Bolts—Pieces of iron, which fasten the barrel to the stock.
Bridle—The polished piece of steel, which caps the tumbler; it is
secured by two screws, and also the scear-screw.
Cap—The covering for the worm of the ramrod.
Chain or Swivel—A little catch attached to the neek of the tumbler,
which receives the end of the mainspring.
Chamber—Centre tube in breeching. Antechamber is the smaller tube,
leading from this to the touch-hole.
Cock-screw—That which fastens the flint.
Cup—The concave at the top of the improved breechings.
Escutcheons, ornamental—Pieces of silver, to prevent bolts from wearing
the stock; and also the shield on which the crest and cipher are
engraved.
Face of the Hammer—The part which, by coming in contact with the flint,
strikes fire.
False Breeching—The part where the nose of the breechings hook in,
before the barrels can be laid in the stock.
False Breech-screw—Passes through the stock into the trigger-plate, and
screws them together.
Fence—The part between cock and pan, on which is received the solid
cock.
Guard—Curved plate to defend the triggers.
Hammer-spring—That on which the hammer is moved.
Hammer-bridle—A part which the tail of the hammer works in.
Heel-plate—The plate with which the butt is tipped.
Jaw—Lips of the cock, to hold the flint.
Lock-plate—Plate to which all the lock is screwed.
Loops—Eyes to receive the bolts that fasten the barrel to the stock.
Mainspring—That spring by which the tumbler is worked with the cock.
Nipple—The iron pillar on which the copper cap of a detonating-gun is
placed.
Pipes—Tubes to receive the ramrod.
Rib—Piece of iron which strengthens the barrel, and on which the ramrod
rests.
Scroll-guard—An extension from the guard to steady the hand.
Scear—That which catches the tumbler for half or whole cock, and which,
being pushed up by the trigger, lets the cock fall.
Scear-spring—The spring which holds the scear in the notches of the
tumbler, at half or whole cock.
Side-nail—A screw which fastens on the locks.
Sight—The piece of metal, attached to the end of a gun-barrel, to assist
the eye in taking aim at an object.
Spring-cramp—A small instrument for dissecting locks.
Tail—The shoulder of a hammer.
Top-piece—Elevated rib, along which is directed the line of aim.
Trigger-plate—Plate in which the triggers work.
Trigger-springs—Small springs to keep the triggers constantly pressing
close to scear.
Tumbler—The moveable centre piece of a lock, which falls with the cock.
Tumbler-screw—The screw which fastens on the cock.
Vent-hole—A small hole at the side of the breeching in detonating-guns,
to let out the gas, and lessen the recoil.
Worm—Screw at the end of ramrod.—_Hints to
Sportsmen_—_Thornton_—_Daniel_—_Hawker_—_Wild Sports._
GUNPOWDER, _s._ The powder put into guns to be fired.
Gunpowder is composed of very light charcoal, sulphur, and well refined
saltpetre. The powder used by sportsmen in shooting game is generally
composed of six parts of saltpetre, one of charcoal, and one of sulphur;
but these proportions, as well as the introduction of other ingredients,
and the sizes of the grains, are undoubtedly varied by the different
manufacturers in the composition of the powders of the same
denominations, and are always kept profoundly secret.
The materials are put into a wooden trough, where they are ground
together, to render the contact of the nitrous and combustible particles
intimate and equal throughout the whole mass. The mixture is
occasionally sprinkled with water to form an amalgam, which is
afterwards granulated, and to prevent the finer particles of the sulphur
and the charcoal from flying off, which would necessarily alter the
proportion of the composition. The powder-makers employ more or less
time in the operation of grinding, in proportion to the quantity and
quality of the saltpetre. When they conceive that the ingredients are
properly mixed together, they from the paste form these little grains,
which, being dried, obtain the name of gunpowder.
There are two general methods of examining gunpowder, one with regard to
its _purity_, the other with regard to its _strength_.
