HUNTING DIRECTORY. 229 



Of Harriers. 



Through all the rigions near : afflictive birch 

 No more the school boy dreads, his prison broke, 

 Scampering he flies, nor heeds his master's call ; 

 The weary traveller forgets his road. 

 And climbs th' adjacent hill ; the ploughman leaves 

 Th' unfinish'd furrow ; nor his bleating flocks 

 Are now the shepherd's joy ! men, boys, and girls, 

 Desert th' unpeopled village ; and wild crowds 

 Spread o'er the plain, by the sweet frenzy seiz'd." 



It has been the fashion of late years to breed harriers 

 with the power and speed of fox hounds, or nearly so. 

 I was out with a pack of this sort, in the month of Janu- 

 ary, 1825, They were called the Kirkham (in Lan- 

 cashire) harriers, and belonged to Mr. King ; and were 

 large, powerful, and altogether handsome hounds : they 

 were more than a match for a hare : I saw them kill two 

 brace one morning, and that too in a very short time. 

 Much pains had no doubt been taken in breeding them ; 

 for, although they were very fleet, they retained much 

 of the Talbot, and displayed excellent olfactory organs. 

 There are still to be found in some of the hilly districts 

 of Lancashire (and in other parts of England, for aught 

 I know to the contrary) harriers which partake so much 

 of the southern hound as to render them well calculated 

 for the diversion. They are not too fleet, have excellent 

 noses and delightful nuisic ; and such hounds I should 

 choose for the purpose of hare-hunting, though I am 

 well aware, that excellent harriers may be produced by 

 crossing the hounds of this description with the beagle ; 

 while there are many impetuous sportsmen who prefer 

 harriers bred as fleet as possible. 



How far the union of uncommon speed and nuisic are 

 compatible I am somewhat doubtful: a hound, I am 



