usually apt to be somewhat impetuous at his fences. But it must by no means be supposed that every man who goes out hunting desires to gallop at a great pace and to jump formidable obstacles, or indeed any obstacles at all. A large proportion of men who follow hounds are quite content to do so passively through gates and gaps, with a canter along the road whenever one is available. A few of the principal packs hunt five days a week, and sometimes even six, and for such an establishment not fewer than seventy-five couples of hounds are requisite. A pack which hunts four days a week will be well supplied with anything between fifty and sixty couples, and for two days a week from twenty-five to thirty will suffice. The young hound begins cub-hunting when he is some eighteen months old, and as a rule is found to improve until his third or fourth season, though some last longer than this. Often, however, when a hound is five or six years old he begins to lack speed. Exceptional animals naturally do exceptional things, and a famous hound called Potentate is recorded by the 8th duke of Beaufort to have done notable service in the hunting field for eleven seasons.
Servants necessary for a pack include the huntsman, the duties of whose office a master sometimes fulfils himself; two whippers-in, an earth-stopper and often a kennel huntsman is also employed, though the 18th Lord Willoughby de Broke (d. 1902), a great authority, laid it down Hunt servants.that “the man who hunts the hounds should always feed them.” In all but the largest establishments the kennel huntsman is generally called the “feeder.” It is his business to look after the pack which is not hunting, to walk them out, to prepare the food for the hunting pack so that it is ready when they return, and in the spring to attend to the wants of the matrons and whelps. A kennel huntsman proper may be described as the man who does duty when the master hunts his own hounds, undertaking all the responsibilities of the huntsman except actually hunting the pack. It may be said that the first duty of a huntsman is to obtain the confidence of his hounds, to understand them and to make himself understood; and the intelligence of hounds is remarkable. If, for example, it is the habit of the huntsman to give a single note on his horn when hounds are drawing a covert, and a double note when a fox is found, the pack speedily understand the significance. The mysteries of scent are certainly no better comprehended now than they were more than a hundred years ago when Peter Beckford wrote his Thoughts on Hunting. The subject of scent is full of mysteries. The great authority already quoted, the 8th duke of Beaufort, noted as a very extraordinary but well-known fact, for example, “that in nine cases out of ten if a fox is coursed by a dog during a run all scent ceases afterwards, even when you get your hounds to the line of the fox beyond where the dog has been.” This is one of many phenomena which have always remained inexplicable. The duties of the whipper-in are to a great extent explained by his title. Whilst the huntsman is drawing the cover the whipper-in is stationed at the spot from which he can best see what is going on, in order to view the fox away; and it is his business to keep the hounds together when they have found and got away after the fox. There are many ways in which a whipper-in who is not intelligent and alert may spoil sport; indeed, the duke of Beaufort went so far as to declare that “in his experience, with very few exceptions, nine days out of ten that the whipper-in goes out hunting he does more harm than good.” In woodland countries, however, a good whipper-in is really of almost as much importance as the huntsman himself; if he is not alert the hounds are likely to divide, as when running a little wide they are apt to put up a fresh fox. The earth-stopper “stops out” and “puts to”—the first expression signifying blocking, during the night, earths and drains to which foxes resort, the second performing the same duties in the morning so as to prevent the fox from getting to ground when he has been found. In the interests of humanity care should be taken that the earth-stopper always has with him a small terrier, as it is often necessary to “stop-out” permanently; and unless a dog is run through the drain some unfortunate creature in it, a fox, cat or rabbit, may be imprisoned and starved to death. This business is frequently performed by a gamekeeper, a sum being paid him for any litter of cubs or fox found on his beat.
With regard to the expenses of hunting, it is calculated that a master of hounds should be prepared to spend at the rate of £500 a year for every day in the week that his hounds are supposed to hunt. Taking one thing with another, this is probably rather under than over the mark, and Cost of hunting.the cost of hunting three days a week, if the thing be really properly done, will most likely be nearer £2000 than £1500. The expenses to the individual naturally vary so much that no figures can be given. As long ago as 1826 twenty-seven hunters and hacks were sold for 7500 guineas, an average of over £290; and when Lord Stamford ceased to hunt the Quorn in 1853, seventy-three of his horses fetched at auction an average of close on £200. Early in the 19th century, when on the whole horses were much cheaper than they are at present, 700 and 800 guineas are prices recorded as having been occasionally paid for hunters of special repute. A man may see some sport on an animal that cost him £40; others may consider it necessary to keep an expensive establishment at Melton Mowbray or elsewhere in the Shires, with a dozen or more 500-guinea hunters, some covert-hacks, and a corresponding staff of servants. Few people realize what enormous sums of money are annually distributed in connexion with hunting. Horses must be fed; the wages of grooms and helpers be paid; saddlery, clothing, shoeing, &c., are items; farmers, innkeepers, railway companies, fly-men and innumerable others benefit more or less directly. (A. E. T. W.)
HUNTING DOG (Lycaon pictus), an African wild dog, differing from the rest of the family in having only four toes on each foot, and its blotched coloration of ochery yellow, black and white. The species is nearly as large as a mastiff, with long limbs, broad
flat head, short muzzle and large erect ears, and presents a superficial resemblance to the spotted hyena on which account it is sometimes called the hyena-dog. “Mimicry” has been suggested as an explanation of this likeness; but it is difficult to see what advantage a strong animal hunting in packs like the present species can gain by being mistaken for a hyena, as it is in every respect fully qualified to take care of itself. These wild dogs are found in nearly the whole of Africa south and east of the Sahara. The statement of Gordon Cumming that a pack “could run into the swiftest or overcome the largest and most powerful antelope,” is abundantly confirmed, and these dogs do great damage to sheep flocks. Several local races of the species have been named.
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| Cape Hunting Dog (Lycaon pictus). |
HUNTINGDON, EARLS OF. George Hastings, 1st earl of Huntingdon[1] (c. 1485–1545), was the son and successor of
- ↑ The title of earl of Huntingdon had previously been held in other families (see Huntingdonshire). The famous Robin Hood (?1160–?1247) is said to have had a claim to the earldom.
