Illustration by Cecil Alden
by Duncan Fife
I wouldn’t change places with any man,
Were he powerful, rich, or wise,
As I stand in the early morning chill
While we wait for the mist to rise.
There are silver threads on the bracken fronds,
And a peaty tang in the air
That goes to the head like a draught of wine,
As we stand by the cover there.
If the creak of leather and clink of bit
Makes me yearn—well I’m not ashamed,
For I’ve got no horse of my own to ride,
And I don’t suppose I’ll be blamed
If I look around with an envious heart
At the satiny coats nearby,
At the twitching ears and the nostrils wide,
And the eagerly watching eye
That seeks to pierce through the curtaining mist
Where it clings to the dripping trees,
Concealing the cubs as they wait, alert,
For a chance to run. Then a breeze
So faint, so soft, that the glittering drops
Which hang on the bramble and thorn,
Are scarcely disturbed, but the low-lying haze
Dissolves at the coming of dawn.
Cubbing!—that foretaste of pleasure to come.
How warm runs the blood in my veins
To notice the Whipper-in’s narrowing eyes,
And his firmer grip on the reins
As he digs in his heels, and gallops off
Down the length of the cover’s edge,
To a spot where a red mask thrusts itself
Through a gap in the blackthorn hedge.
He stands in his stirrups—“Yoi!—Tally-Ho!”
There’s a whimper from Columbine—
Uncertain as yet—then a crashing chord
As the eager pack hits the line.
The little red cub’s away like the wind,
And the puppies are raging mad.
There’s a red-hot scent that is lying well
And the hunt is the first they’ve had….
. . . . . .
Though the worldly assets that I possess
Won’t run to the price of a horse,
The music of hounds is my joy in life,
And leaves little time for remorse.
You may lie abed on a winter morn,
Or recline in your bath, and stew,
But you’re missing the best that this life holds,
And my sympathy lies with you!
Posted August 22, 2015
From Scarlet Blue and green: A Book of Sporting Verse by Duncan Fife, illustrations by Cecil Alden, MacMillan and Co., Limited, London, 1932