CHAPTER III
Let us now consider the duties of the M.F.H. in the hunting-field. Of these the scientific direction of the Cub-hunting is of crucial importance. It is here that the pack is made or marred. It cannot be too often repeated that the primary object of Cub-hunting is to teach the young Hounds to hunt, and in addition to complete the education of the last year’s entry. Puppies are of no proven value to the pack during their first season, and cannot even begin to be counted as reliable until at least the end of their second Cub-hunting. As well as training the young Hounds, the Cub-hunting season gives opportunity and leisure to the Master and his Staff to study the science and to practise the art of the chase. Each day should add something to knowledge, which is the secret of success in hunting as in everything else.
Cub-hunting should begin the very moment the state of the harvest will allow, and should be pursued relentlessly, no matter how hard the ground may be. Continuity of training is of supreme value, and to interrupt it is a fatal mistake. The M.F.H. should be out every day himself, so as to make sure by personal supervision that a definite system is carried out and that no liberties are taken. In bad scenting weather, when Cubs do not come to hand easily, temptation to depart from orthodox methods may easily arise, when the influence of the M.F.H. should be on the side of that little extra bit of perseverance that sooner or later is bound to prevail. Keep on playing the game, the Cubs will be caught, and the pack will be made, not forgetting that one really well-beaten Cub killed is worth more than almost any amount of fresh ones chopped before the Hounds have had to work for them. They should have their blood and hackles up, and be savage with their Fox before they kill him. When two or three couples catch a fat Cub asleep and the remainder of the pack wander up mainly to see what is the matter, it is doubtful if any permanent good is done except to add to the number of noses on the kennel door. Here and there, no doubt, Cubs will have to be held up in small places. It is better to do this than not catch any at all. But the orthodox method is to visit the strongholds first and to stick to them all morning. The best way to teach a pack of Hounds perseverance, the true secret of success, is for the Master and his Staff to exhibit this quality themselves. Hounds are very receptive. Even after it would seem certain that every Cub has left the covert, it is always well worth while to draw back over the old ground on the chance of getting a tired one on to his legs who has lain down, hoping his enemies had left. This is often much more profitable than breaking fresh ground, and having to begin all over again to tire a fresh litter of Cubs. There are few things in Fox-hunting of more value to the moral of the Hounds than to finish a long dragging morning by re-finding a leg-weary Cub and killing him after a good cry lasting about a quarter of an hour. The lesson learnt from this experience is that in dealing with a litter of Cubs it is a good general rule to keep on the same ground as long as possible, much on the same principle as in dealing with a covey of young partridges at the same time of year. At a certain phase of the operation everything seems to be hopeless, and the game to have vanished. But more often than not it will tend to creep back home again, if indeed it is not lying down on its own ground. It should be remarked that a tired Cub will often lie very close, and not always in the thick places, sometimes trying to hide in the boundary hedges and ditches of the covert, so that in drawing back over the old ground the search should not be perfunctory, but even more patient and thorough than in drawing over it for the first time.
During at least the first month of Cub-hunting, Hounds should be kept in covert and not allowed to see daylight. This for two reasons: first, the puppies learn to depend on the old Hounds and go to the cry much better in covert than in the open. They cannot stare about, and are forced to use their ears and their intelligence. Second, the whole pack learns how to correct its own faults without holloas and assistance—the most valuable of all lessons—when the Cub makes a sharp turn, and the scent is overrun. In addition to this, the Staff cannot keep near Hounds in the open until at least the middle of October. What happens? The training and condition of the old Hounds gives them the lead; the puppies follow them, not rightly knowing what they are after; sooner or later a check occurs; a hare jumps up, offering a temptation which impetuous youth cannot resist, even in its second season, and a general demoralization ensues. The old Hounds are disgusted, and the puppies, after running the hare as long as sight will serve, throw up their heads and lie down to lap in the nearest pond. The Huntsman and whippers-in will probably not get all parties together again until such mischief has been done that will take many mornings of steady work in covert to correct. If, in spite of all precautions, Hounds get away on an old Fox, they should be stopped as gently and quietly as possible, in such a manner as not to make them think they have done anything wrong. If the Huntsman is lucky enough to be with them at the first check, he can draw them away from the line directly their heads are up and he can gain their attention. This is so constantly done with the best intentions during the regular hunting that it should not be difficult during the Cub-hunting. They should then be taken quietly back to the woodland at such a pace as will give them time to get their minds and bodies cool before asking them to find another Cub. Hounds should never be invited to draw with their mouths open.
