There will always be a certain amount of controversy in regard to the
choice of sires. Some people are bigoted enough still in the belief that
good looks and a level formation have nothing to do with the success of
hound-breeding, and that attention only should be paid to abilities in
the hunting field. If this had been the dictum of the Dukes of Rutland
and Beaufort, or of Lord Henry Bentinck, or Mr. G. S. Foljambe, the
breed would have well-nigh died out; but the great masters would have
necks and shoulders, intelligent heads, deep ribs, straightness in
fore-leg, and the round, cat-like foot. There is everything to charm one
in the well-bred foxhound, and is there anything like him? The
Peterborough Shows have done good in bringing the best-looking together,
and in giving opportunities for seeing the best. There has been
everything to prove that the best-looking are generally the greatest;
they are so in nineteen cases out of twenty, and as they are picked for
appearances as puppies, there should be nothing to offend the eye at all
in any well-regulated pack. At Belvoir a moderate-looking one even
cannot be seen. They are all beautiful hounds, and the difficulty is to
find fault. This is the general high standard of the country, and with
masters of hounds in great numbers who will have perfect hounds in and
out of kennel, the conclusion must be arrived at that there is no other
breed of animal so well looked after. The winners of the Champion Prizes
at Peterborough during the last twenty years have been very great as
sires. What a deal of good can be traced now to the Fitzwilliam Selim,
and what a magnificent hound he was; and then there was the Warwickshire
Hermit and Harper, the Oakley Rhymer, the Pytchley Paradox and
Potentate, the Craven Vagabond, the Puckeridge Wellington, the Cleveland
Galopin, and not to forget also the Quorn Alfred, the champion of his
time, as did not Tom Firr lead him back a winner? There have been lots
besides as either champions or winners in the couples of unentered ones,
such as the Dumfriesshire Resolute, who has replenished half the Scotch
kennels with good hounds, and the Pytchley Marquis, who stood in the
ring with Resolute for the Single Puppy Cup, when the judges, Lord
Enniskillen and Mr. Austin Mackenzie, eyed the couple for five minutes
before they could decide that the Pytchley young one was a shade the
better. Never have two young champions done more for the cause of sport,
as to ask concerning all the good that has been done by Marquis is to
set John Isaac on the pinnacle of excitement.
[Illustration:
[PUCKERIDGE.]
COLONIST (1903). CARDINAL (1902).
[By Chancellor—Sarah.] [By Chancellor—Dauntless.]
]
Belvoir has never shown at Peterborough or any other show. Frank Gillard
used graciously to say that it was charity to give other people a
chance; but anyway, the ducal kennel has always had plenty of good
mention at Peterborough, as a great many winners have been by its sires;
and it has become a practice also amongst far distant masters of hounds
to visit Belvoir on the day after the show, and thus to extend their
insight amongst all exquisites of the foxhound family. It is just thirty
years ago (1876) since Belvoir Weathergage was entered, and what an
enormous amount of good has come from this single hound. At home he was
the sire of Gambler and Gameboy, besides others of lesser note; and for
other packs there was the Brocklesby Weathergage, the Fitzwilliam
Weathergage, the Grafton Why Not, the Southwold Freeman, and the
Warwickshire Why Not, all very noted hounds. One can scarcely say how
many more famous sons of Weathergage there were, but just as he was
spoken of by Frank Gillard as the best hound he ever hunted, Mr.
Rawnsley, of the Southwold, says the same of his son Freeman, whilst
very similar in character must have been the Grafton Why Not. In the
next generation the excellence was again well continued; as where have
better hounds been seen than the sons of Gambler, with Nominal and
Gordon at home, and Lord Middleton’s Grimthorpe and Grasper, Mr. Austin
Mackenzie’s Rallywood, Lord Galway’s Gambler, and the Grafton General
and Gorgon. Gameboy, brother to Gambler, brought more kudos into the
famous line, as he was the sire of the Holderness Gaffer, sire of their
Steadfast, and the latter has been very useful in many packs. The line
has apparently got stronger in years and generations, as from Watchman,
son of Nominal, comes Dexter, a great sire certainly during the last six
or seven years, and his son Stormer is the most fashionable, if not the
greatest, of the day.