Its _purity_ is known by laying two or three little heaps near each
other upon white paper, and firing one of them. For if this takes fire
readily and the smoke rises upright, without leaving any dross or
feculent matter behind, and without burning the paper, or firing the
other heaps, it is esteemed a sign that the sulphur and nitre were well
purified, that the coal was good, and that the ingredients were
thoroughly incorporated together; but if the other heaps also take fire
at the same time, it is presumed, that either common salt was mixed with
the nitre, or that the coal was not well ground, or the whole mass not
well beat or mixed together; and if either the nitre or sulphur be not
well purified the paper will be black or spotted.
To determine the _strength_ of powder, dry it perfectly and ascertain
how many sheets of paper it will drive the shot through at the distance
of ten or twelve yards. In this trial we should be careful to employ the
_same sized shot_ in each experiment—the quantity both of the shot and
the powder being regulated by exact weight, otherwise we cannot, even in
this experiment, arrive to any certainty in comparing the strength of
different powders, or of the same powder at different times.
Mr. Daniel, in speaking of gunpowder, gives the following recipe for
increasing its strength. We entirely coincide in his opinion that it is
quite unnecessary to augment the force of modern gunpowder, and insert
the directions rather for the experimentalist than the sportsman.
“The following method of increasing the force of gunpowder one-third in
proportion to its original goodness, was discovered by a physician of
Fogano, in Tuscany, whose name was Francesco. To every pound of powder
add four ounces of quick lime, fresh and well pulverised; let the whole
be shaken until the mixture is perfect, and afterwards kept for use in a
close stopped vessel. To the chemists is left to decide upon what
principle the lime acts in strengthening the powder. The experiment is
said to be certain. It is necessary to add, that the powder used in
priming must be unmixed with lime. Without artificially augmenting the
strength of gunpowder, that made by Messrs. Pigou and Andrews will be
found excellent; and it is to be feared, if a gentleman cannot kill with
the above, no chemical preparation will much assist his endeavours.”
The concluding observations are taken from a very clever and ingenious
work, published many years ago, and entitled “An Essay on Shooting.”
Powder ought to be kept very dry; every degree of moisture injures it.
Good powder, however, does not readily imbibe moisture; and, perhaps,
there is no greater proof of the bad quality of powder, than its growing
damp quickly when exposed to the air. This readiness to become moist,
depends upon the saltpetre employed in the composition not having been
freed from the common salt it contains in its crude state, and which, in
consequence, has a very strong attraction for watery particles.
Powder may acquire a small degree of dampness, and be freed from it
again by drying, without much injury to its quality. But if the moisture
is considerable, the saltpetre is dissolved, and the intimate mixture of
the several ingredients thereby entirely destroyed. Drying powder with
too great a heat also injures it; for there is a degree of heat, which,
although not sufficient to fire the powder, will yet dissipate the
sulphur, and impair the composition by destroying the texture of the
grains. The heat of the sun is, perhaps, the greatest it can with safety
be exposed to, and, if properly managed, is sufficient for the purpose;
when this cannot be had, the heat of a fire, regulated to the same
degree, may be employed; and for this end, a heated pewter plate is
perhaps as good as anything, because pewter retains so moderate a heat,
that there can be little danger of spoiling the powder by producing the
consequences before-mentioned.
It is observable that damp powder produces a remarkable foulness in the
fowling-piece after firing, much beyond what arises from an equal
quantity of dry powder; and this seems to arise from the diminution of
the activity of the fire in the explosion.
Unless the sportsman is _very particular indeed_ in the mode of keeping
his powder, we would recommend him always to air it and his flask before
he takes the field.
Flasks made of copper or tin are much better for keeping powder in than
those made of leather, or than small casks; the necks of these should be
small, and well stopped with cork.—_Wild Sports._
GUNSHOT, _s._ The reach or range of a gun.
GUNSHOT, _a._ Made by the shot of a gun.
GUNSMITH, _s._ A man whose trade is to make guns.
GUNSTICK, _s. obs._ The rammer.
