CHAPTER XXVIII
FOX-HUNTING IN LAKELAND
THE COUNTRY
By Richard Clapham
AT first glance, the Lake District hardly gives one the idea of a hunting country, yet it can boast of five packs of hounds which show capital sport to their followers. The majority of people know something of Lakeland in summer, as it is a favourite holiday resort, but comparatively few are familiar with its winter aspect.
When speaking of the Lake District, one naturally thinks of Cumberland and Westmorland; but Lancashire contains some of the higher fells. The real boundary of the district is the range of fells south-east of Windermere, and from there a line drawn round Coniston, Wastwater, Ennerdale, Crummock, and Bassenthwaite Lakes, continuing over the summits of Skiddaw and Saddleback, southward over Helvellyn, then swinging left to enclose Ullswater, and Haweswater, and so back to Windermere. The valleys of Kentmere, Long Sleddale, and Swindale are just outside the cordon as drawn above, and so is the Lower Duddon valley on the south-west, but they and all the country included in the roughly-drawn circle contain scenery typical of Lakeland.
Rising from the dales at an angle of from 45 to 70 degrees, or even steeper, the fells reach a height of 2000 feet and over. Certain of them, such as Helvellyn and Scawfell, are more than 3000 feet high. On the summits of the high tops the ground is in some instances fairly level. Beneath the tops the fells are edged with precipitous crags, at the feet of which lie scree-beds and a heterogeneous collection of rocks and boulders. Here and there, too, are steep and slippery grass slopes. On the lower ground large intakes, fenced with high stone walls, divide the dales from the fells proper. In some places the walls run right over the fell tops. On the high fells, coverts are conspicuous by their absence, but here and there on the low ground are larch plantations and coppice woods.
On the ledges of the crags, heather and blaeberry grow in profusion. It is on these sheltered ledges, or “Binks” as they are locally termed, that the hill-foxes find snug lying. Beneath the crags are masses of rock and huge boulders, the underground ramifications of which form in some instances almost impregnable earths. It is in these rock-earths, or “Borrans” as they are locally called, that the foxes lie during stress of weather, and into which they disappear when hard pressed by hounds. It is always difficult, and frequently dangerous, to attempt to unearth a fox which has taken refuge in such a place. From some rock-earths the terriers can bolt a fox, but in the deeper borrans they may get imprisoned themselves and have to be rescued. Earth-stopping in such a country is, of course, quite out of the question, and foxes can get in almost anywhere if so inclined. To the credit of the fell breed be it said, however, they frequently disdain to seek shelter, and die an honourable death in the open. The fells hold a good stock of foxes, many of which are bigger and heavier than the average lowland fox. Roughly speaking, a dog fox weighs about 15 lb., and a vixen 13½ lb. On the fells weights of 17 lb. or 18 lb. are not uncommon. The heaviest fox of which I have a record is one of 23 lb. killed by the Ullswater on Cross Fell. This fox measured 4 ft. 4 in. from tip of nose to end of brush, about 4 inches of the latter being white. A 15 lb. dog fox which I measured, taped 3 ft. 8 ins.
A majority of the foxes lie high up on the fells, either amongst the rocks or on the heather-covered ledges of the crags. Towards dusk they wander down to the low ground in search of food, returning to their kennels in the early hours of the morning.
The fell packs usually meet at 9 a.m., and hounds quest through the low ground until they strike the drag of a fox which has returned to the fell after its night’s foray. If the fox has been long gone, scent may be catchy, and progress slow. Should the fox have delayed his home-coming later than usual, he may be still on foot when hounds strike his line. In that case they can rattle along. Sooner or later the drag takes them to where their fox is lying, and they unkennel him. He may steal away when he hears the approaching cry, or he may lie close until hounds are quite near him. Once their fox is away the real business of the day begins.
