With regard to clothing and etceteras for otter-hunting, little need be said here. Hunt uniforms are usually made of woollen serge material, which dries quickly, and withstands a lot of rough usage. Shorts are sometimes worn, but in our experience loose knickerbockers are much preferable, particularly for hunt officials who may have to force their way through briers or other undergrowth in the execution of their duty. Bare knees and thorns do not associate well together, while breeches of the semi-riding type are too tight-fitting, and retain water. Boots or shoes should be well nailed to prevent slipping, preferably with soft, wrought-iron hobs, which get a better grip on rocks than steel nails. An iron-shod pole of ash or hazel—the latter is light yet strong—is necessary for crossing deep or swift water, and in some districts as an aid to jumping wide ditches and open drains. A pole shod with a double-pronged spike is less liable to slip than one armed with a single spike. Likewise a pole cut from the growing tree or sapling looks more workmanlike than a "made" one, ornamented with a fancy metal head or other embellishment. With regard to the whip, for use by Hunt officials, one with a short lash is to be preferred, for it can be far more easily cracked when the user is standing in water than a long-lashed affair.
The huntsman who cannot blow an ordinary horn without unnecessary discords will be well advised to secure a reed-horn. Every call can be sounded on this, with the exception of that "to call hounds away," and for this quite a good substitute can be blown. When using the horn, he should employ distinct calls, then both hounds and field know what he means. Some huntsmen blow the same note all day long, and hounds take no heed of it, while the monotonous sound gets on the nerves of the field.
Nowadays the otter-hunting season extends from April to September, but in the fourteenth century it lasted from February to June.
[CHAPTER IV]
HOUNDS AND TERRIERS
The average otterhound pack to-day is usually composed of foxhounds, cross-bred hounds, and a few couples of pure, rough-coated otterhounds. In the old days the latter predominated in most packs, and it is only of late years that the foxhound has come to the fore in the pursuit of Lutra.
The origin of the rough-coated hound is more or less shrouded in mystery, but it is pretty safe to say that he is closely related to the bloodhound. If true to type he possesses many of the bloodhound's characteristics, including the long pendulous ears, the deep-set eye showing the haw, and the black and tan colour which so often predominates. The rough coat was gained by a cross of some sort, but it is impossible to say with certainty what this cross was. The wire-haired Welsh harrier may have had something to do with it, and again it is quite likely that the old hard-coated Lancashire harrier may have been used for the same purpose. It is possible, too, that the old southern hound was crossed with the bloodhound, while there are those who believe that the French griffon had a share in the business. Thus we see that the rough outer coat may have come from a variety of sources, but the thick, woolly under-coat is no doubt a provision of nature to protect the hound from the effects of frequent and long-continued immersion in the water. This under coat is worn by the Chesapeake Bay dog, a breed of retriever much used by wildfowl shooters in America.
In the fourteenth century raches or running hounds—known later simply as hounds—were of various kinds. In the "Master of Game" it says: "There be also many kinds of running hounds, some small and some big, and the small be called kenets, and these hounds run well to all manner of game, and they (that) serve for all game men call them harriers. And every hound that hath that courage will come to be a harrier by nature with little making."
Harrier was in those days spelt heyrer, and it was not until after the sixteenth century that the modern spelling came into vogue. It was probably derived from the Anglo-Saxon herian, to harry or disturb. In the "Boke of St Albans" it says that the hart, the buck, and the boar should be started by a limer, and that all "other bestes that huntyd shall be sought for and found by Ratches so free." Thus it appears that all beasts that were enchased were moved by a lime-hound, while those that were hunted up were found by raches. The otter-hunting illustration in the "Master of Game" shows five hounds, one of which is on leash, and appears to be a limer. The otter was certainly not enchased in those days, being looked upon as vermin, yet as the picture shows a limer at work, it is possible that lime-hounds were sometimes used for other game than the recognised beasts of chase. The hound shown swimming the otter is bloodhound-like, while two smaller hounds appear to have broken coats. In the fourteenth century the otter and various other creatures, such as the rabbit, fox, wild cat, etc., were hunted by biss hunters (fur hunters) for their skins, and no doubt the smaller breed of hounds then known as heyrers were employed in their capture.