GUNSTOCK, _s._ The wood to which the barrel of a gun is fixed.
_Vide_ STOCK.
_To repair a broken stock._—See then, I first put a little glue between
the fractured parts, and then tie them strongly round. Hand me that
gimlet. Now we have a hole right through, at right angles with the
grasp;—dip that peg in glue, and hand it over to me—so now we have it
driven tight in. I let loose the string at one end, and begin to bind
the stock with this waxed thread, leaving the glue that has oozed from
the sides of the wood to lay hold of the thread—so now it is finished
off like a cricket-bat. Let us borrow a small strip of ribband of the
hostess, to bind over and prevent our friend’s hand from being stuck to
the stock. Enough; I will venture to say that the bandage would remain
firm much longer than it will be left there; and though the grasp of the
gun is a little thicker, it will not much matter, and it is but a
make-shift after all.—_Hints to Grown Sportsman._
GURGITTING, _s._ In falconry, act of suffocation in hawks.
GUST, _s._ A sudden violent burst of wind.
GUT, _s._ The long pipe reaching with many convolutions from the
stomach to the vent; the stomach, the receptacle of food.
GUT, _v._ To eviscerate, to draw; to take out the inside.
GWINNIAD, _s._ The name of a fish.
The gwinniad, although a fish, is not immediately within the list of
those that are objects of the angler’s attention, yet it is noticed as
being a native of peculiar parts of this country. It is found, according
to Pennant, in one of the lakes of Ireland—Lough Neagh, where it is
called the pollen; in Lough Maben, in Scotland, where it is termed the
vangis; and the Scotch have a tradition, that it was there first
introduced by their beauteous queen, the unhappy Mary Stuart.
They are taken in nets, but never by any bait, keeping on the bottom of
the lake, and feeding on small shells, and the leaves of the water
gladiole, a plant peculiar to these mountain lakes.—_Daniel._
GYMNASTIC, _a._ Relating to athletic exercises.
GYRATION, _s._ The act of turning any thing round; the ascent of a
hawk.
GYRE, _s._ A circle described by anything going in an orbit.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
HAAK, _s._ A fish.
HACK, _v._ To turn hackney; to abuse.
HACKLE, _s._ Raw silk, any filmy substance unspun.
_To Prepare Hackles._—First, pick and bunch them, and be careful they
are the feathers of old cocks, otherwise they will not be worth a
farthing when dyed, as they will all curl in on each edge, and shrivel
up in the points. Bunch each colour by themselves, and throw them into a
basin of hot water. Take them out one by one, and rub soap on them
downwards, dipping them occasionally in the water till you see they are
clean; dip them in a weak solution of alum water, and then wash them
very well in clean water, and they are done.
Every shade of red will come out of the dye, differing in colour,
whether olive or cinnamon. For olives, ground richly in turmeric, and
throw into the same liquor the size of a hazel nut of best madder. Boil
in that a quarter of an hour, and throw in a small bit of copperas,
first lifting out your hackles till the copperas is dissolved, and when
the liquor boils, throw in your feathers for an instant, and you have
fine olives. Black hackles dyed in this way, become a rich green olive,
or dooghadoo. For cinnamons ground richly in turmeric, all red hackles;
then put in two teaspoonfuls of cochineal, ground or powdered, boil them
in that for a quarter of an hour, then put in one teaspoonful of best
brazil dust, and boil for a quarter of an hour, and you have fine
cinnamons. Any dirty tawneys, or grizzle hackles may be dyed in this,
and it will improve them much. There is a sort of reddish cuckoo hackle
that may be dyed in turmeric and madder, as in the olive hackle process,
but not to have any copperas. There is also a yellowish white with a
black vein in the middle, and edged with black. All whites, natural
yellows, or yellowish whites for the drakes. There is a scald whitish
cuckoo hackle with very little black in it—have nothing to do with them.
