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Webster Family Library of Veterinary Medicine

Cummings Schooi of Veterinary Medicine at

Tufts University

200 VVestbdro Road

FOXHUNTING ON THE LAKELAND

FELLS

BRUCE LOaAN, ESQ., M.F.H., MASTER OF THE CONISTON FOXHOUNDS |
AND THE WINDERMERE HARRIERS.

FOXHUNTING ON THE
LAKELAND FELLS

RICHARD CLAPHAM

WITH AN INTRODUCTION BY THE

RIGHT HON. J. W. LOWTHER

Speaker of the House of Commons

WITH 43 ILLUSTRATIONS FROM PHOTOGRAPHS
BY THE AUTHOR

LONGMANS, GREEN AND CO.

39 PATERNOSTER ROW, LONDON

FOURTH AVENUE & 30th STREET, NEW YORU

BOMBAY, CALCUTTA, AND MADRAS

1920

A U rights reserved

:^:i

Ot.

O

DEDICATED TO

BRUCE LOGAN, ESQ., M.F.H.

Master of the Coniston Foxhounds
AND Windermere Harriers

WITH BOTH OF WHICH PACKS I HAVE ENJOYED

SO MUCH GOOD SPORT DURING THE

LAST TEN SEASONS IN THE

FELL COUNTRY

INTRODUCTION

By the Right Hon. J. W. LOWTHER, M.P.

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. But
these folk belong to the family of " Hirundinidse "
— swallows — they are summer visitants.

To my mind, the Lake Country, always beauti-
ful, is more beautiful at the other three seasons of
the 3^ear. 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 ;
whilst in winter the snow-capped mountains look
higher and grander and more inaccessible, the

viii INTRODUCTION

effects of light and shade are more varied, and even
on the lower slopes, by reason of the lower altitude
of the sun and the prolongation of shadows, the
folds and crinkles of the mountain bases are more
distinctly seen. Visitors, however, are compara-
tively few, for days are short and often wet, the
attractions fewer in number, and accommodation
in the remoter spots not easily available. But
those who come, and are fortunate in their meteoro-
logical experiences, are amply rewarded ; and, if
they are able-bodied and active, can enjoy the
hunting which some four or five packs of hounds
afford.

To most people " hunting " connotes horses
and riders, and red coats, and breeches and boots.
The Lakeland hunter, however, sees none of these
things. At most he will catch an occasional
glimpse of the scarlet coat of huntsman or whip.
A horse would be as much out of place at a meet
of a f ellside pack as a hippopotamus, and be about
as useful. Breeches and boots would be an
impossible handicap. The iron horse, the bicycle,
takes the place of the covert hack, knickerbockers
of leathers, and shooting-boots of tops.

The mountain packs of hounds were instituted
or taken over by the farmers of the district for the
protection of their flocks from the depredation of
the numerous foxes, which frequent the fells, and
at times take a heavy toll of the lambs in the

INTRODUCTION ix

spring. But to business has been added pleasure.
Business, however, comes first. A day's hunting
is always something of a lotter}^, whether it be in
Leicestershire or in Lakeland, and it may be at once
conceded that the Shires produce more prizes than
the fells ; but, on the other hand, the fells never
result in a " blank " dsbj. 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 intermin-
able slopes of grass or moss, a scramble across
shifting screes, long waits, biting blasts, heavj^
showers, drenched garments, the descent of mist,
or the loss to sight and hearing of the pack and all
its followers. All these calamities, however, do
not often occur in combination. Let us look at
the brighter side of things. Then the sportsman
may enjoy a glorious outing, a steady climb, when
every 100 feet of ascent seems to strike a purer
stratum of invigorating air, a gradually expanding
view of distant mountain tops, a glimpse of the
Solway or the Irish Channel miles away, and when
the summit is reached a magnificent panorama of
peaks and precipices, of vast stretches of smooth
uplands and diminutive lakes. Then comes the
satisfying sense of " something attempted,
something done." There is also always the chance

X INTRODUCTION

of having selected a spot from which a good view
of the hunt may be obtained, when the fox can be
seen crossing the breast of the opposite hill with
the hounds stringing out far behind, the anxiety
whether he means to come this way or cross the
opposite sk34ine. If all turns out luckily the
music of the pack grows gradually fortissimo, the
fox slips quietly past, but is rolled over in full
view.

It is not my intention to attempt a record of
the doings of any of the fell packs, of one of which
(the Blencathra) I had the honour of being for
several years the Master. I need now only express
my great regret that parliamentar}^ duties in
London coincided unfortunately with the fox-
hunting season in the Lakes, and limited very
severely my opportunities for the enjoyment of the
sport, which I commend to all who are still
sufficiently young in spirit or vigorous in body to
enjoy this healthy pastime. Young and old ahke
will find in Mr. Clapham's pages an invigorating
description of the sport, as well as a record of
minute and extensive observation of the habits
and idiosyncrasies of the four-legged participants
in the pursuit and a keen appreciation of the
beauty of the surroundings in which Lakeland
hmiting is carried on.

PREFACE

Whilst there are a good many books descriptive
of foxhunting in the Shires and the provinces,
there are few works entirely devoted to sport in
the rough fell countrj^ of the Lake District.

It is, therefore, with the idea of filling this gap
in hunting literature that I venture to pen the
following chapters. Foxhunting on the fells differs
in so many ways from sport in the riding countries
that perhaps this book may serve to interest the
man from the Shires, even if it does not tempt him
to visit the fells and see something of the sport for
himself.

For the man of slender purse the fells will
prove a happy hunting ground indeed. There is
little cause to worry about ways and means in a
country where subscriptions vary from 2s. 6d. to
£5. All you want to enable you to follow hounds is
a stout heart, a stick, and a " piece " in your
pocket, and if luck favours you, as it assuredly will
if you go out often enough, you will find yourself

xii PREFACE

becoming more and more wedded to this wild
country, which, in sunshine or storm, has so many
attractions for those who are not afraid to tackle
it in all its varying moods.

R. CLAPHAM.

Troutbeck,

Windermere,

Apiil, 1920.

CONTENTS

CHAPTER PAGE

I. The Country 1

IT. The Fell Fox 23

III. The Fell Hounds 47

IV. Hunting on the Fells 70

V, Reminiscences 99

ERRATA

Page 24, line 16 : for twenty-one read twenty-three.
Page 110, line 2 from bottom : for sixty read thirty.

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

FACING PAOK

Bbuce Logan, Esq., M.F.H., Master op the Coniston Fos-

HODNDB AND THE WiNDERMBEE HaBRIERS . . Frontisincce

Pell Hunting Country : The High Street Range, prom Trodt-

BECK Park 4

Fell Hunting Country : The High Street Range, from Wans-

FELL 4

Coniston Foxhounds: Hounds and their Huntsman climbing

Steel Fell, in the Snow 10

Coniston Foxhounds : A Kill in the Snow on Steel Fell,

HEAR GbASMERB 12

Charles Wilson, Esq., Ex-Masteb and Huntsman op the

OXENHOLMB StAGHOUNDS 14

(Mr. Wilson formed this pack in 1887, and was Master and huntsman
for over thirty seasons)

Coniston Foxhounds: After a Kill in the Low Country . . 18
(An admiring audience of boys looking at the fox)

Coniston Foxhounds : Bruce Logan, Esq., M.F.H., and Robert

Logan, Esq., Deputy Master 20

Broad Howe: A "Borran" or Earth at the Head op the

Troutbeck (Windermere) Valley 28

(This is a very strong place, and is typical of the fell-country fox-earths)

Looking into Broad Howe "Borran" prom above, after Men
had worked fob a Wbkk to rescue Two Terriers, One op
which died below Ground 28

The Armistice 38

A Three-Weeks-Old Pox Cub 40

Pox Cubs, Three Weeks Old 40

A Dog-Fox Cob, Ten Days Old 42

(Note white tag to immature brush)

Miss Hilda Chapman (Daughter op Anthony Chapman, Ex-
Huntsman op the Windermere Harriers) and her Pet
Pox, " Jacky " (Three Years Old) 42

" Cracker," late op the Coniston Pack : A Big Hound op the

Pell Type SO

" Mischief," late op the Coniston Pack : A Bitch op the

Fell Type 50

Coniston Foxhounds : The Pack 54

CoNftTON Foxhounds : The Pack in Kennels at Greenbank,

ambleside 54

Ullswateb Foxhounds : The Pack with their Huntsman.

Opening Meet, Oct. 11th, 1919 58

XV

2 FOXHUNTING ON LAKELAND FELLS

ing of fell foxhunting been asked the question,
" How do you manage to get about and keep in
touch with hounds on those awful hills ? " The
answer is simple, " On foot." Except in some
portions of the low ground, riding to hounds is
impossible, so the man who would see something
of the work of the mountain hounds must be
prepared to face the hills on Shanks' s pony.

Rising from the dales at an angle of from
45 to 70 degrees, or even steeper, the fells tower
skyward to a height of 2000 feet and over. On
the lower slopes large intakes, rock-strewn and
often studded with scattered thorn trees, divide
the dales from the fells proper. Above these
intakes the ground rises abruptly, and one reaches
a country of rocks and crags, deep ghylls and
watercourses, with scree-beds strewn broadcast
beneath the taller cliffs. The latter are seamed
and intersected with ledges, known in local parlance
as " Benks," on which is often found a luxurious
growth of heather or bleaberry scrub. It is on
these snug weU-sheltered ledges that the hill fox
loves to make his kennel. Protected from the
wind, with a wide view of aU the ground below
him, Reynard curls up where the sun strikes his
couch, and sleeps away the dayhght hours.

Here and there on the lower slopes are larch
plantations, and straggling coverts of oak and
hazel. In these woods foxes He up, though the

THE COUNTRY 3

fell fox proper prefers to have his kennel at a
higher altitude, where chances of disturbance are
less. Lower still, where the huge intakes merge
into smaller enclosures, the number and size of the
woods increase. It is down in this low country
that a mounted man can see something of the
sport, for though the nature of the ground and the
fences prohibits riding right up to hounds, there
are plenty of side roads, bridle-tracks and the hke,
by means of which it is possible to keep in fairly
close touch with the flying pack.

Much of this low ground is heather land, and
everywhere the bracken flourishes in wfld pro-
fusion. In summer it is waist-high, and even
taller, and in early autumn when it changes from
green to russet-brown and yeUow, it hampers the
footsteps of the man on foot, and, owing to its
dryness, makes scenting conditions very difficult.
For this reason hounds seldom visit the low ground
untfl a fall of snow or heavy rain has somewhat
flattened the bracken beds.

On the lower slopes of the high feUs the bracken
is equally luxuriant, covering acres of land which
would otherwise be good pasturage for the httle
Herdwick sheep. Foxes, particularly cubs, are to
be found in these bracken patches, where they lie
and creep about unseen on the approach of an
intruder.

On the summits of the high tops the ground is

4 FOXHUNTING ON LAKELAND FELLS

generally fairly level, covered with a short, thick
turf.

On some of the mountains, such as the High
Street and Harter Fell, there is a very considerable
area of this fairly level ground. Such high-fell
tracts are known in local parlance as " good
running ground," for across them on a decent
scenting day hounds can press their fox severely.

It will easily be understood that the approach
to these high tops is impracticable for horses, and
even if one reached them on horseback the return
journey would be fraught with even greater
difficulty and danger. On foot it is a different
matter altogether. Every one of the feUs can be
climbed by some fairly easy route, and, once on
the tops, the going is good. No matter at what
time of year one rambles on the feUs alone, it
should always be remembered that there is a
certain amount of danger, however small. Without
in the least wishing to " put the wind up " the
reader, I may say that accidents are Hable to
happen, and a sprained ankle is quite sufficient to
place a man in a very awkward position, particu-
larly in winter, when the days are short and the
weather far from good. StiU, one can travel the
fells for years without meeting with the semblance
of such a contretemps, if reasonable care is taken
when crossing rough ground.

When hounds are out there are always local

■i:ll hunting country

THE HIGH STREET RANGE, FROM TROUT-
BECK PARK.

FELL HUNTING COUNTRY : THE HIGH STREET RANGE. FROM WANSFELL.

THE COUNTRY 5

hunters scattered about the various tops, and if
the visiting sportsman follows the lead of one of
these men, he will come to no harm, though he may-
come to respect the walking powers of a dalesman
ere the end of the day.

Having once reached the tops, it is wise to stay
at that altitude, unless hounds are practically
viewing their fox, and driving him hard towards
the dale. It is much quicker to go round the tops
than to make a descent to the dale and then cUmb
out again. When necessary, a descent can be
made down some grass slope, and a long slide down
a loose scree-bed will sometimes gain the same
end with less exertion. A certain amount of
practice is necessary to enable one to travel the
fells with ease, but one soon gets the hang of
walking fast on steep ground, and descending the
latter at speed.

Everything depends, of course, on one's physical
condition, and the character of one's footgear.
Unless heart and lungs are sound, and one is in
some kind of training, fell climbing is astonishingly
hard work, and becomes much more of a toil than
a pleasure.

Thin boots or shoes, with smooth soles, are
useless as well as dangerous. What is required is
a good stout shooting boot, well nailed to prevent
slipping. If anklets are worn with these they will
prevent grit and small stones from entering the

6 FOXHUNTING ON LAKELAND FELLS

boot tops. Shoes are not to be recommended, as
they give no support to the ankles. The clothing
should be fairly thick and wet-resisting, as the
weather on the high tops in winter is often
pretty wild. Loose knickerbockers are better than
knicker-breeches, as the latter restrain the free
action of the knees, and, therefore, make cHmbing
harder. A stick of some kind is a great help, but
I do not recommend the long, alpenstock affairs
which are sold to summer visitors. On steep
ground there always comes a time when a long
stick trips its user, and a stumble of this nature
may easily lead to a very nasty fall. An ordinary
stout walking-stick is the best, as there is Httle
or no chance of getting one's feet mixed up with
it going downhill.

On the high fells the exigencies of the weather
have far more influence on sport than they have
in the low country. At an altitude of 2000 feet
snow is apt to be deep, while the frost is often
extremely severe. Snowstorms, unless unusually
heavy, seldom stop hunting, but when the snow
becomes frozen, and the crags are a mass of ice,
it is unsafe for either hounds or followers. 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

THE COUNTRY 7

your own, not knowing, if you are a stranger to
the fell, which way to turn.

However well you think you know every foot
of the ground, it is surprisingly easy to lose direc-
tion, and unless a lucky chance places you in touch
with hounds again it is wise to get below the
mist and discover your whereabouts. As a rule,
however, if you are on ground you have often
visited before, you will recognise landmarks such
as peat hags, cairns, watercourses, etc., which
will give you the lie of the land and enable you to
go ahead.

Occasionally the fells are what is locally known
as " top clear." At such a time you cUmb steadily
upwards to find yourself at last clear of the cHnging
grey vapour, and beneath you lies an apparently
endless sea of white, stretching into the far distance.
Out of this ocean of mist rises peak after peak of
the mountain ranges, looking Hke islands dotted
in every direction. If the sun is shining at the
time, the glorious panorama will well repay you
for your strenuous climb.

Most people have heard of the " Spectre of the
Brocken " ; well, I have seen exactly the same
thing from the summit of Red Screes, which over-
looks the top of the Kirkstone Pass.

I was standing on the summit of this mountain
one winter's morning, whilst hounds were working
out the drag of their fox on the breast far below.

8 FOXHUNTING ON LAKELAND FELLS

The mist was rising from the lower slopes like a
grey curtain, while the sun shone against my back,
throwing my shadow on to the screen of vapour.
There it became enlarged to enormous proportions,
and as I moved the huge shadowy giant aped my
actions, until I began to think I was " seeing
things."

I have at times seen some extraordinarily fine
rainbow effects amongst the crags, just as the rain
began to cease and the sun broke through the
clouds.

Next to mist, rain and wind, particularly the
latter, handicap followers of the fell hounds.
Rain wets you through, but you don't mind that ;
it is all in the day's work, but when it is combined
with a driving wind which stops your breath and
all but lifts you off your feet it becomes rather
too much of a good thing. Once on Wetherlam
I saw two coupled terriers lifted bodily off the
ground by the wind, and the huntsman's cap
suddenly left his head and departed swiftly into
thin air. If it be freezing at such times your
clothing, eyelashes, etc., become coated with hoar-
frost, and the icy blast penetrates to your very
marrow. In the face of such a wind you have to
constantly turn round to get your breath, and all
sounds beyond the shriek of the gale are obliterated.

Shelter where and how you wiU, and strain
your ears to the uttermost, it is impossible to hear

THE COUNTRY 9

the cry of hounds unless they happen to be very
near you. 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 skyhne, whereas in reaHty they were
on the opposite side of the valley beyond, running
through the breast at a high altitude.

