HARE-HUNTING.*
A FAMOUS fox-hunter, the late Mr. George Lane-Fox, being asked his opinion of hare-hunting, answered with:a courteous sneer : " I have always understood it to be a most scientific amusement." Those who imagine that the pleasures of the chase consist in galloping very hard and jumping a great number of five-barred gates will hardly understand that the pursuit of the hare with harriers or beagles should be held in the highest esteem by many sportsmen. Hare-hunting, which went out of fashion during the golden age of fox- hunting, now unfortunately past, has during the last few years shown a marked revival. There are to-day no less than one hundred and ninety-eight packs of hounds hunting the hare in these islands, which is more than there ever were before in the history of the chase. And, indeed, hare-hunting may claim to be the most scientific of all hunting (though the fox- hunter intended it for sarcasm), if we mean by that the most difficult, the most varied, and the most absorbing for the man who cares for hunting as opposed to riding. Mr. Bryden's contribution to the " Hunting Library," of which this is the first volume, is a pleasant, well-written book, which deals thoroughly with the subject. It might be objected that his extracts from such well-known earlier writers as Somerville, Beckford, Daniel, and " Stonehenge" are needlessly long or frequent; there is also a certain amount of repetition. In the chapters which profess to give an account of the existing packs we notice a few errors and omissions. The Milford Harriers, for instance, in Surrey, are not mentioned ; the Pettings Beagles have been sold; and Major Beaumont's beagle pack is forgotten. But these are trifling criticisms. The book contains a great deal of information collected with care; the chapters on kennels, hound management, cost and equipment, are exceedingly practical; and the whole is written by a man who can write about sport in decent, gentlemanlike, and scholarly style. This last is a rare quality.
Mr. Bryden has very strong views on the manner in which hare-hunting should be conducted, with which we have the most complete sympathy. Indeed, we are often inclined to go even further, and agree with another modern authority, Mr. Otho Paget, who maintains that the hare should be hunted on foot. There is, of course, no objection to old gentlemen or • Hare-Handing and Harriers: with Notices of Beagles and Baud Hounds. BY IL A. Bryden. Illustrated from Photographs by R. B. Lodge and others. London; Grant Richards. [7s. ed. net.] ladies, or any of either sex who 'maybe crippled or paralytic, watching the hunt from a horse. But •hare-hunters are in constant danger of aping fox-hunters or making harriers an excuse for riding. The sport of hare-hunting is in that way completely ruined, and a poor imitation of a fox-chase, at best, is obtained. Hare-hunting is a very ancient, respectable, fascinating, and peaceful sport. We pass over the days of Nimrod and Xenophon. What the mediaeval harehounda were like we do not know. Simon de Montfort kept an estab- lishment of harriers (canes leporarii) at Odiham Castle; Edward III. took sixty couples to the French ware ; Elizabeth and James I. kept a harrier pack. Under Charles L Bishop Juxon had his own hounds, " and had them so well ordered and hunted, chiefly by his own skill and direction, that they exceeded all other hounds in England." Can any of our readers tell us who was the last English. Bishop who ap- peared in the hunting field ? This brings us to the early eighteenth century, when our ancestors hunted hares with their old Southern hounds. These were gigantic beasts (about twenty-six inches high), with falling ears, drooping eyes, pen- dulous flews and dewlap, and wonderful deep, mellow voices. They were slow, but their scenting powers would probably astonish the modern huntsman, who breeds for appearance and speed rather than nose. The chase gave them such enjoyment that they would stop on the line to lift up their heads and give vent to their ecstasy in "true cathedral notes" which were heard for miles. But as it took them five or six 'roam to catch a hare, they were in time voted slow and crossed with little North Country fox-beagles. The produce of this union was the pure old English harrier. There are at the present day three very distinct types of " harrier." First, the old English harriers just referred to, which may be called pure harriers. Secondly, kennel stud-book harriers, which, unfortunately, for the most part show a strong strain of fox. hound blood. Thirdly, dwarf foxhounds, which, to our mind, are quite improperly employed in hare-hunting. The same opinion is expressed by Mr. Bryden :- "Personally, I do not believe in hunting 'hare with foxhound pure and simple, not even if the hound be reduced in size to twenty or twenty-one inches. The foxhound is in my view too fast for hare-hunting, and has too much fling and fire and too little patience for this form of chase. He has, too, been trained for generations to the pursuit of the fox, and there is a great deal to be said for long usage and hereditary instinct in hunting. A hare hunted with foxhounds has, in my humble opinion, not a fair chance for her life, as she has when hunted by harriers; she is over-
matched, driven to trust to speed alone, too often outpaced altogether, and is run down usually in far less time than ought to be the case. She has no opportunity of displaying
wonderful tricks and expedients which render a hare hunt, to t man who really enjoys this form of sport, .so interesting and delightful a pastime."
