with Horse and Hound

The Purebred and The Mutt

With permission, here is the first chapter of The Great Hound Match of 1905 by Martha Wolfe (Lyons Press). The Library of Virginia has selected Martha’s work as a potential Best Book of 2016 in the Non-Fiction category. Readers may cast their votes by clicking here.

higginson and cotesworth with houndsA. Henry Higginson, MFH, Middlesex Hunt, in derby and spats with huntsman Robert Cotesworth and his imported English foxhounds of the period. / Courtesy, National Sporting Library and Museum

Storytellers claim that there is really only one story in the world: “A Stranger Comes to Town.” In this case, two strangers came to two towns in Virginia bringing with them their separate entourages—private train loads of friends and their horses, trunks of tack, boots, formal and informal clothing, food and wine, servants and of course their hound dogs. Neither Middleburg nor Upperville, Virginia, had seen the likes since J. E. B. Stuart established his headquarters at the Beverage House (now the Red Fox Inn) in Middleburg during the Gettysburg Campaign. Alexander Henry Higginson of South Lincoln and Harry Worcester Smith of Grafton, Massachusetts had determined that the Loudoun Valley in Virginia’s pastoral Piedmont was the best place to prove the relative worth of their chosen foxhounds.

This content is for subscribers only.
Join Now
Already a member? Log in here
Click any ad image.
(Opens in new window)
painting of two tricolor foxhounds with Sporting Art Auction logo
fox sketch over enamel bit ring with savenac logo
tcfe ad image fairfax & favor
Click any ad image.
(Opens in new window)
Thomas & Talbot logo Anne McIntosh 703-509-4499
Mark Lexton
Horse Books Plus
Blind Bombing
Cross Gate Gallery sporting art hound painting
photo of fox kits by Liz Callar
Erik Olsen Photography
Cathy Summers
Noel Mullins
Lauren Giannini
KLM Images