92 HARE-HUNTING AND HARRIERS 



There are, of course, many things to be urged from 

 both points of view in the case of the harrier. A 

 good sportsman, Mr. C. Gamett, secretary of a 

 well-known pack of harriers — the Holcombe — in 

 Lancashire, has weU contrasted, in a letter to me, 

 the merits and demerits of pure and Stud-book 

 harriers. The old-fashioned harrier, as he points out, 

 " excels on a bad-scenting day ; he will never go 

 a yard without scent and is a particularly good road- 

 hunter. He also has most lovely music, which, in 

 a hilly country, is very useful. He can go a good 

 pace, but, as each hound likes to own the scent 

 himself, they do not pack so nicely when running 

 hard. Stud-book harriers get away quicker, and are, 

 I think, easier to turn, and, when scent is good, are 

 better to ride to, as they push a hare more, and con- 

 sequently you get straighter runs. To my mind their 

 great fault is that they have too much drive, and at 

 a check flash a field or so over the line, whereas, in 

 nine cases out of ten, the hare has doubled back. 

 They (Stud-book harriers) are easier to breed with 

 good legs and feet, and are, I think, much smarter 

 hounds ; but in a hilly, rough country, I feel sure 

 you would get far better sport with the old type ; 

 while in a good country, with large fields, the Stud-book 

 harrier is to be preferred, as he gets away from the 

 horsemen and does not dwell so much on the line." 



This seems to me an excellent and pithy summing- 

 up of the two schools of modern English harriers. 



Mr. J. S. Gibbons, Master of the Boddington Harriers, 

 one of the most experienced hare-hunters in the 

 kingdom, has been good enough to send me his views 

 on the modern harrier. As one of the founders and 

 supporters of the Harrier and Beagle Stud-book, 

 and of the harrier classes at Peterborough Hound 



