CHAPTER XVII 



BEAGLES AND BEAGLING 



What is a beagle ? — Old writers on these hounds — 

 " A diminutive and lavish kind " — Colonel Hardy's 

 pocket beagles — " Stonehenge " on the beagle — 

 Throaty hounds and good noses — Beagle colours — 

 Size — Revival of interest in beagling — Number of 

 packs in England, Wales, and Ireland — Welsh 

 beagles — Notes on various packs — Some good runs 

 — Beagle management — Objections to mounted men 

 — Attitude of Masters towards fox-hunting — Coursing 

 and hare-hunting 



What is a beagle ? "A small hound, with which 

 hares are hunted," is the definition of an old-time 

 writer on the chase. That is a fair description, but 

 it does not carry one very far. The very name 

 " beagle " is one which has puzzled all sorts of learned 

 people, so much so that some of the dictionaries tell 

 you that the origin of the word is unknown. The 

 term seems to have been little in vogue before the 

 time of Henry VII. ; yet it is certain that these small 

 and lively hounds were known, probably by some 

 other designation, to our ancestors long before that 

 time. 



The revival of the beagle for hunting purposes within 

 the last twenty years is of the happiest augury. It 

 seemed, seventy or eighty year ago, as if these little 

 hounds, although still used for shooting purposes, were 



