40 Sportsmen Parsons in Peace and War 



always associated with Mr. Russell's name ; they are noted for 

 their method in bolting foxes, never worrying them in their 

 earths, or fighting one another underground, which is not an 

 unheard-of thing for terriers to do. King Edward VII. greatly 

 admired little " Trump," and had an oil-painting of her. 

 ^i Mr. Russell liked both his hounds and his terriers to throw 

 their tongues freely, for the same reason that Lord Fitzhardinge 

 liked to mount his hunt servants on roarers ; he then knew 

 where they were ! He entered his terriers entirely to fox, so 

 there was no fear of their running riot ; the faintest whimper 

 from one of them and the whole pack of hounds would fly to it 

 as quickly as to one of Mr. Russell's marvellous screams. 



It was delightful to get him well launched on the subject 

 of his terriers, he was such an enthusiastic lover of them. 



Nearly everyone in the west country has some tale to tell of 

 the " Parson Jack," as they call him ; many of the stories have 

 oft been told, but no one wearies of them. 



So far, however, we have only accounted for his first pack of 

 hounds when at school, aged sixteen. His second venture was 

 when a curate at South Molton, this time to hunt the otter, 

 so little known and inscrutable. He collected six couple of 

 hounds, a scratch uneven lot from neighbouring friends. Not 

 every hound will enter to otter, as Mr. Russell soon found out. 

 His patience was often sorely tried, for he could not keep his 

 hounds to the water ; they would wander off in search of fox, 

 which had been their training. 



While on these long tramps with his disappointing hounds, 

 he learnt the country thoroughly, and the knowledge was 

 useful to him in later years when his hunting had to be done 

 with a limited number of horses, enabling him to save many 

 miles, and take short cuts even in the dark. When almost in 

 despair of being able to do anything with them, he heard of a 

 sporting farmer who had a useful scratch pack with which he 

 hunted fox, hare, and otter, and that he was drafting some of 

 them. Mr. Russell hurried off in hope of securing a hound or 

 two accustomed to the taste of otter, that would teach and 

 encourage the rest of his pack. He found just what he wanted, 

 and for -the modest sum of £l brought home with him a useful 

 hound that quickly taught the rest, after which he enjoyed six 

 years of hunting with them. He had no kennels ; the neigh- 



