Southern Hound Show 2022
The first foxhound show in North America in three years, and Hillsboro Wagtail ’20 has good reason to wag her tail…er…stern!
Grand Champion of Show is Hillsboro Wagtail 2020 / Wendy Butler photo
The fourteenth annual Southern Hound Show was memorable for several reasons. Nigel Peel, Ex-MFH, North Cotswold Foxhounds (UK), was ill and unable to come and join Co-Judge Marion Thorne, MFH, Genesee Valley Hunt (NY) and Apprentice-Judge Steven Thomas, MFH, Fort Leavenworth Hunt (KS). Ann Hughston, MBH, Ripshin Bassets (GA), who has judged foxhounds at Carolina, Virginia, the Canadian Hound Show, and Bassets at Peterborough, was a capable stand-in.
The mood was particularly festive as this was the first hound show in three years to be held in North America thanks to the Corona Virus. Sadly, Midland Fox Hounds (GA) had kennel cough and was unable to bring hounds, but eight packs showed hounds: Belle Meade Hunt (GA), Fox River Valley Hunt (IL), Goodwin Hounds (NC), Hillsboro Hounds (TN), Iroquois Hunt (KY), Live Oak Hounds (FL), Mooreland Hunt (AL), and Palm Beach Hounds (FL). Hounds competed under blue skies, but with chilly temperatures in the forties and low fifties and relentless high wind that made the seated lunch for over 150 people look like a food fight, with fried chicken, plates, napkins, and utensils flying through the air, all as the tent was trying to collapse!
West Waterford Foxhounds at Ballyduff, Co Waterford
Moving off from Ballyduff to the first draw are (l-r) Philip Desmond, MFH; whipper-in Alan Curley; huntsman Donal McAuliffe; and Field Master Connie Curley. / Catherine Power photo
Philip Desmond must be one of the best-known names in Irish hunting, be it in Cork or Waterford, and why wouldn’t it be? In addition to farming, he has hunted the Cloyne Harriers, the Dungarvan Foxhounds, and the famed Avondhu in North Cork. He is now Joint-Master of the West Waterford but no longer carries the horn. That task has been passed on to Donal McAuliffe, a young dairy farmer. It would be hard to find a more enthusiastic huntsman than he, this side of Leicestershire.
The invitation from Philip was concise. “Be on the bridge at Ballyduff by eleven on Saturday if you want to see some proper hunting.”
With the Fox Cubs at Dusk
As the month of March advances to its close, we all know that newly-whelped fox cubs are at this very moment huddled out of sight and underground, not yet having seen nor felt the light of day. We wait and watch, hoping for a sight of them, but more likely contenting ourselves with occasional daylight views of the vixen or dog fox now working overtime day-shifts to feed a voracious and growing family. ―Ed.
Jim Graham photo
Yesterday I visited a Fort. It was one of the many great, circular, centuries-old Danish structures that are so numerous in this eastern part of County Cavan, Ireland. Its ramparts and fosses are still well-defined despite the ravages of ages. The inhabitants used it as their home in times of peace, and as their stockyard and stronghold when invasion threatened. The inhabitants evidently disliked isolation, and their fortress was erected on such well-chosen eminence that they were in full view of their neighbours on some adjoining hill; indeed it is a local belief that seven neighbouring forts are visible from any particular one.
Thady Ryan: Three Centuries of Tradition at Scarteen
Thaddeus ‘Thady’ Ryan of Scarteen was Master of the family pack of Kerry Beagles from 1946 to 2005, the year of his passing. Records show this unique breed of hounds has been in the Ryan family at Scarteen for ten consecutive generations stretching back more than three centuries. The pack hunted hare in the earlier years, then the stag, and finally, in 1927, the fox.
Thady Ryan, MFH, and Tommy O’Dwyer with the Scarteen Hounds at Knocktoran Bog, 1982. / From the painting by Peter Curling
The period from the early 1950s through the 1960s was an era of amateur Master/huntsmen where young men of some means would take on a pack of hounds more as an avocation than a job. I was fortunate to have hunted with many of them such as Thady Ryan in Scarteen, Evan Williams in Tipperary, Lord Daresbury in Limerick, Capt. Harry Freeman-Jackson in Duhallow, Victor McCalmont in Kilkenny, Elsie Morgan in West Waterford, and PP Hogan in Avondhu.