Most of the fell country carries a good scent,
except sometimes in early autumn and spring, when
the sun dries up the dew quite early in the morning.
Directly the bracken is beaten down by snow
and rain, and the land holds moisture, hounds can
work out a drag, and hunt and run with the best.

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. The
snow is damp but not too deep, and hounds drive
along as if tied to their fox. The air is still and
clear, enabling one to hear the music at a great
distance, and, with good visibihty, hounds can

10 FOXHUNTING ON LAKELAND EELLS

easily be seen threading their way through the
rough ground across the wide dale. Scent is often
very good indeed in damp snow, though at times
it may be just the reverse. " There's nowt sae
queer as scent," unless perhaps it be a woman.

Apart from hunting, I often think that visitors
make a mistake in not coming to the fells in winter.
Grand as the views are in summer, they are equally
fine, if not finer, in winter, when the weather is
frosty and settled.

I have already spoken of the impracticability
of the fells as a riding country, for if —

" He who gallops his hcrse on Blackstone Edge
May chance to find a faU,"

the same horseman would find no chance about it
on places like Striding Edge or St. Sunday Crag
in Lakeland.

At any time of the year many of the huge
crags on the fells are dangerous for hounds, and
equally so for the too venturesome follower. To
mention but a few, there is the crag overhanging
Goat's Water on Coniston Old Man, Pavey Ark
in Langdale, Dove Crag at the head of Dovedale,
Raven Crag on Holme Fell, and Greenhow End
overlooking Deepdale. Most, if not all, of the
places mentioned have been the scenes of accidents
to hounds, as well as thriUing rescues.

Considering the roughness of the fell hunting
country^ as a whole, it is a matter for surprise that

iXISTON foxhounds: UUUXDS and their HUNT.^MAN CLIMBING
STEEL FELL, IN THE SNOW.

THE COUNTRY 11

there are not more accidents. Although hardly
a season passes without a contretemps of some
kind, losses amongst hounds of the feU packs
through fatal accidents are comparatively rare.

I have previously mentioned the fact that when
travelling the fells unaccompanied by a companion,
a sprained ankle may give one a pretty bad time,
and if night is drawing on may lead to having to
pass a riight on the open fell. As an example, I
may perhaps quote a case which happened not
many seasons ago.

I was standing with a huntsman one winter's
day on Wetherlam. There was sufficient snow to
cover the loose stones and rocks, and make the
latter sHppery. The pack was running their fox
below us when we espied Reynard coming in our
direction. UncoupUng four hounds he had with
him the huntsman ran in to give these hounds a
view, when I saw him stumble and fall. On
reaching him I found he had sprained his ankle
very badly indeed, and in a short time his foot
swelled tremendously. With my assistance he
was able to travel some distance downhill, where I
finally left him and went in search of further help.
Luckily this was forthcoming in the shape of some
hunters whom I overtook, and aided by them the
wounded man was able to reach a road, where a
trap met him and conveyed him to his home. It
was some weeks before he could again hunt hounds,

12 FOXHUNTING ON LAKELAND FELLS

and had he been alone when the accident happened
he might easily have had a very bad time of it
indeed, as the weather was bitterly cold and the
district was an unfrequented one.

We read of people in the Arctic regions going
snow-blind, as well as perishing with cold, but the
same things may happen on the fells, if one does not
take reasonable care.

I was once on the top of Fairfield, at the head
of the Rydal valley, when the sun was shining
warmly, and the reflected light from the crusted
snow was intense. Having previously experienced
the symptoms of snow-blindness in Canada, I
repeated the experience that day, and I verily
beUeve I should have gone temporarily blind had
I not moved away to where the glare w^as less acute.

As regards perishing from cold, this may easily
happen to a person on the high tops in winter,
should he, through over-exertion, be compelled,
or perhaps I should say, give in to his desire to sit
down. A drowsiness comes over one, and sleep
may end in the person being badly frozen, if
nothing worse. I have recollections of a youth
who ventured to the top of Red Screes one winter's
morning on hunting bent, and, being quite unused
to hill cUmbing, sat down in an exhausted con-
dition. He took some rousing too, and had he
been left to his own devices I very much doubt if
he would have left the hill alive.

COKISTON FOXHOUNDS : A KILL IN THE SNOW ON STEEL FELL,
NEAR GRASMERE.

THE COUNTRY 13

Although all such happenings are possible, the
use of a Uttle care and common sense will carry one
through a score of seasons in the fell country
without the sUghtest mishap. One should always
remember that the climatic conditions in winter
and early spring are very different on the high tops
from what they are in the country far below in the
dales.

I have come down off the top of Fairfield in
April, after being white from head to foot with
hoarfrost, into a warm summer atmosphere near
Windermere Lake. People generally look at you
in surprise if you tell them that 2000 feet above
the dales the tops are still well within the grip
of winter.

One possible danger that I have so far omitted
to mention, is the chance of being overtaken by
darkness on the fell. No matter how w^eU you
know your way down, on a dark night, it is a
thankless job striking matches or peering about
with a flashlamp in the rough ground. With a
moon and a clear sky you are safe enough, while
there is a novelty about walking the tops under
such conditions. A night spent on the open fell
is bound to be a chilly one, for at a high altitude
there is little or no material to make a fire. Still,
if you should be caught in the dark, it is better to
wait for daylight than risk breaking a leg or your
neck over some crag. I have had one or two

14 FOXHUNTING ON LAKELAND FELLS

experiences of struggling down to civilisation in
the dark, and I much prefer to do it when there is
at least some Uttle hght to guide me on the proper
route.

I remember once crossing the top of Red
Screes by moonlight, after hounds had run their
fox to ground at Dod Bields earth in Caiston.
It was a briUiant night, however, and we had not
the least difficulty in reaching the " Traveller's
Rest " inn, at the head of the Kirkstone Pass.

In the foregoing I have perhaps laid rather too
great stress upon the bad weather in the fell
country, therefore, I will hasten to add that the
winter chmate of the Lakeland dales is exception-
ally mild. Two thousand feet or more, of course,
makes a lot of difference in cUmatic conditions,
and those who do not care to face the exigencies of
the high tops can still see much sport with hounds
if they stick to the lower reaches of the fells.

Sometimes the people in the bottom see a great
deal more than those on top, and, of course, from
below one gets a panoramic view of a hunt, with
the entire fell side as the scene of operations. A
car, a motor cycle, or even the humble " push-bike "
are extremely useful at times during the course of a
run with the fell hounds. Occasionally, as, for
instance, in the Thirlmere valley, hounds run for a
considerable distance parallel with the main road.
At such times a car or a cycle enables you to slip

CHARLES WILSON, ESQ., EX-MASTER AND HUNTSMAN OF THE
OXENHOLME STAGHOUNDS.

THE COUNTKY 15

along in touch with hounds, whereas without it
you would be left toiHng in the rear. After some
Httle experience of sport in this wild countrj^ one
soon learns how best to get about, and when to
trust to " Shanks's pony," and where to leave a
cycle in case it may be needed in a hurry.

A fair number of ladies attend the meets of the
fell packs during the course of a season, and
wonderfully well, indeed, do some of them get
about.

When speaking of the Lake District, one
naturally thinks of Cumberland and Westmorland ;
but Lancashke contains some of the higher fells,
such as Wetherlam and Coniston Old Man. The
real boundary of the district is the range of fells
south-east of Windermere, and from there a hne
drawn round Coniston, Wastwater, Ennerdale,
Grummock and Bassenthwaite Lakes ; continuing
over the summits of Skiddaw and Saddleback,
southward over Helvellyn, then swinging left to
enclose Ullswater and Haweswater, and so back
to Windermere. The valleys of Kentmere, Long
Sleddale and Swindale are just outside the cordon
as drawn above, and so is the Lower Duddon
valley on the south-west, but they and all the
country included in the roughly-drawn circle,
contain scenery typical of Lakeland.

The rainfall in the Lake District appears large
on paper, from about 50 inches in the outlying

16 FOXHUNTING ON LAKELAND FELLS

parts to 150 in the more central portions. This,
however, does not mean that there is a more or
less constant drizzle. When it rains amongst the
fells, it rains ; a heavy downpour, then clear
weather to follow. In summer, as in the hot
weather of 1919, there is often a drought.

Speaking of rain reminds me of the yarn con-
cerning the coach-driver, who, when asked by a
passenger if they had much rain in the district,
rephed, " Why, neay ; it donks an' dozzles and
does, an' 'appen comes a bit o' a snifter, but nivver
what you'd ca' a gey gert pell ! "

When out with hounds the visitor will come
across many of the small Herdwick sheep scattered
about the fells. Before he leaves the district he
will no doubt have come to appreciate them as
mutton, than which there is none better in the
country.

It was Jack Sheldon, another well-known coach-
driver, who used to describe the scenery to his
passengers, when tooling his team between Winder-
mere and Keswick. His conversation was some-
thing Hke this : " We are now crossing Matterdale
Moor, where the farmers have a right of grazing so
many sheep by paying a shilling a year to the lord
of the manor. There's fine grass here and on
HelveUyn for the hogs ! " A retired butcher being
on the coach one day remarked, " But I don't see
any hogs ! " " Well," said Jack, " not pigs, but

THE COUNTRY 17

the small sheep you see moving about ; they are
a special breed, and very good eating. They are
called ' hogs ' for the first year, and when they
have been shorn they are called ' twinters,' and
after losing their second fleece are known as
' thrunters,' and that's pretty near to ' grunters,'
but when they're killed the butcher calls them
* Helvellyn mutton.' "

The Lake District proper is free of limestone,
with the exception of a narrow strip of what is
known as Coniston limestone. As far as hunting is
concerned, this is no loss, for scenting conditions
on bare limestone rock are generally bad, unless
the atmosphere is very damp. On the north,
Penrith is the boundary of the hmestone, and in
the south, Whitbarrow and Cartmel.

All of the fell country Hunts have some low
ground adjoining the fells, which they visit once
or twice during the season. This low ground will
appeal to those who find fell climbing too
strenuous.

The Coniston hounds, which hunt the Winder-
mere district, visit the Winster valley, making
their headquarters for the inside of a week at
Strawberry Bank. This low country is rideable,
inasmuch as it is possible to keep in touch with
hounds by making use of side-roads, bridle-tracks,
etc. The country consists chiefly of woodlands,
with large heather- covered allotments, merging

c

18 FOXHUNTING ON LAKELAND FELLS

into grass j&elds in the valley. 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.

Many of the dalesmen are extraordinarily keen
on hunting, nor does age appear to daunt them.
I know several men over seventy years old who
foUow hounds at every opportunity. One keen
hunter lived to be over ninety, and actually cHmbed
to the top of Coniston Old Man on his ninetieth
birthday. It was the immortal Jorrocks's hunts-
man, James Pigg, who said, " Brandy and baccy Tl
gar a man hve for iver ! " but in the case of the
north-country dalesman I think it is fresh moun-
tain air and lots of exercise that " keeps the
tambourine a rowUn' ! "

The various inns throughout the country have
harboured many a gathering of hunters after the
death of a fox in their vicinity. It is the custom
in Lakeland to take the carcass of the fox to the
nearest inn, where it is hung from a " crook " in
the ceiling of the bar-parlour, for all to see.

THE COUNTRY 19

Fell hunting engenders a considerable thirst,
therefore jugs of beer are in great demand. A
pint or two usually incites some hunter to song,
and soon the house will be echoing to the chorus of
" John Peel," " Joe Bowman," or some other local
hunting ditty. Gradually the gathering breaks
up, the hunters wending their way towards their
respective homes, and occasionally, en route, some
of them will see more than one fox.

Talking of beer reminds me of the sign which
used to grace the famous " Mortal Man Hotel " in
Troutbeck ; and read as follows : —

" Oh mortal man that liv'st on bread.
How cornea thy nose to be so red ?
Thou silly ass, that look'st so pale.
It comes of Sally Birkett's ale."

The "Traveller's Rest," at the top of the
Kirkstone Pass (1476 feet), has in its time been
the scene of many a foxhunting " harvel " or
celebration. An old entry in the visitors' book
ran thus —

" The Sunday traveller on the Kirkstone Pass,
Is bona fide and may have his glass :
So, gentle stranger, do not stop to think ;
Open your mouth, throw back your head and drink !

" And while reposing 'neath the bleak fell-sides.
As down your throat the nimble liquor glides.
Bless the kind parson ^ who with these rude stones,
Built this 'ere Inn to rest your weary bones."

^ The Rev. — Sewell, formerly Vicar of Troutbeck.

20 FOXHUNTING ON LAKELAND FELLS

Whilst the fox is our premier beast of chase in
Lakeland, the hare is also hunted, and deer provide
sport in the country adjoining the fells. In the
old days, however, there were two other animals,
now very rare, i.e. the polecat and the pine-
marten, which were a recognised quarry for
hounds.

To-day, as far as I can gather, the polecat,
or foumart, is extinct in Lakeland. The pine-
marten, or " sweet mart," to distinguish it
from its evil-smelling relation, the foumart or
" foul mart," still lingers on some of the wilder
feUs.

The pine-marten is a tree dweUer by nature, but
on the f eUs it has its haunt amongst the crags and
rocks. Hounds deUght in the scent of a " mart,"
and in bygone days some very good runs took
place. The pine-marten, unhke the fox, is very
easy to bolt from an earth, owing to its intense
dishke of smoke. Directly the first whiff of burn-
ing 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. It became the
property of a weU-known lady naturahst, who
reared it successfully, and it proved a charming
pet.

Although, as far as I am aware, extinct in
Lakeland, the polecat is still fairly plentiful in

CONISTON FOXHOUNDS : BRUCE LOGAN, ESQ., M.F.H.,

THE COUNTRY 21

parts of Wales. A year or two ago I had a very
fine specimen sent to me from there.

In Vyner's " Notitia Venatica " is an illustra-
tion of foxhounds finding a " marten cat." One
of the hunters is shown up a tree holding some
burning straw or other material on the end of a
long stick. The pine-marten is represented jump-
ing out of the tree into one adjoining. This
marten's brush is apparently tipped with white,
surely a mistake on the part of the artist who
drew the picture, as I have never seen or heard of
a " mart " with such a white tag to its caudal
appendage.

It is a great pity there are not more martens
in the country. In addition to being beautiful and
interesting creatures, they are the deadly foe of
squirrels, which do much harm to trees in young
plantations.

The hunting man who is interested in photo-
graphy will find endless opportunities when out
with the fell packs of recording incidents of the
chase. It is needless to say that a small fight-
weight camera should be selected, anything larger
than quarter-plate being too much of a handicap
on steep ground.

To a lover of sport in wild country, foxhunting
in the Lake District must make a strong appeal.
In fine or stormy weather the fells have a peculiar
charm of their own, and if we add to the beauties

22 FOXHUNTING ON LAKELAND FELLS

of Nature the mellow notes of the horn and the
cry of hounds echoing amongst the crags, we can
say in the words of the old Roman author —

" And from without the mountain girth.
Whene'er his wandering steps draw near,
The stranger, from whatever earth.
Desires the country of his birth
No more, but yearns to sojourn here."

CHAPTER II

THE FELL FOX

" Who — whoop ! they have him, they're round him ;
They worry and tear when he's down ;
'Twas a stout hUl fox when they found him.
Now 'tis a hundred tatters of brown."

In John Peel's time the fell country fox was a
distmct variety. Long in the leg, with a grizzle-
grey jacket covering a wiry frame, the appellation
" greyhound " fitted him exactly. As such he
was then known, and the extraordinary long runs
which he often provided fully upheld his reputa-
tion as a traveller. In habits, too, he was different
from the present-day representatives of the vulpine
race. Wild and shy, he avoided the haunts of
men, and was seldom found lying up anywhere
near human habitations. He and his kind were
few in number, compared with the ample stock
to-day, and in consequence each individual fox
travelled a wider beat, and knew more country.
It, therefore, naturally followed that hounds often
ran fast and far when piloted by one of these old-
fashioned " greyhound " customers.

24 FOXHUNTING ON LAKELAND FELLS

By degrees, owing to the importation of foxes
for restocking certain districts adjoining the fells,
the true hill fox became infused with this new
blood. The new-comers were a smaller and
redder variety, and although to-day hounds often
account for foxes with greyish jackets, the supply
as a whole differs little in appearance from the
foxes which are brought to hand in the shires.
It may be safely said that the real old " greyhound "
variety is a thing of the past, only to be seen to-day
staring woodenly from a glass case in the fell-side
farmhouses.

Long and lean, the fell fox proper was a much
heavier animal than his relations who have
usurped his place. Eighteenpounds was a common
weight, and instances of twenty and twenty-one
pounds have been recorded, but to-day there are
more foxes under than over sixteen pounds. Now
and then the fell packs kill an extra heavy fox, and
I can vouch for the weights of at least three foxes
which pulled down the scales to the eighteen-pound
mark.

