A HISTORY OF CUMBERLAND 



among some brackens and long grass close 

 to the dry arch of Wetheral bridge on the 

 Corby side of the river Eden. Their joy 

 was great at the discovery, but soon gave 

 place to sad and bitter feelings when the state 

 of the poor brute became apparent. It had 

 leapt the battlements of the railway bridge 

 and fallen a height of IOO feet ! Both fore 

 legs were so violently strained by the fall that 

 it could not crawl from the spot, and had lain 

 all night in extreme agony It is a marvel that 

 any life was left after such a fall. Had it oc- 

 curred nearer the middle of the bridge, and the 

 tumble been into the rough bed of the river, 

 death would in all probability have been the 

 result. Alick and his sorrowing companion 

 carefully lifted the dog into a plaid and car- 

 ried it home with as much care as if they 

 had been bearing a lame child. Various re- 

 ports got into circulation respecting ' Tipler's ' 

 leap over Wetheral viaduct. Some persons 

 would have it that an attempt was made to 

 stop the dog, and that he cleared the battle- 

 ments of the bridge to avoid being caught. 

 Another account was that the trail had been 

 treacherously dragged over the battlements 

 in order to destroy the dog. The owners 

 however did not give credit to either state- 

 ment. They were under the impression that 

 the man Harding, who ran the trail, stopped 

 on the bridge to rest and unwittingly did the 

 mischief which nearly cost the dog its life. 

 The accident or wilful injury whichever it 

 was to ' Tipler ' did not end fatally, but he 

 never recovered sufficiently to run another 

 race. On recovery ' Tipler ' was turned to 

 the stud and was the sire of some noted 

 dogs, Devonshire Square ' Towler ' being one 

 of them. 



Probably no dog trail match ever created 

 greater interest throughout a wide district in 

 the north than the great 12 miles on end 

 match between the ' Brampton bitch ' and a 

 pure bred foxhound called ' Ranger,' which 

 Mr. Todd of Waterhead got from the Hay- 

 don Bridge pack. The greatest pains were 

 taken by both parties to bring their dogs to 

 the post in first rate condition. A peculiarity 

 of this match was a stipulation that both 

 hounds should have a companion dog, one 

 they had been accustomed to run with, in 

 order to make or assist the running. ' Dam- 

 sel,' a bitch belonging to Mr. Thompson, 

 started for this purpose with Mr. Todd's 

 ' Ranger,' and Gilkerson's ' Crowner ' with 

 the Brampton bitch ' Ruby.' The first trial 

 from Waterhead to Kershope Head turned 

 out undecisive. The running hounds got so 

 close to the trailers that they had left the 

 trail before arriving at the goal. A fresh 



start had therefore to be made, and the 

 parties agreed to run directly back from 

 Kershope Head to Waterhead. Mr. Todd's 

 ' Ranger ' led and did the leading work in 

 the two long chases with the exception of 

 about a mile, middle way, in the second 

 start. He galloped in winner at the finish, 

 full of resolution and courage and immedi- 

 ately flew at a ' grew ' belonging to Mr. 

 Hedley of Bewshaugh, and would have made 

 short work in worrying ' long tail ' had not 

 assistance been at hand. The time taken to 

 run over the last 12 miles was twenty-five 

 minutes and a half, very fast indeed con- 

 sidering the rough country and that they had 

 done 1 1 miles previously. 



Mr. Routledge of Devonshire Square farm, 

 midway between Penrith and Carlisle, had a 

 ' Towler ' by Alick Wallace's ' Tipler.' This 

 dog hunted the fox regularly till he was eight 

 years old. He began to run trails when 

 eighteen months old and continued for up- 

 wards of six years, winning regularly two 

 out of three. He was an extraordinary 

 good dog at finishing ofF or coming in, fre- 

 quently defeating three or four in the last 

 200 yards. He appeared a strongly made, 

 big dog speedy and with plenty of stamina, 

 good muscular legs and hard wiry hair 

 capable of withstanding from morning till 

 night the piercingly cold sleety rains of the 

 Cumberland hills. We have no particular 

 data to go by, but entertain the impression 

 he won more trails than any other dog. He 

 won a match for 40 on Shap Fells that 

 caused considerable sensation at the time. His 

 opponent was ' Nudger ' from Ulverston but 

 Yorkshire bred, a weedy animal in appear- 

 ance when beside ' Towler.' The race was 

 a straight 10 miles over some very rough 

 ground. It was altogether a hollow affair. 

 ' Towler ' led from the first and came in a 

 winner fifteen minutes before ' Nudger ' made 

 his appearance. There was some talk of 

 foul play that the beaten dog was caught 

 and held. No evidence was however forth- 

 coming to substantiate any such allegation. 

 On an open common stopping a dog when 

 in full cry is no easy matter. Moreover, Mr. 

 Routledge's well known reputation as an 

 honourable sportsman gives the lie to such 

 a supposition. The probability is, as a good 

 judge at the time stated, that ' Nudger,' 

 finding himself outpaced and likely to be left, 

 had made a wrong cast, intending, as dog 

 trailers term it, to 'cheat,' and for a time 

 got lost thereby. When ' Towler ' ran at the 

 Burgh Marsh races in 1845 he was not 

 so fortunate. The Border dogs gave him 

 and the best hounds of Cumberland and 



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