64 HARE-HUNTING AND HARRIERS 



for scent and swiftness, for with respect to mouth, 

 they have only a httle shrill sweetness but no depth 

 of tone or music." It is from the Northern hound, 

 beyond doubt, I think, that the modern foxhound 

 has been largely evolved. 



Upon this subject of hound voice Sir John Heathcoat 

 Amory sends me an interesting note. Sir John, in 

 addition to maintaining a pack of staghounds for hunt- 

 ing the now superabundant wild red deer of Exmoor, 

 has had for many years (since 1859) a pack of old 

 English harriers. These are very light-coloured 

 hounds, the original stock of which came from a pack 

 maintained by Mr. Froude, a North Devon hunting 

 parson, who flourished in the early part of the last 

 century. " Parson Froude's hounds were bred," 

 says Sir John Amory, " from the same Southern 

 hounds that formerly were used for stag-hunting, 

 and report says that Froude crossed them with a 

 celebrated pointer, and in this way reduced their 

 size. I have always endeavoured," continues Sir 

 John, " to keep to the original breed, and above all 

 never to allow foxhound blood to creep in. I find two 

 faults with foxhounds, when used for hare-hunting ; 

 one is that they are not sufficiently patient to hunt 

 a cold scent and puzzle out the foil, and the other 

 is that the sharp voice of the foxhound does not suit 

 the soft, mellow tone inherited from the Southern 

 hound." 



The North-country fox-beagle, referred to by Beck- 

 ford as suitable for crossing with the Southern hound 

 to produce good harriers, must evidently have been 

 in existence long before modern harriers were dreamed 

 of, and when I say modern harriers, I mean the hare- 

 hounds used by Beckford and the more advanced 

 squires of the eighteenth century, who preferred a 