Curiously enough two of these foxes were killed
by the Coniston Hounds on the same day. The
date was March 16th, 1913, and the first fox was
killed at High Dale Park, near Coniston, after a
good hunt of two and a haK hours. Fox number
two was run into on the shore of Coniston Lake,
after a fast hunt, by way of High Bethicar,

THE FELL FOX 25

Brockbarrow, and the Nibthwaite and Park-a-
Moor coverts.

This season, 1919, the same pack killed a big,
lean dog fox on November 25th, at Birk Brow in
the Winster valley. This fox weighed exactly
eighteen pounds, and was in hard condition. In
November, 1912, the Melbrake Hounds accounted
for a fox of nineteen pounds. They found him on
Low Fell, and ran him, by way of WhinfeU, to the
river Cocker. The stream being in flood, the fox
retraced his track to Low Fell, where he went to
ground. The terriers bolted him, and he gave a
further five-mile spin before he was run into at
Buttermere. On Thursday, January 15th, 1920,
the Coniston Foxhounds kiUed a nineteen-pound
dog-fox in the open, near Blea Tarn, Langdale.
This is an exceptionally heavy fox, even for the
fell country.

In his habits, the fell fox differs little from his
relations in the low countries. In the daytime he
makes his couch at a high elevation, often on one
of the many heather or bleaberry covered ledges
which seam the face of the crags on the mountain
top. Occasionally he may lie at a lower elevation,
amongst the ling on the grouse ground, or in some
straggHng covert of larch or oak ; but his kind
generally prefer to make their kennel well up the
feU-side, where, except for the visit of an occasional
shepherd, they are free from disturbance. When

26 FOXHUNTING ON LAKELAND FELLS

the sun begins to sink, Reynard leaves his bed,
stretches himself, and turns his mask in the
direction of the dales. On the fell proper, there is
Httle for him to feed on, with the exception of
beetles and frogs, and an occasional carcass in the
shape of a defunct sheep. Lower down he can
find rabbits, grouse, and perhaps a pheasant, or, if
he be impudent enough, can make a raid on the
farmers' poultry. Young lamb, too, is an item
added to his, or, perhaps, I should say, her menu in
spring, for it is then when the vixen has cubs, and
the latter require constant feeding. In summer the
fells swarm with beetles, and if the excrement of a
fox be examined it will often be found to consist
almost entirely of the wing cases and other hard
portions of these insects. Frogs, too, are a
favourite food. I have often found lumps of frog
spawn lying on the narrow footpaths leading to the
feU tops, and for a long time I used to wonder how
these lumps got there. I finally arrived at the
conclusion that foxes are responsible for the
presence of the spawn. Reynard catches his frog
in some pool or marshy spot, and carries his prey
with him as he wends his way up one of the weU-
defined " trods." There he makes a meal of the
frog, but the spawn squeezed out of the creature he
disHkes, so leaves it untouched.

Where he can get rabbits he will seldom go
short of food, though little comes amiss to him if

THE FELL FOX 27

he thinks he can use it for a meal. Like a dog, he
often buries food for future consumption. I was
recently talking to a keeper who found three
rabbits buried in the snow. The tale of Reynard's
doings was plainly told on the white surface. The
rabbits had been feeding in rank grass and rushes,
and the fox had easily stalked and captured them.
I have found the following Ust of furred and
feathered creatures scattered about in and around
a fell fox's earth : Portions of two leverets, remains
of several rabbits, feathers and bones of grouse, a
very young lamb, and the untouched body of a
short-eared owl. The only mark on the owl was a
bite in the neck, probably done by the vixen when
she killed the bird. Owl had not apparently
suited the cubs' taste, otherwise they would soon
have pulled it to pieces.

At other earths I have found remains of
pheasants and woodcock, with occasionally bones
and feathers of blackgame. Both the dog-fox and
the vixen carry food to the cubs, but the vixen does
most of this work.

If an earth is disturbed when the cubs are quite
young, the vixen carries them off one by one to
some safer retreat. A breeding earth often be-
comes very foul, what with the excrement of the
cubs and the rotting portions of food left lying
about. Unless the vixen occasionally shifted her
offspring disease would be liable to attack them.

28 FOXHUNTING ON LAKELAND FELLS

As a rule the vixen lays down her cubs in some
small and comparatively simple earth, often within
reach of other and more extensive rocky retreats.
The latter are used when the cubs are nearly fall-
grown. On the fells, a fox can get to ground
almost anywhere amongst the rocks, but there are
in every district weU-known earths or, in local
parlance, " Borrans," which have been regularly
used by generations of foxes. Some of these earths
go a long way underground, and are composed of
masses of rock and huge boulders, amongst which
it is always difficult, and often dangerous, to work,
in an attempt to unearth a fox which has gone to
ground. Where a fox can go a small terrier can
generally follow, but at times the dog is unable to
return, and many a good terrier has lost his life
in some underground retreat from which it was
impossible to extricate him.

The fell fox loves rough ground, and uphill
amongst the rocks he is a match for the swiftest
hound. He can chmb hke a cat, and can squeeze
his lean body through a very small opening. When
hard pressed by hounds, instead of going to ground,
he will sometimes attempt to evade them by taking
refuge on some narrow ledge or " benk " on the
crags. When this happens there is always the
danger that hounds in the excitement of fresh-
finding their fox may fall from the ledges on to the
jagged rocks far below. Although Reynard is

THE FELL FOX 29

quite at home in such places, even he sometimes
goes too far, and finds his retreat cut off, and an
impassable route ahead of him. There he crouches
until some too venturesome hound finds a way to
him, and unless the hound catches and holds him
on the ledge, one or other of them, if not both,
will be lucky if they escape death by a fall.

I have seen a young hound fall with his fox
from a height of two hundred feet, and I can assure
you it is far from being a pleasant sight. This
season, 1919, 1 watched a fox run by the Blencathra
Hounds, take refuge on a blaeberry-covered ledge
on a small crag. Hounds could wind him from
the top, and at last one of them scrambled up from
below and walked right on top of the fox. Reynard
sprang up, the hound seized, but could not hold
him, and I saw the fox fall backwards off the ledge
as he wrenched himself free. Luckily the hound
had sense not to follow. Reynard fell a matter of
fifty feet, scrambled on to his legs again, and went
off, though it was easy to see he was badly shaken
by his fall. Not long after he went to ground, was
ejected, and finally killed.

Hunting with the same pack on another oc-
casion, I saw a fox climb the face of a steep crag
overlooking Thirlmere Lake. Only one hound
out of the four couples which were running him
managed to make the ascent, the remainder going
round and out to the top by a different route.

30 FOXHUNTING ON LAKELAND FELLS

The fences on the fells consist of loose stone
walls, and foxes often run the wall tops for long
distances, both when hunted and when out on
the prowl.

On bad ground the fox uses his brush to aid him
when making a quick turn at speed, and also to
correct his balance in descending a decUvity. I
once watched a big dog-fox descend a steep, frozen
snow drift. He carried his brush straight up
in the air, whilst he took short mincing steps on
the shppery surface. At ordinary times he carries
his caudal appendage straight out behind him,
the tip incUned slightly towards the ground.

Both dog-fox and vixen may have a white tag
to the brush, though I think there are more of the
former than the latter with such white tips. A
white-tagged brush is not at any rate, as I have
heard it said, the invariable mark of a dog-fox.

Hill foxes vary a good deal in colour, from a
light yellowish-red to dark red, with sometimes a
good many grey hairs mixed with the rest. The
" greyhound " fox often showed a lot of white
about the fore legs, but modern foxes shade off
from red to black. During the 1918 season the
Coniston Hounds killed a fox with an abnormal
amount of white about the front of its mask.

When driven off the fell, and hard pressed by
hounds in the low ground, I have seen foxes take
refuge in all sorts of places. Once on a roof, again

THE FELL FOX 31

on the window-ledge of a cottage, in a coal-house,
and one desperately hunted fox sprang into a
stream in roaring flood, to be carried under a bridge.
Dry drains are often used as lying-up places, and
they also afford refuge for hunted foxes, as do
rabbit holes.

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 some-
thing to do with the animal's decision. A fox can
climb hke 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. A fox is also hke a cat in the
matter of the proverbial " nine hves." I have
often seen one after a terrific underground battle
with the terriers, finally drawn out to all appear-
ances dead, or practically so. Thrown on the
ground the carcass has suddenly come to life, and
made a bold bid for hberty.

If forced to go to ground in a spot not of his
own choosing, a hill fox will sometimes squeeze
himself tight into a narrow crevice of the rock
where he is unable to distribute punishment to the
terriers, but is forced to take and endure it from

32 FOXHUNTING ON LAKELAND FELLS

them. As a rule, however, Eeynard takes good
care to make his stand where he commands the
upper position, the terriers having to go up to
him face to face. When this happens, the dog
often gets badly marked, until another terrier can
get behind the fox and force him to change his
ground. When run to ground even in a big earth,
a hunted fox sometimes elects to bolt very quickly.
I remember on one occasion watching a fox enter
a very strong earth, and before hounds could get
to the spot, it bolted, went to ground again a few
yards further on, and finall}^ bolted and made
straight away, to afford a good hunt.

A sure sign that a fox in a rocky earth is
shifting his position underground, and may show
himself, is when the terriers cease barking, and
hounds begin to rush about the " Borran." A fox
has an uncanny knack of escaping from hounds,
even if they are practically all round him. In
rough ground, particularly, he is an adept at making
his getaway.

In long heather a fox will often lie very close
indeed, until hounds hunt right up to him. Then
when you see the members of the pack jumping
above the heather, as if expecting to view their
quarry, you can look out, for he is sure to be lying
hidden somewhere close to you. He will do the
same on the ledge of a crag if he thinks he can
escape notice, but, as a rule, he is not long in

- THE FELL FOX 33

leaving his retreat. I remember on one occasion
seeing a fox curled up on a ledge quite bare of
cover, in a crag overlooking the Deepdale valley.
Hounds were questing for a drag far below. I was
talking to another man at the time, yet that fox
lay there and never stirred even an ear. Finally,
I threw a stone at it, which bounced off the rock
above it, making considerable noise. Still that
fox lay on, as if deaf and blind. The next stone,
however, was better aimed, and it rolled a few
feet right on top of the fox. That woke him up,
and he tarried not on his going. He must either
have been asleep, or could not have heard or
winded us. There was a stiffish breeze at the
time, which may have had something to do
with it.

I have onty once seen a breeding earth actually
in a crag. The vixen had chosen for her retreat a
crevice in the face of the rock ; the ascent to
which was by no means easy. That the cubs had
been well fed there was abundant evidence in the
shape of pheasants' tail feathers, bones, etc.
These birds had been caught and killed in the
dale below, and had been carried by the vixen for a
considerable distance. Dog-foxes fight amongst
themselves; these battles no doubt taking place
in spring, when they travel long distances to visit
the vixen of their choice. I have in my possession
the mask of a big dog-fox — he weighed over seven-

D

34 FOXHUNTING ON LAKELAND FELLS

teen pounds — with half the left ear gone, doubtless
the result of a fight.

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 con-
dition to show them a clean pair of heels, for he
cannot, hke a heron, Hghten himself by throwing
up his food. The consequence is, if hounds get
away on anything hke good terms, they burst
him in a very short time. On the other hand,
if he has come from a long distance in search of a
vixen, he is not hkely to have let hunger draw him
away from love-making, so should he be forced to
run for his life he can do it on an empty stomach,
and his course is likely to be in a bee-line back to
his own country. Then, if scent is good, the pace
wiU be a cracker, and many miles will be covered,
ere he is rolled over or run to ground. It
is in spring that most of the longest runs take
place, when the dog-foxes are on love-making
bent.

The pace of a fox is very deceptive. He moves
with a ghding action that carries him swiftly over

THE FELL FOX 35

the ground. One minute he is here, the next he
is far away, and you wonder how the dickens he
did it. Not long ago a hunted fox passed me on a
road, so close I could have touched him with a
stick. I stood stock still when I saw him coming,
and he took not the shghtest notice of me. His
mouth was slightly open, his black-tipped ears
flattened close to his head, and he carried his brush
straight and stiff as a poker behind him. I could
plainly hear his panting, and the sound of his pads
on the hard surface of the road. He did not
appear to be travelling fast, so smooth was his
action, but he passed me like a flash, and was
very soon out of sight.

The fell fox does not get his first experience
of being hunted until later in the year than the
date set for cub-hunting in the Shires. Some-
where about the first or second week in October he
will be roused some morning by the sound of the
horn, and the music of the pack. It will be lucky
for him if scent is only moderate, for in all proba-
bihty he knows little country beyond the particular
mountain where he was bred. If he survives the
day he wiU begin to think his old quarters are not
so very safe after all, and by degrees he will
lengthen his journeys until he becomes famihar
with a much wider area of country. Next time
hounds come he may lead them a merry dance,
and if luck is once more with him, he will have

36 FOXHUNTING ON LAKELAND FELLS

gained still greater confidence in his powers and
knowledge of his beat.

That certain foxes manage to live to a great age
there is ample evidence in the shape of old and
almost toothless customers brought to hand.
It is a matter for surprise that nearly aU these
old things are fat and in good condition. Probably
as age weakens their powers they make up for
it in cunning, and so manage to still secure an
adequate food supply. Like human beings, very
old foxes show a good deal of grey about the head,
giving them a grizzled, worn appearance.

Although the hill fox does most of his wandering
abroad at night, he may occasionally be seen in
dayhght. Not long since a fox walked almost the
entire length of the Troutbeck valley, near Winder-
mere, despite the fact that he was loudly halloed
at by several people en route. One may travel the
fells for years without setting eyes on a fox except
when hounds are out, despite the ample stock of
foxes which now inhabit the mountains.

During the last ten years I have not seen more
than half a dozen foxes when I have been wandering
about the hills, though, curiously enough, I saw
one on three successive evenings not long ago, in
aU probabihty the same fox on each occasion.
This fox was coming down off the hill en route
to the low ground, at about the same time each
evening. Of course, if you are shooting on the

THE FELL FOX 37

high ground, or walking with a shepherd whose
dogs are running about the fell, you may often
chance to disturb a fox. I refer, of course, to old
foxes, not cubs, which latter are often to be seen
in the vicinity of their earths.

A big dog-fox bred on the fells, is no mean
antagonist for a terrier ; in fact, if the latter is a
small one, it may on occasion meet death at the
white fangs of the fox. Reynard is no coward;
when forced to fight he can put up a terrific battle.
In addition he can stand a lot of punishment.

That dread scourge, mange, seldom makes its
appearance on the fells, and was unheard of until
the importation of foxes from outside introduced
it. There is no more horrid sight than a badly
manged fox, hairless, and foul with disease.

Fell fox cubs are easy to rear, and make nice
pets, but they must be kept scrupulously clean, and
properly fed. I once gave a cub to a friend of
mine, and it Uved for over three years in captivity.
It was kept in a stable, where an old pony shared
the space. Pony and fox were great friends, and
it was no uncommon sight to see the fox jumping
on and off the pony's back.

This fox became on quite friendly terms with
a terrier, and on several occasions I photographed
the two of them coupled together. The friendship
made not the shghtest difference to the utility of
the terrier against other foxes, for on the day after

38 FOXHUNTING ON LAKELAND FELLS

I photographed him and his vulpine pal, he ran a
long wet drain and collared his fox at the end of it,
hounds having forced Reynard to ground.

I have previously said that fox cubs are
easy to rear, and in a way they are, depending,
however, on their age when taken from the
breeding earth. When very young, say two
or three days old, they are quite helpless, being
both blind and toothless. At this stage of
their existence they should be fed on milk. If
a rubber teat with a very smaU aperture is used,
they will learn to suck warm milk through it. At
first I used to give cubs diluted milk, but they
seem to thrive on new milk quite as well. When
very young, the body covering of a cub is mouse-
colour, but even at this tender age the tiny
tail — ^hardly to be called a brush — often shows
a white tip. Very young cubs must be kept
warm, otherwise they are apt to chill and die
suddenly. As they grow older, artificial heat
may be dispensed with. Cubs open their eyes
fuUy when about three weeks old, and at
first their eyes are bluish-grey in colour. At
something over three weeks the eyes begin to
assume the amber hue of the eyes of the adult,
and the coat commences to turn from mouse-
colour to brown. At five weeks the cub can walk
in rather a wobbly sort of way, but the legs
rapidly gain strength. From this stage onward.

THE ARMISTICE.
" Kelly," one of the Coniston Hunt terriers, and '" Jacky," a tame fox.

THE FELL FOX 39

cubs should be kept in a roomy kennel or other
enclosure, as they become very active and playful,
and delight in exercise.

