February 12, 2011
Cambridge University Draghounds (UK)
Jack Day, Joint-MFH flies a Leicestershire hedge
A number of universities in England maintain a pack of foxhounds or beagles hunted on horseback or afoot. Students often comprise the staff—Master, huntsman, whippers-in—and this tradition has provided a start for some of the most successful and brilliant Masters and huntsmen that England has produced—Ronnie Wallace for just one.
At Cambridge University a pack of foxhounds are maintained that hunt a drag laid by student volunteers normally from the cross country track team. Hounds usually complete three or four "lines" during a day's hunting, which might take two to three hours.
At Cambridge, not only undergraduate students serve as Masters but adults who have no connection with the University serve as well. The huntsman is Matt Gingell, a local farmer.
The Origins of “Ratcatcher”
“Where did the term ‘ratcatcher’ come from?” asks Carol Riggs, whipper-in to the Red Mountain Foxhounds in North Carolina. “I know there are many, many ideas about this, but I would love to know the real history of the term ratcatcher.”
When it comes to etymology, Steven Price, the newest member of our Panel of Experts, is the first person I would think to consult. For Steven, words are beguiling toys to play on, to savor, to manipulate. He is the author or editor of thirty-five books, including the Lyon’s Press Horseman’s Dictionary. Here’s what he had to say:
