Part 25
The above is an animated and beautiful description of an otter hunt, an old English sport fast falling into disuse, and the breed of the real otter-hound is either extinct or very nearly so. In stating this, I am aware that there are still many dogs which are called otter-hounds; but it may be doubted whether they possess that peculiar formation which belongs exclusively to the true breed. Few things in nature are more curious and interesting than this formation, and it shows forcibly how beautifully everything has been arranged for the instincts and several habits of animals. The true otter-hound is completely web-footed, even to the roots of its claws; thus enabling it to swim with much greater facility and swiftness than other dogs. But it has another extraordinary formation; the ear possesses a sort of flap, which covering the aperture excludes the entrance of the water, and thus the dog is enabled to dive after the otter without that inconvenience which it would otherwise experience. The Earl of Cadogan has, what his Lordship considers, the last of the breed of the true otter-hound. It was a present from Sir Walter Scott. Lord Cadogan offered one hundred pounds for another dog of the same breed, but of a different sex; but I believe without being able to procure one with those true marks which are confined to the authentic breed. A gipsy was, indeed, said to have possessed one, but he refused to part with it.
Those who saw the exhibition of pictures in the Royal Academy in 1844 will recollect a large, interesting, and beautiful picture by Sir Edwin Landseer of a pack of otter-hounds. The picture describes the hunt at the time of the termination of the chase and the capture of the otter. The animal is impaled on the huntsman's spear, while the rough, shaggy, and picturesque-looking pack are represented with eyes intently fixed on the amphibious beast, and howling in uncouth chorus round their agonized and dying prey.
An otter-hunt is a cheerful and inspiriting sport, and it is still carried on in some of the lakes of Cumberland. Indeed, as lately as the year 1844, a pack of otter-hounds was advertised in the newspapers to be sold by private contract. The alleged cause of the owner's
## parting with them was in consequence of their having cleared the
rivers of three counties (Staffordshire being one) of all the otters, and the number captured and killed in the last few years was mentioned. "Good otter-hounds," as an old writer observes, "will come chanting, and trail along by the river-side, and will beat every tree-root, every osier-bed, and tuft of bulrushes; nay, sometimes they will take the water and beat it like a spaniel, and by these means the otter can hardly escape you." The otter swims and dives with great celerity, and in doing the latter it throws up _sprots_, or air-bubbles, which enable the hunters to ascertain where it is, and to spear it. The best time to find it is early in the morning. It may frequently be traced by the dead fish and fish-bones strewed along the banks of the river. The prints, also, of the animal's feet, called his _seal_, are of a peculiar formation, and thus it is readily traced. The otter preys during the night, and conceals himself in the daytime under the banks of lakes and rivers, where he generally forms a kind of subterraneous gallery, running for several yards parallel to the water's edge, so that if he should be assailed from one end, he flies to the other. When he takes to the water, it is necessary that those who have otter-spears should watch the bubbles, for he generally vents near them. When the otter is seized, or upon the point of being caught by the hounds, he turns upon his pursuers with the utmost ferocity. Instances are recorded of dogs having been drowned by otters, which they had seized under water, for they can sustain the want of respiration for a much longer time than the dog.
Mr. Daniell, in his "Rural Sports," remarks that hunting the otter was formerly considered as excellent sport, and that hounds were kept solely for that purpose. The sportsmen went on each side of the river, beating the banks and sedges with the dogs. If an otter was not soon found, it was supposed that he had gone to _couch_ more inland, and was sought for accordingly. If one was found, the sportsmen viewed his track in the mud, to find which way he had taken.
"On the soft sand, See there his seal impress'd! And on that bank Behold the glitt'ring spoils, half-eaten fish, Scales, fins, and bones, the leavings of his feast."
The spears were used in aid of the dogs. When an otter is wounded, he makes directly to land, where he maintains an obstinate defence:--
"Lo! to yon sedgy bank He creeps disconsolate; his numerous foes Surround him, hounds and men. Pierc'd through and through, On pointed spears they lift him high in air; Bid the loud horns, in gaily warbling strains, Proclaim the spoiler's fate: he dies, he dies."