When their teeth begin to appear, a small
quantit}' of meat may be given them. Rabbit
flesh with a bit of the skin and fur adhering to ifc
is the best. After my cubs were big enough to
take meat, they still preferred their milk by
suction through a teat, and it required some
patience and persuasion before they would lap
from a saucer. They were fond of gnawing and
playing with bones, and used to growl furiously
if I interfered with their food. Absolute cleanh-
ness of their abode is of vital importance if the
cubs are to grow up healthy and well. Once thej'-
begin to feed heartily on meat, water is better for
them than milk, and a clean supply should always
be within their reach. In a wild state water is
their only drink, and flesh, coupled with beetles,
frogs, etc., their chief food. Mice, or, rather, field
voles are the first creatures which the vixen
teaches her cubs to stalk and kill. Both cubs and
adult foxes devour quantities of these voles, and
spend a good deal of time stalking them.

A fox stalks a vole in the same way that a cat
goes about the business. Wandering along in the
moonhght, on the prowl for anything edible,
Reynard's unerring nose warns him of the presence
of a vole. A few paces ahead of him he sees the

40 FOXHUNTING ON LAKELAND FELLS

grass stems moving, beneath which the tiny rodent
is at work. Step by step the fox makes his noise-
less approach, until, within springing distance, he
halts, then bounds straight on top of the vole, nose
and forepaws coming down together. A crunch,
a swallow, and the tit-bit disappears down
Reynard's throat. It is only a morsel, but evi-
dently a tasty one, otherwise the fox would not
waste so much of his time in pursuit of mice and
voles.

Any one who has watched a Utter of well-
grown cubs at play in a large enclosure, wiU
discover how it is that a fox can so easily beat
hounds for pace on very rough hill-ground.

I once spent several days watching and photo-
graphing seven young foxes — six dogs and a vixen
— which were being reared to maturity in a kennel.
The food of these cubs consisted of young rabbits'
carcasses slit open. Two or three cubs would
seize a rabbit, and a tug-of-war ensued, generally
ending in a free fight. One fox would fly at
another, and so quick were their movements that
the eye could hardly follow them. The favourite
grip in such encounters appeared to be across the
loins at the narrow portion of the back, though
sometimes a throat hold took its place.

As each cub secured its portion of food, it
darted behind the nearest shelter, or sought a
corner of the yard. Those not participating in the

A THREE-WEEKS-OLD FOX t'UB,

FOX CUBS, THREE WEEKS OLD.

THE FELL FOX 41

struggle crouched down and watched the per-
formance. If one cub approached another in
hopes of sharmg the feast, the feeding fox would
growl furiously in defence of his tit-bit. The
vocal sounds of these cubs were a sort of growl
and hiss combined, a curious medley of dog and
cat noises.

Occasionally one of them would bark, the sound
being a sharp wow, wow, wow, the last note being
longer drawn than the rest. On many a night
in early spring I have heard the same sharp bark
far up the fell side, where a dog-fox was calling
to his mate.

I have more than once seen pictures of foxes
" barking at the moon," exactly as a dog does on a
clear, moonlight night. These pictures always
represented the fox with his nose pointed skyward,
as a dog does when he howls. I have not seen a
wild fox in the act of barking, but the cubs above
mentioned invariably held their heads quite low,
with nose slightly towards the ground. The only
vixen in this litter was much tamer than her
brothers, and never took part in any of the
scrimmages, at feeding time. One of the dog
cubs carried his brush much Uke a collie, with a
decided curl at the tip. Probably in time, however,
this curl would straighten out.

As these cubs were to be eventually turned
down, they were in no way petted, and never

42 FOXHUNTING ON LAKELAND FELLS

became really tame. The wilder they are before
being given their liberty the better, from a hunting
point of view.

Despite their furious battles, cubs can stand a
tremendous lot of knocking about without sustaining
any real hurt, and doubtless these struggles fit them
for making their way in the world later in life.

Roughly speaking, the vixen lays down her
cubs some time in March, though on the fells
htters are apt to be later than in the low country.
With a family of cubs to feed, it is not surprising
that the fell fox now and then takes to lamb-
kilUng. If rabbits are not fairly handy to the
earth, and lambs are, the vixen will often pick up
the latter when new-born, and carry them off.
Sometimes she will kill more than she really needs,
and then the farmer sends for the hounds, and
a May fox dies.

If the vixen thinks that the whereabouts of the
breeding earth has been discovered, she will
promptly remove her offspring elsewhere, often to a
much stronger and safer retreat.

It is not surprising that foxes, being so remark-
ably active, are good climbers. I once paid a visit
to four well-grown cubs in a roomy dog kennel,
which was divided down the centre by iron raihngs.
The lower half of this partition was covered with
wire netting, and the cubs when at play used
to fly up the wire and squeeze themselves

THE FELL FOX 43

through the bars above. They would repeat the
exercise again and again, appearing to thoroughly
enjoy it.

Even in the low country it is no uncommon
occurrence to find foxes lying up in pollard willows
or other situations well above ground level. On
the fells, foxes cHmb Hke 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.

Although foxes move about to a certain extent
by day, most of their peregrinations are made
during the hours of darkness. There is no doubt
that a fox can see well in the dark, for his eyes are
more like a cat's than a dog's. Taxidermists usually
put dark eyes with round pupils in their mounted
fox masks, whereas the real eye is amber-coloured,
with veins, and a pupil which contracts to a narrow
oval or ellipse. A mask so mounted has a much
more foxy expression. I only know one firm of
taxidermists who do really good work on fox
masks, and that is Peter Spicer and Sons, of

44 FOXHUNTING ON LAKELAND FELLS

Leamington. I can " spot " a mask done by them,
out of any number of others.

I have heard it said that a fox dislikes traveUing
down wind when the latter is strong, because it
blows his brush about, but in my own experience
I have known foxes travel both up and down wind
in a gale, and it did not appear to inconvenience
them. As for not facing a strong wind, a fox will
make his point on the fells so long as he can keep
his feet at all. A fox stands much lower than a
man, and the wind has not the same extent of
surface to act upon.

As I have previously mentioned, a fox uses his
brush to help him in turning quickly, and as an
aid to balance. He also appears to use it when
suddenly increasing his pace. Not long ago I saw
a fox found by hoimds, and he at once took to the
rough ground, with the pack running in view.
He soon outdistanced them, and slackened his
pace, till the leading hound, which had not been
saying much, owing to the steepness of the ground,
suddenly shot into view. 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 down-
hill on steep ground, but under average conditions
he carries it straight and stiff behind him.

THE FELL FOX 45

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 hmit 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 kiUed a big dog-fox in the open.
During the latter part of the run, this fox took
refuge in a shed adjoining a house. Leaving this
unsafe retreat, he travelled on, and, after passing a
number of places where he could easily have got
to ground, eventually lay down on the fell side.
As hounds drew near he jumped up, and they never
broke view till they rolled him over, stiff as a
poker. It was plain to see he was in country
strange to him, but the first part of the run had
been very fast, and hounds had forced him down-
hill off his own range of mountains, and so to his
eventual undoing.

During the war foxes increased on the f eUs, and,
at any rate in the Windermere district, some of
them have been found lying at a lower altitude
than usual. Also the Windermere Harriers have
not been hunting this season, 1919-20, so that
foxes from the hills may have taken advantage

46 FOXHUNTING ON LAKEI.AND FELLS

of the unusual quietude of haunts near the dales.
The increase on the high ground has led also to
foxes puttmg in an appearance in country some
distance from the fells, where they have not been
seen for many years.

The war was a handicap to sport on the fells,
just as it affected hunting in the Shires and else-
where. The shortage of horses was not, of course,
felt, but with so many followers away at the front,
huntsmen of the fell packs were obliged to work
practically single-handed. A number of experi-
enced hunters scattered about the fell tops are
a great help to a huntsman, and the want of them
is quickly felt. Now, however, all the fell packs
are in full swing again, and prospects for the future
appear rosy.

" See, there he creeps along ; his brush he drags
And sweeps the mire impure ; from his wide jaws
His tongue immoistened hangs ; symptoms too sure
Of sudden death."

CHAPTER III

THE FELL HOUNDS

■* He's strong and he's straight, lads, his tongue like a bell.
And the stout heart that's in him, lads, tongue cannot tell,
For to breast the steep hill-sides, where fahit hearts must fail,
And to sweep the wide moors in the teeth of the gale."

The hunting man from the Shires, on paying his
initial visit to one or other of the fell packs, will no
doubt be struck by the very different appearance
of these hounds from those to which he has been
accustomed.

For many years past Masters of hounds have
bred for an exclusive type, as represented by
the Peterborough standard. Unfortunately there
are comparatively few hunting countries to which
hounds of this exclusive type are exactly suited,
yet, for various reasons, mainly financial, the
majority of packs are composed of hounds very
close to the standard.

A pack of hounds is got together with the
object of showing sport and killing foxes. Through-
out Great Britain the character of the individual
hunting countries differs considerably. From the

48 FOXHUNTING ON LAKELAND FELLS

Hampshire downs and the vale country of the
Shkes, we progress northward through varying
types of country, until we reach the fells of Cumber-
land and Westmorland, which comprise some of the
wildest and roughest ground in England.

Any one who has had much experience of
riding to hounds in different countries knows that
the type of horse suited, let us say to Cumberland,
would be entirely out of place in Warwickshire,
which is fairly representative of a sound grass
country. Now a horse ridden by a man who
means to see sport and be with hounds must cross
the same Hne of country taken by the latter. If,
therefore, to enable him to do this with ease to
himself and his rider the horse should be of the
correct tj^pe, is it not equally necessary, in fact
more so, for the hounds to be of a type most
suited to the requirements of their particular
country ?

I think those Masters who set utihty in advance
of fashion where their hounds are concerned, will
agree with me when I express the opinion that a
deviation in type from the Peterborough standard,
in order to improve the sport- showing qualities
of a pack, should enhance rather than militate
against their financial value.

Unfortunately, nowadays, the reverse is the
case. As an example, I wiU take a hound from
each of three very different countries, i.e. the

THE FELL HOUNDS 49

Warwickshire, the Radnorshu'e, and the Blen-
cathra.

The Warwickshire hound is of the fashionable
type, and we will suppose his show value, in com-
petition on the flags, is 100 points. The Radnor-
shire hound under the same conditions will be
judged at say, 50 points, while the Blencathra
hound cannot be allowed more than 25 points.

The financial value of these hounds would show
an equally remarkable difference. If we credit
the Warwickshire winner as worth 90 guineas, the
Radnorshire hound will fetch perhaps 20 guineas,
while the Blencathra representative we can set
down for a sum of 3 guineas.

Examuiing their utility value in the same way,
the Warwickshire hound may take the field four
daj^s a fortnight. He ma}^ continue to run up till
his fifth or sixth season. The Radnorshire hound
can, if required, do his five days a fortnight, and
will probably be a runner-up until his seventh
season. The Blencathra hound will come out
three, if not four, days per week, and he has been
known to do even more than this, whilst he will
continue to run up till his ninth or tenth season,
barring accidents amongst the crags.

The above comparisons tend to show how little
real encouragement is held out to a modern Master
of hounds to breed for utiMty and sport instead of
exclusive type and consequent financial value.

E

50 FOXHUNTING ON LAKELAND FELLS

The hound required to successfully cope with
the exigencies of the fell country of Cumberland
and Westmorland should conform to the following
specification : —

Light in frame, and particularly well let-down
and developed in hind quarters. Hare-footed, as
opposed to the round cat-foot of the standard type.
Good neck, shoulders and loin, long in pastern, and
ribs carried well back. A good nose, plenty of
tongue, and last, but by no means least, pace.

Owing to financial considerations, the fell packs
are small, therefore individual hounds have to take
the field much oftener than those composing the
fashionable packs. They are kept, too, under less
artificial conditions, and in consequence are quite
able to run up for many seasons, and are seldom
sick or sorry.

Although on the fells there is plenty of ground
where hounds can race on a good scenting day,
the majority of it consists of steep slopes, rock and
loose shale, in addition to huge crags and chffs.
The fences consist of big stone walls.

A hound of the exclusive type is absolutely
unsuited to such a country, for the following
reasons : His weight is against him, as well as his
short, straight pasterns, and round cat-feet. Jump-
ing from a height, or running downhill on rough
ground, his pasterns, owing to lack of sprmg, fail
to minimise jar and concussion ; no matter how

" CRACKER." Late of the Coniston pack. A big hound of the fell type.

" MISCHIEF." Late of the Coniston pack. A bitch of the fell type.

THE FELL HOUNDS 51

good his shoulders may be. His round, over-
developed, and practically malformed feet, are
of little help to him either for crossing rough
ground, or for gripping the latter when climbing
crags and steep slopes. He is usually, too, lacking
in tongue, and is not fond of working out a cold
drag.

In addition, his height is against him when it
comes to quick turning and running on steep
ground.

A fell hound should stand under, rather than
over, 22J inches.

I know many people consider a big hound more
suited to jumping high stone walls than a Httle one,
but in practice it has been proved that the small
hound crosses them with greater ease. 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 ofi a wall, too, the light-built hound
experiences less jar on landing. At the end of a
long day, the hght-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. Weight increases leg weariness, and
shortens the length of a hound's utility in the field.

52 FOXHUNTING ON LAKELAND FELLS

Until the craze for show competition has run its
course, both hounds and gun-dogs will suffer from
it. Working ability should be the main object of
the man who breeds for sport, and if he crosses
workers with workers, Nature will see to it that
beauty and good looks suited to the particular
type will eventually accompany that ability.
It is much better to do this than allow the beauty
standard, or perhaps I had better say the humanly-
conceived type of beauty, to take preference of
working capabilities.

One of the most important points about a
hound is his feet. Without sound feet he is
severely handicapped from the very beginning.
Many hounds of the exclusive type are so handi-
capped, their feet bemg nothing less than mal-
formed. Owing to the shortening and cramping
up of the feet, and the knuckhng over at the knee,
a hound of this type is useless for work in rough
country.

On the fells, where hounds are bred for work
and not for show, the natural or hare-foot is
universal. Possessed of a lengthy surface, weight
is evenly distributed along the latter, while wear
and tear on the foot is properly taken up. Such a
foot gets a firm grip on rocks, and offers a smooth
surface to the ground on steep descents. If
to such a foot we add a long, sloping pastern,
jar and concussion will be brought to a minimum,

THE FELL HOUNDS 53

particularly if the shoulders are also good. Con-
cussion acts through the nervous system on the
brain, and, therefore, the working life of a hound
is quickly shortened, should he be improperly con-
structed as regards his feet. In most kennels, the
dew-claws are removed from the puppies when the
latter are quite young. The fell hounds, however,
retain this claw, and it is properly developed.
Far from being a useless appendage, as many
people imagine, the dew-claw is of assistance to a
hound in surmounting sUppery rocks, where he has
to pull himself up. It also acts as a preventative
to slipping on the ledges of the crags. Was there
no use for this claw it would not develop as it
does on a fell hound, and on examination it will
be found to be worn on the underside of the nail,
proof positive that it does its share of work.

I have already mentioned the fact that there
are portions of the fell country where hounds can
get up a tremendous pace, and so severely press
their fox at some period of a run. If the forearm
of a hound is properly put together, not only will
the several parts help to minimise jar and con-
cussion, but they will give the hound an increased
capacity for speed. If the humerus or bone of the
upper arm is nearly in a straight line with the
ulna and radius, the pace of the hound wiU be
much greater than if the humerus inclines at a
sharper angle.

54 FOXHUNTING ON LAKELAND FELLS

What is commonly known as a " loaded
shoulder " is the result of the humerus inclining to
a nearly horizontal position, forming an obtuse
angle between itself and the scapula or shoulder
blade.

The angles formed by the scapula, humerus, and
radius are filled with muscle and tissue, which act
detrimentally to the forward movement of the
leg, the result of which means loss of pace.

In the same way with regard to the hind leg, the
longer the femur the lower the hock, and the greater
the speed. The more obtuse the angle between the
femur and tibia, the more power is there to bring
the hind legs weU under the body, as well as to
throw them back.

To sum up the desired quaUties in a fell hound,
we have light frame, Hght bone, good neck and
shoulders (these can't be too good), good ribs,
loins and thighs, and last, but not least, sound feet
of the hare type. Given a good nose and a capacity
for throwing his tongue, such a hound will work
out a cold drag, and then, after unkennelling his
fox, will drive ahead at a tremendous pace. I have
often heard it stated that pace is not compatible
with nose, but I think any one who has had a
season or two with one of the fell packs wiU be in
a position to easily refute such statements. Hardly
a season passes without some individual hound of
one or other of the f eU packs finding, hunting, and

CONISTON FOXHOUNDS ! THE PACK.

CONISTON FOXHOUNDS : THE PACK IN KENNELS AT GREENBANK,

AMBLESIDE.