All those marked as above should be dyed in the following way:—
Take one chip of young fustic, and two or three seedy sprigs of French
weed; boil in this till they come to a faint yellow: draw them, if you
wish a bunch of that colour, and if not, put in one pinch of turmeric,
and one of madder; boil in this for a quarter of an hour, and I think
you will have fine hackles for the drakes. You have no richness from the
weed, but when you add the turmeric and madder you have. In every
instance except this, I condemn and forbid the dyeing with turmeric and
young fustic, as it will ruin every thing that is dyed in it—it gives so
bad a colour.
_To stain hackles of a fine rich Gold Colour._—Ground strongly in
turmeric, then add a tea-spoonful of best madder, boil well for fifteen
minutes, and draw them. Add then two spoonfuls more of madder, and boil
for the same time, and draw again. Then add three more, and boil as
before; and, lastly, add six spoonfuls of madder, and boil for half an
hour, and you have four fine shades of gold colours.—_Ancient Recipes._
HACKNEY, _s._ A hired horse; a hireling; any thing let out for hire;
a horse of small value used to ride to cover.
HACKNEY, _v._ To practise in one thing; to accustom to the road.
HADDOCK, _s._ A sea fish of the cod kind.
The haddock, one of the commonest fishes in the London markets, begins
to be in roe in the middle of November, and so continues until the end
of January; from that time until May they are thin tailed, and much out
of season. The grand shoal of haddocks comes periodically on the
Yorkshire coasts.
Fishermen assert, that when the sea is rough, haddocks sink down into
the ooze and sand at the bottom, and there shelter themselves until the
storm subsides; their reason for this assertion is, that in boisterous
weather they take none, and those that are caught immediately after a
storm, have their backs covered with mud. The bulk of the haddock is
seldom known to exceed fourteen pounds; these are uncommon, and
extremely coarse, the best for the table weighing from two to three
pounds. The black spot beyond the gills, is the mark which superstition
interprets to be the impression left by the finger and thumb of St.
Peter, when he took the tribute money out of the mouth of a fish of this
species, and which has been ever since that miracle continued to the
whole race of haddocks.
The haddock taken on the Irish coasts are much superior to what is found
in the English markets. Those of seven or eight pounds weight are
preferred to smaller fish, being considered finer and firmer.—_Daniel,
&c._
HAFT, _s._ A handle, that part of an instrument that is taken into
the hand.
HAGGARD, _a._ Wild, untamed, irreclaimable; lean; rugged, deformed.
HAGGARD, _s._ Any thing wild or irreclaimable; a species of hawk.
HAIL, _s._ Drops of rain frozen in their falling; a provincial name
for shot.
HAIR, _s._ One of the common teguments of the body; a single hair;
any thing proverbially small; small filaments issuing out of the
pores of the skins of animals, and serving for the most part as
a covering. The constituent parts of hair are animal matter,
oil, silex, sulphur, carbonate of lime, &c.—_Crabbe._
Hair that is most proper, is that taken from a young, healthy, grey, or
white stallion, and which is of a pale transparent water-colour; that
from the middle of the tail is the best. The hairs should be sorted
singly, and the biggest, roundest, and freest from blemishes, made up
into small bundles; the next sized hairs, and all that are sound and
good, are to be alike sorted and parcelled out; they are then to be laid
in clean spring water for twelve hours; after that, washed well, and
dried either with bran, or by hanging them in a room where the heat of a
fire or sun comes (they must not be placed too near a fire); when dry,
they should be again sorted, and the best done up five or six score
together, with their root-ends quite equal, and tied round with thread
at both ends and in the middle, and should be kept in a dry place. Hair
must not touch oil, which will make it hollow and soon decay; it ought
to be kept in parchment. Dipping it in water every two or three months,
and afterwards slowly drying it, will preserve it for years.
* * * * *
Sorrel, chestnut, or brown-coloured hairs are best for ground angling,
especially in muddy waters, as they nearly resemble the colour of the
water; white, grey, or darkish white hair, is for clear streams. Some
use a pale watery green for weedy rivers in summer. Black will only do
for rivers immediately flowing from mosses.
