FOXHUNTING ON THE LAKELAND FELLS

BRUCE LOGAN, ESQ., M.F.H., MASTER OF THE CONISTON FOXHOUNDS AND THE WINDERMERE HARRIERS.

FOXHUNTING ON THE
LAKELAND FELLS

BY
RICHARD CLAPHAM

WITH AN INTRODUCTION BY THE
RIGHT HON. J. W. LOWTHER
Speaker of the House of Commons

WITH 43 ILLUSTRATIONS FROM PHOTOGRAPHS BY THE AUTHOR

LONGMANS, GREEN AND CO.
39 PATERNOSTER ROW, LONDON
FOURTH AVENUE & 30th STREET, NEW YORK,
BOMBAY, CALCUTTA, AND MADRAS
1920

All rights reserved

DEDICATED TO
BRUCE LOGAN, ESQ., M.F.H.
Master of the Coniston Foxhounds
and Windermere Harriers
with both of which packs I have enjoyed
so much good sport during the
last ten seasons in the
fell country

INTRODUCTION

By the Right Hon. J. W. LOWTHER, M.P.

That portion of Cumberland and Westmorland, which is popularly known as the Lake District, is the holiday ground of a great number of persons who delight in its splendid scenery of mountain, wood and lake, who enjoy roaming on foot over its uplands, climbing its peaks, driving in motor or charabanc along its sinuous valleys, rowing or sailing on its lakes, and sketching or photographing its picturesque views, which present themselves to even the most inartistic eye. But these folk belong to the family of “Hirundinidæ”—swallows—they are summer visitants.

To my mind, the Lake Country, always beautiful, is more beautiful at the other three seasons of the year. In the spring and autumn the grasses and mosses of the upper slopes and of the smooth round shoulders, the bracken of the lower slopes, the larch woods creeping up from the valleys, and the emerald green of the lush meadows present finer contrasts of colour and more variety of shade and tone than the monotonous green of summer; whilst in winter the snow-capped mountains look higher and grander and more inaccessible, the effects of light and shade are more varied, and even on the lower slopes, by reason of the lower altitude of the sun and the prolongation of shadows, the folds and crinkles of the mountain bases are more distinctly seen. Visitors, however, are comparatively few, for days are short and often wet, the attractions fewer in number, and accommodation in the remoter spots not easily available. But those who come, and are fortunate in their meteorological experiences, are amply rewarded; and, if they are able-bodied and active, can enjoy the hunting which some four or five packs of hounds afford.

To most people “hunting” connotes horses and riders, and red coats, and breeches and boots. The Lakeland hunter, however, sees none of these things. At most he will catch an occasional glimpse of the scarlet coat of huntsman or whip. A horse would be as much out of place at a meet of a fell-side pack as a hippopotamus, and be about as useful. Breeches and boots would be an impossible handicap. The iron horse, the bicycle, takes the place of the covert hack, knickerbockers of leathers, and shooting-boots of tops.

The mountain packs of hounds were instituted or taken over by the farmers of the district for the protection of their flocks from the depredation of the numerous foxes, which frequent the fells, and at times take a heavy toll of the lambs in the spring. But to business has been added pleasure. Business, however, comes first. A day’s hunting is always something of a lottery, whether it be in Leicestershire or in Lakeland, and it may be at once conceded that the Shires produce more prizes than the fells; but, on the other hand, the fells never result in a “blank” day. The climatic conditions, propitious as they are for scent, often militate against complete enjoyment of his surroundings by the follower of the hunt. He must be prepared for a very early rise, a long day in the open air, a steep climb, a dreary trudge up or down interminable slopes of grass or moss, a scramble across shifting screes, long waits, biting blasts, heavy showers, drenched garments, the descent of mist, or the loss to sight and hearing of the pack and all its followers. All these calamities, however, do not often occur in combination. Let us look at the brighter side of things. Then the sportsman may enjoy a glorious outing, a steady climb, when every 100 feet of ascent seems to strike a purer stratum of invigorating air, a gradually expanding view of distant mountain tops, a glimpse of the Solway or the Irish Channel miles away, and when the summit is reached a magnificent panorama of peaks and precipices, of vast stretches of smooth uplands and diminutive lakes. Then comes the satisfying sense of “something attempted, something done.” There is also always the chance of having selected a spot from which a good view of the hunt may be obtained, when the fox can be seen crossing the breast of the opposite hill with the hounds stringing out far behind, the anxiety whether he means to come this way or cross the opposite skyline. If all turns out luckily the music of the pack grows gradually fortissimo, the fox slips quietly past, but is rolled over in full view.

It is not my intention to attempt a record of the doings of any of the fell packs, of one of which (the Blencathra) I had the honour of being for several years the Master. I need now only express my great regret that parliamentary duties in London coincided unfortunately with the foxhunting season in the Lakes, and limited very severely my opportunities for the enjoyment of the sport, which I commend to all who are still sufficiently young in spirit or vigorous in body to enjoy this healthy pastime. Young and old alike will find in Mr. Clapham’s pages an invigorating description of the sport, as well as a record of minute and extensive observation of the habits and idiosyncrasies of the four-legged participants in the pursuit and a keen appreciation of the beauty of the surroundings in which Lakeland hunting is carried on.

PREFACE

Whilst there are a good many books descriptive of foxhunting in the Shires and the provinces, there are few works entirely devoted to sport in the rough fell country of the Lake District.

It is, therefore, with the idea of filling this gap in hunting literature that I venture to pen the following chapters. Foxhunting on the fells differs in so many ways from sport in the riding countries that perhaps this book may serve to interest the man from the Shires, even if it does not tempt him to visit the fells and see something of the sport for himself.