THE FELL HOimDS 55

killing a fox " on his own." No single hound
could do that in a country like the fells unless
he possessed nose, pace, drive and courage in a
marked degree.

The majority of the fell hounds are light-
coloured ; some of them practically white. This is
a decided advantage on the hills, where it is im-
possible to keep in close touch with them. A light-
coloured hound can be seen at a great distance
against a background of heather or dark rock.
Next to nose, however, music is most important.
Even if you cannot see hounds, yet can hear them
plainly, you know what to do, and which direction
to take.

Hunting on the fells necessitates practising the
" let 'em alone principle," for throughout the
majority of runs hounds do all their own work
unaided by their huntsman. Thus they learn
perseverance, which enables them to carry on
when scenting conditions are not of the best.

Harking back for a moment to the subject of
hound conformation, I have always been surprised
that judges at the shows appear to set little or no
store by the shape of a hound's hind feet. Even
with the ultra-fashionable type the hind feet are
more or less as Nature formed them, and they
stand wear and tear without showing signs of
breaking up.

Now, this is a perfect refutation of the idea

56 FOXHUNTING ON LAKELAND FELLS

that the over- developed round cat-foot is the
best and most desirable. Surely when a hound
standing on four feet turns the front ones in, and
knuckles over at the knee, at the same time
showing general inability in those feet to withstand
hard wear, yet suffers from no ill effects in the
hind feet, one would imagine that a judge with a
modicum of common sense would see the futiUty
in continuing to breed hounds with fore feet of the
fashionable type. No, fashion prescribes such
feet, and though when you wish to sell them
fashionable hounds fetch big prices, their upkeep
as a pack costs you ten times the amount that it
would for a pack possessing sound natural feet of
the hare or semi-hare type.

Whilst there are one or two countries where the
cat-footed hound can travel with comparative
comfort to himself, there are many more where
he very soon becomes lame, and ceases to be a
really useful member of the pack.

The Master who is really fond of hound work,
and wishes to show sport, naturally breeds hounds
suited to his particular country ; that is, if his
financial resources are equal to the strain. Should
he by ill luck experience severe losses in his
kennel, he will find great difficulty in procuring
fresh hounds suited to his needs, for probably all
the hounds available are of Peterborough type.

Again, should he wish to sell his pack, despite

THE FELL HOUNDS 57

the fact that the hounds are perfect in their work,
they will fetch comparatively httle, as they are not
up to the fashionable standard in looks.

All this could be avoided if the show standard
was considered from the point of view of the
suitability of the hound to its particular country.
Masters could then afford to breed hounds with
this object, knowing that when they wished to get
rid of them they would fetch a sum commensurate
with their working abihty.

It has often been stated that hounds require
blood to keep them keen and up to the mark.
Now, I thmk there are few hounds keener than
those which hunt the fells, yet they seldom, if
ever, break up their foxes in the accepted sense of
the word. Now and then I have seen hounds
break up and eat the greater portion of their fox,
but, as a rule, they are content to kill it and leave
it at that. American-bred hounds never get
blood, yet they hunt season after season as keenly
as English hounds which are " blooded up to the
eyes." During a long sojourn in Canada, I met
and corresponded with a good many keen hunting
men, quite a few of whom had imported English
hounds to that country and the States. Much of
the hunting country out there is very rough, and
hounds are hunted on foot, or ridden to by nicking
in and making for likely points. All the American
foxhunters I got in touch with were emphatic in

58 FOXHUNTING ON LAKELAND FELLS

their denunciation of the Peterborough type of
hound, yet they had imported fell hounds, which
exactly suited their requirements, and crossed well
with the native-bred hounds.

It is curious, but, nevertheless true, that in
England when a low-country pack run their fox
to the hiUs they often lose him, but let the fell
hounds force their fox off the feUs 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. In summer the fell hounds go out
to walk at the farmhouses and other places in the
dales, and are brought back to kennels in the
hunting season. Although a pack of feU hounds
can hunt and kill a fox in any description of
country, which is more than can be said for the
fashionable sort, " hounds for countries " should be
the breeders' motto. Hounds could be quite as
easily judged on this principle at the shows as they
are now, by always keeping in mind the ideal of
working conformation.

In every country there are men able to judge a
collection of hounds from the view-point of real
utiMty in that country, and as there are many
countries in which the same type, or practically the

ULLSWATER FOXHOUNDS I THE PACK WITH TlllOJi: UL' NT.s.M.VX.

THE FELL HOUNDS 59

same type, is suitable, there should be no difficulty
in securing proper awards.

Fell hounds are, owing to the roughness of their
country, far more liable to accidents than hounds
which hunt the low ground. Considering the
dangerous nature of their work, it is really sur-
prising how comparatively few serious accidents
occur. A severe loss through distemper or other
causes is more to be feared, as it takes time and
patience to fill the gaps thus made in the pack.
All the fell packs are small, and seldom, if ever,
have hounds to spare, and few outside packs possess
hounds of a type in the least suited to the country ;
so the fell-country Master has to rely on hounds of
his own breeding. There is one temptation to
which fell hounds are more Uable to fall than low-
country hounds, i.e. sheep worrying. It may be a
wild, windy day, and hounds are on a catchy scent,
and eager to be pushing on. No one is near them,
and perhaps a young hound happens to view a
solitary Herdwick sheep scurrying off. He gives
chase, pulls down the sheep, and his example may
be followed by several others. When this happens
the huntsman is reluctantly forced to put down
the culprits, no matter how short of hounds he
may be at the time.

Although, luckity, such a contretemps as the
above seldom happens, it is always liable to happen
with certain young hounds. Death is the only cure for

60 FOXHUNTING ON LAKELAND FELLS

a hound which takes a Hking to mutton on the hoof,
for he can never be thoroughly trusted afterwards.
In judging the appearance of a Lv...xid from a
utihty view-point, many people are apt to pay
much more attention to the fore hmbs than the
hind. This is a great mistake, for pace, freedom of
action, and power to overcome obstacles, such as
high stone waUs, are much more dependent on
the hind hmbs than the fore. The power which
enables a hound to spring up a high bank, or heave
himself on to the top of a waU, is entirely developed
from the hind quarters, and, as I have already
mentioned, the small, compact hound that can get
his hocks well under him is much better fitted for
jumping than the big hound. In judging the
hind quarters, particular attention should be given
to the muscular development of the second thigh
as well as to the same development of the inside of
the leg. A tendency towards " cow hocks," i.e.
a deviation from the straight hne between the
hock and ground, should be condemned. A " cow-
hocked " hound hfts his hind quarters higher than
he should at each stride when traveUing fast, the
reason being a want of flexion due to shortened
tendons inside. In other words, the more acute
the angle between the foot and the stifle joint the
shorter are the tendons that work the feet. This
means reduced spring in the latter, and a conse-
quent loss of propulsive power.

THE FELL HOUNDS 61

To return for a moment to the fore limbs. I
have said that if the humerus or bone of the upper
arm is nearly in a straight hne with the ulna and
radius, the pace of the hound will be much greater
than if the humerus inclines at a sharper angle, or,
in other words, lies in a more horizontal position.
Whilst this formation ensures a lengthier stride, and
consequent increase in pace, it also tends to mcrease
shock, or jar and concussion. This jar is com-
municated to the hound's head through the top of
the scapula or shoulder blade. In order to reduce
this jar to a minimum the scapula should lie well
back, in an oblique position. The scapula or
shoulder blade connects with the dorsal vertebrae,
or bones of the back, and it can be easily understood
that the further from the head this point of con-
nection is the less jar will be communicated to the
hound's brain.

Having mentioned some of the more important
parts of a fell hound's anatomy, we may turn to his
nose, or scenting power. The latter is the most
important quaUty in a fell hound, for no matter
how well-built he is, without nose his utihty is nil.
I have heard it said by people who should have
known better, that pace and nose are incompatible.
A very short experience of sport with the fell packs
will enable any one to refute such a foohsh state-
ment. To press a fox in the rough fell country
hounds must have pace, drive, and courage to an

62 FOXHUNTING ON LAKELAND FELLS

unusual degree. The records of foxes killed in any
one season will testify to their qualities in the above
respect, while their powers of owning a stale drag
leave no doubt concerning their noses. The reason
why the fell hounds possess great scenting power
is because of the way they are bred, and also
owing to the fact that they do practically all their
work unaided, and thus become persevering and
absolutely self-rehant. This leads to a high
development, through constant use, of the powers
with which they are naturally endowed.

It is commonly understood that the fashionable
hounds in the Shires are second to none for pace.
Whilst they may be fast, I doubt very much if
they can equal, let alone surpass, the fell hounds
for speed. The moorland hounds in Yorkshire are
of the same type as our fell hounds, and sportsmen
in the " county of broad acres " are quite as keen
on hound trails as are the men of the Lake country.

A Uttle story from Yorkshire, concerning the
speed of hounds, may, therefore, be worth repeating.

On one occasion, Bobbie Dawson, huntsman
to the Billsdale, went to a fixture of the Sinnington
pack, taking with him one of his own hiU hounds,
by name, " Minister." After trying for some
time, hounds failed to find a fox, so Bobbie took
" Minister " to a little covert, where the hound
found a fox, coursed it and killed it in the open.
Jack Parker, the Sinnington huntsman, was rather

THE FELL HOUNDS 63

annoyed at this, and when Bobbie Dawson said,
" Mun we kill another ? " he replied, " Aye, if you
can ? "

Bobbie, therefore, made off to another covert,
where " Minister " again found a fox, and ran him
well ahead of the Sinnington hounds, finally roUing
him over like his predecessor. The Sinnington
broke him up, as " Minister," being a hill hound,
would not touch him after he was dead.

This took place in the low countr}% and shows
what a hill hound can do when he finds himself
on more or less level " going."

I have heard it said that the fell hounds would
be beaten by hounds from the Shires in an enclosed
countrj^ but I should feel pretty safe with my
money on a fell pack, if ever such a trial took place.

In order to get the best out of hounds, their
feeding and conditioning should receive very special
attention. It is the superior condition of the
hounds that enables them to press their fox at some
period of a run, and by doing so, eventually bring
him to hand. Both scenting power and eyesight
may be damaged in a hound solely through in-
judicious feeding. A great deal too much " slop "
is fed to hounds in some kennels, the result being
that hounds in their eagerness to feed, shove their
muzzles well into the hquid, and not only get
irritating matter up their nostrils, but splash their
eyes into the bargain. The nostrils are extremely

64 FOXHUNTING ON LAKELAND FELLS

tender, and anything lodging in them tends to set
up irritation and inflammation, with the result
that the animal cannot use its nose to the best
advantage in the field. In the same way, particles
of irritating matter reach the eyes, the latter, as in
humans, being most susceptible to anything of
such a nature. Fed with solid food early the day
before hunting, hounds should be fit to run their
best on arrival at the meet. Hounds well fed with
good stiff food will work better, and keep in better
condition, than those which are blown out with
sloppy feed. Due attention should, of course, be
paid to the gross feeders and those with more
dainty appetites, but the chief thing to remember
is the stijf food.

On the return from hunting it is, I think, bad
policy to allow hounds to absolutely gorge them-
selves, just a nice feed being much better, and less
liable to cause internal disorders such as indiges-
tion. Old hounds which, owing to their experience,
are so valuable in a fell pack, should, with advanc-
ing years, be fed fighter than was the case in their
younger days. An old hound is like a human
being, apt to put on fat internally with age, and
though he may not show it markedly in his out-
ward appearance, such fat has a deleterious eflect
on his wind. Over-feeding only increases this fat,
and though the hound may be able to stay almost
as well as ever, a fast burst over a country finds

CONISTON foxhounds: at the ■•travellers rest ]nn, on the

SUMMIT OP the KIRKSTONE PASS (1469 FT.).

(i)M>|().\ I I i.\lli,)UNDS : WAITING K«il; Till-; I'AMv n.\ T|||.: FEI>L.

THE FELL HOUNDS 65

him tailing behind his fellows. Quality of food,
and thickness — in fact, the thicker the better — has
everything to do with hounds keeping their con-
dition. It should never be forgotten that the
superior condition of the hounds over that of the
fox, is the chief factor in enabling them to bring
their quarry to hand-

The fell hound, like his relations in the Shires,
is sent out to walk as a puppy. A great deal
depends upon his treatment during this period of
his existence. The majority of fell hounds are
walked at farmhouses, where they are assured of
suJB&cient liberty, and become accustomed to
knocking about amongst sheep, thus quickly
learning that mutton on the hoof is strictly taboo to
a hound.

When out on the fell with the shepherds, the
puppy soon learns to chase hares, which teach him
to get his nose down and hunt. He may also get
to know the scent of a fox long before he becomes
a working member of the pack. The shepherds'
cur dogs often unkennel foxes on the fells, and
occasionally roll them over.

A sharp cur dog is much handier and quicker
than the fastest hound in rough ground, and
generally possesses an excellent nose ; therefore, if
Reynard gets up close in front of such an one, it
means a close shave if nothing worse.

After the dispersal of the Sedbergh Foxhounds,

66 FOXHUNTING ON LAKELAND FELLS

a party of farmers were gathering sheep in the
vicinity of Cautley Crag, when one of their dogs
unkennelled a fox. Four other curs joined in the
chase, and after a sharp spin, the fox was rolled
over. On proceeding further up the fell, still
another fox was disturbed, and the same quintet
of dogs repeated the performance, killing their
fox after a sharp scurry. I have seen a cur dog
lead hounds in a fast hunt, and be in at the finish
when the fox met its death in the open. A cur
dog can twist and turn at a wonderful pace
amongst the rocks, and can climb at a surprising
rate.

To return for a moment to the subject of hound
food. Hard feed not only ensures condition, but
is a safeguard against eczema. Sloppy food
induces the latter, and without a doubt aggravates
mange. Hard food is better for the teeth, and by
causing a flow of saliva, as hounds have to chew it
to some extent, it digests better.

Hounds from both the fells and the Shires have
from time to time been purchased and imported by
Americans. Except in the East of America, the
Peterborough type of hound has found Httle favour.
On the contrary, the fell hounds have been well
received, and cross nicely with the native-bred
hounds.

The country, and the method of hunting in
many of the American states, is on similar lines

THE FELL HOUNDS 67

to that on the fells, so the imported hounds find
themselves more or less " at home." Col. Roger D.
Williams, M.r.H. (Iroquois Hunt Club, Kentucky),
in his book " Horse and Hound," has this to say,
when comparing sport in England and the States :

" The problem that confronts the American
hound is an altogether different proposition. Our
coverts and forests are extremely large, the foxes
remaining wild and timid, and seldom pass twenty-
four hours without a run of from four to eight
hours, the hounds frequently running them by
themselves without hunters (unless the packs are
large they are not kennelled and generally run at
large).

" One or two ambitious hounds will alone get
up a fox at dusk, and as they circle through the
neighbourhood all the hounds in hearing ' hark '
to them until ten or a dozen couples are hustling
him in full cry. 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.

68 FOXHUNTING ON LAKELAND FELLS

" Thus at any time his ' foxship ' is trained to
the minute.

" The character of the country hunted over is
frequently dry and rocky, many large ploughed
and cultivated fields, with woodlands strewn with
dry, parched leaves. It is not uncommon for
hounds to hunt half a day before a trail is struck ;
it may then be an old, overnight trail that wiU
require hours of persevering work before the fox
is afoot.

" I am prepared to state that a hound that
would be considered a wonder in the grass coun-
tries of England, if cast with a pack m America in
our Southern States, where he would be expected
to take a trail many hours old, in a dry, barren,
country, puzzle it out for several hours, make a
jump (unkennel), and then run it from ten to
twenty hours — a feat I have seen performed scores
of times by American hounds — would find himself
hopelessly out of a job."

That the imported fell hounds have found
favour in America is corroborated by two " At
stud " advertisements in a copy of the Red Ranger —
an American publication devoted solely to fox-
hunting— which I have before me as I write.

The date is February, 1913, and the " ads."
are as foUows : —

" At stud. ' Ring wood,' a full-blooded Eskdale
foxhound, bred by WiUiam Porter. A wide and

THE FELL HOUNDS 69

rapid hunter, an excellent trailer, fast and dead
game. SMp bitches to Woodland, Ga. All com-
munications to A. G. Gordon, Junr., Talbotton, Ga.
Stud fee, $35. Cash."

The other advertisement reads as follows : —

"At stud. 'Streamer,' the imported Eskdale
dog. Fee, $25. The one source of new blood for
all American strains of hounds that you know is
right. Write for description, etc., to Thomas
Hackley, Stanford, Kentucky, R.F.D. 1."

Except, as I have previously stated, in the
East, American foxhunting conforms to sport on
the fells and the moorlands in England. Hounds
do their work quite unassisted, and so become
persevering and independent.