Owing to the nature of the terrain, riding to hounds is impossible on the Lakeland fells, thus the field with a fell pack is entirely composed of foot-people. Foot-followers cannot, of course, keep in close touch with hounds, but they can see a great deal of what the latter do from various vantage-points on the high ground. A hunted fox invariably makes for the tops to begin with, and it is a good plan for the field to do the same. Having reached the fell top it pays to stay there as long as possible, as it is much easier to go round the head of a dale than drop into the latter and climb out again on the opposite side. Towards the end of a run when a kill is imminent, and hounds are overhauling their fox down hill, a quick descent can be made via a grass slope, or a loose scree-bed.
In fine weather, with good visibility, it is not difficult to keep in some sort of touch with hounds, for even if you cannot see them, there is always the cry to give you the direction. Regular followers of the fell packs know the run of the foxes and the locations of all the chief rock-earths, besides being closely intimate with the lie of the ground. The visitor who is unfamiliar with the country is wise, therefore, to attach himself to some local Nimrod until he knows his way about. If he follows the lead of one of these men he will come to no harm, though he may come to respect the walking powers of his guide ere the end of the day.
Unfortunately on the fells the weather is not always fine, or the visibility good. At a height of 2000 feet the exigencies of the weather have far more influence on sport than they have in the low country. On the high tops snow may be deep and the frost severe. Perhaps there is a thick mist and rain, or a tearing wind. Mist is the fell fox-hunter’s greatest bugbear, for visibility is nil, and sounds are difficult to locate. Even if you know your ground well it is quite easy to get turned round in a thick mist, and find yourself in the opposite direction from where you want to be. A gale is nearly as bad, for it deadens all other sounds, and makes your eyes water so that you cannot see.
Snow does not stop hunting unless it is accompanied by hard frost, which crusts the surface and coats the crags with ice. Hounds often run very well indeed in soft snow, and on a fine day a hunt on the snow-covered fells is an exhilarating experience.
There is no cub-hunting with the fell packs. The regular season begins at the end of September, or early in October, and continues till about the middle of May. In spring early meets are the rule, hounds often being called for by the farmers to put paid to the account of some fox which has been worrying lambs. The best weather is usually experienced in autumn and spring, although there are fine days in winter as well. Sometimes on a misty day the fells are “top clear,” and as you climb steadily upwards through a thick grey pall, you suddenly emerge into sunshine, while down below stretches an endless sea of white, out of which rises peak after peak of the mountains looking like islands dotted in every direction. You need not go abroad to see the “Spectre of the Brocken,” for a similar phenomenon occurs on the fells. With the sun behind you and a wall of rising mist in front, your shadow will be enlarged to huge proportions. Beautiful rainbow effects are sometimes visible. When looking down on to mist below, when the sun was shining, I have more than once seen a small circular rainbow, altogether different from the usual one visible when it is raining.
In a country like Lakeland, accidents to hounds naturally happen now and then. These generally take the form of a fall from a crag when in close pursuit of a fox. Sometimes, too, hounds get crag-fast, and have to be rescued. At times a fox will miss his way in a crag, and find himself cornered on a ledge, with a venturesome hound behind him, and a long drop into thin air in front. Should the hound be able to reach him, then one or both may come to grief in the mêlée.
There is little danger in following hounds on foot in Lakeland, providing ordinary care is taken. All the fells can be climbed by some fairly easy route, and once on the tops the going is not bad. It is possible to get lost in a mist, but by following the course of one of the hill-becks, it will lead into a dale and safety, although the said dale may perhaps not be the one you expect to see. For fell hunting it is advisable to wear thick-soled boots with plenty of nails, otherwise endless falls on steep ground will result.
The fell packs meet three days per week, and sometimes oftener in spring.
The following are the five packs which hunt in Lakeland:
Blencathra (19 couples) Kennels, The Riddings, Threlkeld, Penrith. (Best centre, Keswick.)
Coniston (15 couples) Kennels, Greenback, Ambleside. (Best centres, Ambleside, Coniston, Troutbeck.)
Eskdale and Ennerdale (15 couples) Kennels, Brantrake, Eskdale, Cumberland. (Best centres, Seascale, Ennerdale, Langdale.)
Melbreak (15 couples) Kennels, Miller Place, Brackenthwaite, Cockermouth. (Best centre, Cockermouth.)
Ullswater (20 couples) Kennels, Glenridding, Patterdale, Penrith. (Best centres, Patterdale, Penrith.)