The male otter never makes any complaint when seized by the dogs, or even when transfixed with a spear, but the females emit a very shrill squeal. In the year 1796, near Bridgenorth, on the river Wherfe, four otters were killed. One stood three, another four hours before the dogs, and was scarcely a minute out of sight. In April 1804, the otter-hounds of Mr. Coleman, of Leominster, killed an otter of extraordinary size. It measured from the nose to the end of the tail, four feet ten inches, and weighed thirty-four and a half pounds. This animal was supposed to be eight years old, and to have destroyed for the last five years a ton of fish annually. The destruction of fish by this animal is, indeed, very great, for he will eat none unless it be perfectly fresh, and what he takes himself. By his mode of eating them he causes a still greater consumption, for so soon as an otter catches a fish he drags it on shore, devours it to the vent, and, unless pressed by extreme hunger, always leaves the remainder, and takes to the water in search of more. In rivers it is always observed to swim against the stream, in order to meet its prey.
Otters bite very severely, and they will seize upon a dog with the utmost ferocity, and will shake it as a terrier does a rat. The jaws of the otter are so constructed, that even when dead it is difficult to separate them, as they adhere with the utmost tenacity. Otters are frequently found on the banks of the Thames, and a large one was caught in an eel-basket, near Windsor, but the hunting of them is discontinued.
[Illustration]
[Illustration: GREYHOUNDS.]
THE GREYHOUND.
"Ah! gallant Snowball! what remains, Up Fordon's banks, o'er Flixton's plains, Of all thy strength--thy sinewy force, Which rather flew than ran the course? Ah! what remains? Save that thy breed May to their father's fame succeed; And when the prize appears in view, May prove that they are Snowballs too."
The perfection to which the greyhound has been brought by persevering care and attention to its breed, distinguishes it alike for beauty, shape, and high spirit, while its habits are mild and gentle in the extreme. These dogs were brought to this great perfection by the late Lord Orford, Major Topham, and others. Snowball,--perhaps one of the best greyhounds that ever ran,--won four cups, couples, and upwards of thirty matches, at Malton, and upon the wolds of Yorkshire. In fact, no dog had any chance with him except his own blood. In the November Malton coursing-meeting in 1799, a Scotch greyhound was produced, which had beat every opponent in Scotland. It was then brought to England, and challenged any dog in the kingdom. The challenge was accepted, and Snowball selected for the trial of speed; after a course of two miles, the match (upon which considerable sums were depending) was decided in his favour.
Another dog, which belonged to Sir Henry Bate Dudley, won seventy-four successive matches, without having been once beaten.
Various have been the opinions upon the difference of speed between a well-bred greyhound and a racehorse, if opposed to each other. Wishes had been frequently indulged by the sporting world, that some criterion could be adopted by which the superiority of speed could be fairly ascertained, when the following circumstance accidentally took place, and afforded some information upon what had been previously considered a matter of great uncertainty. In the month of December, some years ago, a match was to have been run over Doncaster race-course for one hundred guineas; but one of the horses having been drawn, a mare started alone, that by running the ground she might ensure the wager, when having run about one mile in the four, she was accompanied by a greyhound bitch, which joined her from the side of the course, and emulatively entering into the competition, continued to race with the mare for the other three miles, keeping nearly head and head, and affording an excellent treat to the field by the energetic exertions of each. At passing the distance-post, five to four was betted in favour of the greyhound; when parallel with the stand, it was even betting, and any person might have taken his choice from five to ten: the mare, however, had the advantage by a head at the termination of the course.
The courage and spirit of these dogs is very great. A greyhound ran a hare single-handed and raced her so hard, that, not having time to run through an opening at the bottom of some paling, she and the greyhound made a spring at the same moment at the top of the pales. The dog seized her at the instant she reached it, and in the momentary struggle he slipt between two broken pales, each of which ran into the top of his thighs. In this situation he hung till the horsemen came up, when, to their great surprise, he had the hare fast in his mouth, which was taken from him before he could be released.
I saw a hare coursed on the Brighton Downs some years ago by two celebrated greyhounds. Such was the length of the course, some of it up very steep hills, that the hare fell dead before the dogs, who were so exhausted that they only reached to within six feet of her. This was one of the severest courses ever witnessed.
