Richard Clapham

“ The climatic conditions, propitious as they are for scent, often militate against complete enjoyment of his surroundings by the follower of the hunt. He must be prepared for a very early rise, a long day in the open air, a steep climb, a dreary trudge up or down interminable slopes of grass or moss, a scramble across shifting screes, long waits, biting blasts, heavy showers, drenched garments, the descent of mist, or the loss to sight and hearing of the pack and all its followers. ”

“ They are almost out of hearing, but suddenly the cry is carried back to you clear and distinct, and you see them climbing out at the fell head, looking like white ants in the distance. One glimpse you get, and they are gone over the fell top, heading for the rough ground beyond. ”

“ That portion of Cumberland and Westmorland, which is popularly known as the Lake District, is the holiday ground of a great number of persons who delight in its splendid scenery of mountain, wood and lake, who enjoy roaming on foot over its uplands, climbing its peaks, driving in motor or charabanc along its sinuous valleys, rowing or sailing on its lakes, and sketching or photographing its picturesque views, which present themselves to even the most inartistic eye. ”

“ Although I have descanted upon the bad weather in the fell country, it must not be thought that the winter months are wholly given over to mist, rain, frost and wind. No, there are days when the sun shines brightly on a white world, and the views from the tops are magnificent. ”

“ It is, of course, necessary to meet very early at this time of year, as the sun soon dispels the dew, and scent is then often conspicuous by its absence. It well repays one for leaving one’s bed at an unearthly hour, however, when hounds do get away with their fox, for the temperature is such that one can sit about the tops in comfort, and thoroughly enjoy both the magnificent views and the sport. Many a May fox is rolled over by the fell packs, for the dalesmen’s flocks have to be made safe from any marauding vixen which takes toll of them for her cubs. ”

“ Does the fox go to earth? Not he, earth stoppers are unnecessary; he will lead them a merry chase as long as he can drag one foot behind the other, or until daylight warns him he had better ‘seek the seclusion that his burrow grants.’ I have, upon more than one occasion in the ‘Blue Grass Country,’ heard two and three different packs in the middle of the night, each one after a different fox, making music that would cause the blood to go galloping through one’s veins like a racehorse. ”

“ Even on a still day sound is very deceiving. All the hills throw back an echo, and you can easily imagine hounds to be on the far side of a dale, when in reality they are on your own side, but under and beneath you. On one occasion hounds were racing with a glorious cry, apparently near the summit of a mountain which separated us from the dale beyond. Every moment we expected to see them appear over the wall on the skyline, whereas in reality they were on the opposite side of the valley beyond, running through the breast at a high altitude. ”

“ The working men in the dales are the keenest of hunters. No matter on what task they are engaged, when hounds come near, they down tools and join in the chase. They work hard, too, at unearthing a fox which has got to ground amongst the rocks, where crowbar and hammer are often required to loosen up the huge boulders.
On the fells the huntsman is the only man who wears a scarlet coat, and he is assisted by a whipper-in, who may perhaps wear hunting-cap and dark grey jacket, relieved by a touch of red on the collar and a scarlet waistcoat. ”

“ A big dog-fox is no mean foe, and the combatants on both sides often get severely mauled. A sure sign that a fox is shifting his quarters underground is when the terriers cease marking, and the hounds begin to rush about the borran. It is surprising how a fox will bolt and escape his foes on such occasions. He creeps quietly to some convenient outlet, pauses an instant, then slips away, often unseen until he has placed some distance between himself and the hounds. ”

“ The greatest bugbear of the fell foxhunter is mist. Once the tops are shrouded in an impenetrable grey pall there is nothing but the cry of hounds to direct you, and when the music gradually fades into the distance you stand in a silent world of [7] your own, not knowing, if you are a stranger to the fell, which way to turn. ”

“ In the spring and autumn the grasses and mosses of the upper slopes and of the smooth round shoulders, the bracken of the lower slopes, the larch woods creeping up from the valleys, and the emerald green of the lush meadows present finer contrasts of colour and more variety of shade and tone than the monotonous green of summer ”

“ The fox saw the hound, and quickly altered his speed, while he swung his brush with a circular movement, as if using it like a screw to give him renewed impetus. I have seen a fox keep his brush revolving in a similar manner when very hard pressed by hounds downhill on steep ground, but under average conditions he carries it straight and stiff behind him. ”

“ Terriers of the Sealyham type, short-legged, and broad-chested, whilst able to work in big badger earths, or wide drains, fail when it comes to negotiating narrow cracks and crevices in the rocks, such as foxes are so fond of taking refuge in, on the fells. It matters not how a terrier is bred, or what sort of a mongrel he is, so long as he is a worker, game and courageous to go up to his fox, bolt him, or make an end of him. “Handsome is as handsome does” is the motto on the fells, where nothing but real hard workers are tolerated for a moment. ”

