December 11, 2015
Billy Vance at Eighty, and The Fermanagh Harriers
Master and Huntsman Billy Vance (80) watches his Fermanagh Harriers at work. / Noel Mullins photo
How many huntsmen are hunting hounds at eighty years of age? Or to add a twist to that question, how many huntsmen having achieved that age have already hunted hounds for the previous fifty seasons?
Billy Vance, Master and huntsman of the Fermanagh Harriers, has achieved this remarkable milestone. To see him hunting hounds is inspiring, humbling, and brings home just how lucky we all are to be able to follow great horsemen like him across the countryside.
Vance is special—a consummate and stylish horseman across what can only be termed as challenging hunting country with drains, banks, walls, and wire to contend with. And he is usually riding horses he bred himself. He is a genius with a pack of hounds, but don’t get in his way when they are running! If Ireland is in need of role models in these difficult economic circumstances, then Billy Vance fits the bill. He never seeks attention, yet is respected not just in his own hunt but by the hunting fraternity at large. And it is sometimes difficult to get a photograph of him.
“I am not into photos!” he says.
Lamerton Foxhounds Accused of Illegal Hunting in Britain
Six men affiliated with the Lamerton Foxhounds in Devon, near Okehampton, will stand trial, accused of illegally hunting a fox with hounds in contravention of the Hunting Act of 2004. Defendants are Joint-Master George Moyse, huntsman David Lewis, whipper-in Steve Craddock, and terrier men Wayne Bartlett, Gilmore Lewis, and Stephen Mitchell. The six deny the charges. This is another private prosecution brought to the courts by the League Against Cruel Sports (LACS). The evidence is based on film recordings made by LACS “investigative officers.” Click for the full text of David Wells’s article in the Western Morning News. Posted December 11, 2015
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