_Photos by T. C. Bristow Noble._]
]
The Advent of the Otter-hunting Season.
Never, perhaps, was otter-hunting more popular than it is to-day, though
it is one of the oldest sports in existence. Even as far back as the
reign of King John otters were hunted with hounds throughout the summer
months. But until comparatively late years the sport seems to have
always been that of the few rather than, as now, that of the many. In a
great measure it owes its increasing popularity to the more generous
spirit that happily now prevails among sportsmen.
The member of the angling society and the owner of the private fishery
are no longer at war with the interesting little quarry, that is, on
those rivers which are visited by otterhounds, and on many that are not.
Indeed, it is more than probable that in a few years’ time it will be
considered as discreditable an action for a private person to shoot or
otherwise destroy an otter, as it is to secretly kill a fox in the
Midlands. During the season that is slowly commencing there will be
twenty-four packs of otterhounds hunting in the United Kingdom, as was
the case last year. The first meet took place on April 6th, when the
Essex Otterhounds, which Mr. L. Rose still continues to hunt, met at
Witham Station.
This was an early start indeed. The water must have been very cold, and
the hounds in consequence could have shown no great keenness. The truth
is, April is too early a month in which to make a commencement. It is
wiser by far to wait till about the middle of May before bringing the
hounds from their kennels. By this time the countryside is putting on
her most resplendent mantle, the water is growing warm at last, and
followers and hounds alike can thoroughly enjoy the sport.
It is not a sport that only the rich can indulge in. Almost any and
everybody can afford to follow it, whilst rarely has the agriculturist
occasion to complain of damage being done to either his crops or fences
by the followers. It is gratifying to notice that masters are determined
to put a stop to the increasing practice of riding to otterhounds. Apart
from it being quite unnecessary to be mounted, horse people are often a
danger and always a nuisance among the legitimate following.
There is, moreover, a growing inclination to utilise the rough-coated
hound to a greater extent than hitherto. But one of the most pleasant
features of modern otter-hunting is the large number of ladies that
follow and subscribe to the various packs, coupled with which must be
the fact that there are now two lady “masters”—Mrs. Walter Cheesman, the
Master of Crowhurst Otterhounds, and Lady Mary Hamilton, who owns the
Hamilton pack, which, as we write, was given to her a few days ago by
Mr. R. Carnaby Forster.
The two photographs that we reproduce herewith were taken during a
recent run and kill with Mrs. Cheesman’s hounds.
A Hundred Years Ago.
(FROM THE _SPORTING MAGAZINE_ OF 1806.)
COCKINGS. ROYAL PIT, WESTMINSTER. Monday, April 15th.—The grand main of
cocks, between the Hon. George Germaine (Potter, feeder) and Mr. Wilson
(Lester, feeder), consisting of twenty-seven main and twenty byes,
commenced fighting. The following is a statement:—
LESTER M. B. POTTER M. B.
Monday 3 3 1 0
Tuesday 2 4 2 0
Wednesday 1 0 3 4
Thursday 3 0 2 3
Friday 2 1 3 1
Saturday 4 1 1 1
—— — —— —
15 9 12 9
SETTERS.—Walters for Mr. Wilson and young Potter for Mr. Germaine.
Before fighting, 11 to 8 on Potter; after Monday’s fight, 6 to 4 on
Lester; after Tuesday’s fight 7 to 4 on Lester; after Wednesday’s fight,
11 to 8 on Potter; after Thursday’s fight, 12 to 10 on Lester; after
Friday’s fight, even betting.
The whole of the fighting was remarkably good, and did much credit to
both the feeders and setters.
* * * * *
In the short space of two hours in the afternoon of the 19th ult.
[March] Mr. Isaac Pearson, of Poolbank, near Kendal, killed ten
woodcocks at eleven shots on the woody grounds at Whitbarrow.
* * * * *
The following curious circumstance happened on Monday, the 17th ult. The
Allendale Foxhounds pursued a fox for some time on Staward banks and the
grounds adjacent, until at last poor reynard was under the necessity of
taking shelter in the crags; and the sportsmen, with greatest
difficulty, opened the hole and secured their prey, which, upon
examination, was found to be a large bitch-fox. She was taken to
Bishopfield, where, to the great surprise of the keeper, on the Thursday
following, she brought forth six fine young cubs, which are at this time
with the mother, and are all likely to live.