* * * * *
_To make the hair grow in horses._—When the surfeit or sharp humour
prevents the wound healing, take a piece of fresh butter and boil it in
a spoon, to which, add a common charge of gunpowder; mix well, and
anoint the part at night; wash off the ointment with vinegar in the
morning; repeat this for two or three times.
HAIRCLOTH, _s._ Stuff made of hair; it is useful in cleansing a
horse’s skin of impurities.
It is also assistant to health, that confined dogs should have their
hides rubbed every day with a hair cloth, or a wisp of straw; this
dislodges the furfuraceous matter of the skin, and prevents its
adhesion, which forms the first step to mange: it also assists general
circulation, and stands in the stead of exercise. This practice of
rubbing would prove an excellent substitute for washing in many cases,
particularly where water proves injurious, which it sometimes does to
delicate dogs.—_Blaine._
HALE, _a._ Healthy, sound, hearty.
HALF-BRED, _s._ Any horse not thorough bred; half-bred, imperfect.
HALIBUT, _s._ A sort of fish.
HALLOO, _interj._ A word of encouragement when dogs are let loose on
their game.
HALLOO, _v._ To cry as after dogs; to encourage with shouts; to
chase with shouts; to call or shout to.
HALM, _s._ Straw.
HALT, _v._ To limp, to be lame; to stop in a march.
HALTER, _s._ A rope to hang malefactors; a cord; a manger rope.
HALTER, _v._ To bind with a cord; to catch in a noose.
HAMMER, _s._ The instrument, consisting of a long handle and heavy
head, with which any thing is forced or driven; a part of a gun
cock.
If a hammer is too hard, the flint will make scarcely any impression on
it; and if too soft, it soon becomes dented, like lead; but when of good
temper, the impression is moderate, and the sparks, before they are
extinguished, pause in the pan, and occasion a whizzing noise.—_Hawker._
HAMMER, _v._ To beat with a hammer; to forge or form with a hammer.
HAMMOCK, _s._ A swinging bed, generally used in vessels; a hempen
cloth bag to sleep on, six feet long and three feet wide.
HAMSTRING, _s._ The tendon of the ham.
HAMSTRING, _v._ To lame by cutting the tendon of the ham.
HAND, _s._ That member of the body which reaches from the wrist to
the fingers’ end; measure of four inches; cards held at a game;
pressure of the bridle.
HANDER, _s._ Conveyer in succession; the person who manages the cock
when fighting.
HANDFUL, _s._ As much as the hand can gripe or contain; a small
quantity.
HANDGALLOP, _s._ A slow easy gallop.
HANDGUN, _s. obs._ A gun wielded by the hand.
HANDLE, _s._ That part of any thing by which it is held in the hand.
HANDY, _a._ Ready, dexterous, skilful, convenient.
HANK, _s._ A skein of thread; a skein of gut containing 100 threads.
HARBOUR, _s._ A port or haven for shipping; an asylum; a shelter;
the lair or haunt of a dog.
HARBOUR, _v._ To entertain, to shelter, to secure; to trace a deer
to cover.
HARDY, _a._ Brave, stout, daring; strong, hard, firm.
HARE, _s._ A small quadruped, remarkable for timidity, vigilance,
and fecundity.
[Illustration: THE HARE.]
The generic character of the hare consists in its having two front
teeth, both above and below; and the upper pair duplicate, two small
interior ones standing behind the others: the forefeet with five, and
the hinder with four toes.
These animals live entirely on vegetable food, and are all remarkably
timid. They run by a kind of a leaping-pace, and in walking they use
their hind feet as far as the heel. Their tails are either very short
(called in England scuts), or else they are entirely without.
* * * * *
_The Common Hare._—This little animal is found throughout Europe, and
indeed in most of the northern parts of the world. Being destitute of
weapons of defence, it is endowed by Providence with the passion of
fear. Its timidity is known to every one: it is attentive to every
alarm, and is, therefore, furnished with ears very long and tubular,
which catch the most remote sounds. The eyes are so prominent, as to
enable the animal to see both before and behind.
