THE LATE DUKE OF HAMILTON S PACK OF OTTERHOUNDS. 

 Photograph hy C. KchI, \Vishn;i'. 



CHAPTER XIV. 

 THE OTTERHOl'XD. 



BV CEOKGE S. LOWE. 



" Mv hiniihh arc Jircd out nf the Spartan /;iiiiL 

 So fliw'ii. so saiitird ; and /heir heads are 



Iiiiiig 

 Willi cars that sK'cef> a'a'av the inornin^ deic ; 

 Crook-knee' d. and den'-lapp'd iit;c 'I liessalian 



bulls ; 



THE OttLTliiiund is a descend uit (if the 

 old Southern Hound, and there is 

 reason t(j behew that all hounds 

 hunting their quarr\' b\' n<.ise had a similar 

 source. Why the breed was tirst called 

 tiie Southern Hmurd, or when his use 

 became practical in (ireat Britain, must 

 hv subjects of conjecture ; but tliat tliere 

 was a hound good enougli to liold a line 

 for many hours is accredited in history 

 that goes \-ery far back into past cen- 

 turies. Tile hound retjuired three centu- 

 ries ago e\en was all the better esteemed 

 for being slow .md unswerving on a line 

 of scent, and in many parts of the King- 

 dom, up to witliin half that period, the 

 so-called Southern Hound had been especi- 

 ally employed. In Devonshire and Wales 

 the last sign of him in hispurit\'was perhaps 



S/tJ'ci' ill pursuit, but iiialch'J in mouth like 



bells. 

 Each under each. A cry more tuneable 

 Mas never halloo'd to, nor eheer'd with horn, 

 In Crete, in Sparta, nor in Thessaly : 

 Judge, when vou hear." 



— ■' A .MiDsi 'MNHiK Night's Dream." 



wlien Captain Hopwood hunted a small pack 

 of hounds \'er\' similar in character on the 

 fitch or pole-cat ; the modus operandi being 

 to lind the foraging grounds of the animal, 

 and tlien on a line that might be two day> 

 old hunt him to his lair, often enough ten 

 or twehe miles off. 



When tliis sort of hunting disappeared, 

 and impro\'ed ideas of fox-hunting came 

 into \'ogue, there was nothing left for the 

 Southern Hound to do but to hunt the 

 otter. He may ha\-e done this before at 

 \arious periods, but history rather tends 

 to show that otter-hunting was originally 

 associated with a mixed pack, and some 

 of Sir \\'.dter Scott's pages seem to 

 indicate tliat the Dandie Dinmont and 

 kindred Scottish terriers had a good 

 deal to do with the sport. It is more 