On another occasion, two dogs ran a hare for several miles, and with such speed as to be very soon out of sight of the coursing party. After a considerable search, both the dogs and the hare were found dead within a few yards of each other; nor did it appear that the former had touched the hare. Mr. Daniel, in his "Rural Sports," states that a brace of greyhounds, in Lincolnshire, ran a hare from her seat to where she was killed, a distance, measuring straight, of upwards of four miles, in twelve minutes. During the course there was a good number of turns, which must have very considerably increased the space gone over. The hare ran till she died before the greyhounds touched her.
In the year 1798, a brace of greyhounds, the property of Mr. Courtall of Carlisle, coursed a hare from the Swift, near that city, and killed her at Clemmell, seven miles distant. Both greyhounds were so exhausted, that unless the aid of medical men, who happened to be on the spot, had been immediately given, they would have died, and it was with difficulty they were recovered.
In the year 1818, a black greyhound bitch, the property of Mr. John Heaton, of Scarisbrick, in Lancashire, left her master, forsook the habitation where she had been reared, betook herself to the fields and thickets, and adopted a life of unlimited freedom, defying all the restraints of man. In this state she killed a great number of hares for food, and occasionally made free with the sheep; she, therefore, very soon became a nuisance in the neighbourhood. She had taken her station at the distance of two miles from her master's house, and was generally found near this spot. In consequence of her depredations, many attempts were made to shoot her, but in vain. She eluded, for more than six months, the vigilance of her pursuers. At length she was observed to go into a barn that stood in a field which she frequented. She entered the building through a hole in the wall, and, by means of a rope-snare, was caught as she came out. On entering the barn, three whelps were found about a week old; so that in her savage state she had evidently been visited by a male of her own species. The whelps were (foolishly enough) immediately destroyed. As the bitch herself evinced the utmost ferocity, and, though well secured, vainly attempted to seize every person that approached, she was taken home, and treated with the greatest kindness. By degrees her ferocity abated, and in the course of two months she became perfectly reconciled to her original abode. The following season she ran several courses. There continued a wildness in her look; yet, although at perfect liberty, she did not attempt again to stray away, but seemed quite reconciled to her domestic life.
Few facts can show the high courage of the greyhound more than the following:--
As a gamekeeper of Lord Egremont's was leading a brace of greyhounds in couples, a hare accidentally crossed the road in view. This temptation proved so irresistible, that the dogs, by a joint effort, broke suddenly from their conductor, and gave chase, shackled as they were together. When they got up and gave the hare the first turn, it was evidently much to her advantage, as the greyhounds were so embarrassed that it was with great difficulty they could change the direction. Notwithstanding this temporary delay, they sustained no diminution of natural energy, but continued the course through and over various obstructions, till the object of their pursuit fell a victim to their invincible perseverance, after a run of between three and four miles.
In addition to the beauty, elegance, high spirit, and speed of the greyhound, may be mentioned his mild and affectionate disposition, as well as his fidelity and attachment to those who treat him with kindness. They will also show sometimes considerable sagacity, of which the following is an instance:--
Two young gentlemen went to skate, attended only by a greyhound. About the time they were expected home, the dog arrived at the house full speed, and by his great anxiety, by laying hold of the clothes of some of the inmates, and by his significant gestures, he convinced them that something was wrong. They followed the greyhound, and came to the pond. A hat was seen on the ice, near which was a fresh aperture. The bodies of the young gentlemen were soon found, but life was extinct. In this instance the sagacity of the dog was extraordinary. Had he possessed the power of speech, he could scarcely have communicated what had taken place more significantly than he did.
I have received the following anecdote from a friend, on whose veracity I can depend:--In the year 1816, a greyhound bitch in pup was sent from the neighbourhood of Edinburgh by a carrier, _viâ_ Dumfries, to the neighbourhood of Castle Douglas, in the stewartry of Kirkeudbright. She brought up her litter of pups there, and in the following year was returned by the same route to Edinburgh, from whence she was sent by way of Douglas and Muirkirk to the neighbourhood of Cumnock, in Ayrshire. After remaining there five or six months, she found her way across the country to the house near Castle Douglas where she had brought up her pups. The fact of her crossing the country was ascertained by shepherds, who saw her, accompanied by a pointer-dog. She arrived, accompanied by this dog, who left her almost immediately, and found his way home again. The bitch was bred in East Lothian, and had never been previously either in Ayrshire or Dumfriesshire.