The hare feeds in the evenings, and sleeps in his form during the day;
and as he generally lies on the ground, he has the feet protected both
above and below, with a thick covering of hair. In a moonlight evening,
many of them may frequently be seen sporting together, leaping about and
pursuing each other: but the least noise alarms them, and they then
scamper off, each in a different direction. Their pace is a kind of
gallop, or quick succession of leaps; and they are extremely swift,
particularly in ascending higher grounds, to which, when pursued, they
generally have recourse, here their large and strong hind legs are of
singular use to them. In northern regions, where, on descent of the
winter’s snow, they would, were their summer fur to remain, be rendered
particularly conspicuous to animals of prey, they change in the autumn
their yellow grey dress, for one perfectly white; and are thus enabled,
in a great measure, to elude their enemies.
In more temperate regions, they choose in winter a form exposed to the
south, to obtain all the possible warmth of that season: and in summer,
when they are desirous of shunning the hot rays of the sun, they change
this for one with a northerly aspect: but in both cases they have the
instinct of generally fixing upon a place where the immediately
surrounding objects are nearly the colour of their own bodies.
In one hare that a gentleman watched, as soon as the dogs were heard,
though at the distance of nearly a mile, she rose from her form, swam
across a rivulet, then lay down among the bushes on the other side, and
by this means evaded the scent of the hounds. When a hare has been
chased for a considerable length of time, she will sometimes push
another from its seat, and lie down there herself. When hard pressed,
she will mingle with a flock of sheep, run up an old wall, and conceal
herself among the grass on the top of it, or cross a river several times
at small distances. She never runs in a line directly forward, but
constantly doubles about, which frequently throws the dogs out of the
scent; and she generally goes against the wind. It is extremely
remarkable that hares, however frequently pursued by the dogs, seldom
leave the place where they were brought forth, or that in which they
usually sit; and it is a very common thing to find them after a long and
severe chase, in the same place the following day.
The females have not so much strength and agility as the males; they
are, consequently, more timid, and never suffer the dogs to approach
them so near, before they rise as the males. They are likewise said to
practise more arts, and double more frequently.
This animal is gentle, and susceptible even of education. He does not
often, however, though he exhibits some degree of attachment to his
master, become altogether domestic: for although taken very young,
brought up in the house, and accustomed to kindness and attention, no
sooner is he arrived at a certain age, than he generally seizes the
first opportunity of recovering his liberty, and flying to the fields.
Whilst Dr. Townson was at Gottingen, he had a young hare brought to him,
which he took so much pains with, as to render it more familiar than
these animals commonly are. In the evenings it soon became so
frolicsome, as to run and jump about his sofa and bed; sometimes in its
play it would leap upon, and pat him with his forefeet, or whilst he was
reading, even knock the book out of his hand. But whenever a stranger
entered the room, the little animal always exhibited considerable alarm.
Mr. Borlase saw a hare that was so familiar as to feed from the hand,
lie under a chair in a common sitting room, and appear, in every other
respect, as easy and comfortable in its situation as a lap-dog. It now
and then went out into the garden, but after regaling itself always
returned to the house as its proper habitation. Its usual companions
were a greyhound and a spaniel, both so fond of hare-hunting, that they
often went out together, without any person accompanying them. With
these two dogs this tame hare spent its evenings: they always slept on
the same hearth, and very frequently would rest itself upon them.
Hares are very subject to fleas. Linnæus tells us, that cloth made of
their fur will attract these insects, and preserve the wearer from their
troublesome attacks. In India the hare is hunted for sport, not only
with dogs, but with hawks, and some species of the cat genus. The flesh,
though in esteem among the Romans, was forbidden by the Druids, and by
the Britons of the early centuries. It is now, though very black, and
dry, and devoid of fat, much esteemed by the Europeans, on account of
its peculiar flavour.
