A HISTORY OF LANCASHIRE 



OTTER-HOUNDS 



There is no pack of otter-hounds actually 

 kennelled in Lancashire, but the Wharfedale 

 have hunted the Lune and its tributaries 

 since 1903. Of recent years the Carlisle 

 Otter-hounds have hunted the Ribble and 



its tributaries, and in 1906 the Ccimq Otter- 

 hounds, which had been started that season, 

 visited the Wyre. The Kendal Otter-hounds, 

 hunted by the late Sir Henry Bromley for 

 many years, used to hunt in Lancashire, but 

 the pack was broken up and the hounds sold 

 in 1900. 



COURSING 



The sport of coursing has long been established 

 and popular in the county of Lancaster. One 

 need only refer to such works as Goodlake's 

 Manual^ Thacker's Remembrancer and Annual, 

 and later to the Coursing Calendar and the Grey- 

 hound Stud Book for all that is necessary to afford 

 abundant evidence of the strong hold this 

 ancient sport has always had in Lancashire. 

 The main reasons for the popularity and main- 

 tenance of the sport in the county seem to be 

 the suitability of the soil, in many parts of the 

 county, for the sport of coursing itself and for 

 the preservation and provision of a sufficient stock 

 of hares ; the willingness and readiness of land- 

 owners and lessees to place their lands at the 

 disposal of the courser and, in many instances, 

 to take part in the sport themselves. A not less 

 important factor is the goodwill that exists 

 between landlords and tenantry, and the support 

 the latter generally give to coursing. A glance 

 at a map of the county shows over how wide an 

 area the sport of coursing is distributed. From 

 Holker, Heysham, and Hornby Castle in the 

 north to Barnacre, Winmarleigh, Pilling, Fleet- 

 wood, and Singleton ; then on to Lytham, 

 Southport, and Altcar — the scene of the greatest 

 of all coursing meetings — through Tarbock and 

 Hale, even to Old Trafford and VVorsley, we find 

 how general the sport has been along the western 

 side of the county. Other places such as 

 Cockerham and Rawcliffe, St. Michaels and 

 Blackpool, may be mentioned ; and in the south- 

 western part of the county, where the sport 

 most strongly holds its own to-day, we must 

 name as coursing grounds, Halsall, Haskayne, 

 Scarisbrick Bridge, Barton, Ince, Rufford, Tarle- 

 ton, Treales, BickerstafFe, Downholland, Bur- 

 scough Bridge, Hesketh Bank, Ince Blundell, 

 Formby, Sefton, and Aintree. From the places 

 named it can be seen how great landowners such 

 as the Duke of Devonshire, the Earls of Derby, 

 Sefton, Lathom, and Ellesmere, the late Lord Win- 

 marleigh, Sirs P. H. Fleetwood, H. B. Hoghton, 

 T. G. Fermor-Hesketh, and H. de Trafford, the 

 , Rev. C. Hesketh, and county gentlemen such 

 as Messrs. Clifton, Scarisbrick, Blundell, and 

 Blackburne, have most consistently supported 

 coursing by allowing their lands to be coursed 

 over, and in some cases by running greyhounds 

 themselves. Of the many estates that have 



provided and still provide much sport those of 

 the Earls of Sefton demand special mention, for 

 not only is the great event of the coursing world 

 — the Waterloo Cup — held over the Altcar 

 portion, where also the meetings of the Altcar 

 Club are held, but the other portions at 

 Haskayne, Downholland, Kirkby and Simons- 

 wood, Tarbock and Aintree are famous for 

 their meetings. Nor must lessees and shooting 

 tenants be forgotten, and in several instances in 

 Lancashire the thanks of coursers are due to 

 tenants who permit the holding of meetings and 

 keep and run greyhounds. With all these 

 favouring circumstances and the appreciation of 

 the sport by a large section of the Lancashire 

 public there seems no reason why coursing 

 should not flourish in the county in the fixture 

 as it has in the past. 



The great event of the coursing world is, 

 of course, the Waterloo Cup,' and a list of 

 winners from its start to the present day may be 

 found in the Coursing Calendar and the Greyhound 

 Stud Book. 



A glance at the winners of the Waterloo Cup, 

 &c., from the commencement shows that the 

 first cup run for in 1836 was won by Lord 

 Molyneux's Milanie, trained by Mr. Lynn, 

 secretary of the meeting. Not till some ten 

 years later does the name of Lord Sefton appear, 

 though in the intervening years the names of 

 Mr. T. Bake and Mr. N. Slater — in their day 

 great supporters of the sport — are to be found. 

 Mention of Mr. Slater reminds us of the office 

 of flag-steward which he often filled, and for 

 some time it was a rule of the Altcar Club that 

 a member of the club should fill the office. For 

 years at the Waterloo the post has been held by 

 those who, following Mr. Slater, were in the 

 habit of acting for the club. Mr. J. Bayly 

 long acted and was followed by such well-known 



' In the Encyclopaedia of Sport there is a most 

 interesting article on coursing with especial reference 

 to many of the greyhounds which have taken part in 

 this great event. For an amusing and interesting 

 account of a Waterloo Cup day one need only turn 

 to that given by ' The Druid ' in Saddle and Sirloin, 

 remembering that since the days to which that author 

 refers many changes have taken place in the manage- 

 ment and conduct of a Waterloo meeting, and no 

 doubt for the better in the main. 



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