CHAPTER IV.

THE HARRIER.

UNLESS some very considerable change takes place it is extremely likely that the harrier will not survive very many generations, at any rate in this country. His type has not been strictly defined for years, he has varied much in height, and has lately been crossed with the foxhound to such an extent, as to further endanger his extinction.

Years ago much hare hunting was done on foot, and hounds were bred for this purpose, to find their own hare by questing and hunting her through all her windings and ringings, with a care that the modern foxhound-harrier, with his dash and go, would not take pains to bestow. The latter is almost as fast and keen as the true foxhound; he has, like him, to be fleet enough to get out of the way of careless riders, and give a sharp and merry burst, rather than a careful hunting run. Most hounds now kill their hare in from half an hour to an hour, and no wonder that they can do so

when sometimes they have a turn with the fox, and perhaps oftener a chase with the "carted deer." The latter almost a necessity, because a mistaken and ill-judged legislation has caused hares to become very scarce in some districts, where a few years ago they were plentiful.

The harrier is quite as old a hound as any other. Caius calls him Leverarius, and the Book of St. Albans mentions the hare in the same list as a beast of chase as the fox, the deer, and the wild boar. Still, perhaps, pretty much as with most harriers to day, those of Dame Berners' time would be as much at home with the timorous hare as with the cunning fox or the fleeter red deer. Some modern writers

have gone so far as to say that such a thing as a true harrier, one without any dash of foxhound blood in him, is not to be found. Beckford wrote of the harrier as a cross-bred hound, and his own were bred between the large slow hunting southern hound and the beagle. They were fast enough, had all the alacrity desirable, and would hunt the coldest scent. These attributes, added to their plodding perseverance, gave them a distinctive character, which, as already hinted, has well nigh departed. Still, all the harriers of sixty or seventy years ago were not so slow and careful as Beckford's undoubtedly were, for there were complaints that in

1825, the Kirkham, Lancashire, hounds were too fast for the hares they hunted. These, however, were big hounds, and not unlike the Penistone of to-day.

There are masters of harriers whose pride is still in the purity of their strains, though maybe, at some time or other, a point or two has been stretched for the infusion of new blood to maintain the size and standard required. Quite recently, letters have appeared in the Field on the matter, resulting from certain awards at dog shows. In one case, Mr. Allan Jefferys, Hythe, near Southampton, who owns a pack of black and tan harriers, which originally came from Sir Talbot Constable, complained that he was beaten by half bred foxhounds. Possibly this was so, but the winners were neater all round, and smarter than the black and tans, and thus more suitable for the show ring and the bench.

I confess myself rather disappointed with Mr. Jefferys' black and tans, as they were not so good in either feet or ribs as I expected to find them. Sir Talbot Constable began to breed such hounds as these about thirty-five years ago, by crossing beagles with St. Huberts, and then breeding in and in. This being so, Mr. Jefferys' may well find the puppies difficult to rear, as he says they He is endeavouring to perpetuate and harden the strain by crossing with smooth coated Welsh

are.

harrier, black, or black and tan in colour. Mr. Jefferys claims for his hounds that they are one of the few packs of harriers without any admixture of foxhound blood, but what they lose in this respect they gain in another, for underneath them there lurks some of the bloodhound nature, and I am told they are excellent at carefully working out a cold scent, and that they take "rating" badly. However, they are interesting hounds, evidently about 181 inches, and I believe that they received quite their due when in the ring at Peterborough in 1891, and at Bath the following year.

The Lancashire chaps have always been very partial to harriers, and the Holcombe have for long been a noted pack. They are required big and active in the district, and although they win prizes as harriers I consider that their height, 22 inches, should quite put them out of the category of hare hounds. The Rossendale Harriers are 22 inches, and claim to be pure harriers, but, like other Lancashire hounds, they are big ones. Mr. Sperling's 18-inch. harriers, that hunt from Lamerton, near Tavistock, are more my idea of what a harrier should be. I remember, both at Peterborough and Exeter shows, seeing a few couple of lovely hounds from the Seavington Hunt, and shown by Mr Langdon. Rosebud and Rapture especially took my fancy-a

couple of lovely "hare pie" bitches, with character enough for anything, without any lumber about them, and minus the thick, heavy bone of the foxhound. I was told the master had twenty couple at home quite as good, his pack being all round about 19 inches at the shoulder.

Mr. Webber had some pretty harriers at the same Exeter show, at which hounds formed certainly the feature. I need scarcely say that harriers like the Seavington caught the judge's eyes at Peterborough though they were hardly used that year when the Brookside beat them. The latter is one of the oldest harrier packs in the country, and it is said that it has hunted round about Rottingdean, near Brighton, for over 1 20 years. The present master, Mr. Steyning Beard, has a lot of hounds that it would be difficult to equal, as their success both in the field and in the ring will testify. There is in existence a painting of a pied hare that was killed on Lewes Downs by the Brookside harriers in 1771.

Two or three packs of hounds, running to not more than 18 inches, are to be found in Wales, whilst other excellent hounds in the list of the Rural Almanac are those of Colonel Ridehalgh, which hunt round about Bowness and Winder

mere, in the Lake district. Although, comparatively speaking, small, I can scarcely call them