The female goes with young about a month; she generally produces three
or four at a litter, and this about four times in a year. The eyes of
the young ones are open at birth: the dam suckles them about twenty
days, after which they leave her, and procure their own food. They make
forms at a little distance from each other, and never go far from the
place where they were brought forth. The hare lives about eight years.
* * * * *
Some believe that hares propagate but once a year, but, in the author’s
opinion, they breed from February to the end of harvest. The doe chooses
some thick dry brake, high grass, clover, or standing corn, to kindle
in; her paps come forwarder under her belly, than those of almost any
quadruped; she does not long suckle her young; if she did, and had many,
the udder would be drawn too big, and be inconvenient whilst the hare
was running; she brings forth differently from the rabbit, her offspring
being completely formed and quick-sighted the instant they are dropped.
Among naturalists it is a received notion that the hare, especially the
buck, seldom lives beyond seven years, and that when either is killed,
another succeeds to occupy its place; whence is derived the proverb—“The
more hares you kill, the more you will have to hunt;” for when the buck
and doe live undisturbed together a little time, they suffer no stranger
to reside within their limits. It is also a well experienced truth, that
some places are remarkable for being seldom without hares, and others
(although as likely, in all appearance, to harbour them) rarely with
any. Whether it is any particular excellence in the feed, in the
situation for forming advantageously, for warmth, hearing, or seeing,
that induces them to prefer certain spots to others, or that on the
death of a buck or doe, another succeeds, and they possess their usual
circle, cannot be ascertained, but the fact is perfectly established.
* * * * *
The first ring a hare takes is generally the foundation of the ensuing
pastime, all the doubles she afterwards makes are in a great measure
like the first; a hare will go over great part of trailed land, and
visit her works of the preceding night and morning; sometimes a buck
will take endways over fresh ground, without offering to return; the doe
usually runs in a circle, unless with young, or having recently kindled;
at such times she often runs forward, and scarcely ever escapes with
life, being naturally unfit for fatigue: however, both sexes greatly
regulate their conduct according to the season and weather. After a
rainy night, in a woody country, neither buck nor doe will keep the
cover, owing to the drops of wet hanging on the spray; they therefore
run the highways or stony lanes, for as the scent naturally lies strong,
they hold the roads which take the least; not that a hare judges upon
what soil the scent lies weakest; it is her ears that chiefly direct
her, for the hounds being oftener at fault on the hard paths than the
turf, she finds herself not so closely pressed, and is not so much
alarmed with the continual cry of the dogs at her heels. The louder the
cry, the more she is terrified, and flies the swifter; the certain
effect of which is, a heart broken sooner than with a pack equal in
number and goodness, but who spend their tongues less free. The same
principle directs the hare to run to the covers in autumn; when the
ground is dry, and the wind cold at north or east; she then keeps the
paths that are covered with leaves, which are so continually falling and
blowing about, that the best hounds can carry no scent; her alarms are
consequently short, and she rests contented where she is least
disturbed.
* * * * *
When a hare rises out of form, if she erects her ears, and at first runs
slowly, with her scut cast over her back, it is surely old and crafty.
When a hare is hunted to her form, along the hard highways, and feeds
far away from cover, and that her doublings and crossings are wide and
large, it is a buck; for the does generally keep close to the side of
some cover, and, when going to feed in the corn-fields, seldom cross
over the furrows, but follow the track of them: when hunted they turn
frequently, use many stratagems, and rarely leave the country round
their seat, whilst the buck, after two or three turns about his form,
runs straight forward four or five miles, and then probably squats in
some place where he has before preserved himself. A buck or jack hare
may also be known by his head being shorter, his ears more grey, his
shoulders redder, and the body being smaller than the doe, and, at his
first starting, by the whiteness of his hinder parts.
They who make a business of hare-finding (and a very advantageous one it
is, in some counties), are enabled to find them in any weather, by
observing the direction of the wind. People frequently do not find
hares, from not knowing them in their forms. A gentleman coursing with
his friends, was shown a hare that was found sitting: “Is that a hare?”
he cried; “then, by Jove, I found two this morning as we rode along.”