A sixth pack, the Sedbergh and Lunesdale, hunt the Sedbergh and other fells to the east of the Lake District. The kennels, containing 15 couples of hounds, are at Bainsbank Farm, Kirkby Lonsdale. (Best centres, Sedbergh, Kirkby Lonsdale.)
THE FELL HOUND
In a country like the Lake District, with its high fells, precipitous crags, steep gradients, scree-beds and rocks, the standard type of hound used in the Midlands is quite out of place. His size and weight are against him—a dog hound may weigh over 7 stone, which is the weight of a small man— while his short, straight pasterns and cat feet fail to cope with the jar and concussion engendered by the rough going.
The hound required to successfully deal with the exigencies of the fell country should conform as closely as possible to the following specification: Height about 22½ inches. Light in frame, and well let down and developed in the hind quarters. Hare-footed as opposed to the club-like foot of the fashionable sort. Pasterns long and oblique, the hound standing “back at the knee,” instead of being inclined to knuckle forward. Short coupled, the ribs being carried well back, and good shoulders. Nose is, of course, essential, as well as tongue and pace. The matter of cry is important, for the fell hounds often get out of sight of their followers, the field then being guided solely by the distant music.
As a hound’s life of usefulness depends upon the correct anatomical conformation of his limbs, we may briefly discuss the matter here. Heavy bone right down to his toes is not wanted in a fell hound. The more bone a hound has the greater weight will he have to carry. Weight means leg weariness, especially in rough country with steep gradients. It also produces jar and concussion when descending such gradients, or when landing over a jump. If, in addition to weight, the hound has short, straight pasterns and round cat-feet, he carries nothing to minimise the concussion except his shoulders, and no matter how good the latter are, they cannot possibly eliminate it all unaided. In the fell hound, the shoulders are helped by the hare-feet and the oblique pasterns, which afford spring in the right direction, i.e. backward. The hare-foot, as found in the wolf, coyote, and fox, is the pattern ordained by nature, and on it an animal stands squarely. It possesses a lengthy surface, along which weight is evenly distributed, and wear and tear on the foot is properly taken up. Such a foot gets a firm grip on rocks, and offers a smooth surface to the ground on steep descents. The shallow pad is far more wear-resisting than the thick, fleshy pad of the cat-foot.
With a shoulder in which the scapula or shoulder-blade is well laid back, the top of it joins the dorsal vertebræ at a point far from the head, thus concussion is taken up before it can reach the hound’s brain.
In a country like Lakeland, a small, compactly built hound will invariably beat a big, lengthy hound, when it comes to jumping stone walls and crossing rough going. We have seen it stated that “jumping fences is very much a matter of drive, and has very little to do with size in a hound.” With this we fail to agree, for in our experience size has a great deal to do with a hound being a good fencer, particularly in a stonewall country. Driving power and jumping ability are derived entirely from the hind quarters, thus the hound that can get his hind legs well under his body, scores over his long-waisted relation, both as regards fencing and going the pace.
In the fell hound, the dew-claw is no useless appendage, but is properly developed. It is a help to a hound surmounting slippery rocks, where he has to pull himself up. It also acts as a preventative to slipping on the ledges of the crags. Were there no use for this claw it would not develop as it does on a fell hound, and on examination it will be found to be worn on the underside of the nail, proof positive that it does its share of work.
The head of a fell hound shows the occipital bone well developed. It is not accompanied, however, by any loose wrinkling of the skin of the forehead, or marked depth of flews, such as is found in the bloodhound cross. Amongst fell hounds, white is the predominant colour, added to which we find lemon and white, black and white, badger pie, hare pie, black and tan, and black, white and tan. Whole tan sometimes appears, no doubt, a throw-back to the tan of the original Talbots. The ears of fell hounds are never rounded, but are left in their natural state. In our opinion nothing spoils the noble appearance of a hound’s head more than rounding the ears. In most kennels it is supposedly done to give hounds a level look, but it would be just as sensible—or as foolish—to cut their sterns, which are not all the same length.