As to methods in the field, Mr. Bryden is no less of an oldL fashioned purist than in the choice of hounds. The secret of good hare-hunting lies in leaving the pack and the hare as much as possible to their own devices. " My Lord ! " said an old Irish huntsman to a certain noble Lord who bothered him with suggestions whenever the hounds checked, " My Lord ! the most ignorant hound in the pack knows a great deal more about hunting than you or me." It is, perhaps, because the huntsman and whippers-in are not always at hand to interfere immediately that harriers hunted on foot often show the best sport. It is a disputed question whether bounds should be allowed to get a view when a hare is found, or whether they should be laid on after she has been quietly allowed to slip away from her form. A hare thoroughly scared at the outset often takes a straighter line, which is a consideration when tare field is mounted, and does less damage to the fences. In any case, it will not be more than a minute before the fastest pack are brought to their noses. Holloaing is, of course, an odious crime in hare-hunting ; and there is nothing more disgusting than to have the melody of the pack disturbed by unseemly and bloodthirsty yells. As for lifting hounds, it is an abominable practice from every point of view, except as a last resort; and the horn in hare-hunting may easily be blown to excess. Mr. Bryden's experience of hare. hunting is chiefly, gained with the Hailsham Harriers is Sussex, which are hunted on foot, and have a good proportion. of old Southern-hound blood. This is a good school; but he has also collected much information about harriers, many accounts of remarkable runs, and some strange anecdotes of the chase, from masters of harriers all over the country.
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Three chapters are devoted to a survey of the packs in the United Kingdom county by county. Devonshire heads the list with fourteen, and Kent follows with ten packs. Scotland altogether has but three. The Isle of Man has one pack ; but we find no mention of Mr. Scarlett, who hunted, or endeavoured to do so, until a few years ago, in the island of Gigha.
Mr. Bryden's book opens with history, natural as regards the hares, and anecdotic or antiquarian as regards the hare-hunters of the past. Then modern harriers and modern hare-hunting are dealt with from different points of view. Hare-hunting is, of course, a cheap sport, and the chapters on cost and equipment give some interesting figures and balance-sheets from actual packs. A pack of harriers—smartly, not to say extravagantly, turned out—may cost as much as £700 a year. On the other hand, a pack to show as good sport may be maintained for £250. This would include twenty couples of hounds and two horses. The late Lord Suffolk, who was well versed in the science of hare-hunting, declared that his harriers cost him for main- tenance only £114 10s. a year, which included the keep of a horse during the hunting season. A foot pack can certainly be well run for £125 a year; and a cry of beagles, perhaps ten or twelve couples, need not cost more than £75. These figures and many others, as well as many practical hints, which Mr. Bryden's book contains, should be encouraging to those who have the taste, but imagine they have not the fortune, to enjoy what is perhaps one of the greatest pleasures this life affords,—hunting one's own hounds. It is, no doubt, the inexpensiveness of hare-hunting, as well as the charming sport, which has so clearly raised it in popularity. Agricul- tural depression and the constantly increasing difficulties of fox-hunters have turned the attention of sportsmen to the hare. The hare can be hunted with a very old horse, or even on foot. The hare does no damage to the poultry-keeper or the pheasant-shooter. The hare does not go to ground like a fox. These are all advantages ; and they are combined with the most beautiful and interesting chases in the world. We have no space here except to mention Mr. Bryden's chapter on " Beagles and Basset Hounds." This last has some very interesting particulars furnished by Captain Heseltine, Master of the Walhampton Pack. Mr. Bryden's book is unworthily illustrated with the usual photographs or snap-shots. It is a real contribution to the English literature of hare-hunting, which is not as voluminous as might be expected from the antiquity of the sport.
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