* * * * *
HOME CIRCUIT.—Brown _v._ Boxall. At Kingston, March 27th, this action
was brought against the defendant for having in his possession a tunnel
net for catching partridges, contrary to the statute of Queen Anne. The
fact of finding the net at the defendant’s house was proved by one of
the Duke of York’s gamekeepers. The net was produced, and it appeared to
have been recently used, as a great many partridges’ feathers were
sticking to it. No defence was made, and the plaintiff had a verdict for
the penalty of five pounds.
* * * * *
OTTER-HUNTING.—On Thursday, April 24th, the hounds of Andrew Corbet,
Esq., of Acton Reynald, in the county of Salop, threw off at Ternhill,
and, opposite Fordall, hit on a drag which led them to a covered drain
between the two pools at Buntings-dale, from which an otter was
immediately bolted into the lower pool, where he showed excellent sport
for forty minutes, and was killed in high style. On Friday, the same
hounds resumed the sport, throwing off at Brook’s Mill, near Combermere,
in Cheshire, where they were again successful in finding and killing a
large dog otter. On Saturday, this famous pack threw off at Norton,
above Drayton, and came down water to Peetswood pools, where they found
a remarkable large otter, weighing 23 lbs., which was speared by Mr.
Davies, after a chase of two hours.
The Sportsman’s Library.
The latest addition to the popular “Fur, Feather and Fin Series” of
monographs is Mr. T. F. Dale’s contribution on the fox.[14] A most
entertaining volume he has put together, for he combines practical
knowledge with much reading; and the preparation of the work has
evidently been a labour of love. There is not a phase of interest
relating to the fox upon which the author has not touched, from the
secrets of the animal’s normal life to the part he plays in fable and
legend. He opens his first chapter with the apt remark that “the
survival of the fox is the most notable fact in his natural history”;
and of the British fox this is especially true: it was Ralph Holinshed,
if we mistake not, who in Queen Elizabeth’s time offered the explanation
of the fox’s survival in the suggestion that he must long ere then have
been exterminated but for the indulgence shown him by the farming
classes out of goodwill to the sporting tastes of their landlords. In
course of his remarks on the species and varieties of foxes the author
touches upon the disputed question of fox-dog hybrids, and clearly leans
to the belief that such crosses do occur under favourable circumstances.
He will have the weight of expert opinion with him in his observations
on scent. It is, we think, generally accepted as a fact that the scent
of individual foxes differs, at least in degree; but is it certain that
Asiatic foxes leave no scent? We may grant that absence of this quality
would be of distinct advantage to a weak animal in countries where
beasts of prey occur; but does not scent confer an advantage on the
owner as well as a disadvantage? We should be inclined to think that the
heat of the sun was largely accountable for the lack of scent noticeable
in Indian foxes.
Mr. Dale puts forward a theory to account for the preference often shown
by the breeding vixen for a badger’s cete which commends itself; he
suggests that the presence of the badger offers a measure of protection
against the invasion of terriers—an advantage which perhaps would be
fully appreciated by an animal so intelligent as the fox. True, not
every badger has a welcome for the fox which takes up its quarters in
the cete, as witness the cubs killed by badgers, after the method which
makes the cause of death unmistakable; but we must allow for the varying
temperament and disposition of individual members of any given species.
[Illustration:
“WHEN ALL IS QUIET.”
From “The Fox”: “Fur, Feather and Fin” Series. (By permission of the
Publishers.)
]
An excellent and suggestive chapter is that on the “Education of the
Fox,” and one that greatly tempts us to quotation; one remark only we
reproduce, however, for the benefit of the soft-hearted people who see
nothing but “cruelty” in foxhunting: “Hunting is his life: being hunted,
but an episode.” There is the whole history of fox-life in a sentence.
Early in the next chapter, on “The Mind of the Fox,” however, Mr. Dale
hazards the conjecture that “it is not certain that he (the fox) is in
reality more intelligent than other wild animals.” Flat treason this,
Mr. Dale! Does not nearly every page of this most readable and
thoughtful book of yours plead for a verdict in the contrary sense? We
grant the cunning of hunted deer and hare, we accept their wiles as
proof of high intelligence; but we cannot have it that the fox, the most
assiduous of hunters and the most assiduously hunted, does not excel
these in sagacity and resource. We would base our contention on the
principle that a beast of prey which owes his existence to his skill and
talent for circumventing other wild creatures, must of necessity develop
higher mental faculties, more acute reasoning powers, if you will, than
one which finds food ever ready to his mouth; and we would urge that
your own wide knowledge of fox habit and wile fully justify your
subsequent observation that the “intelligence which is necessary for the
survival of the race is very marked.”
