Foxhunter/Patriot to Be Honored in Bronze
Jonas Cattell from “Memoirs of the Gloucester Foxhunting Club” by William Milnor, Jr., Philadelphia, 1830Jonas Cattell, foxhunter and revolutionary hero, will be honored with a seven-foot bronze statue to be erected in Haddonfield, New Jersey. We foxhunters know about Cattell’s exploits in the hunting field thanks to Alexander Mackay-Smith’s classic book, The American Foxhound: 1747–1967, but I never knew about Cattell’s heroism during the American Revolution. He turned the misfortune of his arrest by Hessian mercenaries into advantage for the Colonial cause.
Cattell whipped-in for the Gloucester Foxhunting Club, the first organized foxhunting club in North America. It was founded in 1766 by a group of Philadelphia gentlemen and named for Gloucester County, New Jersey, directly across the Delaware River. According to Mackay-Smith, quoting Clifton Lisle describing their sport, “When Cupid, the huntsman who succeeded Old Natty, was in the saddle with Jonas Cattell whipping-in to him, amazing runs were made.”
“In 1798, for example, one is recorded that went to Salem, a distance of forty miles by the map from find to kill. Another ended on the ice of the Delaware, a Jersey fox crossing it with fifteen couple of hounds not a hundred yards from his brush—to be rolled over just short of the Jersey shore. Robert Wharton, president of the club at that time, was the first man up, next to Jonas Cattell, the whipper-in, who had crossed the river on foot.”
Hound Music
Mr. Stewart’s Cheshire Foxhounds began their season with an open air symphony of hound music recorded for your listening pleasure by John Wilkowski. The images may be a little shaky—John was mounted—but the notes, from sopranos to basses, are undistorted!
Field Hunter Championship of North America Is Scheduled
The 2013 Field Hunter Championship of North America will be held in Virginia from Monday, September 30 to Sunday, October 6. Competitors will hunt four days, with fixtures at Keswick Hunt, Casanova Hunt, Snickersville Hounds, and Piedmont Fox Hounds. The Finals will be held on Sunday, October 6 at Glenwood Park. The final day at […]
Lilla Mason Is New MFH at Iroquois
Huntsman Lilla Mason joins Dr. Jack Van Nagell (left) and Jerry Miller (behind Lilla) as Joint-MFH of the Iroquois Hunt (KY) / Glenye Cain Oakford photo
It’s gratifying when sportsmen and women whom you have long known and respected are elevated to loftier positions in their hunts. Lilla Mason, former whipper-in, currently huntsman, has been named MFH at the Iroquois Hunt in Lexington, Kentucky.
Lilla is a soft-spoken and thoughtful woman who has earned her way by performing superbly at every stage of her foxhunting career with Iroquois. The first time I hunted with Lilla was in 1998, she was whipping-in to Jerry Miller, MFH at the time, and I had been invited to ride up with her.
As we headed out she turned in the saddle and said, “Be careful in this piece of country. You could get stuck in a bog.”
New Foxhunting Website Launched in England
James Barclay, ex-MFH, whose elegant prose has appeared (and will continue to appear) in Foxhunting Life, has launched a new subscription website titled, “For the Love of Hunting England. The new portal promises to be full of news, information, and features about hunting in Great Britain and further afield. James, whose family has been deeply […]
An English Summer of Mixed Blessings
The Belvoir foxhounds at kennels after exercise / James Barclay photo
With the new season just about upon us, I thought I would have a look back over the last few months and see how we have been fairing. For the first time in some years now we can honestly say we have had something like a proper summer! Having said that however, the last two days have been nothing but torrential rain, which will have put the final week or two of harvest back somewhat. In June and July we bathed in endless days of sunshine which in many ways did much to pick up the gloom from previous years.
The hound shows began and some interesting results started to appear with the usual names not having it all their own way. This clearly demonstrates that the smaller packs over here now have an increasing amount of quality running through their kennels, which is not only a real pleasure to see for many, but it shows that the interest in breeding nice hounds is now not just with a few of the larger packs. For those who have produced hounds to a high standard for very many years, it must give them huge pleasure to see the others doing so well. After all, it will very likely be their lines that many of those winning today will go back too. Those in the past who have not only bred good hounds in their work but also to the conformation of body with which to last, deserve a great deal of gratitude. On a cautionary note however it would be wise that as Masterships are likely to change all too regularly nowadays, to have someone who can oversee the hounds, their welfare, and their breeding on a regular basis is a must.
Sadly, life being what it is, and with everything going along well as it was, something had to go wrong and sure enough it was not long before the dreaded kennel cough swept through large parts of the country, with some packs suffering badly.
New Huntsman, New MFH at Why Worry Hounds
George Thomas, MFH of the Why Worry Hounds (SC) / Charles Sainsbury-Plaice photoWhen George and Jeanie Thomas organized their hunt twenty years ago near Aiken, South Carolina, they expressed their philosophy in naming it. Why Worry Hounds they called it, and now, after twenty years of managing hounds, horses, and country by themselves, they have made some organizational changes to re-establish that philosophy.
With George busier in his day job and Jeanie having conquered some pesky physical issues, the couple has taken steps to ease their burdens by bringing on board two well-known, immensely capable, and passionate foxhunters ready and wanting to shoulder a share of the responsibilities—Randy and Robin Waterman.
Randy, ex-MFH and former huntsman of the Piedmont Fox Hounds (VA), has been named huntsman of the Why Worry Hounds. Robin, who whipped-in to Randy at Piedmont, joins George and Jeanie as Joint-MFH at Why Worry and will whip-in to Randy.
Melvin Poe Celebrates 93rd Birthday; Hunts Hounds
Betsy Burke Parker photo
World-renowned huntsman Melvin Poe celebrated his 93rd birthday Sunday, August 25 by doing what only comes natural to the living legend—going foxhunting. Riding his favorite hunter and surrounded by Peggy, his wife of some fifty years, his four daughters, a bevy of grandchildren, neighbors, and friends, Melvin handled the horn and the reins with the cool confidence of a man one-quarter his age at what had to be a historic hunt.
“I can’t believe he’s still going strong,” said Charlie Matheson, former president of the Orange County Hounds where Melvin served as huntsman some three decades. “He’s an amazing man. We’re so lucky to have him.”
Melvin Poe Celebrates 93rd Birthday; Hunts Hounds
Betsy Burke Parker photo
World-renowned huntsman Melvin Poe celebrated his 93rd birthday Sunday, August 25 by doing what only comes natural to the living legend—going foxhunting. Riding his favorite hunter and surrounded by Peggy, his wife of some fifty years, his four daughters, a bevy of grandchildren, neighbors, and friends, Melvin handled the horn and the reins with the cool confidence of a man one-quarter his age at what had to be a historic hunt.
“I can’t believe he’s still going strong,” said Charlie Matheson, former president of the Orange County Hounds where Melvin served as huntsman some three decades. “He’s an amazing man. We’re so lucky to have him.”
Live Oak Hounds USPC Foxhunting Challenge Winners Are Announced
The Blue Mountain Pony Club in Maryland won the seventh annual Live Oak Hounds USPC Foxhunting Challenge Award for 2013. The Challenge Award is made possible through the generous support of Mr. and Mrs. C. Martin Wood III, Joint-Masters of the Live Oak Hounds in Monticello, Florida and Past Presidents of the MFHA. The Award […]