Whilst financial considerations necessitate small
packs in the fell country, lack of numbers is made
up for by the ability of hounds to come out three
or even four days per week. Hounds are not kept
under artificial conditions, and so grow hard and
healthy, seldom suffering from any sort of com-
plaint.

" Shall I repeat the story ? No, it were best untold.
Forty fair minutes he took us — minutes more prized than gold.
Than gold refined in the furnace, than the wealth of Golconda's

store —
And they pulled him down in ' the open.' 'Twas an eight-mile

point — no more."

CHAPTER IV

HUNTING ON THE FELLS

" The hounda but chop, the game is strong,
That pace of plight cannot be long,
Hark ! Tally-ho's from yon far height.
And now the whinera wend in sight.
Through SUver Ghyll for Skiddaw FeU,
They'll kill him if he goes to h— 1 ! "

No description of fell hunting would be complete
without a reference to John Peel, the famous
Cumbrian Master and Huntsman.

Although Peel was well known in his own
country, his fame did not extend beyond the North,
until the old song, " D'3^e ken John Peel ? "
became popular. The spirited verses had little
vogue until after Peel's death in 1854, when the
song suddenly became fashionable. The original
song differs in some respects from the modern
version, particularly in the first line. " D'ye ken
John Peel with his coat so gay ? " is sung to-day,
whereas the original is, " Did ye ken John Peel
wi' his cwote sea}^ gray ? "

IbLENCATHRA foxhounds : on right, GEORGE TICKELL, ESQ.
EX-DEPUTY MASTER (1907-1919)

HUNTING ON THE FELLS 71

Peel never wore a scarlet coat, his jacket was
made of home-spun Cumberland wool, known
locally as " hoddengray."

The late Mr. Jackson Gillbanks, of White-
field, gave a good pen-picture of John Peel,
and I take the liberty of quoting it here. He
said —

" John Peel was a good specimen of a plain
Cumberland yeoman. On less than £400 per
annum he hunted at his own expense, and un-
assisted, a pack of foxhounds for half a century.
John has in his time drawn every covert in the
country, and was well known on the Scottish
borders. Except on great days he followed the
old style of hunting, — that is, turning out before
daylight, often at five or six o'clock, and hunted
his fox by the drag. He was a man of stalwart
form, and well built ; he generally wore a coat of
home-spun Cumberland wool — a species called
' hoddengray.' John was a very good shot, and
used a single-barrel, with flint lock, to the last.
Though he sometimes indulged too much, he was
always up by four or five in the morning, no
matter what had taken place the night before ;
and, perhaps, to this may be attributed his
excellent health, as he was never known to
have a day's sickness, until his last and only
illness."

Mr. Gillbanks was also the author of the

72 FOXHUNTING ON LAKELAND FELLS

following verses, published in the Wigton Adver-
tiser : —

" The horn of the hunter is silent,

By the banks of the Ellen no more
Or in Denton is heard its wild echo.
Clear sounding o'er dark Caldew's roar.

For forty years have we known him —

' A Cumberland yeoman of old ' —
But thrice forty years they shall perish

Ere the fame of his deeds shall be cold.

No broadcloth or scarlet adom'd him.

Or buckskins that rival the snow,
But of plain "" Skiddaw gray ' was his raiment,

He wore it for work, not for show.

Now, when darkness at night draws her mantle,

And cold round the fire bids us steal.
Our children will say, ' Father, tell us

Some tales about famous John Peel ! '

Then we'll tell them of Ranter and Royal,

And Briton, and Melody, too,
How they rattled their fox around Carrock,

And pressed him from chase into view.'

And often from Brayton to Skiddaw,

Through Isel, Bewaldeth, Whitefiel,
We have galloped, like madmen, together,

And followed the horn of John Peel.

And tho' we may hunt with another.
When the hand of old age we way feel.

We'll mourn for a sportsman and brother.
And remember the days of John Peel."

The late Sir Wilfrid Lawson also gives a good
description of Peel. He says :

" I have seen John Peel in the flesh, and have
hunted with him. He was a tall, bony Cumbrian,

HUNTING ON THE FELLS 73

who, when I knew him, used to ride a pony he
called ' Dunny,' from its Hght colour, and on this
animal, from his intimate knowledge of the
country, he used to get along the roads, and see a
great deal of what his hounds did. Peel's grey
coat is no more a myth than himself, for I well
remember the long, rough, grey garment, which
almost came down to his knees. No doubt drink
played a prominent part — if it were not, indeed,
the ' predominant partner ' in these northern
hunts. I have heard John Peel say, when they
had killed a fox : ' Now ! this is the first fox we've
killed this season, and it munna be a dry 'un ! ' —
words of that kind being a prelude to an adjourn-
ment to the nearest public-house, where the party
would remain for an indefinite time, reaching, I
have heard it said, even to two days."

In the book " Sir WiKrid Lawson (A Memoir),"
by the Right Hon. George W. E. RusseU, it says :

" The famous John Peel, who is 'kenn'd' over
the English-speaking world, was a Master of Fox-
hounds on a very primitive and limited scale, and
hunted his own hounds in Cumberland for upwards
of forty-six years. He died in 1854. By this
time Wilfrid Lawson was twenty-five years old,
and desperately fond of hunting. So, on the death
of John Peel, with whom he had hunted ever since
he could sit in a saddle, he bought Peel's hounds,
amalgamated them with a small pack which he

74 FOXHUNTING ON LAKEIAND FELLS

already possessed, and became Master of the
Cumberland Foxhounds. ' '

The famous song, " John Peel," was written by
Woodcock Graves, an mtimate friend of Peel.
Graves emigrated to Tasmania in 1833, and spent
the last years of his life there, far from the hunting
country of his younger days.

John Peel was born at Grayrigg, and in later
years hved at, and hunted from, his cottage at
Ruthwaite.

The hunting man desu'ous of having a few days'
sport on the fells, can take his choice of five packs,
i.e. the Ullswater, Coniston, Blencathra, Eskdale
and Ennerdale, and the Mellbrake. The Ullswater
hounds are kennelled at Patterdale ; nearest railway
stations, Penrith and Troutbeck (Cumberland).
Mr. W. H. Marshall, of Patterdale Hall, is Master,
and Joe Bowman is huntsman. Whipper-in,
B. Wilson.

The Coniston are kennelled at Green Bank,
Ambleside ; nearest station, Windermere. Mr.
Bruce Logan, of " Westbourne," Bowness, is
Master, and George Chapman is huntsman.

The Blencathra are kennelled at the Biddings,
near Threlkeld; railway stations, Threlkeld and
Keswick. Master, Mr. R. J. Holdsworth, Seat
Howe, Thornthwaite, Keswick. Deputy Master,
Mr. Andrew Anderson, Lair Beck, Keswick.
Secretary, Jonathan Harrj^man, Howe, Portin-

FELL COUNTRY HUNTSMEN.

HUNTING ON THE FELLS 75

scale, Keswick. Huntsman, Jim Dalton. Whipper-
in, E. Parker.

The Right Hon. The Speaker (Mr. J. W.
Lowther) was Master of the Blencathra from 1903
to 1919. He resigned the Mastership in 1919.

Mr. George TickeU, of Shundraw, Keswick, was
Secretary for fourteen years, and on the death of
the late Mr. John Crozier, who was Master from
1839 to 1903, he held the Mastership until the
appointment of Mr. J. W. Lowther. He then
acted as Deputy-Master from 1907 to 1919, when
he retired.

Mr. Tickell has hunted regularly since he was a
boy at school, thus covering a total of nearly
seventy years. He is still (1919) hale and hearty,
and regularly attends the meets of the Blencathra.

The Eskdale and Ennerdale are kenneUed in
Eskdale. Master, Mr. W. C. Porter, Field Head,
Eskdale, R.S.O. Railway station, Ravenglass.
The late Tommj^ Dobson was Master of this pack
from 1857 to 1910. Huntsman, the Master.

The Mellbrake are kennelled at Hope Lorton.
Masters, Mr. Robinson Mitchell, Mr. E. A. Iredale
and Mr. D. B. Robinson. Secretar}?^, Mr. R.
Rawling, Lanthwaite Green, Cockermouth. Hunts-
man, R. Head. Whipper-in, J. Norman. Nearest
railway station, Cockermouth.

The Mellbrake and the Eskdale and Ennerdale
are somewhat isolated from the other Hunts, but

76 FOXHUNTING ON LAKELAND FELLS

it is often possible to attend meets of the Coniston,
Blencathra and Ullswater during the week. Once
or twice a season the Blencathra visit Wythburn,
at the head of Thirlmere Lake, where they remain
for the inside of a week. If during that week the
Coniston and Ullswater are in their home countries,
they can easily be reached from Windermere or
Ambleside, by motor or cycle. If the visitor
wishes to put in most of his time with an individual
pack, he will find comfortable hotels and inns
within easy reach of the kennels. There is, of
course, a good deal of luck about hunting anywhere,
but particularly so on the fells, where weather
conditions are apt to interfere with sport. The f eU
packs usually account for from fifteen to twentj^-
five brace of foxes in a season, the number, of
course, varying with the character of the seasons.
In the 1918-19 season, the UUswater brought to
hand close upon thirty-five brace, while the other
packs aU did remarkably well. Considering the
roughness of the country, such records are very
good indeed.

Joe Bowman, the veteran huntsman of the
Ullswater, is a personality in Lakeland hunting.
He has carried the horn with this pack — ^with one
short interval — since 1879, and is still hale and
hearty. His fame as a huntsman reaches far
beyond the borders of his own wild country, for he
is well known to most keen hunting folk.

ULLSWATER FOXHOUNDS

BLEXCATHRA FOXHOUNDS'. GONE TO GKOIXD ON ARMBOTH FELL.

BLENCATHRA FOXUOUXUS I AFTER A KILL AT RAVEN CRAG, NEAR
THIRLMERE LAKE, NOV. 7TH, 1919.

HUNTING ON THE FELLS 77

Except in certain parts of the low country,
which are visited once or twice a season, riding
to the fell hounds is out of the question. Even in
the aforementioned districts it is a case of riding
to points, and nicking in with hounds when the
opportunity presents itself. There are places
where, should you be lucky, you may chance to
see the best part of a run from a main road below
the fell. Such a place is the road which circles
Thirlmere Lake, from which I have watched many
a good hunt with the Blencathra. As a rule,
however, it pays best to climb the feU, from which
vantage point you are more likely to keep in
constant touch with hounds. If you hang about
the roads hounds may come back to you, but again
they may not, and it requires a good deal of
patience and self-control to remain where you are
on the off-chance. Once on the fell top, it pays
to stay there until hounds either drive their fox
for the last time into the dale or run him to ground
in some rocky " borran " (earth). It is much
easier and quicker to walk round the fell tops
than descend to the dale and have to climb out
again.

In addition to the type of hound used, the
method of hunting on the fells differs from that in
the riding countries. There hounds are thrown
into covert, from which in a few minutes they get
away almost on top of their fox. While the same

78 FOXHUNTING ON LAKELAND FELLS

thing sometimes happens with the fell hounds, as
a rule, their fox is lying in some snug kennel at a
height of two thousand feet or more, and before
hounds can run him they must find him. To do
this they quest for the drag, or in other words,
they search for and pick up the line of a fox which
during the night has visited the dale, and then
before daybreak has returned to his mountain
fastness. If the fox has cut his return trip rather
fine, and hounds are out early, as they very often
are in spring, the drag may prove a warm one.
If it is cold and the fox long gone, it may require
a«lot of working out.

Anyhow, the same end is eventually attained,
i.e. hounds gradually work up to the spot where
their fox is lying. It may be on the ledge of some
crag, or amongst the rocks strewn about the fell
breast. Wherever it is, Reynard may wait till
hounds are close to him, or he may steal away and,
if unseen, gain a long start. As a rule, however,
there are a few keen hunters scattered about the
fell tops before hounds leave the dale, and the fox
is lucky if he can slip away without the sharp eyes
of some shepherd spying his movements. A
series of shriU view-halloas soon bring hounds to
the spot, and the run begins in earnest. Although
such a halloa saves time when a fox has stolen
away, it is a much prettier sight to see hounds
find and unkennel their fox in a crag by them-

HUNTING ON THE FELLS 79

selves. It is an exciting moment when Reynard
springs up from his heather-covered ledge and
goes shooting through the dangerous crag-face,
en route for the open fell top. Hounds may be
practically all round him at the time, but he
dodges first one way and then another until he
is clear, and amongst the rocks and rough debris
of the fell- side, he is more than a match for the
fastest hound.

If it is a clear day, with not too much wind, you
can both see and hear hounds at some distance.
If there is a mist, the music is your only guide to
the whereabouts of the pack. If scent is at all
good, not many minutes will elapse ere hounds
have disappeared beyond your ken. You follow
on, keeping to the good going on the fell top, and
ere long you hear them again in another dale, still
running strong. A thorough knowledge of the
country and the run of the foxes will enable you
to go far and more or less keep in touch, even on a
misty day. If you are a stranger, you will be wise
to stick to some local hunter, who will pilot you
safely, although possibly at a rather faster pace
than you deem compatible with such rough gomg.
Mist is the fell hunter's greatest bugbear. It may
roll up suddenly and block out your entire view,
shrouding j^ou in a dam^^, grey mantle. Then all
you can do is to pray for an occasional rift in the
vaporous screen which will afford you a gUmpse

80 FOXHUNTING ON LAKELAND FELLS

of your whereabouts, and possibly reveal the
hounds.

Sometimes when the dales are thick with mist
the fell tops stand out quite clear, and you look
down on to a white sea. Next to mist hard
weather — especially when there is much ice on the
crags — may stop hunting for a time. Snow is
not so bad, for though it makes hard work of it for
followers, hounds can get through it aU right, and
scent is often good when the white covering is
damp,

I must not dwell on the dark days, however,
for there are times when weather, scent, and all the
rest of it goes right, and a day of this kind is a day
to remember. The morning is fine and still, and
the atmosphere |S0 clear that every rock and stone
stand out distinctly. The distant hills are tinted
from indigo to mauve, and you wish you could
transfer the glorious panoramic view to canvas.
You are out early, having made a slow and easy
ascent of the fell, and you sit down where you can
command a view of the dale and the rough ground
below you. Far away in the bottom you espy the
huntsman's scarlet coat, and those httle white
dots moving here and there are the hounds.

A faint note sounds, and then another, and
gradually the music swells and grows louder.
Hounds have struck a drag, and are maldng their
way towards a frowning crag which juts out from

ULLSWATER FOXHOUNDS : OPENING MEET AT BROTHERSWATER, |
OCT. llTH, 1919,

HUNTING ON THE FELLS 81

the rough breast beneath you. Your companion,
a hill- shepherd, moves off a few paces in order to
get a better view, then suddenly turns and points
with his stick, exclaiming, " Sista, yonder he
gars ! " You look quickly towards the point
indicated, and there you see him, a fine fell fox,
his brush held stiff and straight behind him,
moving along with the smooth ghding action
peculiar to his kind. Once he halts and looks
back, then he resumes his eas}^ pace. Your com-
panion runs a few yards down the breast, and
you are treated to a sample of a dalesman's view-
halloa. Scream after scream rings out, echoing
from the crags. The fox, still in view, and un-
hurried, stops at the sound, glances back, then
mends his pace and disappears round the end of a
jutting crag. Hounds come like mad to the halloa,
scrambling up the steep ground at a wonderful
pace. The leaders strike the line, and there is a
burst of music as the remainder of the pack settle
to it, and go racing through the breast. You
watch them until hidden by a shoulder of the hill,
then scan the fell head anxiously for their re-
appearance. They are almost out of hearing, but
suddenly the cry is carried back to you clear and
distinct, and you see them chmbing 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.

G

82 FOXHUNTING ON LAKELAND FELLS

Although you meditate following them, your
better judgment prevails, for this dale has not
been previously disturbed, and you know that a
litter has been bred there. It is more than likely
that the fox will return ere long, so you walk a
short distance up the narrow trod leading to the
tops, and sit down to listen. Scattered about
the fell slopes are the little Herdwick sheep, tiny
things in comparison with a Southdown, but famed
for their quality as mutton. Overhead, wheehng in
wide spirals, a buzzard is rising to a dizzy height,
his shrill " whee-u, whee-u," sounding clear and
distinct. Over the fell head you hear the raucous
cry of a raven, and catch sight of a black speck
floating into the distance. A stoat, not yet in his
winter coat of white, darts in and out amongst
the rocks below you, and you watch his antics
until a distant sound catches your ear. You
Hsten intently, yes, there it is again, surely the
cry of a hound, although still a long way off.
They must be coming back, for the sounds are
nearer now, and louder. You take the glasses
from their case, and scan the fell head. Yes,
there they come, running fast, and their fox
cannot be very far in front at that pace.
Quickly you scan the ground between, and at
last you see him coming gamely along, but far
from fresh. Below you is a well-known earth,
which is no doubt his refuge, but to-day there

HUNTING ON THE FELLS 83

are figures standing about it, so his entrance will
be barred.