When he comes to such matters as fox preservation and the home and
haunts of the fox, the author of necessity is on much trodden ground,
but nevertheless he has the art of putting familiar facts in a new and
entertaining form. Incidentally it may be noted that the old-time method
of dragging up to the fox’s kennel is still followed by the Fell packs
as well as on Exmoor. Those who know not the coastline of Somerset and
Devon will find much to interest them in the author’s remarks on the
cliff-haunting foxes and the difficulties of killing them; but Mr. Dale
does not believe that foxes which settle in a covert inland ever, of
their own will, return to the cliffs. This, we imagine, is highly
probable; the advantages of covert life appear to compare more than
favourably with those of a cliff existence.
In the chapter on “The Hunted Fox” we again naturally encounter the
question of fox intelligence, and here we find ourselves in complete
accord with our author. “If there were none but clever foxes we should
soon give up hunting; if there were none but simple ones we should soon
have no more foxes to hunt. The variability of the fox (as regards his
intelligence) is an advantage to the race and to the sport.”
The suggestion that one cause of the degeneracy of foxes is that more of
the straight-running (_i.e._, simple-minded) are killed than of the
cunning foxes which use their wits to beat hounds, deserves notice. The
dodging fox lives longer to reproduce his kind, endued with his
qualities of cunning and wile.
When considering the “Fox as Outlaw,” Mr. Dale gives some very
interesting figures relating to expenditure on hunting. He calculates
that in a certain country the money spent by the master and members of
the hunt on horses, hounds, food, and wages, represents £36 per head
spent on each fox killed. It would not be difficult to prove the
expenditure much larger, but the argument will serve as it stands.
Passing over the “Fox in Fable”—proof, surely, of the superiority of
wisdom attributed to the fox from very early times—and a very
interesting chapter on jackal-hunting in India, we have a few pages on
what we may call the economic aspects of the fox, as represented by the
pelts of his foreign relatives. The work concludes with a chapter on the
congenial topic of hunting. The ethical view of the matter is boldly
faced, and the gist of the case is simply that foxes must be killed, and
if not fairly killed by hounds, would meet their fate in some other way,
probably more painful. The fox fulfils his mission in this country as a
medium for the distribution of cash where it is most wanted, and as a
source of pleasure; and all hunting men will heartily agree with the
writer of this charming book when he says that “hardly any animal has,
in the long history of its race, been of more importance in the
literature and life of man, or is more interesting as a study of animal
life and mind.” Mr. Archibald Thorburn’s drawings are most admirable.
Polo in 1906.
The polo season of 1906 commenced at Rugby and Leamington early in
April, and has been continued up to the time of writing in the most
glorious weather, which reminds one more of the middle of June than the
beginning of April; it is only to be hoped that we shall not have to pay
for it later on. Warwickshire seems to start polo before the other
clubs, and in greater numbers than any other county; on April 9, there
were 17 players at Rugby and 16 at Leamington.
The prospects of the London season never were brighter, and the only
difficulty for polo managers will be to satisfy their clients with the
number of matches that they are able to allot them, provided only the
weather is favourable.
The great difficulty for polo players, who have not already mounted
themselves for the season, will be to supply themselves with handy, easy
ponies that they can play on; for I think it will be found more than
ever this year that the supply is not equal to the demand.
The great increase in the all-round demand for good ponies and the
improvement of polo in England is, I think, due in a large measure to
the number of civilian teams that have been started in London during the
last few years; it is not only due to the fact that the players in these
teams improve their own play through playing constantly with the same
men against other good teams, but after playing in a team they are never
again satisfied with members’ game polo, and they go away to their
county clubs and teach these what they have themselves learnt in London,
to the all-round betterment and benefit of the game.
I append a list of the probable civilian combinations this season, in
addition to which there will be teams representing Worcester Park, the
Crystal Palace, and Kingsbury, and probably Hatfield and Essex.