For the man of slender purse the fells will prove a happy hunting ground indeed. There is little cause to worry about ways and means in a country where subscriptions vary from 2s. 6d. to £5. All you want to enable you to follow hounds is a stout heart, a stick, and a “piece” in your pocket, and if luck favours you, as it assuredly will if you go out often enough, you will find yourself becoming more and more wedded to this wild country, which, in sunshine or storm, has so many attractions for those who are not afraid to tackle it in all its varying moods.

R. CLAPHAM.

Troutbeck,
Windermere,
April, 1920.

CONTENTS

CHAPTERPAGE
I.The Country[1]
II.The Fell Fox[23]
III.The Fell Hounds[47]
IV.Hunting on the Fells[70]
V.Reminiscences[99]

ERRATA

[Page 24], line 16: for twenty-one read twenty-three.

[Page 110], line 2 from bottom: for sixty read thirty.

Transcriber’s Note: the errata have been corrected.

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

FACING PAGE
Bruce Logan, Esq., M.F.H., Master of the Coniston Foxhounds and the Windermere Harriers[Frontispiece]
Fell Hunting Country: The High Street Range, from Troutbeck Park[4]
Fell Hunting Country: The High Street Range, from Wansfell[4]
Coniston Foxhounds: Hounds and their Huntsman climbing Steel Fell, in the Snow[10]
Coniston Foxhounds: A Kill in the Snow on Steel Fell, near Grasmere[12]
Charles Wilson, Esq., Ex-Master and Huntsman of the Oxenholme Staghounds[14]
(Mr. Wilson formed this pack in 1887, and was Master and huntsman for over thirty seasons)
Coniston Foxhounds: After a Kill in the Low Country[18]
(An admiring audience of boys looking at the fox)
Coniston Foxhounds: Bruce Logan, Esq., M.F.H., and Robert Logan, Esq., Deputy Master[20]
Broad Howe: A “Borran” or Earth at the Head of the Troutbeck (Windermere) Valley[28]
(This is a very strong place, and is typical of the fell-country fox-earths)
Looking into Broad Howe “Borran” from above, after Men had worked for a Week to rescue Two Terriers, One of which died below Ground[28]
The Armistice[38]
A Three-Weeks-Old Fox Cub[40]
Fox Cubs, Three Weeks Old[40]
A Dog-Fox Cub, Ten Days Old[42]
(Note white tag to immature brush)
Miss Hilda Chapman (Daughter of Anthony Chapman, Ex-Huntsman of the Windermere Harriers) and her Pet Fox, “Jacky” (Three Years Old)[42]
“Cracker,” late of the Coniston Pack: A Big Hound of the Fell Type[50]
“Mischief,” late of the Coniston Pack: A Bitch of the Fell Type[50]
Coniston Foxhounds: The Pack[54]
Coniston Foxhounds: The Pack in Kennels at Greenbank, Ambleside[54]
Ullswater Foxhounds: The Pack with their Huntsman. Opening Meet, Oct. 11th, 1919[58]
Coniston Foxhounds: At the “Travellers’ Rest” Inn, on the Summit of the Kirkstone Pass (1469 ft.)[64]
Coniston Foxhounds: Waiting for the Pack on the Fell[64]
Blencathra Foxhounds: on Right, George Tickell, Esq., Ex-Deputy Master (1907-1919)[70]
(Mr. Tickell has hunted regularly since he was a boy at school, thus covering a total of nearly seventy years. He is “still going strong”)
Fell Country Huntsmen: Left—George Chapman, Huntsman, Coniston Foxhounds. Right—Jim Dalton, Huntsman, Blencathra Foxhounds[74]
Ullswater Foxhounds: Joe Bowman, the Huntsman[76]
Blencathra Foxhounds: Gone to Ground on Armboth Fell[77]
Blencathra Foxhounds: After a Kill at Raven Crag, near Thirlmere Lake, Nov. 7th, 1919[77]
Ullswater Foxhounds: Opening Meet at Brotherswater, Oct. 11th, 1919[80]
(Joe Bowman, the huntsman, talking to two of the field)
Ullswater Foxhounds: Joe Bowman, Huntsman (since 1879), watching Hounds at Work in Low Wood, near Brotherswater. Opening Meet, Oct. 11th, 1919[84]
Coniston Foxhounds: “Gone to Ground”[86]
(Hunters working their way into a “borran”)
Ullswater Foxhounds: B. Wilson, the Whipper-in, with Fox killed in Scandale Valley, Oct. 11th, 1919[87]
“Pincher” and “Myrtle,” Two Coniston Hunt Terriers[90]
“Jummy,” a Terrier which did much Good Work for the Coniston Hunt[90]
Ullswater Foxhounds: Gone to Ground below High Pike in the Scandale Valley, Windermere Lake in Distance[92]
Coniston Foxhounds: Watching a Hunt from Broad Howe “Borran,” at the Head of the Troutbeck (Windermere) Valley[96]
Coniston Foxhounds: Rough Going near Dove Crag[102]
Coniston Foxhounds: George Chapman, the Huntsman, with Fox, after a Kill in Greenburn[104]
Blencathra Foxhounds: Ernest Parker, the Whipper-in, after a Kill at Raven Crag, near Thirlmere Lake, Nov. 7th, 1919[105]
Ullswater Foxhounds: Opening Meet, Oct. 11th, 1919. Left—W. H. Marshall, Esq., M.F.H. Right—B. Wilson, the Whipper-in[107]
(Waiting for a fox to bolt from an earth below High Pike in the Scandale Valley)
Coniston Foxhounds: Hounds and their Huntsman in the Scandale Valley[110]
Coniston Foxhounds: After a Kill near Coniston[110]
Coniston Foxhounds: After a Kill in Woundale[111]
Coniston Foxhounds: After a Kill on Nab Scar, Rydal[111]