The Victoria History of the County of Lincoln/The Southwold Hunt
THE SOUTHWOLD HUNT
In no part of the county are its sporting traditions better maintained than in the Southwold Hunt, and nowhere does the field include more tenant farmers. Agricultural depression has laid its hand less heavily on the Southwold country than elsewhere in the county. Some of the farms are thousands of acres in extent. The country extends some thirty miles from north to south, and twenty-four from east to west. The Brocklesby is its immediate northern neighbour; the Burton and Blankney adjoin on the west; to the south—really Belvoir territory—the country is not hunted; and the North Sea forms the eastern boundary. The earliest records show that the Brocklesby used to hunt it for two months in the year, from kennels at Ketsby, till 1795; and for the next five years some trencher-fed harriers hunted fox or hare impartially. Then for two years, 1820–2, Mr. Brackenbury kept a pack at Scremby, which he called the Gillingham. In 1822 the hunt became known as the Southwold, hounds being kennelled at Hundleby. The country as at present constituted has existed since 1841; prior to that date hounds had hunted two or three days a week, but enlarged boundaries adopted in 1841 have enabled the pack to hunt four days a week.
The first master of the Southwold proper was the Hon. George Pelham, brother to the first Earl of Yarborough, who took office in 1823. Before taking over the Southwold he had kept harriers at Barnoldby, and was a thorn in the flesh of old Will Smith of the Brocklesby, as his hounds were not stooped exclusively to hare. He once took out a horse-dealer's licence, and fixed to his house at Laceby a board to notify the fact. Mr. Pelham, who had been in the army in his younger days, always had a good stud of hunters and thoroughbreds, and won considerable success as a race-rider. While master of the Southwold he lived at Legbourne.
The run of 9 March, 1824, is historical. Meeting at Revesby, hounds found immediately in Horstham Wood, and after running in covert for a quarter of an hour, forced their fox away towards Scrivelsby. Then they turned left-handed over the Horncastle road, with Haltham on the left, crossed the Bain opposite Roughton, skirted the village and ran nearly to Well Syke. Turning to the right through White Hall Wood, the fox just entered High Hall Wood, ran over the Moor towards the Tower, and through Bracken Wood and Hawstead Wood. Skirting Horsington Wood, hounds then pressed on through Bucknall Wood to North Springs Wood, turned right-handed through New Park and Gautby Park, and ran through the Bramble Hill Woods nearly to Gautby village. The line thence was over Minting parish and the Horncastle and Wragby road, through Sturton, Ranby, Market Stainton, Benniworth, Donington, Biscathorpe, Gayton le Wold, and Grimblethorpe to Calcethorpe, where the hounds ran from scent to view and pulled their fox down after a run of three and a half hours, having traversed twenty-two lordships; the point was close on seventeen miles. The Southwold has had many distinguished sportsmen as masters, but the reigns of none have been long; Lord Kintore held office for a season after Mr. Pelham retired in 1826, and Mr. Joseph Brackenbury followed two seasons till 1829. Sir Richard Sutton was master for the season 1829–30, and was followed by Captain Freeman (1830–2), Mr. Parker (1833–5), Mr. Heanley (1835–41), Mr. Musters (1841–3), Mr. Hellier (1843–52), Mr. Henley Greaves (1852–3), and Mr. Cooke (1853–7). For nineteen years after Mr. Cooke's resignation the country was managed by a committee (1857–76). But the 'Golden Age' of the Southwold may be said to have commenced when Mr. E. P. Rawnsley succeeded Mr. Crowder in 1880, as each succeeding year saw the pack improve in work and looks, while the sport provided was excellent. Mr. Rawnsley is a splendid horseman and one of the foremost amateur huntsmen of his time; as a woodland huntsman he has no equal. Much had been done before to get a workmanlike pack together, but it was left to Mr. Rawnsley to bring things to their present state of efficiency. Realizing that a quick, active hound was the stamp required, he began with drafts from the York and Ainsty, the Burton, and the South Wilts. The first sire selected was the Belvoir Struggler, a descendant of Mr. Osbaldeston's Furrier, and eleven and a half couples by him were put forward in one entry. Most of the Southwold trace back to a bitch called Freedom (1881), which was given to Mr. Rawnsley by Lord Yarborough in 1884. The mating of this bitch with Belvoir Weathergage ('76) produced wonderful results. Freeman being one of the litter. The pack to-day is practically made up of the blood of Belvoir Weathergage and Southwold Freeman, each considered by the man who hunted it to be the best working foxhound he ever saw. Mr. Rawnsley also dipped freely into Quorn blood to get quickness and activity. Brocklesby Wrangler (1899) has been one of Mr. Rawnsley's favourite sires in recent years. Mr. J. St. V. Fox, Mr. Rawnsley's step-son, became joint-master in 1902. The hon. secretaryship since 1811 has always been held by a member of the Walker family, Mr. W. Walker occupying the post till 1857, another Mr. W. Walker till 1862, and Mr. E. Walker till 1871, when the present secretary, Major George Walker, took over the office. The best centres are Horncastle, in the best of the country, Spilsby, and Louth, from which last Lord Yarborough's and Mr. Ewbank's can be reached. Subscriptions are expected, but the practice of capping has not been adopted. The hounds, fifty couples, belong to the country; the kennels are at Belchford. There is a better supply of foxes now than was formerly the case, and though there is some wire in the country, practically the whole of it is removed in the hunting season. few gorse coverts have been planted during recent years.