Belvoir Stormer (1899) is a very grand hound of the Gambler type, but a
bit on the big side, good twenty-four inches, but there is all the
quality in him of the Belvoir hound, and he has beautiful legs and feet.
I make him out to have as much or more Osbaldeston Furrier blood in him
than in any other to be found in the Stud-book. It came in through
Weathergage, of course, back to Senator, and he got it through his dam
Destitute, by Sir Richard Sutton’s Dryden, by Lord Henry Bentinck’s
Contest. But then there was so much Senator blood in Gratitude, the dam
of Gambler, and again in Needy, the dam of Nominal, as she was by
Syntax, son of the Grafton Silence, son of Statesman by Senator, by the
Oakley Sportsman, her dam Needless by Contest, out of Novelty, by
Senator. The success of Stormer for other packs than his own has been
almost extraordinary, and this can be seen in _Baily’s Directory_,
giving the names and the pedigrees of the prize puppies at the various
kennel puppy shows. They were first in the Quorn, Tynedale, Duke of
Buccleuch’s (in bitches), Pytchley (in bitches), Lord Middleton’s (in
bitches), and second in the North Staffordshire (dogs), the latter a
remarkable puppy called General (a present as a whelp from Mr. R.
Corbett, of the South Cheshire, as he would persistently join the pack
when at walk, and hunt like an old one before he was entered).
It may be thought that there was more honour attached to Stormer in his
earlier days, as the sire of the Atherstone Struggler and Streamer; of
Lord Bathurst’s Stentor, unfortunately dead, when he promised to be one
of the pillars of the family, as besides being the best puppy of his
year at Peterborough, he got some very good stock, as seen by the puppy
shows. Then there is Lord Yarborough’s Harbinger, exceedingly good
looking, and so good in his work as to have been used in his second
season; and some others in various kennels thought very highly of.
Stormer, though, was in no degree more useful or popular than his sire
Dexter, whose son, Daystar, was supposed to have been the best-looking
hound bred at Belvoir since Gambler, but he was unfortunately killed by
a kick in the hunting field. Dasher, another son of Dexter, met with a
similar fate. Both these hounds got beautiful stock. But besides
Stormer, there was another son of Dexter of the same age in Handel,
almost more bloodlike in outline than the other, and as the sire of the
Warwickshire Traveller to be held much in esteem. Both Stormer and
Handel are still in orders at Belvoir. Lord Middleton has a great
opinion of his own Dexter by the old Belvoir hound, and he has used him
freely. Some very good sorts are brought in through the Birdsall Dexter,
as his dam Woodbine was by the Grafton Woodman, so on both sides
accounting for his excellence in the field. There is really a plentitude
of the Belvoir Dexter and Stormer blood throughout the country, as
through the former’s son, Dasher, again comes in the Rufford Furrier,
with every promise to become a great sire; and there was a young hound
in the Bicester kennels last year called Deemster, by Dasher, out of a
beautiful bitch called Bravery, that looked like making a name if he has
gone on all right.
