Lakeland

The Mardale Hunt: Chapter 3

Ron Black December 12, 2011 Art & Literature Literature

Ullswater huntsman Joe BowmanHere’s Chapter 3 of The Mardale Hunt by Ron Black. Through the courtesy of the author, Foxhunting Life is bringing you the entire book in installments every two weeks. You are free to download the book to your computer. We hope you enjoyed the previous installments. Excerpt from Chapter 3:As I was sitting at tea in the Dun Bull the dogs barked and ran furiously into the road. “Dogs is likely coomin’,” said the servant lass, and in another moment Joe Bowman the well-known huntsman of the Ullswater pack and a couple of hounds entered the kitchen. “Git oot wilt tha,” he cried, and the dogs disappeared like a flash of lightning, then taking his huntsman’s cap off, the stout-built man with the sturdy determined look and close-cut moustache, a man whose face had been weathered into mahogany with a touch of colour in the stain, bowed to the company and was soon at home with us all. (To access downloads of previous installments, click here.) Posted December 14, 2011... This content is for subscribers only.Join NowAlready a member? Log in here

The Foxes of Cumbria

Ron Black September 8, 2011 Hunting Days of Yore

BorrowdaleIn the Lakeland District on the English/Scottish border, about four or five miles from Ambleside on the Hawkshead road is a T-junction. Turn right and the road ascends the shoulder of a small water-cut valley, finally reaching it’s destination at the Drunken Duck public house from whence a choice of routes beyond this story can be found.

Hunting Songs, Volume One: The Lakeland Fell Packs

Book Review by Norman Fine August 5, 2011 Art & Literature Literature

lakeland_hunting_songs Hunting Songs, Volume One: The Lakeland Fell Packs, Ron Black and Wendy Fraser, Blurb Publishing, 2011, 75 pages, 7.50 pounds (soft cover), 15.50 pounds (hard cover), www.cumbrian-lad.comRon Black and Wendy Fraser collaborated on this collection—a folk history, really—of Lakeland hunting songs. Over the course of three-hundred years, followers of the fell packs of the English Lake District wrote these songs to memorialize historic runs, iconic huntsmen, special foxhounds, and—what pleased me especially—brave terriers! Perhaps I just never noticed, but I cannot recall any other book of hunting songs and poems that includes odes to these feisty little creatures.

Or perhaps I paid special notice here because I now happen to be the smitten owner of a nine-month-old Border terrier whose ancestors scurried in their determined fashion over those same fells on the English-Scottish border. Here’s the story of Badger and Butcher by Mr. and Mrs. Curry, and it’s still sung today!