Bless the kind parson[1] who with these rude stones,
Built this ’ere Inn to rest your weary bones.”
[1] The Rev. ⸺ Sewell, formerly Vicar of Troutbeck.
Whilst the fox is our premier beast of chase in Lakeland, the hare is also hunted, and deer provide sport in the country adjoining the fells. In the old days, however, there were two other animals, now very rare, i.e. the polecat and the pine-marten, which were a recognised quarry for hounds.
To-day, as far as I can gather, the polecat, or foumart, is extinct in Lakeland. The pine-marten, or “sweet mart,” to distinguish it from its evil-smelling relation, the foumart or “foul mart,” still lingers on some of the wilder fells.
The pine-marten is a tree dweller by nature, but on the fells it has its haunt amongst the crags and rocks. Hounds delight in the scent of a “mart,” and in bygone days some very good runs took place. The pine-marten, unlike the fox, is very easy to bolt from an earth, owing to its intense dislike of smoke. Directly the first whiff of burning grass or bracken reaches it, it at once takes to the open. The last pine-marten I have seen in the flesh, was a young marten kitten which I was instrumental in securing in 1915. It became the property of a well-known lady naturalist, who reared it successfully, and it proved a charming pet.
CONISTON FOXHOUNDS: BRUCE LOGAN, ESQ., M.F.H., AND ROBERT LOGAN, ESQ., DEPUTY MASTER.
Although, as far as I am aware, extinct in Lakeland, the polecat is still fairly plentiful in parts of Wales. A year or two ago I had a very fine specimen sent to me from there.