* * * * *
According to the season of the year, the hare is to be looked for: if it
be spring, upon fallows or green corn; during the autumn, in stubbles or
turnips; in winter they will seat themselves near houses, in brambles
and tufts of thorns.
* * * * *
Hares will certainly, when hard pressed, go to vault; that is, take the
ground like a rabbit.
* * * * *
_Fecundity of Hares._—A male and female hare were put together by Lord
Ribblesdale, for a year, when the offspring amounted to sixty-eight. A
couple of rabbits, inclosed for the same period, produced about three
hundred.
* * * * *
_Feet of Hares._—Tender feet in dogs are owing to the softness of that
fleshy substance called the ball of the foot; but nature has to the hare
been singularly liberal in this part by supplying her with such feet as
are not subject to, and indeed scarcely susceptible of hurt, so as to
incommode her in running. The balls of her feet, instead of hard flesh,
are covered with strong coarse fur, suited so well for the purpose, that
she never treads easier or to more advantage than on the hardest beaten
track, or rugged, stony road; the very surface which cripples a dog she
glides over with pleasure. In a frost she has an evident superiority to
most creatures; the horse does not at that season take his gallops for
fear of foundering; the greyhound or hound would in running start all
their claws, and tear their soles to pieces, whilst the hare treads as
soft as if she went on wool.
_Hare Warren._—The warren should be paled, and the meuses made of brick;
but to any person making a warren, Mr. Beckford recommends examining the
traps, boxes, and stoppers, all of which have peculiarities not easy to
be described. His town warren is in a wood of near thirty acres, and is
cut into many walks; a smaller warren, which would perhaps answer as
well, should have only one walk, and that round the outside of it. No
dog must ever be allowed to enter it, and traps for stoats and polecats
should be constantly set. Parsley sown in it will induce the hares to
keep at home. When hares at the end of a season become shy of the traps
from having been often caught, it will be necessary to drive them in
with spaniels. The warren hares will be found very thick round the
warren, for they will be unwilling to leave it, and when disturbed by
dogs will immediately go in. The number of hares which a warren will
supply is hardly to be conceived; but Mr. B. prefers a warren in the
midst of an open country (which might be stopped close on hunting days),
to the catching hares in traps, and then turning them down. A warren so
situated would supply the whole country with hares, which, after one
turn round it, would most probably run straight on end.
* * * * *
_The Varying Hare._—This species has a very soft fur, which in summer is
grey, with a slight mixture of tawny; the tail is always white. The ears
are shorter, and the legs more slender than those of the common hare,
and the feet more closely and warmly furred. In size this animal is
somewhat smaller.
Besides other cold parts of Europe, the varying hare is found on the
tops of the highest Scotch hills, never descending to the plains. It
never mixes with the last species, though common in the same
neighbourhood. It does not run fast, and when alarmed takes shelter in
clefts of the rocks.
In September it begins to change its grey coat and resume its white
winter dress, in which only the tips and edges of the ears and the soles
of the feet are black. In the month of April it again becomes grey. It
is somewhat singular that although this animal be brought into a house,
and even kept in stoved apartments, yet it still changes its colour at
the same period that it does among its native mountains.
* * * * *
Hounds for hunting box hares should not be too fleet, and they are to be
hunted like a pack of fox hounds, as a trap hare runs very much in the
same manner, and will even top the hedges; Mr. B. concludes his remarks
upon the running of trap hares, with the method recommended by a
gentleman to insure them to run straight, which was tying a piece of
riband to their ears.
The hounds mostly used for hare hunting, are the deep-tongued,
thick-lipped, broad and long hung southern hounds.
The fleet, sharp-nosed dog, ears narrow, deep-chested, with thin
shoulders, showing a quarter cross of the fox hound.
The rough wire-haired hound, thick quartered, well hung, and not too
much flesh on his shoulders.