added by the many deviations, thus making 

 a run of 50 miles. Fell hunting has many 

 dangers both for hounds and men, and Mr. 

 Crozier remembers many occasions on which 

 hounds, having jumped clear on rocks and 

 found themselves ' binked,' have been un- 

 able to return and eventually have met their 

 death by falling over precipices in a desperate 

 effort to escape.' 



In the breeding of hill hounds there are 

 many difficulties in maintaining the qualities 

 which are essential for hill-work, but by judi- 

 cious crossing the breed at intervals with south 

 country and neighbouring packs of hounds 

 this has been most successful. Another of 

 the fell packs is the Ulleswater pack of hounds, 

 which hunts exclusively on the hills, being 

 followed (with rare exceptions) on foot. 



I have hunted with them, and it is a won- 

 derful sight to watch the huntsman making 

 his way to them with extraordinary rapidity 

 up the mountains, running often far into the 

 night. It is a curious fact worth mentioning 

 that fell hounds when they kill a fox will not 

 break it up, a peculiarity which I believe I 

 am right in stating is all their own. 



The inhabitants of Cumberland are sports- 

 men from hereditary instincts. As I said 

 before, squires and statesmen, hill farmers and 

 dalesmen alike have combined to keep alive 

 and encourage these sporting qualities during 

 many generations. But as in all other parts 

 so in Cumberland, bad trade, agricultural de- 

 pression, the depreciation of land have as 

 natural consequences, affected the hunting. 

 Perhaps Cumberland has suffered less than 

 some counties, and hunting may continue 

 longer. The stranger element, so strong in 

 the south, does not exist in Cumberland. 

 Those who hunt here belong to the soil and 

 therefore we have not to contend with the 

 same amount of damage which is done by 

 those who come out to gallop and jump re- 

 gardless of injury to the farmers. But still 

 it is to be regretted that wire has made its 

 appearance in this county. Thirty years ago 

 it was unknown, and now in some parts of 

 the hunting country fence after fence in suc- 

 cession is wired. It is particularly disastrous 



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