APPENDIX C. 353 



RIOT : when fox-hounds hunt any scent but that of the fox they are 



said to be running riot. 

 RUNNABLE : a deer fit to be hunted ; in the case of the stag, this 



is at five years, when the antler shows not less than two points 



on top, though sometimes, when stags are scarce, they are 



hunted at four ; hinds have of late years increased so greatly 



on Exmoor that they are now hunted as soon as they are 



strong enough to run before the hounds. 

 SCORING : hounds are said to be scoring to cry when the scent is 



very hot and every hound in the pack is speaking to it. 

 SCUT : the tail of the hare or rabbit. 

 SEAL : the foot-marks of the otter. 

 SINGLE : the tail of the deer. 

 SKIRTER : a hound that runs wide of the pack, ' playing his own 



hand,' so to speak. 

 SLOT : the foot-mark of the deer. 

 So-HO : the cry raised when a hare is viewed (probably a corruption 



of ' See, ho ! ') 



SOIL : a hunted deer is said to take soil when it takes to the water. 

 SPRAINT : the dung of the otter. 

 STAGGART : a male deer at four years old. 

 STERN : the tail of the hound. 

 TINE : the point, or branch, on the stag's antler. 

 TRAY : the third point on the antler. 

 TALLY-HO : the cheer announcing that the fox is viewed. 

 TUFTER : the hound sent into cover to find and drive the deer out ; 



two or three couple of the oldest and wisest in the pack are 



used for this purpose. 

 VENT : to breathe, used of the otter ; the bubbles of air floating 



on the surface of the water, which indicate his course below, are 



called his ventings. 

 VIXEN : the female of the fox. 

 WARRANTABLE : see Runnable. 

 WHELP : a hound puppy at a very tender age. 

 WHO-HOOP : the cheer announcing the death of the fox. 

 WHIPPER-IN : the huntsman's subaltern, so called from one of his 



many offices being to impress upon the hounds the necessity of 



strict obedience to rules, an impression which has sometimes to 



be made with the whip. 



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