The Washington herald., 1914-02-22

and Betsey." FREQUENT mention Is made
OF Sweetiips. Music. &C., which ts evi-
dence that Washington appreciated
and that he perpetuated the
names of hounds for more than thirty
years. the naming of which shows the
blood relationship; as for instance. Dis
tillery," "Tlpler" and "Drunkard''-an Of
which disproves the oft-repeated state
ment that 'pedigrees and records were
not kept"
When or by whom foxhunting was in
troduced in the Colonies. or what strain
of hounds were first used here, probably
will never be known, but that English
| hounds were not used can be proved,
at least, to the satisfaction OF ma
jority OF American sportsmen.
The American foxhounds have net
changed in conformation for more than
100 years. II We are to judge from
poorly executed engravings. they could
today pass for the black and tan Kerry
Beagles, a pack of which is now At the
Kings House, in the New Forest, Lynd-
hurst, England. These beagles are the
property of Hon. Gerald Lascells. Witn
whom the writer spent a week az the oio
Hawking Club in Shrewton, Wits, sew
eral years ago.
I English Foxhounds Changes.
That the English foxhound has con-
| stantly, changed in conformation, II -
| only necessary to examine the pictures
of them which are numerous. As many
of these hounds were painted by arusts
Of worldwide fame, therefore, their PIC
| lures must be authentic For example,
/ in ITO Wooten painted a picture OF q 1ox
hunt, which he named THE Death OF the
Fox The hounds plainly show their
| greyhound origin. and look as IL they
might have been painted from specimens
of Greek pottery of the NTH century,
B. c., portraying greyhounds which may
be seen in the British museum. The
painting by Pisano. THE Vision OF st.
Eustace," also shows hounds Of the grey
hound type, as does THE Vision Of st.
| Hubert" by Albert Durer in the fifteenth
| century.
The English hound continues 10 change
| in conformation up to and including Col.
| Thornton's Merlin. bitch which he Of
fered to match to run against any DOG
/ or bitch in the world for $4,000 (sl0.ooo).
4 Merkin fiourished in 1874. and her blood
can yet be traced in the pedigrees Of
English foxhounds. In NO. which
seems to have been an unusually busy
ear for fox hunters, and one In which
most of their interesting history was
made Col Andrew Corbet was author
lied by his brother to buy for him a
pack of Harrier's which were being ad-
i vertised by Tattersalls.
The pack was accordingly purchased,
kept for a time. then disposed Of. Only
one of them was retained, a bitch named
| Tidings. She was kept by Mr.. Corbet on
| account Of her excellent work in the
\ feld-not as q fox hunter. but as use
| full Harrier. In due time she was sent
/ to the Pytchley kennels, where she was
| bred to Tomboy, a foxhound which had
distinguished himself. both in the field
and in the stud.
Puppy Makes History.
| From the result of this mating a dog
puppy was whelped, which was destined
to make English foxhound history. He
was named Trojan, and after he had
shown exceptional quality, masters of the
different packs were anxious to use him
in their kennels for stud purposes Upon
Investigation it was found that his dam,
Tidings, was bought with pack OF Har-
riers as a Harrier, but in some mysteri-
Ious manner il was proved to their salts
faction that she was foxhound-bred, and
so she appears in the stud book, along
with her distinguished son, Trojan, whose
very name is of Greek origin.
The Harriers were of Greek origin and
were hunted more than 1000 years ago
by Xenophon. The English foxhound.
therefore, was composed of several an
Gent breeds, all of which were Of The
most honorable origin, and that they
have produced magnificently balanced
packs no well-informed fox hunter will
deny, but that fox hunting was intro
duced into this country by Englishmen
with English foXhounds remains TO De
Iproven by more substantial evidence than
that convenient old myth, tradition
That the English tailors could not make
hunting suits in I749 is recorded in George
washington's diary, for In that year he
chronicles the melancholy fact, continu-
ing: 81 could have got much better In
PHILADELPHIA or Boston," which proves
that tailors on this side knew something
1 of the requirements OF fox hunters
worden Castle claims the distinction OF
having had the first regularly organized
kennel of foxhounds in England. Addi-
son refers to the foXhounds of Sir Roger
lDe Coyerley in I'LL. The Brockelsby
kennels were established two years later,
and ever since the sport has been IA
ivorite with the Britishers, who have ex-
pended hundreds of millions OF dollars
in perfecting and maintaining their
hounds. horses. and hunting establish
ments. They still read with pleasure OF
the adventures of Mr.. Jorrocks, who
ATTEMPTED to break into society via the
FOX hunters route.
; George washington'sP astime.
That fox hunting was a passion with
! after having read the hundreds of entries
regarding it, which appear in his diarS
every day in season, from 17H to ITO
, when not engaged in important business
!, or political affairs. That II was a pleasur-
able social feature with him. as well as
with his wife, is evidenced by the numer-
Gus references to celebrities who visited
him from, not only America, but almost
B every country in Europe. While he wa
! methodicaI in keeping his accounts. there
is not a single reference to the expense
of maintaining his household, outside OF
expenditures for furniture, books, works
of art, &C., which is additional evidences
of his true greatness.
: No one who does not love fox hunting
, can possibly realize the great sacrific,
which Washington made, when he wa,
II called to the front by sound of "tht
j war horn" His home and all that was
! dear to him were left for life Of danger
and hardship, for which, however, he was
eminentIy trained by years of rough
, experience in the saddle which following
his hounds had given him. If the Duke
of Wellington believed that England.
greatness was due to. the quality of hel
hounds and horses, we may be permitted
TO believe that washington's event,
4 balanced brain. perfect judgment. ant
wonderful powers of endurance wert
traceabIe to the health and vigor which
necessarily follows rugged outdoor life
During the entire War of the Revolu.
ton, Gen. Washington used only two
horses, one named Blueskin, and thu
other Nelson, both OF which were sired
by his imported Arabian. Magnolia. The
| r.rafaryad NelSon for Irx