You lose sight of him, then a view- halloa rings
out, and a whip cracks sharply. He has swerved
from the figures on the earth and hounds are
gaining fast. Gradually they edge him lower and
lower, until the last rock left behind, he is threading
a narrow trod amongst the bracken. It is " all
over bar the shouting," as you dash down the
long grass slope, clear the intervening wall, and
drop panting into the allotment on the other side.
A scramble through a stony beck, ending with a
sharp run, brings you in sight of hounds, racing
from scent to view. A sharp turn, a gleam of
white fangs, and Stormer rolls him over, to be
buried beneath a living avalanche of white, and
black and tan. Who-hoop ! Who-hoop !

Such is a day worth living for with a fell pack.
A quick find, a fast hunt, a good place to see it
from, and a kill in the open ; what more could the
heart of hunter desire ? The man who does much
fell hunting will get his share of such days, and
when they come they amply repay him for any
past disappointments.

The regular followers of the fell packs consist
chiefly of shepherds, dalesmen and the like, com-
paratively few of the local " gentrj^ " being suffi-
ciently keen to take more than a passing interest
in the sport. The fine air on the tops, and the

84 FOXHUNTING ON LAKELAND FELLS

strenuous exercise, beat all your doctor's medicine,
but I am afraid in these modern days people believe
more in the latter than the former. 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, reheved by a touch of red
on the collar and a scarlet waistcoat.

The huntsman is followed by three or four fell
terriers in couples, and generally a hound or two
as well. These last are usually young hounds, or
older members of the pack which he is prepared to
let go when occasion warrants. Usually the
whipper-in will take the highest ground, leaving
the huntsman to go below. He often takes more
coupled hounds with him to the tops, to " louse "
them at some convenient moment. The terriers
form a most important item of the Hunt. Without
them it would be impossible to locate and evict a
fox after he had got to ground.

Most of these terriers are cross-bred, showing
more or less Bedlington blood, as evinced by the

ULLSWATER FOXHOUNDS : JOE BOWMAN, HUNTSMAN (SINCE 1879).

HUNTING ON THE FELLS 85

light-coloured, silky hair on their heads. Silky
body covering is not wanted on a fell terrier, for if
the coat is too fine, the dog is unable to withstand
wet and cold properly. These terriers vary con-
siderably in size, but a very short-legged dog is
handicapped on rough ground or in the snow.
A biggish terrier is decidedly useful in places where
he can work up to his fox, but in the majority
of Lakeland borrans or earths, a smaller dog is
to be preferred. A fox always takes good care
to choose his defensive position underground, and
a terrier has to attack him from below, and is thus
at a disadvantage. Sometimes the positions are
reversed, and the fox squeezes himself into a
narrow crack, where he is unable to turn, thus
exposing himself to a rear attack. As a rule,
however, he is " head on " to his canine enemy,
and then if he refuses to bolt, a battle royal ensues.
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. Even after a mauling
he will often beat hounds uphill on rough

86 FOXHUNTING ON LAKELAND FELLS

ground, and end by getting to earth somewhere
else.

Some of the Lakeland borrans are very deep
places. It sometimes happens that although the
terriers reach and possibly account for the fox,
they are unable to return, and it may mean days
of strenuous work ere the men can extricate them.
At long intervals, more serious events occur, and
despite aU that can be done by wiUing hands, a
rescue is impossible. Certain stone quarries and
other places in Lakeland hold sinister reputations
in this respect.

Some of the quarry " rubbish heaps " are com-
posed of " big stuff " in the wa^y of rocks, and are
dangerous to open up, as the excavating process
causes the upper material to unexpectedly rush in.
In addition to shutting off the terriers, such a rush
may easily bury or severely injure the men who
are at work. I have seen one or two very narrow
escapes of this kind, and they are decidedly
unpleasant experiences.

It is, of course, usual for a man or two to mount
guard at such borrans when hounds are advertised
to meet in the neighbourhood, but even the keenest
hunter becomes fed-up waiting perhaps for hours
on a cold day, with only an occasional and distant
sound of hounds to cheer his watch.

Some foxes are almost impossible to keep out
of such places. Despite halloing and whip-crack-

4, ", -■v-flii?''?''^^^*'

CONISTON FOXHOUNDS : " GONE TO GROUND."

HUNTING ON THE FELLS 87

ing they will be in, no matter what you do.
Others, again, sheer off at the sHghtest hint, and
seek refuge elsewhere. Sometimes a fox has to
get to ground where he can, and I have seen one
get into what on the surface appeared to be quite
a simple spot, defy all the best efforts of terriers
and men to dislodge him.

As may be imagined, the huntsman to a fell
pack must be a hard and tireless walker, for he has
many miles of rough ground to cover from the time
he leaves kennels in the morning until his return
at dusk or later. Even he gets tired at times,
but if it is humanly possible he will get all his
hounds back to kennels before dark, or, at any
rate, the same night.

Sometimes hounds have to be left out, but by
the following day most of them will have found their
way home again. On these occasions one or two
of them may visit the farms or other places where
they spend the summer, if anywhere near them ;
and after a feed or a sleep, resume their journey.

It is surprising how hungry one gets on the
fells. I remember on one occasion following
hounds from the Scandale vaUey, near Ambleside,
over Fairfield, across Deep dale, and out again to
the summit of Helvellyn. I was with the hunts-
man, and both of us had eaten our lunch some
hours previously. On the summit of Helvellyn
is a seat, and round it that afternoon were scattered

88 FOXHUNllNG ON LAKELAND FELLS

a lot of banana peelings. We were so hungry
that we barely refrained from eating the latter.
We have often laughed over it since, and I
remember I made up for it with bread and cheese
and beer when we got down off the mountain at
dusk.

It is always advisable to take sufficient food
with you on these occasions, for you are never
quite certain when you are going to get the next
meal.

Although some of the best sport is experienced
in the cold weather, I have enjoyed some very good
hunts in October, as well as spring. When foxes
begin to bother the lambs, hounds are called upon
to account for the offenders. 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.

Harking back for a moment to fell terriers,
people's ideas appear to differ very considerably

HUNTING ON THE FELLS 89

as regards the make and shape of a dog used solely
for sport.

A terrier for work on the fells must be able to
squeeze through very narrow places, be active
withal, and sufficiently high on the leg to enable
him to follow the huntsman through snow or rough
ground without tiring. Some people imagine
that a terrier when creeping through a narrow
place works himself along on his chest, and they
conclude that a wide-chested, short-legged dog
is the best for the purpose. As a matter of fact,
the dog Ues on his side, and works himself ahead
with his legs. For this reason, an apparently big
dog, that is, one fairly high on the leg, narrow, but
deep through the heart, can get into some remark-
ably tight places. 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 found 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.

Once a year there are certain shepherds'
meetings held in the Lake countr}^ for the exchange

90 FOXHUNTING ON LAKELAND FELLS

of sheep which have strayed. The two best known
of these are held at the " Traveller's Rest " inn
on top of the Kirkstone Pass, and at the " Dun
Bull " inn in Mar dale.

On these occasions the foxhounds grace the
meetings with their presence. The Coniston Fox-
hounds, and the Windermere Harriers attend the
Kirkstone gathering, while the Ullswater provide
sport at Mardale. This year (1919) the " Victory
Meet " of the shepherds took place in Mardale on
November 22nd. This gathering is one of the
oldest of its kind in the countrj^, and has been kept
going for generations. How regular has been the
attendance of some of the old-time dalesmen and
shepherds may be gathered from the fact that a
few years ago, one Thomas Fishwick put in his
sixty-sixth annual appearance, and there are many
others who have attended this meet for a score of
years or more.

Special interest was attached to the " Victory
Meet " in Mardale, as it was rumoured that it
might be the last, owing to the acquisition of
Haweswater by the Manchester Corporation. When
the proposed scheme is completed, the famous
" Dun Bull " and Mardale Church will be in-
undated.

In addition to a hunt, a hound-trail is held at
Mardale. Some of the upholders of the fashion-
able hounds in the Shires, who beheve that this

■■ ]'1X('IIER AXI) ■' MYRTLE." Two Coiiiston Hunt terriers.

"JUMMY." A terrier which did much yood work for tlic Coniston Hunt.

HUNTING ON THE FELLS 91

type is second to none for pace, would, I think, be
inclined to change their opinion, if they timed one
of these trails. The hounds entered are nothing
more than fell foxhounds. Sometimes one of a
litter bred at the kennels goes as a trail hound,
and vice versa. Yet, with all their pace, these
hounds can hunt a cold line with the best, and
will let you know all about it whilst they are
doing it.

I have already mentioned the fact that the
fell hounds pick up the drag of their fox, and work
this out until they reach his hiding-place and
unkennel him.

Sometimes the drag covers a long distance.
When the Rev. E. M. Reynolds was Master of the
Coniston Hounds, the latter picked up a drag near
Rydal Park, carried it over High Pike up to Hart
Crag, and down the ridge into Hartsop, where they
unkennelled their fox in Low Wood overlooking
Brothers' Water. On another occasion the same
pack struck a drag in Skelghyll Wood, near
Windermere Lake, carried it forward the entire
length of the Troutbeck valley, and out at Thresh-
waite Mouth at the fell head, unkennelling their
fox about a mile beyond the last- mentioned point.
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 hne may prove to be heel-way.
Even old and experienced hounds are not

92 FOXHUNTING ON LAKELAND FELLS

infallible when it comes to differentiating between
the right way and heel, despite the fact that one
meets people who swear their homids 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.
Before night, if you are in pursuit of an old stager,
you may find yourself many miles from home,
with darkness coming on, and a rough track to
follow.

One of the longest, if not the longest, hunt I
ever took part in occurred on January 15th, 1914.
The Coniston Hounds met that day at Strawberry
Bank, in the Winster valley. They found their
fox at 10 o'clock, and the last followers of the field
which started out in the morning, acknowledged
themselves beaten at 5 p.m. Hounds ran for
several hours longer, until darkness enabled the
fox to finally shake ofi his pursuers. From the
time hounds unkenneUed their fox, until they were
run out of scent, was 91 hours, sufficient, I think, to
constitute a record.

Such a day is one to be set down in red ink
in the hunting diary.

Taking it all through, the fell country carries a
good scent, except in early autumn and spring,
when the sun exerts considerable power, and the
bracken and dead leaves get very dr}^ There is
little hmestone in the district, but now and then

ULLSWATER FOXHOUNDS : GONE TO GROUND BELOW HIGH PIKE IN
THE SCANDALE VALLEY.

HUNTING ON THE FELLS 93

hounds run a fox to such places as Whitbarrow,
where, unless the atmosphere is very damp, they
often experience considerable difficulty in sticking
to the line. *' There's nowt sae queer as scent," and
though we sometimes think we know a good deal
about it, there generally comes a time when all our
prophecies prove wrong. Now and then in the
fell country there comes a day when the atmo-
sphere is very clear, and there is an absence of wind.
Overhead the clouds look heavy, and the day may
be described as " dark." The colour of the distant
hills tones oS from indigo to mauve ; but for all
the general effect of darkness, every stone and
crag show up distinctly. On such a day I have
often known a screaming scent, while hounds
could be both easily seen and heard.

Jorrocks, wise old bird, said, " Take not out
your 'ounds upon a werry windy day," and his
advice is good, but for all that I have seen hounds
run like mad in a gale, screaming along yards
wide of the line, the scent drifting with the
wind.

There are, of course, several factors that have
an influence on scent. There is the fox himself,
the nature of the soil (clay, gravel, etc.), the con-
dition of the surface, such as grass, plough, moor-
land or woodland ; the temporary state of the
surface, wet, dry, dusty, etc. ; and the state of the
weather.

94 FOXHUNTING ON LAKELAND FELLS

As far as the fox is concerned, there is httle
doubt that he and his relations var}^ considerably
in the amount of scent they give off. Much
depends too, upon the behaviour of a fox, as to
whether hounds can make the best use of his Hne.
A straight-running fox is easier to hunt than a
twisting one, while the body-scent — i.e. scent
retained by the atmosphere — allows hounds to
run with their heads up, the scent being " breast
high." That scent is often far too high I have
proved over and over again. Many a time I have
been walking to a meet, and at some favourite
crossing place for foxes on a road, or elsewhere, I
have caught the scent of a fox quite strongly.
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 wiU 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 varjdng Avith the amount of wind. On
a real good scenting day the scent appears to
remain " breast high," whereas on a bad scenting
day, it disappears quickly, or rises too high for
hounds.

HUNTING ON THE FELLS 95

Whenever a hunted fox is coursed by a shep-
herd's dog, hounds invariably have great difficulty
in owning the line afterwards. It seems as if
the sudden fright contracts the glands, or whatever
it is that permits scent to exude from the fox, and
the scent never again appears to regain its original
strength.

Water often saves a hunted fox, for I have
known many a one practically beaten, be com-
pletely lost after it had entered a stream. As
the fox's strength fails, scent becomes weaker
to some extent, and it only needs a sudden fright,
like the appearance of a cur dog, or an unexpected
haUoa, to cause it to fade altogether. For this
reason one cannot keep too quiet when hounds
are running almost in view of their beaten fox.
An injudicious halloa at such a time gets their
heads up, and it is ten to one that the fox makes
good his escape. Hounds know very well when
they are closing up to their fox, and they require
no outside assistance to expedite matters.

If hounds get away on top of their fox on a
good scenting day, his doom is very Hkely to be
sealed, no matter how fast he runs. If, however,
he kept up the same pace for the same length of
time on a moderate or bad scenting day, he would
outrun them, especially if he put in a few sharpish
turns.

Luckily for hounds, a fox never goes far at

96 FOXHUNTING ON LAKELAND FELLS

his best pace unless hard pressed, instead he places
a convenient distance between himself and the
pack, and accommodates his pace to theirs. If he
ran his hardest on a bad scenting day he would be
liable to run into other dangers ahead, for, for all
he knows, there may be other hounds in front of
him, so he travels as slowly as he dare, while
keeping a good look out.

Ver}/^ high wind is not, as a rule, conducive to
scent, but I have seen hounds run fast in such
wind, which, in addition to being strong, was
exceedingly cold. In December of this year (1919)
one of the fell packs ran a fox up-wind against an
icy gale on the tops, when the wind was so strong
that we who were following them had more than
once to lie down or be blown over the edge of the
feU.

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. Koughly speaking, scent appears to
lie best when the ground is in good riding con-
dition. Wind and sun dry out the ground and
harden it, and frost does likewise. Hounds wiU
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.

HUNTING ON THE FELLS 97

The nature of the soil, being permanent, has
much to do with scent. I am incHned to think
that poor land carries a better scent than good
land, while heather and moorland are more
conducive to it than cold grass fields.

I know a district, all grass and moorland, in a
limestone country, where scent lies very well
indeed, except actually on the bare limestone.
On the extensive outcrops of this land of stone
hounds are generally brought to their noses, unless
the limestone is damp with rain.

A white frost is often bad for scent, and almost
always so if the sun gets out at all warm. In the
afternoon, should the ground harden again, hounds
may be able to run quite well. I have noticed
that towards evening, under varied conditions of
weather, scent is often better than earlier in the
day. Snow, if damp, and not too deep, often
carries a good scent. In deep, soft snow, hounds
can soon account for their fox if they get away
close to him, as their greater length of leg gives
them the advantage in such " going."

When all is said and done, there appears to be
no absolute rule to go by regarding scent. The
" dark " day previously mentioned comes pretty
near to it, however, and I always expect good
scenting conditions on such a day.

Seeing that the true charm of all field sport is
its " glorious uncertainty," it is perhaps just as

H

98 FOXHUNTING ON LAKELAND FELLS

well that we cannot pick and choose our hunting
days, but must take the good with the bad, and
be thankful for them.

" So I wish you good speed, a good line, and a lead.
With the luck of each fence where it's low,
Not the last of the troop, may you hear the Who — whoop,
Well pleased as you heard Tally-Ho ! "

CHAPTER V

REMINISCENCES

" O'er the bottle at eve, of our pleasures we'll tell,
For no pastime on earth can foxhunting excel ;
It brightens our thoughts for philosophy's page,
Gives strength to our youth, and new vigour to age."

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 Wctherlam
behind a boulder, my companion being the hunts-
man 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. There
was snow on the ground at the time, and hounds
were running on the breast far below us. We
were just about to leave our shelter when we

100 FOXHUNTING ON LAKELAND FELLS

espied a fox coming towards us. He was travelling
right in the teeth of the gale, which did not
appear to trouble him much. He never saw us
till we ran in and loosed two couples of hounds
at him, when he quickened his pace, and was
soon out of sight.