Over the next couple of months, I hope to bring short hunting biographies of these remarkable sportsmen, recalling a time of long days in the field and even longer hunts when the leading horsemen of those times flocked to Ireland to experience the magic and challenge of hunting in the south of Ireland.
Folk Tails: The Japanese Fox
At the National Sporting Library & Museum, there are over twenty-thousand books on foxhunting, horse racing, fishing, field sports, and other related topics. In my first few weeks as a Visitor Services Associate, I found what was probably the last thing I thought I’d see on the shelves: a book on kitsuné.
Kitsuné: Japan’s Fox of Mystery, Romance, and Humor by Kyoshi Nozaki is a delightful read for anyone who enjoys learning about the fox in Japanese culture or who likes folklore and mythology. This book contains many stories from legend, literature, theatre, and fairytales about the Japanese fox.
Tradition and the Individual Talent
Pulitzer Prize-winning American poet, Henry Taylor
An old-school foxhunter let it get around
that he hunted a deer-proof pack. Hard to believe:
foxhounds are born to run foxes, all right,
but you have to make them stay off rabbits,
housecats, chickens, etc. They learn to stop
when the hound-whip cracks. Deer scent, though,
is strong enough to put whips out of their minds.
Ward Union Hosts Showjumping Royalty
Kacey-Lou Carberry, 12, jumps ditch and bank cleanly off the road on a competent coloured cob on loan from Master Stephen O’Connor’s family. / Catherine Power photo
Tuesday, December 2, 2021, was a gala day in Co. Meath, Ireland. Not only were the usual crack Ward Union jockeys out, but also in the field was a group of world-class showjumpers.
Shane Breen, Joint-Master of the Scarteen Black and Tans and a member of the Irish National Showjumping team, had arranged for a group of showjumpers to experience the mystique and magic of hunting in Ireland, in general, and with the Ward Union, in particular. Team Ireland was just back from Portugal, where they had emerged victorious in the Nations Cup finals the week before.
Our Hounds Were on Fire
What follows is one of Master Epp Willson’s frequent email reports to Belle Meade members to recognize and thank individuals for efforts on behalf of the hunt, apprise members of current hunt affairs, or, as in this case, add to their knowledge of hounds and hunting.
Belle Meade hounds drew well, handled well, and listened all day. They are settling in and becoming the team we expect them to be.
Our hounds provide quality sport nearly every time we go out. They are doing it every time if scenting conditions are decent and a cooperative coyote can be found. Yesterday was an interesting day.
The Old Customer
At Fedamore in Co Limerick where Dorothea Conyers lived circa 1885, an extraordinary fox dwelt in the extensive gorse covert there. Mr. Nugent Humble, Master of the Co Limerick foxhounds, called it The Old Customer.
He was a very long, dark fox, and I really believe he liked being hunted. Day after day, he took hounds on the same lines―he had two―and seemed to beat them when he liked.
The Ballymacad Foxhounds, Irish Hunts, and Irish Draught Breeds: At a Crossroads
Two meets in the unique Ballymacad hunting county come on the heels of a surprise event―the sudden unavailability of hunt insurance in Ireland. Without insurance, many hunt clubs will cease to function―indeed, many have already suspended hunting temporarily. And the native Irish breeds―the Iris Draught Horse and the Irish Sport Horse―may well become extinct. The economic and cultural losses to the Ballymacad countryside and to the wider Irish countryside would be devastating. –Ed.
Huntsman Kevin Donahoe with the Ballymacad foxhounds riding a pure Irish Draught Horse from Donahoe’s Sport Horses. / Noel Mullins photo
The Irish hunting fraternity has been stunned ever since the leading UK hunt insurance provider withdrew from Ireland last year. As insurance renewal dates came up in mid-season, many hunts were forced to suspend hunting. Only a small number of hunts were able to continue.