ORIGIN OP THE BEAGLE. 75 



BEAGLES. 



ON the subject of this Variety of the Hound, there is really so much variety, 

 indeed confusion, in the definitions of various Writers, that many readers profess 

 to have found it a matter of difficulty to discover, what kind of dog 1 precisely, whe- 

 ther as to origin or character, they are to understand by the term BEAGLE. Let 

 us try our fortune on this head with the reader. The Beagle is a dwarf hound, of 

 a Variety established in the early ages of hunting, since we read of him. as of a 

 settled and customary breed, in books two or three centuries old. Beagles, like 

 the Terrier and Harrier, are designated both as rough and smooth, and although 

 chiefly to be considered as Hare hounds, are occasionally used to hunt the Fox ; 

 and indeed formerly, a cry of Beagles, was thought necessary to a Pack of any 

 kind, for the sake of their cheerful and musical note. 



The distinction of the rough and smooth coat in hounds, is made by the earliest 

 Writers ; and we read of the light, nimble, swift and slender or Northern Hound, 

 bred in Yorkshire, Cumberland, and Northumberland ; and of ' the grisselled or 

 shag haired,' thence reckoned the best ' Verminers,' and therefore chosen to hunt 

 Fox^ Badger, or any other hot scent. The hair under the belly of the true Talbot, 

 an original hound, is described as * hard and stiff.' On the whole then, it appears, 

 that the Hound, whether under the denomination of Talbot, Blood Hound, Deer 

 Hound, or Fox Hound, was originally rough or harsh-haired, and the Greyhound, 

 the smooth haired Variety of the Hound Species. The light and slender Northern 

 breed no doubt originated, as before stated, in a Greyhound cross ; and with as 

 little doubt, the smooth Beagle, was a breed of reduced size of the Northern Hound ; 

 the rough Beagle perhaps, bearing the same relation to the old Hound. But how 

 are we to account for the origin of the ' little singing Beagle,' the cry of which so 

 charmed the ears of the virtuous Queen BESS and her sporting Maids of Honour, 

 and which might be ' carried iu a man's glove ; bred for delight only, of curious 

 scent, and passing cunning in the Hunt, for the most part tiring, seldom killing, 

 except at some strange advantage ?' Beyond a doubt, it should seem, from a small 

 and beautiful Spaniel-cross upon the common Beagle. It is reasonable to suppose 

 that our modern glove- beagles, ten or eleven couple of which were carried to and 

 from the field, in a pair of panniers slung across a Horse, were manufactured in the 

 same mode. Thus we see that the taste for swift hounds, high-bred hunters, and 

 racing over the field, and for fancy-hunting with poney hounds, are only imita- 

 tions, and not original modern fashions. As to capricious and fancy crossing, by 

 individuals, of either dogs, horses, or cattle, there is no accounting for it, nor any 



