A FAMOUS LAKELAND FOXHOUND PACK
CHAPTER XXV
AS you cross the summit of Kirkstone Pass, and drop down the steep descent to Hartsop, or travel from Penrith viâ the road which lies parallel with Ullswater, you eventually reach the village of Patterdale, lying snugly ensconsed at the foot of the fells. A stranger visiting the place for the first time would hardly guess that situated on the outskirts of the village are the kennels of a pack of foxhounds, and that the high fells all round—including the mighty Helvellyn—are the happy hunting ground of a famous north-country pack.
Certainly the mountainous character of the district hardly fits in with one’s pre-conceived idea of a hunting country, and as a matter of fact riding to hounds is out of the question, the pack being followed on foot. This chapter therefore will appeal more to the man who is genuinely fond of hounds and hound work, than to him who “hunts to ride.”
Leaving the village by way of the lane which leads past Patterdale Hall, the residence of Mr. W. H. Marshall, the present Master of the pack, a short but somewhat steep ascent brings you into view of the Ullswater kennels, lying at the lower end of the wild and picturesque Grisedale valley. Here from October to the middle of May are kept some thirteen couples of hounds, whose business it is to account for the stout hill-foxes, a plentiful supply of which is to be found on the neighbouring fells. The pack serves a dual purpose, i.e., to keep down foxes in the interests of the flock-masters, and to provide sport for local hunting people.
A big hill-fox, one of the kind described by an eminent naturalist as “fierce as a tiger, long as a hay-band, and with an admirable cast of features like the Chancellor of the Exchequer——,” can do a lot of damage amongst the lambs in spring, when there is a family of cubs to feed. Hence the Ullswater are in great demand during the Spring season, and they account for many a May fox. Hounds are kennelled early in the year, but in summer they are sent out to walk on the fell farms, a couple or two generally going to augment one or other of the neighbouring otter hound packs; for many of them can give quite as good an account of themselves when hunting the “sly goose-footed prowler” as they do when in pursuit of their legitimate quarry.
A visit to the Ullswater kennels, in the company of Joe Bowman, the veteran huntsman, who has carried the horn since 1879, is an education in itself; for what Joe with his long experience of hounds and foxes does not know about fell hunting is not worth knowing. As hounds come down off the sleeping bench, and parade in the kennel yard a hunting man from the Shires may be forgiven if he shows some surprise at the type on which he is setting eyes for the first time. They are a very different stamp from that to which he has been accustomed in the low country.
To begin with, hounds are light built, and hare-footed, otherwise they could not travel at speed over their rough country; they are light-coloured as well, or they would not be easily seen at a distance against a dark background of heather or rock. Added to the above they possess capital noses—for they hunt the drag of their fox in the old-fashioned way—and they give any amount of tongue. The latter quality is very desirable in hill-hounds, for when they get far out of sight they can still be heard. Self-reliance is also one of their qualifications, for being on foot the huntsman can seldom be with them at a check, and they must therefore put things right for themselves.
A peculiarity of these fell hounds is that they do not break up their foxes. They are content to kill, and let it go at that. Perhaps this is just as well, otherwise there would be few trophies collected, seeing that huntsman and field are afoot, and often do not reach the spot until long after a fox has been rolled over. As an example of “hounds for countries,” the Ullswater are an object lesson, for their average of foxes killed each season is thirty brace or over, truly a wonderful record considering the mountainous nature of their country and the difficulties under which both hounds and huntsman have to work.
The pack was founded in 1873 by the amalgamation of two old local packs, the Baldhowe and the Patterdale. Mr. J. E. Hasell was Master from 1880 to 1910, in which latter year the present Master, Mr. W. H. Marshall, took over the reins of office. The country, which lies in Cumberland and Westmorland, adjoins the Blencathra on the North-west, and the Coniston Hunt on the South.
As may be imagined in a wild mountainous region, the foxes are tough and hard to kill. During the war they increased tremendously in the fell country, and though the huntsmen of the five Lakeland packs did their best to keep them within reasonable bounds, they were severely handicapped by the absence of many regular followers, who are of great assistance when hounds are out.
Although the average hill-fox to-day is not exactly “as fierce as a tiger, and long as a hayband,” some hefty specimens are brought to hand every season, and weights of 18lb. and 19lb. are still by no means uncommon. The heaviest fox killed by the Ullswater was one of 23lb., accounted for on Cross Fell. This fox measured 4ft 4in. long, and had 4in. of white on the end of its brush.
