LETTER V

There is an active vanity in the minds of men which is favourable to improvement; and in every pursuit, while something remains to be attained, so long will it afford amusement: you will therefore find pleasure in the breeding of hounds, in which expectation is never completely satisfied; and it is on the sagacious management of this business that all your success will depend. Is it not extraordinary, that no other country should equal us in this particular, and that the very hounds procured from hence should degenerate in another climate?

Happy climate for sportsmen! where Nature seems, as it were, to give them an exclusive privilege of enjoying this diversion. To preserve this advantage, however, care should be taken in the breed: I shall, therefore, according to your desire, send you such rules as I observe myself. Consider the size, shape, colour, constitution, and natural disposition, of the dog you breed from, as well as the fineness of his nose, his stoutness, and method of hunting. On no account breed from one that is not stout, that is not tender-nosed, or that is either a babbler¹ or a skirter.

It is the judicious cross that makes the pack complete.² The faults and imperfections in one breed may be rectified from another; and, if this be properly attended to, I see no reason why the breeding of hounds may not improve till improvement can go no further. If you find a cross hit, pursue it.³ Never put an old dog to an old bitch. Be careful that they be healthy which you breed from, or you are not likely to have a healthy offspring. Should a favourite dog skirt a little, put him to a thorough line-hunting bitch, and such a cross may succeed. My objection to the breeding from such a hound is, that, as skirting is what most fox-hounds acquire from practice, it had better not be made natural to them. A very famous sportsman has told me, that he frequently breeds from brothers and sisters. As I should be very unwilling to urge any thing in opposition to such authority, you had better try it; and if it succeed in hounds, it is more, I believe, than it usually does in other animals. A famous cocker assured a friend of mine, that the third generation, which he called a nick, he had found to succeed very well, but no nearer. As I have tried neither one nor the other, I cannot speak with any certainty about them.

Give particular orders to your feeder to watch over the bitches with a cautious eye, and separate such as are going to be proud, before it be too late. The advances they make, frequently portend mischief as well as love, and, if not prevented in time, will not fail to set the whole kennel together by the ears, and may occasion the death of your best dogs: care only can prevent it.⁴

I have known huntsmen perfectly ignorant of the breed of their hounds, from inattention in this particular; and I have also known many good dogs fall a sacrifice to it.

The earlier in the year you breed, the better; January, February, and March, are the best months. Late puppies seldom thrive; if you have any such, put them to the best walks.⁵ When the bitches begin to get big, let them not hunt any more: it proves frequently fatal to the puppies, sometimes to the bitch herself; nor is it safe for them to remain much longer in the kennel. If one bitch have many puppies, more than she can well rear, you may put some of them to another bitch; or, if you destroy any of them, you may keep the best coloured. They sometimes will have an extraordinary number: I have known an instance of one having fifteen; and a friend of mine, whose veracity I cannot doubt, has assured me that a hound in his pack brought forth sixteen, all alive. When you breed from a very favourite sort, and can have another bitch warded at the same time, it will have this advantage, it will enable you to save all the puppies. Give particular orders that the bitches be well fed with flesh; they should also have plenty of milk; nor should the puppies be taken from them till they are able to take care of themselves:⁶ they will soon learn to lap milk, which will relieve the mother. The bitches, when their puppies are taken away from them, should be physicked; they should have three purging-balls given them, one every other morning, and plenty of whey the intermediate day. If a bitch bring only one or two puppies, and you have another bitch that will take them; by putting the puppies to her, the former will be soon fit to hunt again: she should, however, be physicked first; and if her dugs be annointed with brandy and water, it will also be of service. The distemper makes dreadful havoc with whelps at their walks, greatly owing, I believe, to the to the little care that is taken of them there. I am in doubt whether it might not be better to breed them up yourself, and have a kennel on purpose.⁷ You have a large orchard paled in, which would suit them exactly; and what else is wanted might easily be obtained. There is, however, an objection that perhaps may strike you: if the distemper once get amongst them, they must all have it; yet, notwithstanding that, as they will be constantly well fed, and will lie warm, I am confident it would be the saving of many lives. If you should adopt this method, you must remember to use them early to go in couples; and, when they become of a proper age, they must be walked out often; for, should they remain confined, they would neither have the shape, health, or understanding, which they ought to have. When I kept harriers, I bred up some of the puppies at a distant kennel; but, having no servants there to exercise them properly, I found them much inferior to such of their brethren as had the luck to survive the many difficulties and dangers which they had undergone at their walks: these were afterwards equal to any thing, and afraid of nothing; while those that had been nursed with so much care, were weakly and timid, and had every disadvantage attending private education.