During the month of October, when the country is a little more practicable for mounted pursuit, and after the puppies have been well drilled in covert for some weeks, if the whole pack come out of covert well together on the line of their Cub, then they may be allowed to go, when a sharp burst or two in the open will teach them to get through the fences, and improve their condition by opening their pipes. But before the 1st of November they should never be holloaed away on the first Fox that leaves the covert. This Fox is nearly sure to be the old dog Fox, who will probably lead his pursuers so far away from home that it may be impossible to get back to the covert in time to deal with the Cubs; and in the second place it is a golden rule laid down by a great authority that during the Cub-hunting season Hounds should always be made to find their own Fox.
After November 1 the M.F.H. will have to address himself to the management of his Field. This task is rendered easy or difficult in proportion to the manner in which the cardinal rules of the chase are scientifically observed. For instance, if the woodlands are drawn up wind, the ladies and gentlemen will be able to hear the Huntsman draw for his Fox, and hear the Hounds find him. And in fact the management of the Field, both in covert and in the open, depends indirectly upon the Huntsman. If his horn and voice are always clear and intelligible in covert, every one will know exactly what he is doing and when it is safe to stand still without the fear of being left behind. If he is vague and indefinite, like a bad actor who, in the language of the theatre, cannot “get it over the footlights,” then the Field will quite naturally stalk him to see for themselves what he is doing, with the result that no Master can control them. In the open, if the Huntsman rides well up to his Hounds and has sufficient wisdom and self-control to stand stock-still, well away from them, when they come to a check, then the Field will also be obliged to stand still. There is nothing else for them to do. About seven times out of ten the Hounds will hit off the line for themselves, and all goes well again. When he is ultimately obliged to try his hand at a cast, if he will only make the smallest possible circle first up wind and then down wind, with his Hounds well in front of him, the Field may be induced to stand still because they can see what is going on, and there will be no excuse for following him about when he is casting. This method of handling the situation at a check has been prescribed by the best authorities, and serves the purpose of making it possible for the Master to control the Field, to say nothing of its being by far the most likely way to catch the Fox. If, on the other hand, the Huntsman thinks that the moment a check occurs he must be up and doing, and acts in the contrary manner to that which has just been indicated, by riding into his Hounds and starting off on an indeterminate dragging expedition down wind with all his Hounds behind him with their heads up, it is next door to impossible for the Master to prevent the Field from following him, smashing the fences when Hounds are not running, and foiling all the ground, while the Hounds are far more concerned to avoid being jumped upon than to put their noses down for the scent. This painful exhibition generally ends in the Master losing his temper and the Huntsman losing his Fox.
It would seem, therefore, that the Master’s duty of controlling the Field will depend to a great degree upon the technique of his Huntsman. He can also make things immeasurably easier for himself if he can prevail upon his Field to give him precedence, if he is there in time to claim it, whenever Hounds are not running. If he is in front he can be as quiet and as powerful as the policeman regulating the traffic outside the Mansion House. But if even one lady or gentleman get in front of him, his power to set the pace is gone; he is, then, either obliged to raise his voice with the risk of getting the Hounds’ heads up and spoiling the run, or else he has to race for the lead and set the whole cavalcade cantering and competing at the very moment when a sober pace should be the order of the day. It is a mistake to hold up the Field at a gate or in a road for a moment longer than is absolutely necessary. The more eager spirits will tend to work round on the flanks and get out of hand. The ideal state of things to aim at is the creation of a feeling of confidence that no one will lose his start by conforming to the pace and direction of the M.F.H. when Hounds are at fault. Here again the Huntsman can help. If the short circle already described has failed and he is making a wider circle down wind, he should always let his Master and the Field know by voice or horn when Hounds have hit off the scent again, that is, if they happen to do so at such a distance that the cry may not be easily heard. The exuberance of the preceding gallop begets much talk at a check. However regrettable this may be, it is not unnatural; and on every count the Field should never be given a reasonable excuse for saying that the Huntsman has slipped them.