If a breeder of hounds commenced his operations from the Belvoir
Weathergage (1876), there are probably six distinct lines to work upon,
or most certainly four, and he need hardly go further afield for blood,
but cross from one to the other, just as old Mr. Parry used to do with
his Pilgrims and Rummagers, and Mr. G. S. Foljambe did from the brothers
Harbinger and Herald. The subsequent occupants of their kennel benches
were not too nearly bred, five generations off was old Parry’s plan; but
still, they were all blood relations. To speak with any certainty I
should take the four lines from the brothers Gambler and Gameboy, and
the two others from the Grafton Whynot (1882) and the Southwold Freeman
(1885). The Gamblers I have pretty well referred to above, but his
brother, Gameboy, was almost as important as the sire of the Holderness
Gaffer, sire of their Steadfast, and of Mr. Austin Mackenzie’s Guider
and Gambler. Of these Gaffer occupies an important page in the “Foxhound
Kennel Stud Book,” as he was the sire of the Warwickshire Sailor, the
sire of the Brocklesby Wrangler. Steadfast, again, was the sire of two
very good stud-hounds of the present day, namely, Lord Harrington’s
Sultan and Salisbury (brothers). The Grafton Whynot was in no degree
less important than any of the above, as he was the sire of Workman,
sire of Wonder, sire of Woodman, whose good ones throughout the country
have been almost legion, to include the Craven or Old Berks Woodman, the
Vale of White Horse Worcester, the Grafton Whynot (of 1897), the
Puckeridge Chancellor (1898), and the Badminton Whipster (in orders five
years). In my most recent travels I have heard of nothing but praise of
the Grafton Woodman’s stock, splendid for nose, hard workers, demons on
a dying fox, and always dependable for season after season. The old dog
was thirteen years old before he was put away last spring, and I shall
always regret not seeing him, as, to judge him from every point, he must
have belonged to the very greatest. His son, Worcester, in Mr. Butt
Miller’s kennels, enjoys the same reputation so closely associated with
his sire, as there could be no better foxhound on the line of a fox, and
he has got good ones right and left for Lord Bathurst’s, the Duke of
Beaufort’s, the Craven, the Morpeth, and other packs all having
representatives by him, besides a big following at home. The Craven
regretted that their litter by him of three couples were all bitches, as
they were so good, and a dog to have been a sire would have been all too
acceptable. However, Lord Bathurst has got two very good sons of
Worcester in Weathergage and Wellington, who trace back on their dam’s
side also to some very telling blood from Mr. Austin Mackenzie’s Dexter,
Belvoir Weathergage again, Warwickshire Harper, and Lord Coventry’s
Rambler. Cooper thought last year that Weathergage might be the best
foxhound in England. He should not be missed, therefore, by
hound-breeders. Mr. Butt Miller has naturally several young Worcester
sires, the brothers Bandit and Barrister striking me as about the best
when I saw them. It is noticeable that the Morpeth’s second prize puppy,
Whynot, was a son of Worcester’s.
The Bicester have had reason to uphold the Grafton Woodman line, as some
of their best are by Whynot, notably a grand third-season dog called
Wrangler, who gave one the impression of becoming a stud-hound of note
some day. There are two or three of Mr. Heywood Lonsdale’s worth taking
a good journey to see, Conqueror being one, and he is quite one of Lord
Chesham’s breeding, going back into the Blankney sorts. The second prize
puppy of the kennel last year was by Conqueror.
To turn again, though, to the Grafton Whynot. I saw him last May, with
nine seasons marked against him, and the rumour was that he had been
promised to Squire Drake, who might breed a pack again for the Old Berks
through this son of Woodman alone, if he could keep the old fellow in
useful orders long enough. He got rare stock for the Grafton, and so did
his son, Wiseacre, who died too prematurely; whilst another son called
Waggoner—still available, I expect—had the reputation of being the
hardest driver in the pack. Of the Grafton dogs, though, I liked
President the best, and he was out of a Woodman bitch. The next share of
usefulness to be credited to Woodman may come from the Puckeridge, as
Mr. Edward Barclay bred from him in 1897 with a bitch that went back to
old Mr. Parry’s sorts, through Lord Portsmouth’s Gainer, a very noted
worker, as I well remember, and got by Mr. Parry’s Gulliver far back in
the sixties. Gainer was so good that the late Lord Galway favoured him
extensively, entering three couples by him from four litters in 1873.
Mr. Lane Fox was one of his patrons, and also Belvoir; but for the
latter great kennel he did not get them very good about the knees.