I have often heard, as an excuse for hounds not hunting a cold scent, that they were too high bred. I confess, I know not what that means; but this I know, that hounds are frequently too ill-bred to be of any service. It is judgment in the breeder, and patience afterwards in the huntsman, that make them hunt.⁸

Young hounds are commonly named when first put out, and sometimes, indeed, ridiculously enough; nor is it easy, when you breed many, to find suitable or harmonious names for all; particularly as it is usual to name all the whelps of one litter with the same letter, which (to be systematically done) should also be the initial letter of the dog that got them, or the bitch that bred them. A baronet of my acquaintance, a literal observer of the above rule, sent three young hounds of one litter to a friend, all their names beginning, as he said, with the letter G: Gowler, Govial, and Galloper.

It is, indeed, of little consequence what huntsmen call their hounds; yet, if you dislike an unmeaning name, would it not be as well to leave the naming of them till they are brought home? They soon learn their names, and a shorter list would do. Damons and Delias would not then be necessary; nor need the sacred names of Titus and Trajan be thus degraded. It is true, there are many odd names which custom authorises; yet I cannot think, because some drunken fellow or other has christened his dog Tipler, or Tapster, that there is the least reason to follow the example. Pipers and Fiddlers, for the sake of their music, we will not object to; but Tiplers and Tapsters your kennel will be much better without.

However extraordinary you may think it, I can assure you that I have myself seen a white Gipsey, a grey Ruby, a dark Snowball, and a Blueman, of any colour but blue. The huntsman of a friend of mine being asked the name of a young hound, said “it was Lyman.” “Lyman!” said his master, “why, James, what does Lyman mean?” “Lord, Sir!” replied James, “what does any thing mean?” A farmer, who bred up two couple of hounds for me, whose names were Merryman and Merrylass, Ferryman and Furious, upon my inquiring after them, gave this account: “Merryman and Merrylass are both dead; but Ferryman, Sir, is a fine dog, and so is Ferrylass.” Madam, a usual name among hounds, is often, I believe, very disrespectfully treated: I had an instance of it the other day in my own huntsman, who, after having rated Madam a great deal to no purpose (who, to confess the truth, was much given to do otherwise than she should), flew into a violent passion, and hallooed out as loud as he could, Madam, you d—d bitch!

As you desire a list of names, I will send you one. I have endeavoured to class them according to their different genders; but you will perceive that some names may be used indiscriminately for either. It is not usual, I believe, to call a pointer Ringwood, or a greyhound Harmony; and such names as are expressive of speed, strength, courage, or other natural qualities in a hound, I think most applicable to them. Damons and Delias I have left out; the bold Thunder, and the brisk Lightning, if you please may supply their places; unless you prefer the method of the gentleman I told you of, who intends naming his hounds from the p—ge; and, I suppose, he at the came time will not be unmindful of the p—y c—rs.

If you mark the whelps in the side (which is called branding them) when they are first put out (or perhaps it may be better done after they have been out some time), it may prevent their being stolen.

When young hounds are first taken in, they should be kept separate from the pack; and, as it will happen at a time of the year when there is little or no hunting, you may easily give them up one of the kennels and grasscourt adjoining. Their play ends frequently in a battle; it therefore is less dangerous, where all are equally matched. What Somerville says on this subject is exceedingly beautiful.

If you find that they take a dislike to any particular hound, the safest way will be to remove him, or it is probable they will kill him at last. When a feeder hears the hounds quarrel in the kennel, he halloos to them to stop them. He then goes in among them, and flogs every hound he can come near. How much more reasonable, as well as more efficacious, would it be, were he to see which were the combatants, before he speaks to them? Punishment would then fall, as it ought, on the guilty only. In all packs there are some hounds more quarrelsome than the rest; and it is to them we owe all the mischief that is done. If you find that chastisement cannot quiet them, it may be prudent to break their holders; for since they are not necessary to them for the meat they have to eat, they are not likely to serve them in any good purpose.

