CHAPTER VI
THE DUTIES OF THE WHIPPER-IN, ETC.
By “Trickster”
BECKFORD seems to have shocked the friend to whom he wrote when he suggested that a good whipper-in was a more important person than a good huntsman. Reproached for his unorthodox point of view, he justifies himself as follows:
“I must remind you that I speak of my own country only: a country full of riot where the covers are large, and where there is a chase full of deer and full of game. In such a country as this, you that know so well how necessary it is for a pack of fox-hounds to be steady and to be kept together ought not to wonder that I should prefer an excellent whipper-in to an excellent huntsman.”
There is a good deal more in the same vein, but it all boils down to the question of riot. Nowadays this has changed completely. With the passing of the Ground Game Act which I need hardly say was not promoted with any view to facilitating the hunting of the fox, rabbits and hares have diminished to a tremendous extent in most countries and hounds are not exposed to the same temptation. The fox-hound of to-day may be better or worse than his forbears in pace, in nose, and in drive, but there can be no questioning the fact that he is steadier. The whipper-in has his work to do just as he had in Beckford’s day but his expenditure in whipcord is not the big item it was then.
To lay down any hard-and-fast rules for the performance of a whipper-in’s duties is almost an impossibility, since every huntsman has different methods and will expect him to conform to these. Success or failure in his profession to all intents and purposes depends on his ability to play up to the huntsman from first to last. He must obey him implicitly, forestall his every wish, and will never spare himself in the endeavour to help him catch his fox.
Let us follow him for a bit and see what is expected of him. When a covert is to be drawn he will go quickly to the spot that is indicated to him and watch for a fox to go away. If, as is sometimes done in the cub-hunting season, his instructions are to turn the animal back he must post himself well away from the covert side so that he can meet the cub face to face and not be obliged to gallop after him. But we will suppose that November has arrived when the heading of a fox becomes a serious offence. Badly posted whippers-in probably head more foxes than do all the field put together. He must tuck himself and his horse in close to the covert where he can see without being seen and never take his eyes off the ground which it is his duty to watch. On no account will he enter into conversation with anyone when thus engaged and he had best rid himself quickly of any notion that it is possible to be looking in two directions at the same time.
Having holloaed his fox away and stopped any detached hounds that would otherwise go away in advance of the pack and thus handicap the latter afterwards, his duties must depend upon the orders given him. The procedure in many countries and the one that it is proposed to advocate here is that the first whipper-in (assuming that there are two) will remain in close attendance upon the huntsman, anticipating his requirements from time to time and carrying out such instructions as he receives before, almost, the latter has had time to issue them. The huntsman is riding towards a gate which, as he is about to discover, is off its hinges. What matter—Charles, as we will call him, is already off his horse and the gate stands open wide before him when he reaches it. Some sheep are running and threaten to wheel across the line but the movement has been noted and their course deflected in good time. A hare has run down the hedge-side just in front of the pack. Some of the young hounds hesitate but at once meet the foil of Charles’s horse and carry on. “Look out and look sharp” will be his motto, and let him remember that he should and will see many things that escape the huntsman with eyes focused on his hounds. When the latter is casting them Charles will be close at hand and preferably a little up-wind, ready to meet them should they strike the heelway of their fox.
Stopping hounds is an easy enough matter on some days. To-day Charles needs but to turn his horse towards them and the trick is done, but to-morrow a whole regiment would find their work cut out to do the same. Such is the peculiarity of scent. Noise is a terrible spoil-sport and let it be remembered that a noisy whipper-in is scarcely less obnoxious than a noisy huntsman. When hounds run into a covert he must leave the huntsman’s side and get “forrard” without losing a moment. If he is in a position to identify the hunted fox so much the better. Nine times out of ten this will be impossible and he will holloa away the first fox that leaves. It may be that hounds are running another one in covert and for this reason or for some other the huntsman decides to disregard his signal. This will be communicated to him on the horn and he will then resume silence and await fresh developments. A whipper-in who continues holloaing indefinitely in the belief that all the world is deaf has a most irritating effect. Once he has made his signal clear, he has done what is required of him and responsibility has passed to the man with whom it rightly lies.
Now let us turn away for a moment to look for the second whipper-in and see what he is doing.
He remained behind at the covert where we found our fox until he was satisfied that all his hounds were on and will do so again should occasion arise in the course of the hunt. The huntsman does not require him in attendance upon him and he is free to render assistance on the lines that his own intelligence suggests. Should hounds divide and one lot go off “into the Blue” the task of recovering them rests with him even if it is to occupy him all day and half the night.
