REMINISCENCES 



It was Somervile in The Chase who coined 

 the phrase " sly goose-footed prowler," and gave 

 to the world one of the best accounts of an otter- 

 hunt ever penned. Otter-hunting seems to have 

 been litde catered for in the matter of songs per- 

 taining to the sport. No doubt there are many 

 purely local ditties concerning the doings of 

 various packs, but few songs of real worth have 

 made their appearance. In " The Poetry of 

 Sport " by Hedley Peek, we find one or two, and 

 in the " Otter-hunting Diary " of Mr James 

 Lomax there are a couple of Lancashire otter- 

 hunting songs. One of these songs is in dialect, 

 and we take the liberty of quoting a verse or two 

 for to anyone who understands broad Lancashire 

 they convey a lively description of the sport. The 

 song is entitled " The Hunt in the Hodder." In 

 the first verse the narrator goes to the meet : 



*' Old Squire Lomax's dags I'd oft heerd um tell, 

 I bethought me one morning I'd see um mysell, 

 So I donn'd me, and reet off for Mytton dud trig, 

 Un I landed me just as they loosed under th' Brig. 



151 