The fell packs are small, therefore individual hounds have to take the field much oftener than those composing the fashionable packs. A fell hound will do his three days per week regularly throughout the winter, and in spring he may do more. Barring accidents, he will be a runner-up for many seasons. When hunting comes to an end in May, all the fell hounds go out to their summer walks, where they remain until brought back to kennels in September. On their return they are apt to vary somewhat in condition, this depending on the kind of walk they have had. A hound that is walked at some outlying fell-head farm, may run foxes off and on all summer single-handed. Sometimes a hound will unkennel a fox, and if other hounds hear him running they quickly go to cry, being probably followed by a dalesman or two who cannot resist the call of the chase. Once back in kennels it is surprising how soon hounds get into hard condition again. Fell hounds are very self-reliant, for as their huntsman is on foot, he cannot always be there at a check to give them a helping hand.
Lakeland fox-hunting has its advantages, the country being wild and sparsely inhabited, and it carries a good scent. There are no crowds to press on hounds, no barbed wire, and no main thoroughfares on the high fell. A number of sheep are pastured on the hills, but these do not often interfere with hunting. Except on special holidays like Boxing Day, when there may be a large field out, foxes are seldom headed. Hounds therefore have considerable freedom of action, and anybody who follows them regularly will see some wonderful hound-work. Being light-coloured, they can be picked up with glasses at a considerable distance, and it is often possible to follow the movements of a hunted fox in the same way. In perhaps no other country can an ordinary member of the field see as much of hunted foxes as on the Lakeland fells. The Ullswater have the distinction of including in their country, a deer forest. This is the forest of Martindale, which, if we except Gowbarrow on the opposite side of Ullswater Lake, is the only English deer forest.
The fell hounds do not break up their foxes in the usually accepted sense of the word. At times, if they are a bit above themselves, or have had a sharp scurry after a bolt from an earth, they will tear and eat a portion of their fox, but usually they are content to kill, and let it go at that. It is a generally accepted axiom that hounds must get plenty of blood if they are to retain their keenness, yet no hounds are keener than those which hunt the fells. As long as hounds catch their fox, it matters little whether they eat him or not. Even in the Midlands, where hounds are encouraged to eat the carcass of their hunted fox, there are always some hounds which take little or no interest in the final scene. Anyhow, a fox belongs to the canidæ, and can never appeal to the appetite of a hound as would a hare or a deer.
Now that the fells carry a much heavier stock of foxes than was formerly the case, it is nothing unusual for hounds to divide and run in two, or perhaps more sections. Sometimes an individual hound will get away with a fox and run it single-handed until it puts it to ground or kills it. Instances of such solo runs are recorded every season. In the old days eight or nine brace of foxes was about the total for the season’s hunting, whereas now thirty brace is nearer the mark. Foxes were few and far between and, when found, ran much farther than most of them do now. They were bigger and greyer specimens too. One such fox was described by a local naturalist as being “fierce as a tiger, long as a hayband, and with an amiable cast of features like the Chancellor of the Exchequer——.” The statesman referred to shall be nameless; suffice it to say that he long ago crossed the Great Divide.
Hounds which mark well are most valuable in fell hunting. Should hounds distance their field and run a fox to ground, the music of a few staunch markers lets the huntsman know in which direction to go.
When speaking of fell hunting, mention must be made of the terriers which are indispensable for bolting foxes from the rock-earths. Without them many a fox would have to be left that richly deserved killing. The terrier most suitable for work on the fell should weigh from 15 lb. to 16 lb.; coat thick and wet-resisting; chest, narrow, but not so much so as to impede the free action of heart and lungs; legs sufficiently long to enable the dog to travel above ground with ease to himself; teeth level, jaw strong but not too long; ears, small and dropped close to the head, so that they are less likely to be torn by foxes. Most Lakeland terriers are of the so-called “Patterdale” breed, with more or less Bedlington blood in them. Gameness is, of course, indispensable in a working terrier. A narrow-chested dog, even if rather long in the leg, can creep where a short-legged, broad-chested one is useless. Fell terriers have to follow the huntsman all day over rough going, perhaps in snow, thus they are better for being a bit on the leg.