In approaching a covert to find a Fox, it is wise to draw the woodlands up wind so as to get a good start with him, while the small coverts should be drawn down wind, so as to give the Fox a good chance of getting on his legs in time to avoid being chopped. But in both cases the last half-mile at least should be covered at a walk, so as to put the Hounds into covert with their mouths shut and to allow the rear of the column to close up. If this rule is not carefully followed the Hounds will not draw well, while the straggling horsemen become distributed all over the country, and may very likely head the Fox by trying to make up for lost time and to get a start by riding on the down-wind side of the covert. In the absence of military discipline it is remarkable how the tail of a Field of two hundred people will lengthen out, even if the Hounds are only travelling on the road at the rate of six or seven miles an hour. By walking for the last half-mile or more before getting to the covert-side, the M.F.H. will give himself a chance of collecting his Field. Sometimes circumstances make it difficult or impossible to draw a woodland up wind in the orthodox manner. On these occasions a short halt may be called about a mile from the covert, and one of the Staff instructed to canter on down wind for a view; this is especially to be thought of after Christmas, when the Foxes have already been hunted and the coverts are thin. But on no account should the Huntsman be allowed to ride up to any covert, send his man on for a view, try to put the Fox out by blowing his horn, and then gallop the Hounds round to lay them on to his brush. This practice sounds tempting, and may indeed result in something brilliant, but it is thoroughly unsound. Even if done once the Hounds will not forget it for weeks, and the next time they are asked to draw, will be looking up into their Huntsman’s face expecting him to clap them on to their Fox and save them the trouble of drawing. The more successful this manœuvre, the more fatal its effect upon the moral of the pack.
The pace from covert to covert should be regulated mainly by the temperature and the wind. Hounds can travel comfortably on the road at least half as fast again on a cool day up wind as on a warm day down wind. The natural pace for a Hound on the road is about six miles an hour. They should never be asked to go to the meet faster than this, except perhaps during the first few weeks of Cub-hunting, when a somewhat faster pace will help their condition; and on no occasion should they be hurried beyond this pace on the way home. But from covert to covert they can be accustomed to go on an average about eight miles an hour. Like all men and women they are creatures of habit; like some men and women they are intensely receptive, and can be taught by a clever and sympathetic Huntsman to do almost anything.
The M.F.H. should of course arrange to draw all his country impartially, with a mental reservation that the woodlands can be drawn with advantage more often than small coverts. An isolated covert in what people call “the good country” had as a general rule better not be drawn more than once every six weeks. It is better not to go Cub-hunting at all in a covert of this kind. If it is known to contain a strong litter of Cubs, some Masters think it right to disturb them before November 1. If this is done, the Cubs should on no account be mobbed. They should be allowed to go quietly away without anything being said, and such Hounds as come out after them should be stopped and turned back to the cry in the covert. The body of the pack should be allowed to hunt their own Cub away. But it is a mistake to spend too long a time Cub-hunting in a pet covert, whose proper function is to provide good runs when every one is out to enjoy them later on. Even if no Cub is killed in the covert, after an hour or two of work every stick in the place will smell of Fox-hound for weeks afterwards, and a grave risk is incurred of not finding there again until after Christmas, or perhaps until the next season.
The M.F.H. should never try to elude the foot-people by trotting away from the Meet to draw a distant covert. The County Pack and the sport it can show in each locality is in a certain sense the traditional property of the natives, whether they are mounted or on foot; they are proud of their inheritance; and if the foot-folk do holloa out of place, or head a Fox or two once or twice in the season, the harm they may do in this way to sport is a small matter compared with the legitimate disappointment caused to many people who are real friends to Fox-hunting, although only mounted on “Shanks’ mare,” by not having a chance of seeing a Fox found in the local covert.
