With Hound and Terrier in the Field; Hunting Reminiscences (Paperback)

This historic book may have numerous typos, missing text or index. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. 1904. Not illustrated. Excerpt: ... dead in the course of a run, as his master was in the act of opening a gate for Lady Theodora Grosvenor. Lord Wolverton kept the mastership of the bloodhound pack till the year 1880, and he showed good sport, though, as I have said, there was even more uncertainty about the quality of the hunting than with foxhounds. Like other members of his family, Lord Wolverton was devoted to sport. He had been entered early with the V.W.H. and the Old Berkshire Hounds, and later he was well known with Baron Bothschild and in Essex. After he sold the bloodhounds to Lord Carrington, he hunted the country round Iwerne with harriers. The bloodhounds were not a success with Lord Carrington, and he parted with them after one season to the Comte le Conteulx le Canteleu, who used them for hunting the deer and the wild boar. At the latter sport I believe they were hardly courageous enough to be successful. It was evident in the days when the bloodhounds were in the Vale that they required the most careful handling. As the bloodhound does not "pack" naturally, he is inclined to trust too much to himself, and to take no notice of what his fellows are doing. He is shy and nervous, and if rated or struck will turn sulky and refuse to work. It was therefore by his study of the character of his hounds and his individual knowledge of each, as well as by his unfailing patience, that Lord Wolverton showed the sport he did. A characteristic of the hounds was that they hunted entirely by scent, never raising their heads for a view, this trait doubtless coming from their ancestors the black St Huberts, which were used for hunting the dense forests of the Ardennes, in which they could only run by scent. Some twenty years before Lord Wolverton was hunting in Dorset, Mr Thomas Nevill of Chilland h...