In the old days, foxes were much fewer on the fells than they are now, and blank days were not at all unusual. Which reminds me of the yarn concerning the old sportsman, who when asked what were the three most enjoyable things on earth, replied, “A good day with hounds,” pause, “A bad day with hounds,” further consideration, then “Damn it all sir, a blank day with hounds.”
Joe Bowman has told the writer that in his younger days a total of six and a half or seven brace of foxes for the season was accounted good; now as noted, Joe annually kills his thirty brace or more. The so-called “greyhound” foxes, once common on the fells, were not a distinct variety, but being indigenous to the hills, and uncontaminated with foreign blood, they were more protectively coloured than their present day descendants. They were big, lean foxes, grey of jacket, and always in hard condition. Big, greyish foxes are still sometimes accounted for, but the real old “greyhound” sort are now chiefly to be seen reposing under glass cases in the fell-head farm houses. With the gradual importation of foreign and other foxes into countries adjoining the fells proper, the true hill-breed has been contaminated, until to-day there are more red foxes than grey-jacketted ones, and weights are more often under than over 16 lb. In the old days, with fewer foxes, long runs often took place, and hounds usually killed or ran to ground the fox with which they started. Now-however, with a much heavier stock of foxes, hounds are apt to change, or the pack gets split up when several foxes are afoot. Sometimes a single hound gets away with a fox “on his own,” and every one of the Lakeland packs has a hound or hounds which have accounted for foxes single-handed. This tends to show of what stuff our Fell hounds are made; for in order to find, hunt and kill a fox “on his own,” a hound must possess nose, pace, drive, stamina, and self-reliance to a marked degree.
In the Ullswater country—and the same in other countries hunted by the fell packs—earth-stopping is impossible. Cairns and rocky earths—known locally as “borrans”—are everywhere scattered about the hill sides, and a fox if he is so minded can get in almost anywhere. To the credit of the breed be it said however, they seldom do so until hard pressed by hounds. Under such conditions, terriers are of course a necessary adjunct to the pack. Joe Bowman, the huntsman, always has a few couples of real good working terriers, “hard bitten” customers which he can rely on to bolt a fox, or make an end of him underground if he refuses to face the open. These terriers of the “Patterdale breed” have a good deal of Bedlington blood in them, and weigh from 14lb. to 16lb. Joe likes them a bit “on the leg” so that they can surmount the ledges underground, and thus reach their fox without getting unduly punished; and at the same time they can travel over any sort of rough ground without tiring during the course of a long run. Their ears are better too if dropped close to their heads so that they can afford less temptation for a fox to “take hold.”
To see sport with the Ullswater hounds one has to be in hard condition, for the hills run up to a height of 3,000 ft. and over, and the ground has sometimes to be covered at a pretty fast pace. Having unkennelled their fox far up the fell side, hounds at once leave the field far behind, and one then has to make for the nearest point from which a view of the chase is likely to be obtained. A knowledge of the country and the run of the foxes is naturally a great help, and a stranger will therefore be wise to attach himself to some local hunter who knows the district.
There are times, however, more particularly at the beginning of the season in October, when many a run can be viewed without stirring far from the level of the dales.
There is no regular cub hunting, but in October there are plenty of well grown cubs about, and as these usually know little country, and therefore do not run far, they provide entertainment for those who through age or infirmity cannot tackle the high ground. The covert known as Low-wood, on the hill-side above Brotherswater, has been the scene of many a scurry with the cubs, and from the fields below it is possible to see all that goes on. At that time of year too, the weather is usually fine, but later in the season one experiences all sorts of climatic conditions, including mist, rain, and snow. In April and May, early morning meets are the rule, to enable hounds to be out before the dew is dried up by the sun.
The present huntsman of the pack, Joe Bowman, has carried the horn since 1879, and is still hale and hearty. He comes of a long line of hunting ancestors, many of whom have been huntsmen, and he himself began following hounds as a boy at school often “playing truant” in order to have a day’s sport. It is not every huntsman’s gift to be as good in kennel as he is in the field, but without undue flattery it may be said that Joe “kills his foxes in the kennels” and handles his hounds in the field equally well. He is ably assisted by Braithwaite Wilson, the whipper-in, a “lish” and active traveller, who gets over the rough country in a marvellous manner. Owing to his abilities in this respect, he has received the nickname of “The Flying Whip.”
There is no pageantry about sport with the Ullswater. The huntsman is the only man who wears a scarlet coat, the field being clad in anything from knickerbockers to corduroys. If you are fond of hounds and hound work however, and love sport for sport’s sake, then I advise you to have a week or two on the fells with the Ullswater and Joe Bowman, and if you don’t repeat the visit after your first experience, I shall be very much surprised.