The result of Mr. Barclay’s patronage to the Grafton Wonder, was
Chancellor, and he was like all the rest of them, quite A1 in his work,
and going on into his eighth season, at any rate. He has been bred from
for the last five years with bitches mostly of Belvoir extraction, and
in the Puckeridge list of 1904 there were eight couples by him in
different years; all very good, so Mr. Barclay and his late huntsman,
Jem Cockayne, have stated; but the best of all was Cardinal, out of
Dauntless, by Belvoir Watchman, son of Nominal, son of Gambler, son of
Weathergage, her dam Dahlia by Shamrock, son of Dashwood by Founder,
belonging to the Fallible family. A splendidly bred hound, therefore, is
the Puckeridge Cardinal, entered in 1902, so now just in his prime. He
is a fine big hound also, and so good in his work as to have left a very
strong impression upon Jem Cockayne, who was never happy unless Mr.
Barclay kept breeding from him heavily, and about the first thing he did
when engaged for the North Warwickshire was to get Mr. Arkwright to do
the same. He told me he should like to have a kennel full of Cardinals,
and really the puppy boxes at Brent Pelham last year were full of them.
Another by Chancellor in the Puckeridge Kennel is Colonist, a year
younger than Cardinal, but with almost as great a reputation, and bred
very like his companion, as he was out of Sarah, by Belvoir Dashwood.
Colonist took second prize as a puppy at Peterborough.
Yet another line from the ever-telling Belvoir Weathergage may be traced
from the Southwold Freeman, who was thought by Mr. Rawnsley to have been
the best hound he ever hunted in his life, and for the last twenty years
this gentleman has shown a strong determination to hold the line. He had
five and a half couples by him before the good hound was a
five-year-old, and six couples and a half were entered afterwards from
numerous litters. The same line can be traced through several channels
at the present time, and to Frantic, sister to Freeman. Much of his has
been crossed again to the Grafton Woodman, as Workable, a well-known
Southwold bitch, has been a great treasure in the field and as a breeder
of good ones; and Valliant, possibly Mr. Rawnsley’s best sire, is by the
Brocklesby Wrangler, one of the sorts, as I have mentioned in this
paper, out of a Freeman-bred bitch. To trace the branches from the
Belvoir Weathergage, there is everything, then, to show that the merit
has been almost inexhaustible, and that, if anything, it has increased
in intensity by intercrossing: the Grafton Wonder, with the Gambler
line, as instanced in the case of the Puckeridge Cardinal, and the
Freemans, as shown by the Brocklesby Wrangler and Vanity, in their
production of the Southwold Valliant; and again in the case of Worcester
breeding his best from Nominal- or Gambler-bred bitches. It is a problem
of breeding, and all compassed in thirty years. I can hardly believe it
to be so long ago, looking back to 1873, when chatting to Frank Gillard,
on the old flags at Belvoir, we admired Warrior, the crack of the
kennel, as I then opined, and how Gillard told me that the beautiful
blood-like hound before us was rather the result of an experiment. He
hardly dared to breed from Wonder, on account of his swine chap, but he
was tempted by his beautiful voice, and his union with Susan produced a
perfect litter, to comprise Woodman, Warrior, Woeful, Welcome and
Whimsey, all good-looking enough to be put on, and useful in producing
subsequent Belvoir beauties; but the star of all was Warrior, the sire
of Weathergage. Nearly all the best foxhound sires of the day trace to
the latter, and it would be no very bad policy to breed from the older
ones of their generation as long as they can be found—Belvoir Stormer,
Handel, Grafton Why Not, Cricklade Worcester, Brocklesby Wrangler and
Badminton Dexter—but still to remember that there is a younger
generation, or even two, that is quite as good, and maybe safer, when
enumerating the sires of the day, as the Warwickshire Traveller, the
Belvoir Vaulter and Royal, the Atherstone Struggler and Streamer, the
Grafton Waggoner and President, the Birdsall Dexter, the Puckeridge
Cardinal, the Bicester Wrangler, the Fitzwilliam Harper, the Southwold
Valliant, the Cricklade Bandit and the Cirencester Weathergage.