SPORT ANCIENT AND MODERN 



followed the chase on the screes and lower 

 fells with which the lake country abounds. 

 It is not every sportsman who has had the 

 exciting experience so vividly described by 

 Mr. Durnford. A mart hunt is oftener a 

 much tamer affair. A stiff run along a ridge 

 of fell, or down a rough gill, or up a rocky 

 surface, with the deep bay of the dogs in his 

 ears, has sufficed for many a hunter. Some- 

 times the animal takes refuge in a tree at a 

 critical moment, but its favourite hiding-place 

 is a crevice in a rock or in a heap of boulders. 

 When closely pursued on a level its mode of 

 running is by a series of leaps, often covering 

 six feet at a bound. It is not often that 

 marts visit the valleys, except during the 

 breeding season when they come down to the 

 woods in April and May to have their young. 

 During the first week of the latter month in 



1886 a fine specimen was captured by the 

 Blencathra hounds in the vale of Naddale 

 near Keswick. 



Local naturalists are not quite agreed on 

 the distribution or scarcity of the sweetmart 

 in the county, but it is safe to say that it is 

 not now as plentiful as it used to be. From 

 information gathered in the autumn of 1901 

 in Eskdale and Keswick, the two centres of 

 hill hunting, we learn that it is only now and 

 again that the trail of a mart is crossed. In 

 some of the fell districts it is exceedingly 

 scarce, if indeed it can be said to exist at all. 

 The last individual found on Black Comb 

 was killed as far back as 1847. But on the 

 less frequented or more inaccessible hills in 

 the central districts the mart still roams and 

 sportsmen are still keen on a hunt if a fox 

 fails to put in an appearance. 



NORTH COUNTRY TRAIL HOUNDS 

 AND TRAILS 



Hark ! on the trail I hear 

 Their doubtful notes, preluding to a cry 

 More nobly full, and swell'd with ev'ry mouth. 



Wm. Somervile. 



Hound dog trail matches do not, as far as 

 we are enabled to judge, date back to the 

 earlier times of wrestling. Litt in his Wrest- 

 liana does not once mention the subject. If 

 we had the means of arriving at a knowledge 

 of its origin we should in all probability find 

 that soon after coming into vogue it became 

 in most instances an important item in the 

 programme for filling up a day or two's amuse- 

 ment along with wrestling, jumping, etc. 

 Keswick races or wrestling for a lengthened 

 period held a high place in public estimation, 

 and the local hound dog trails were considered 

 the most celebrated of any in the north. Great 

 was the rivalry amongst breeders and trainers. 

 A large concourse of spectators, both residents 

 in the town and neighbourhood and strangers 

 from all the distant parts of Cumberland, 

 Westmorland and north Lancashire, assem- 

 bled to witness the keen contests. The ground 

 was highly favourable for testing the capabili- 

 ties of the very best dogs, and many a severely 

 contested trial was witnessed by the anxious 

 crowd. Not unfrequently betting in small 

 sums was brisk, particularly in the second 

 day's race, when an estimate could be formed 

 of the speed, hunting qualities and endurance 

 of the contending animals. There was at 

 one time running at these meetings a cele- 

 brated hound from Threlkeld Hall. It was 

 not unusual to hear some one exclaim, ' I hear 



ii 



t'ho dog and he's leading,' and sure enough 

 soon after ' Rattler ' would come tearing in 

 first. This same ' Rattler ' ran a 5 mile 

 match for 10 at Caldbeck celebrated for 

 its breed of trail hounds against Gilkerson's 

 ' Butler.' The conditions were to win and 

 draw on each mile. Two persons were 

 stationed hidden from the dogs at the 

 end of each mile to certify which was first. 

 ' Rattler ' won the first, second, third and 

 fifth mile. 



Then came the far-famed ' Flan ' meeting, 

 rapidly assuming greater proportions and offer- 

 ing richer prizes than had previously been 

 given at the best patronized meetings. It 

 would be difficult in any part of the country 

 to select a better course barring a straight- 

 forward one than that usually selected at 

 Flan, particularly for some twenty years after 

 the meeting was established. To begin with 

 there was a 4 mile run on the slopes of a 

 vale nearly straight, then crossing the vale 

 and climbing to the summit of a heathy 

 common. Then followed right on end to 

 the winning point 4 or 5 miles of good 

 going moor ground. As many as thirty-two 

 dogs have started, and the number frequently 

 ranged from twenty to thirty. It was a really 

 beautiful sight to see a score and a half 

 high couraged and resolute dogs all brought 

 to the post in perfect condition and witness 

 their frantic efforts to be slipped when the 

 trailer came within a field or two of the 

 appointed ground where the struggle com- 

 menced. The barking, the howling, the 



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