Young hounds ought to be fed twice a day, as they seldom take kindly at first to the kennel meat, and the distemper is most apt to seize them at this time. It is better not to round them till they are thoroughly settled; nor should it be put off till the hot weather, for then they would bleed too much.⁹ If any of the dogs be thin over the back, or any more quarrelsome than the rest, it will be of use to cut them: I also spay such bitches as I think I shall not want to breed from; they are more useful, are stouter, and are always in better order; besides, it is absolutely necessary, if you hunt late in the spring, or your pack will be very short for want of it. It may be right to tell you, that the latter operation does not always succeed; it will be necessary, therefore, to employ a skilful person, and one on whom you can depend; for, if it be ill done, though they cannot have puppies, they will go to heat notwithstanding, of which I have known many instances; and that, I apprehend, would not answer your purpose, at any rate. They should be kept low for several days before the operation is performed, and must be fed on thin meat for some time after.

You ask me, what number of young hounds you should breed, to keep up your stock? It is a question, I believe, that no man can answer. It depends altogether on contingencies. The deficiencies of one year must be supplied the next. I should apprehend, from thirty to thirty-five couple of old hounds, and from eight to twelve couple of young ones, would, one year with another, best suit an establishment which you do not intend should much exceed forty couple. This rule you should at the same time observe— never to part with a useful old hound, or enter an unhandsome young one.

I would advise you, in breeding, to be as little prejudiced as possible in favour of your own sort; but send your best bitches to the best dogs, be they where they may. Those who breed only a few hounds, may by chance have a good pack; while those who breed a great many (if, at the same time, they understand the business) reduce it to a certainty. You say, you wish to see your pack as complete as Mr. Meynell’s: believe me, my good friend, unless you were to breed as many hounds, it is totally impossible. Those who breed the greatest number of hounds have a right to expect the best pack; at least, it must be their own fault if they have it not.

¹Babbling is one of the worst faults that a hound can be guilty of; it is constantly increasing, and is also catching. This fault, like many others, will sometimes run in the blood.

²I have seen fox-hounds that were bred out of a Newfoundland bitch and a fox-hound dog. They are monstrously ugly, are said to give their tongues sparingly, and to tire soon. The experiment has not succeeded: the cross most likely to be of service to a fox-hound, is the beagle. I am well convinced, that a handsome bony, tender-nosed, stout beagle would, occasionally, be no improper cross for a high-bred pack of fox-hounds.

³After the first season, I breed from all my young dog-hounds who have beauty and goodness to recommend them, to see what whelps they get.

⁴When the bitches are off their heat, they should be suffered to run about the house a day or two, before they are taken out to hunt.

⁵Of the early whelps I keep five or six, of the late ones only two or three.

[⁶It is most important to keep the pups healthy until they are ready to go to their walks, and it is as well to employ a boy to spend his entire time in looking after them. At a month old they will begin drinking milk if the boy takes a little trouble in tempting them, and the bitch will thus have her task made easier. When the pups are ten days or a fortnight old they should be put in movable kennels and taken on clean ground, the bitch being allowed to roam where she lists, but the pups may be kept in with a wire run. As soon as the pups will lap readily they should be fed three times a day, and soaked bread or biscuit added when they will eat it. A lad fond of animals will do this work better than a man, with the occasional supervision of the huntsman. The dew claws may be removed at about a month old, a sharp pair of scissors being used for the purpose. Each litter should be marked in the ear with a different letter or number in Indian ink, so that there will be no confusion when they come back from walk. The best plan is to use a letter and number together, and thus by changing the combination several litters can be marked with one or two letters. This, when done properly, makes branding unnecessary. When the pups are about eight or nine weeks old they should be sent out to walk; but before going they should be dressed with a mixture of yellow sulphur and lard in equal parts, adding about four teaspoonsfuls of turpentine to a pound of sulphur. Unless the pups look well when they go out you cannot expect them to be in good order on their return.]

[⁷This has been proved impossible. Hounds to be reared successfully must go out to walk; the risks of accidents and distemper will have to be chanced. The best plan is to give a handsome luncheon to the puppy walkers and prizes for the best hounds; this will encourage the farmers to look after their charges and make them take an interest in the pack. The hounds that survive the dangers of walks always appear to have more sense than those that are kept at home.]

⁸Hounds which I had thought stiff-nosed for many years, I have seen hunt the coldest scent, when once the impatience of youth had left them.

⁹It may be better, perhaps, to round them at their quarters, when about six months old; should it be done sooner, it would make their ears tuck-up.¹⁰ The tailing of them is usually done before they are put out; it might be better perhaps, to leave it till they are taken in. Dogs must not be rounded at the time they have the distemper upon them; the loss of blood would weaken them too much.

[¹⁰The operation of rounding the ears is not now practised in some kennels, but if skilfully done it does not cause much pain, and saves them being torn in thick coverts.]