Of sudden death.”
CHAPTER III
THE FELL HOUNDS
“He’s strong and he’s straight, lads, his tongue like a bell,
And the stout heart that’s in him, lads, tongue cannot tell,
For to breast the steep hill-sides, where faint hearts must fail,
And to sweep the wide moors in the teeth of the gale.”
The hunting man from the Shires, on paying his initial visit to one or other of the fell packs, will no doubt be struck by the very different appearance of these hounds from those to which he has been accustomed.
For many years past Masters of hounds have bred for an exclusive type, as represented by the Peterborough standard. Unfortunately there are comparatively few hunting countries to which hounds of this exclusive type are exactly suited, yet, for various reasons, mainly financial, the majority of packs are composed of hounds very close to the standard.