“ The pine-marten is a tree dweller by nature, but on the fells it has its haunt amongst the crags and rocks. Hounds delight in the scent of a “mart,” and in bygone days some very good runs took place. The pine-marten, unlike the fox, is very easy to bolt from an earth, owing to its intense dislike of smoke. Directly the first whiff of burning grass or bracken reaches it, it at once takes to the open. The last pine-marten I have seen in the flesh, was a young marten kitten which I was instrumental in securing in 1915. ”

“ There are plenty of foxes, but sport is never quite at its best until rain or snow has beaten down the luxuriant growth of bracken, which flourishes everywhere. Here a mounted man has the advantage over one on foot, as when hounds run fast it is difficult to keep in touch with them, and, owing to the woods, quite impossible to see for any distance. I have enjoyed some very good sport there at different times, though I much prefer hunting on the open fells. ”

“ After unkennelling a fox on a very windy day, I have heard people exclaim, “Oh! he’ll never face this wind on the top.” Despite such opinions the fox generally does face even the strongest wind, if he has made up his mind to reach some particular point.
It should be remembered that a fox stands a great deal lower than a man, and offers much less resistance to the wind.
I once remember sheltering on Wetherlam behind a boulder, my companion being the huntsman of the Coniston Hounds. It was a wild, windy day, in fact, the wind was so strong that when facing it we could scarcely breathe. ”

“ It is curious, but, nevertheless true, that in England when a low-country pack run their fox to the hills they often lose him, but let the fell hounds force their fox off the fells down to the low ground and they generally kill him. The fell hounds, accustomed to do most of their work on more or less precipitous ground, no doubt feel as if they were having a day off, as it were, when they descend to the level of the dales, whereas it is the other way round with the hounds of the lowland packs. ”

“ Reynard has no hesitation in taking to the water when need be, and I once saw a fox twice swim across the high end of a small lake, when it might just as easily have skirted the water, though doubtless the close proximity of hounds had something to do with the animal’s decision. A fox can climb like a cat, and when jumping an obstruction he hardly ever does so straight. A tame fox, kept in a roomy stable, invariably sprang up the side of the wall and threw himself into the manger, rather than jump straight into the latter, which he could easily do. ”

“ At his own pace a hill fox can go for ever, and it is when scent is rather permanent than strong that extra long runs take place. Even on the roughest fells there is always some ground where hounds can press their fox, and so by degrees get on good terms with him. It is the pace which kills, in addition to the superior condition of the hounds. If a fox has gorged himself overnight, and hounds find him early in the morning, he is not in condition to show them a clean pair of heels, for he cannot, like a heron, lighten himself by throwing up his food. ”

“ Rain, wind, and sun are responsible for the state of the ground, and exert their influence on scent. Too much rain is bad for scent, as the land gets waterlogged. Roughly speaking, scent appears to lie best when the ground is in good riding condition. Wind and sun dry out the ground and harden it, and frost does likewise. Hounds will always run better when it is hard with drought or frost than when it is very wet and holding. Grass generally carries a better scent than plough, though the latter in some districts appears very favourable to it. ”

“ As a rule, it is pretty safe to say that a drag which leads towards the high ground, is right, though on occasion such a line may prove to be heel-way. Even old and experienced hounds are not [92] infallible when it comes to differentiating between the right way and heel, despite the fact that one meets people who swear their hounds won’t run heel. After covering a lot of rough ground on the drag, and having at last unkennelled your fox, the real business of the day has only just begun. ”

“ Whenever scent has thus been retained high in the atmosphere, I have never seen hounds able to run fast, for it is over their heads, and they cannot reach it. In the case of foot-scent, such as is left on a cold drag, hounds have to get their noses right down to it, and work it out patiently. Foot-scent will lead hounds to the exact spot where a fox jumps a wall, or creeps through a hedge, whereas with body-scent they may run fast, but quite wide of the exact line of their fox, the distance varying with the amount of wind. ”

“ On the fells, foxes climb like cats, and can make their way anywhere amongst the crags. Foxes have been known to climb trees when hard pressed by hounds, but the little grey fox of America often does so in pursuit of birds and fruit, it being as much a fruit-eater as a consumer of flesh.
The grey fox is not a sporting beast; it prefers doubling and twisting to running straight, and soon goes to ground. It is more useful, however, than the Indian fox, which leaves no scent at all, and only provides sport when coursed. ”

“ The fell fox is always in better training than his relations in the low country, because he has, as a rule, much further to go in search of food, and his beat is a wide one. He is generally lean and hard, though now and then one comes across a fox carrying a certain amount of fat. A fox, like a hare, or any other hunted animal for that matter, if forced beyond the limit of his beat, is more or less nonplussed, and runs in an aimless manner. I remember a run of this kind in the 1918-19 season, when hounds killed a big dog-fox in the open. ”

“ To jump properly a hound should be short-coupled, compact in build, and have his ribs carried well back. You find this to more perfection in a small hound than a big one. The short-coupled hound can get his hind legs much further under his body, and, in consequence, clears an obstacle with far less strain. Jumping off a wall, too, the light-built hound experiences less jar on landing. At the end of a long day, the light-built hounds of a pack will show less signs of fatigue than those of greater weight, and will return to kennels with their sterns gaily carried. ”