74 THE SOUTH DEVON HUNT 



There can be no question, then, that the title 

 " South Devon " dates from the time of Tom Lane. 

 Its origin may have been due to a desire to dis- 

 tinguish the pack from the " North Devon " which 

 then existed. 



In " Gelert's " Guide^ to the Foxhounds and Stag- 

 hounds of England, for 1849 (compiled and published 

 in 1848) the favourite fixtures of the Devon Hounds 

 are given as : The Round O. ; Oxton ; Ogwell ; 

 Sandy Gate ; Haccombe ; Furzeley. The only com- 

 ment is the following : " Mr. Lane is unfortunate in 

 his country, it being, without doubt, one of the worst 

 in England " ! 



While on the subject of the name of the pack, it 

 may not be amiss to mention here that when, as will 

 be seen in the next chapter, Sir Henry Scale hunted 

 the country, the pack went by his name, " Sir Henry 

 Scale's Hounds." In consequence of this, the name 

 " South Devon " appears to have been then assumed 

 for one or two seasons by a pack, formerly known as 

 " Mr. Morgan's Hounds, "^ hunting a district which 

 now forms part of the Lamerton country. ^ 



It is unfortunate that no record of the sport shewn 

 by Lane appears to have been preserved. So far as 

 is known, he kept no hunting journal, and the refer- 

 ences to the pack in the local press are of the most 

 meagre description. The following are the only notes 

 I have been able to trace, and it is evident that in 

 those days people were not given to *' writing up " 

 their particular pack, for the editor of Woolmer's 

 Exeter and Plymouth Gazette, from which these are 



^ This guide was in the hands of the public in 1848. It is identical with 

 Fores'a Guide, but does not appear to have been published by Messrs. 

 Fores until the following season. 



^ Fores' 8 Guide for 1850, p. 19. 



3 The Foxhunter'a Guide for 1850-1 (Cecil), pp. 57 and 189. 