A small Italian greyhound in Bologna, which used at nights to have a kind of jacket put on, to guard him from the cold, went out generally very early in the morning to a neighbouring house, to visit another dog of the same breed which lived there. He always endeavoured, by various coaxing gestures, to prevail upon the people of the house to take off his night-jacket, in order that he might play more at ease with his companion. It once happened, when he could not get any one to do him this service, that he found means, by various contortions of his body, rubbing himself against tables and chairs, and working with his limbs, to undress himself without any other assistance. After this trial had succeeded, he continued to practise it for some time, until his master discovered it, who after that undressed him every morning, and let him out of the house. At noon, and in the evening, he always returned home. Sometimes, when he made his morning call, he found the door of the house in which his friend dwelt not yet open. In these cases he placed himself opposite to the house, and by loud barking solicited admittance. But as the noise which he made became troublesome both to the inhabitants of the house and to the neighbours, they not only kept the door shut against him, but endeavoured also to drive him away from the house by throwing stones at him from the windows. He crept, however, so close to the door, that he was perfectly secure against the stones, and now they had to drive him away with a whip. After some time the dog went again to the house, and waited without barking till the door was opened. He was again driven away, upon which he discontinued his visits for a long time. At length, however, he ventured to go once more to the house, and set up a loud barking; placing himself in a situation where he was both secure against the stones, and could not be seized by the people of the house when they opened the door.
After a considerable time, he one morning saw a boy come to the house, lay hold of the knocker, and strike it against the door, and he observed that upon this process the door was opened. After the boy had been let in, the dog crept along the side of the house to the door, and took his station upon the spot where the boy had stood when he knocked, and where no one who stood close to the door could be seen from within. Here he leaped several times at the knocker, till he raised it and made it strike the door. A person from within immediately called, "Who is there?" but receiving no answer, opened the door, upon which the dog ran in with tokens of great delight, and soon found his way to his friend. Often after this he availed himself of the fortunate discovery which he had made, and his ingenuity was so much admired that it procured him thenceforward free access to his companion's habitation.
While on the subject of greyhounds, I cannot resist the insertion of the following account of one extracted from Froissart:--
When Richard II. was confined in the Castle of Flint, he possessed a greyhound, which was so remarkably attached to him, as not to notice or fawn upon any one else. Froissart says,--"It was informed me Kynge Richard had a grayhounde, called Mathe, who always waited upon the kynge, and would know no one else. For whenever the kynge did ryde, he that kept the grayhounde did let him lose, and he wolde streyght runne to the kynge and fawne upon him, and leape with his fore-fete upon the kynge's shoulders. And as the kynge and the Erle of Derby talked togyder in the courte, the grayhounde, who was wont to leape upon the kynge, left the kynge and came to the Erle of Derby, duke of Lancaster, and made to hym the same friendly countenance and chere he was wont to do the kynge. The Duke, who knew not the grayhounde, demanded of the kynge what the grayhounde would do. 'Cosin,' quod the kynge, 'it is a great good token to you, and an evil sygne to me.' 'Sir, how know ye that?' quod the duke. 'I know it well,' quod the kynge: 'the grayhounde maketh you chere this daye as kynge of Englande, as ye shall be, and I shall be deposed; the grayhounde hath this knowledge naturally, therefore take hym to you: he will follow you and forsake me.' The duke understoode well those words, and cheryshed the grayhounde, who would never after followe Kynge Richarde, but followed the Duke of Lancaster." It is not, however, improbable, that the dog thus mentioned was the Irish wolf-dog, as the fact related is more characteristic of that noble animal.
The mild, affable, and serene aspect of the greyhound, constitutes no drawback to its innate sagacity, or grateful attention to its protector, of which the unfortunate king Charles I. was so observant, that the remark he made during his troubles is on record, and strictly just as applicable to the instinctive fidelity of the animal. He said the greyhound possessed all the good nature of the spaniel without the fawning.
Washington Irving mentions, that in the course of his reading he had fallen in with the following anecdote, which illustrates in a remarkable manner the devoted attachment of these dogs to their masters:--