I have, in a previous chapter, mentioned the
fact of a fox lying on a ledge and refusing to
move until a well-aimed stone dropped almost
on top of him. That reminds me of another
occasion when I was blackgame shooting on some
rough ground on the fell. I fired at a blackcock
which flew over me from above, missing him with
the first barrel, but stopping him with the second.
As I was reloading, I happened to glance down-
hill, and much to my surprise saw a fox curled
up, apparently asleep, on top of a big flat rock.
I threw a stone at him, which caused him to raise
his head, and a second missile made him get off
the rock, and take refuge underneath it. I waited
a minute or two, but as he did not appear I roUed
a big stone down the slope. It happened to land
square on top of the fox's shelter, and out he shot,
jumping into a thick bracken bed, from the
harbour of which he kept stopping to look back
at me. It seemed strange that a fox should lie
curled up on a rock, and allow me to make a
noisy approach, in addition to firing the gun,
without his showing the least sign of uneasiness.

REMINISCENCES 101

On another occasion, near the same place, I
was shooting with a companion. The snow was
deep and the going very bad. I was well up the
hill-side when I heard my companion exclaim,
" Look out ! " Expecting a hare, I got ready to
shoot, when over a knoll appeared a fine big fox.
I could have blown his head off, but instead I
saluted him with a halloa, and away he went
towards the high ground. Evidently he, too,
found it bad travelling, as I saw him flounder
and slip several times before he went out of
sight.

As an example of the pace of a fell hound on
rough ground, I wiU relate the following. The
Coniston Hounds found a fox in a ghyll on Kough-
sides, overlooking the Kirkstone Pass. A very
fast hound named Chanter, gained a long start
with this fox, and crossed the Kirkstone road not
far behind him. The fox made straight up the
steep side of Dod End, when it suddenly dawned
on us that the hound was fast gaining. In a very
short time he overhauled his fox, and I expected
to see the latter roUed over. Instead, the fox
whirled round and " set " the hound, and there they
stood, fangs bared, grinning at each other. I was
watching the scene through field-glasses, and not
till the remainder of the pack arrived on the scene
did Reynard make a bolt for liberty. They
turned him in very quickly, however, and rolled

102 FOXHUNTING ON LAKELAND FELLS

him over close to the road. It is only fair to add
that this fox was slightly mangy, which probably
accounted for his not being able to get clear. I
have his mask on the wall now, and never saw one
armed with bigger fangs.

Railways are seldom a danger to the fell hounds,
though occasionally the latter run foul of them.
On March 9th, 1911, the Blencathra Hounds were
running their fox between the metals of the
Cockermouth, Keswick and Pemith Railway.
Neither fox nor hounds noticed the approach of a
passenger train on its way to West Cumberland.
Luckily, however, the engine-driver managed to
bring the train to a standstill, when the fox was
only a few yards from the engine. A few minutes
later hounds accounted for their fox close to
Bassenthwaite Lake.

A rather amusing incident occurred on one
occasion at Wythburn, near the head of Thirlmere
Lake. Two of the Blencathra hounds got well
away with their fox, and were not caught by the
rest of the pack until after they had rolled him
over in the fields bordering the Lake. A zealous
youth, instead of leaving the fox for the pack to
run up to, ran in, and thinking Reynard was dead,
picked him up. He quicldy dropped the
supposedly defunct carcass, however, when two
rows of remarkably sharp white teeth met in his
hand.

REMINISCENCES 103

Nothing stops a really keen fell hunter from
enjoying the sport he loves best. I know at
least two men with wooden legs who regularly
follow hounds, and would shame many a sound
person when it comes to travelling on the
hiUs.

There is a story concerning two hunters who
used to follow hounds above Dockray. I believe
one of them was a relation of Joe Bowman, the
well-known huntsman of the UUswater. Anyway,
this ancestor of Joe's was deaf and dumb, while his
friend and hunting partner was blind.

The latter' s stock saying to his mate, when
hounds were out, was, " Thou mun lissen, an' I'U
leak (look)."

That big foxes are not altogether confined to
the fell country is attested to in Frank Gillard's
" Reminiscences." Gillard mentions a big, mangy
dog-fox which the Belvoir Hounds killed at
Aswarby. Had this fox been in good condition
he would have weighed over eighteen pounds ; as it
was he turned the scale at seventeen and a half
pounds.

Apropos of the famous " Dun Bull " inn, in
Mardale, mentioned in a previous chapter in
connection with the shepherds' " Victory Meet,"
is the following yarn.

The UUswater had a good hunt in Longslcddale,
eventually running their fox to ground in ]\lardale.

104 FOXHUNTING ON LAKELAND FELLS

A terrier was put in, and the fox bolted, affording
another scurry before he was killed.

At the finish of the hunt a j^outh approached
Mr. Farrer, of Howtown, the owner of the terrier,
" Lucky Jim," which had bolted the fox ; and
the following conversation ensued :

Youth : " Did j^our Jim worry the fox ? "
Mr. F. : " No, my lad, he bolted."
Youth : " Av, an' thou' 11 bolt summat when
thoo gits to t' Dunny (Dun Bull)."

That a promising day may finish in gloom, the
following experience will prove. In the last week
of October, 1910, the Coniston Hounds found a fox
at Pinch Crags, in Scandale. After a short but
fast hunt, they rolled him over in the open. The
day being still young, hounds were taken to High
Pike, where a second fox was soon unkennelled.
After a fast hunt this fox took refuge on the face
of Dove Crag, dropping from ledge to ledge, with
three hounds. Crafty, Rally and Ringwood in
pursuit. Eventually the fox, in attempting to
cross an impassable ghyll, owing to pressure from
the young hound, Crafty, slipped and fell several
hundred feet, and met its death on the rocks far
below. Unfortunately, the hound shared the same
fate, whilst Rally and Ringwood became hope-
lessly crag-fast on one of the numerous ledges.
A rope and willing assistants were brought from
the quarry on Red Screes, and eventually the

COXISTOX foxhounds: (iKORGE CHAPMAN, THE HUNTSMAN, WITH
FOX, AFTER A KILL IN GREENBURN.

REMINISCENCES 105

hounds were rescued from their precarious position.
It wa>s an exciting adventure, and one which, thank
goodness, does not often happen.

It was a coincidence that another fell pack, the
Eskdale and Ennerdale, should have got some of
their hounds crag-fast on Scawfell during the same
week. Charmer, one of the best hounds in the
pack, was found lying dead at the foot of the
crags, and another hound, Melody, was badl}^
injured. Ropes were secured at Wastdale Head,
and J. Gaspard, a French guide, with two others,
roped themselves together, and went 180 feet
down the crag face. They rescued the remaining
hounds, despite a continuous downpour of rain
and severe cold.

Occasionally a fox ends his life in one of the
many lakes scattered about the fell country. On
New Year's day, 1912, the MeUbrake Hounds got
on to a fox which had stolen away near Foulsyke.
They had a screaming hunt, towards the end of
which hounds raced through the shrubbery at
Loweswater Hall, and forward across the Lam-
plugh road to the lake. At the edge of the water
one of the hounds " clicked " the fox, but could
not hold him, Reynard plunged in, but sank when
a few yards out from shore.

On one occasion the Blencathra Hounds ran a

fox from Wanthwaite Crag to Grasmere village,

where he " benked " on the window-sill of a

H a

106 FOXHUNTING ON LAKELAND FELLS

cottage. A woman rushed out of the latter,
armed with a broom, and forbade either huntsman
or hounds to enter the garden, which was well
fenced in. Eventually, however, she was per-
suaded, and after fair law had been allowed the
fox, the hunt continued.

At another time a certain pack ran a fox into
a crag where it " benked " in rather a difficult
place. Hounds could not get to it, so a man was
lowered in on a rope. He succeeded in shifting
Reynard " out of that," and away went hounds in
hot pursuit. Oblivious to all else but the hunt,
the men on the top utterly forgot their mate
dangling in mid-air below them, and not until his
frantic yells reached their ears did they set about
the business of hauling him up.

It is not often one has the chance of seeing the
finish of a hunt from a motor-car, but on one
occasion I remember doing so. Hounds were
running hard on Gummershow, overlooking the
lower end of Windermere Lake. I was heading
towards the lake when a friend's car overtook me.
Jumping in, we careered down a side-lane, and
turned sharp into the main road, just as hounds
forced their fox across it, and killed him near the
lake shore.

On one occasion the Windermere Harriers
brought a fox to hand at Blakerigg at the head of
the Easedale valley. Anthony Chapman, now

ULLSWATER FOXHOUNDS : OPENING MEET, OCT. llTH. 1919.

REMINISCENCES 107

landlord of the famous " Mortal Man " hotel in
Troutbeck, was huntsman at the time, and that
day the only follower was one Isaac Thompson.
The carcass of the fox was laid upon a flat rock
when Anthony turned to his friend and exclaimed,
" Why, Isaac, we've never halloed ! "

To kni a fox without a death halloa was a sad
omission, so a combined who-whoop rent the air,
and awoke the echoes amongst the crags. In
fact, it did more than that, it brought the sup-
posedly dead fox to life, and sent him helter-
skelter down the rough fell breast in a final dash
for liberty. Hounds viewed him and flew in hot
pursuit, and after a smart burst, rolled him over
in the bottom near the tarn. To this day Anthon^^
dehghts to tell the tale of the fox which was
" killed twice over."

On another occasion the same pack had a good
run, which ended with a check near a gateway in a
lane. After casting round with no result, a boy
suddenly appeared on the scene, and exclaimed :

" What are you laiting ? " (looking for).

" I'se laiting a fox ! " replied Anthony.

" What, So-and-so (giving the name) has it tied
up i' t' barn," said the youth.

On making investigation, sure enough there was
the fox tied up with a collar and chain in one of the
farm buildings.

The party responsible for the deed was a local

108 FOXHUN^riNG Ox^ LAKETAND FELLS

of the " not quite sharp " persuasion, who had
arrived at the gateway just as hounds ran into their
fox ; and had resciaed the latter little or nothing
the worse.

Anthony, determined to let hounds have their
reward, bought the fox from its captor, and after
giving it due law, the pack was laid on. Having
received his money, the " not quite sharp" gentle-
man mounted a near-by wall and commenced to
stone the huntsman for all he was worth. Anthony,
to escape this fusillade, hurriedly departed in the
wake of his hounds, the latter rolling their fox
over in the open, after a sharp scurry.

The " twice killed fox " yarn reminds me of
another incident that happened some years ago.

Hounds ran their fox to ground, and after a
pitched battle with the terriers, Reynard's carcass
was secured and withdrawn. The body was
placed on a rock out of reach of the pack, whilst the
field held a heated discussion as to which of the
nearest inns should be honoured with their
presence for the " harvel," or celebration.

After some haggling, the momentous question
was settled, and a move vv as made, when it was
discovered that the fox had disappeared. Reynard
had revived sufficiently to get up and slink away,
and though hounds were laid on, they never caught
him, for he got to ground in a place where it was
utterly impossible to reach him.

REMINISCENCES 109

111 November, 1919, the Blencathra Hounds,
after a good hunt above St. John' s-in-the- Vale,
put their fox to ground in a narrow fissure of rock
near the summit of Wanthwaite. A terrier was
put in, and after a pitched battle, the dog accounted
for the fox, but refused to leave the carcass.
Darkness was coming on, so huntsman and field
had reluctantly to leave the spot in order to make
the difficult descent to the dale. Next morning
the huntsman and whipper-in returned to the
place, and found the carcass of the fox, with the
terrier lying dead beside it, outside the " borran."
The fox had inflicted severe, if not fatal, injuries
on the game little dog, and the latter, having
dragged the body of his foe from underground, had
still refused to leave it, and had so perished from
exposure during a bitterly cold night.

I was out one day when the Coniston Hounds
ran a fox to ground near Dod Bields, in Caiston.
A terrier was put in, and after a stiff fight, the fox
was accounted for underground. Several hours'
hard work failed to secure the carcass, so as day-
light had given place to moonlight, we made our
way across the summit of Red Screes, and so down
to the " Traveller's Rest " at the head of the
Kirkstone Pass. Next day several willing hunters
returned to the place, and after much labour,
unearthed not 07ie dead fox, but two. Both foxes
were jammed up close to the end of a narrow

no FOXHUNTING ON LAKELAND FELLS

tunnel, and it was supposed that the one in the
rear had been smothered to death.

On another occasion in the Troutbeck valley,
hounds ran a fox to ground in a drain. A terrier
was put in, and the fox bolted, giving hounds a
very fast spin straight downhill. They practically
never broke view, and rolled him over directly.
Whilst the field were occupied in watching them,
a second fox, which proved to be the hunted one,
made his appearance from the drain, and going off
rather stiffly, got to ground in a quarry " rubbish
heap," from which it was impossible to dislodge
him.

Foxes will often lie extraordinarily close in long
heather. I was out one day with the Ullswater,
and we tried a lot of country without a sign of a
drag or a line of any sort. Eventually we tried
a heather-covered allotment between Kentmere
and Troutbeck. Still there was no sign of a fox,
and the field was beginning to get rather dis-
couraged, when suddenly, right in the middle of
hounds, a fox sprang out of the heather. How
he ever escaped is a mystery, but get clear he did,
giving a straight away hunt by way of Rainsbarrow
and the head of the Kentmere valley, where hounds
" laid him in," and finally rolled him over at the
edge of Kentmere reservoir, after a screaming
sixty minutes' hunt, without the semblance of a
check from start to finish.

CONISTON FOXHOUNDS '. HOUNDS AND THEIR HUNTSMAN IN THE
SCANDALE VALLEY.

--«^T

CONISTON i\;XllOUNDS : AFTER A KILL NEAR CONISTON.

CONIS'I'OX KoXllorXDS: AFTKH A KILL I X \V0UX'1>A1>K.

coxiSTON foxhounds: after a kill ox xab scar, rydal.

REMINISCENCES 111

In a previous chapter I have mentioned the
fact that occasionally some fell hound hunts, and
finally kills or runs his fox to ground " on his own."
I remember the Ullswater Hounds threw off on one
occasion at the quarry above Troutbeck Park, on
the steep side of 111 Bell. Hounds struck a line
which took them over the summit of the fell into
the Kentmere valley. I was talking to Joe Bowman
the huntsman, when we heard a single hound
running very fast in our direction. It proved to
be one of the lady members of the pack, a very fast
bitch, and she was driving her fox at a tremendous
pace. In a short time she ran him to ground on
the Tongue, where Reynard crept in beneath a
huge boulder on the fell side. A terrier was put
in, and immediately got to the fox, but without
tools it was impossible to reach them. Some
quarrymen eventually came across with the
necessary articles, including a fuse, and a charge of
powder. It was found necessary to crack the
boulder with the powder, after which the broken
rock was removed, and terrier and fox were drawn
out, fast locked together, from a very narrow and
wet earth-hole. It was almost impossible to
distinguish between them, so plastered were they
with wet mud. The terrier was pried loose and
the fox thrown down, when rather to our surprise
he got on to his legs and made a bid for
liberty. His race was soon run, however, as

112 FOXHUNTING ON LAKELAND FELLS

the bitch and some 3'oung hounds the huntsman
had with him, soon rolled him over. The terrier
which had been nearl}' smothered in the earth,
died the day after, despite all that could be done
for it.

In December, 1919, the Coniston Hounds had a
very' fast hunt from a covert above iStaveley
village. Hounds finally drove their fox to the
head of the Longsleddale valley, where it " benked "
on a ledge on Goatscar. It had been a late find,
and when the huntsman arrived on the scene,
darkness was fast dramng in. The fox was at last
made to vacate his dangerous resting-place, and
he scrambled down a precipitous chimney on the
face of the towering crag. Then ensued a wild
and exciting scene, such as can only be experienced
on the fells. The chimney was a dangerous place
for hounds, with a fox dodging his way through
them. Tmce they had hold of him, but he
A\Tenched free, and got clear at the chimney's foot,
where he soon outdistanced them across the rough
scree-bed. One of the hounds fell a matter of
fifty feet, but beyond being temporarily shaken
appeared little the worse, and quickly resumed the
chase. ^Sno^\' was lying thickl\- on the tops, and
it was just sufficiently light to see the fox climbing
out for the summit of the crag again, w here he ran
through the roughest of the ground near the fell
head, and finalh disappeared on the wide top of

REMINISCENCES 113

Harter Fell. Hounds followed him, and we saw
them no more that night.

Many such incidents occur during the course of
a season on the fells, and it is surprising that so
few accidents happen, considering the dangerous
nature of the country.

" Then here's to all hunters, how merrily we'll sing.
Then here's to the hounds, which make the valleys ring ;
Then here's to John Peel, for he was our king.
When he cried Tally-ho ! in the morning."

THE END

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WnXIAM CLOWES AND SONS, LIMITKD,

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