A HISTORY OF CUMBERLAND 



in the more cramped parts of the country 

 where the jumping is incessant. In some 

 parts of Cumberland we have tracts of open 

 country, the wild grass and moorland stretch- 

 ing for many a mile, a stone wall here and 

 there breaking the monotony. Those who 

 would follow hounds in Cumberland must 

 make up their minds that no weather will 

 be too bad, no day too long, no fence too 

 rough. Of fences we have plenty. Rough 

 banks with ditches are more often to be met 

 with than any other fence, and if, as is often 

 the case, a horse who is a stranger to the 

 country attempts to fly them disaster is sure 

 to follow. The Irish horse or the horse bred 

 in Cumberland will jump on to the bank, 

 either placing his fore-feet on the top or 

 lightly dropping his hind legs on it, which 

 gives the necessary impetus for clearing the 

 ditch beyond and landing himself well into 

 the next field. Then there are the stone 

 walls ; more frequent perhaps in the west of 

 the country than the east, they appear very 

 formidable, but are easier to manipulate than 

 they seem at first sight. There is very seldom 

 a ditch on the other side, and a horse who 

 understands them will sometimes even bank 

 them, and it is always better to ride at them 

 slowly. There are a certain amount of posts 

 and rails in Cumberland, and in the extreme 

 east of the county the obstacles are mostly in 

 the form of small flying fences, and the 

 country being cramped there is continuous 

 jumping. 



A Cumberland hunter must be prepared 

 for all sorts and conditions of fences, and 

 there is no doubt that the Cumberland Irish 

 bred horses are the best suited to the country. 

 The Cumberland horses for the most part are 

 generally of the short thick kind, wonderfully 

 clever, though perhaps a trifle slow ; they 

 will gallop and jump all day, and if you leave 

 them alone will extricate themselves from 

 most difficulties. The coverts in Cumber- 

 land are of a varied nature ; there are some 

 very big woodlands in the west of the county 

 forming a good home for many a fox ; these 

 woodlands are bad to get away from, and 

 some of them situated on the side of a hill 

 running along for a mile or two make a hard 

 draw for hounds and huntsmen, but add 

 greatly to the picturesqueness of the scene. 

 There are a great many gorse coverts, a good 

 deal of this being natural, forming in some 

 places very thick hedgerows ; and it is very 

 difficult for the hounds to push a fox out, and 

 these gorse coverts often take a very long 

 time to draw. The most typical covert in . 

 Cumberland is the ghyll (the north country 

 definition of a woody ravine) planted on both 



sides, with a stream as a rule running through 

 the bottom. These ghylls form a very snug 

 shelter for a fox and nearly always hold one. 

 In a run these ghylls are our most formidable 

 obstacles and generally cause a great delay for 

 the field, as there is probably only one prac- 

 ticable path through it, and a good many are 

 often left behind. 



That Cumberland is a good scenting coun- 

 try is a fact that will, I think, be admitted by 

 all who have hunted there, and those who 

 have been associated with hunting the hounds 

 for the last thirty years maintain that scent 

 has much improved of late. In some parts 

 of the country the constant fences check the 

 hounds a little, but on the whole the country 

 carries a very good scent. The foxes 

 have not of late been as good, it is said, as 

 formerly, although I am told they are improv- 

 ing again now. The Cumberland fox is 

 hardy and fast, more of the ' greyhound ' 

 type than the terrier. In some parts of the 

 county they are too numerous, while in 

 others there is a scarcity ; but a blank day in 

 Cumberland is almost an unknown occur- 

 rence. 



There have been one or two noted foxes. 

 There was one that lived in Greystoke Park 

 for years, nicknamed by the inhabitants ' The 

 Thornyland Pet.' He was a huge fox with 

 a white neck. He never left Thornyland 

 pasture. The hounds hunted him round 

 Greystoke Park during the space of four hours 

 and lost him, and it is a curious fact that he 

 was never seen again. Another fox I re- 

 member was found over and over again by 

 Mr. Salkeld's hounds in one of their coverts. 

 He always took the same line of twelve 

 miles from Dobs Cross to Greystoke. This 

 occurred several times in one season, and 

 sportsmen went out with great hopes to draw 

 the covert secure in the knowledge that if 

 ' Peter,' as the fox was named, was about, a 

 run was assured. 



A curious coincidence I recollect many 

 years ago. Towards the end of a long run, 

 when hounds were close on to their fox, he 

 turned into the little churchyard of Caldbeck, 

 and running over John Peel's grave with the 

 pack in full cry he was pulled down in the 

 open just over the churchyard wall, an un- 

 conscious tribute to the old sportsman. 



As I sit writing many memories of bygone 

 runs come crowding over me, runs never to 

 be forgotten by those who took part in them. 

 We are at the covert side in breathless silence. 

 No sound but the huntsman's voice and the 

 rustle of the dead leaves under the hounds' 

 feet as they race through on a fresh line of a 

 fox. A solitary whip at the far end lifts his 



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