When all is going smoothly and there seems to be no immediate need of his services is often the time when he can be of great use. After hounds have disturbed a covert or two and crossed some miles of country there will almost certainly be more than one fox moving ahead of them. By keeping his eyes and ears open our whipper-in will often be able to avert a change and thus help to bring a beaten fox to hand. The question of how far he is justified, as a regular practice, in riding ahead of the pack in the endeavour to keep an eye on the fox must depend on the orders he receives. Some masters of hounds do not like the practice, while others welcome any assistance of the kind. Mr. Beckford says: “When there are two whippers-in, one ought always to go forward: when there is only one, he, to be perfect, should be a very Mungo, here, there, and everywhere.”
A good whipper-in will be wise, in his own interest, to take care of his horses. If he can earn the reputation of a good and careful horseman he is likely to be provided with better horses to ride. On the contrary, should he be continually laming them and screwing them up his master may well persuade himself when new ones need to be procured that anything is good enough to mount him on.
Scarcely less important than a close understanding between huntsman and whipper-in is that which should exist between the whippers-in themselves (first and second). Each one should know where the other is and what he is doing. How often in a woodland is a beaten fox permitted to slip away back through the whippers-in having both posted themselves “forrard” merely by rule of thumb.
A perfect combination in the field is not witnessed every day. We recall perhaps one or two such in the course of our hunting life. Faultless organisation is doubtless the foundation of success, but the team work will need to be developed in the highest degree to bring the machine to perfect efficiency. No matter what the trials and vexations of a day’s hunting the perfect whipper-in will outwardly maintain a constant good humour. It is one of the first lessons to be learned in his profession and soon the wearing of a cheerful countenance at all times and in all places will have become a second nature to him.
Hunt servants making their way home at night are the recipients of much kindly and well-meaning hospitality and of some that is distinctly injudicious. Many butlers and, for that matter, parlourmaids too, seem to regard half a tumbler of scarcely diluted whiskey as the only right and proper comfort for a stomach that has been deprived of nourishment for many long hours. A young man who values his digestive organs, to say nothing of his nerve, and would keep them unimpaired will risk giving offence to his host rather than subject his interior to such a high trial. If a kettle be boiling and no delay is entailed, a cup of tea and some thick slices of bread and butter or cake are better suited to the occasion, and it needs but five minutes’ notice to ensure that some such provision is awaiting in readiness.
Second-horse Men.
In the Shires, where second-horse men are employed in greater numbers than elsewhere, the present custom tends to curb the initiative of individual servants. It has come to be realised that consideration for the farmer does not permit of each man cutting about the country independently in pursuit of his own master. They are usually placed under the leadership and orders of one of their number—the Master’s or the huntsman’s second-horse man very likely, and all they have to do is to follow him. Thus the ordinary individual will get his second-horse (and his luncheon) when the Hunt staff get theirs and not before. The commoner faults in evidence are a tendency to trot much too fast on the road and a rooted objection to standing still. Should touch be lost they need but to wait for a few minutes at some cross-roads when a passing car will almost certainly be able to give them the direction. When hounds run out of their own country and there is the certainty that they must come back to draw again, the second-horse men should as a general rule wait about, on or near the boundary, rather than embark upon a stern and probably hopeless chase. But, I can hear a critic say, you would by this means rob us of our second-horses on probably the day of our lives when we need them most, the occasion perhaps of some historic run. To this I would reply, that on these rare occasions no one does get a second-horse, nor should he expect to do so if the animal is being brought along at a proper pace. What does happen in point of fact is that after everything is over, second-horses turn up hot and leg-weary, six or seven miles perhaps beyond the boundary of the Hunt, with nothing left for them but to turn round and trot all the way back. How much better to find them waiting there on our return.
Second-horse men should have strict orders to keep to the roads and bridle-ways and on no account to leave them. They must shut all gates, especially those opening on to a road, and render every assistance in turning back any cattle, etc., that the Hunt have been responsible for letting out.
Every fox-hunter had best issue a standing order as to how long his second-horse man should continue looking for him and the precise hour at which he should abandon the attempt and go home. Indisposition or accident may send Master home at noon and Man may, in default of any definite instruction, be still scouring the country when darkness falls. Such uncertainty is extremely annoying and can only be obviated by means of a prearranged understanding.
