Super subs

Can a huntsman take on a different pack of hounds for a day and produce good sport? It can indeed happen,as Andrew Sallis explains

- Andrew Sallis

IN 1947, when maestro Bruno Walter was struck down with flu, the young Leonard Bernstein was called up, without rehearsal, to take his place on the podium, conducting America’s most celebrated orchestra in its most famous venue.

“It’s a good American success story,” proclaimed the front page of The New York Times the following morning, propelling the prodigious Bernstein to lifelong fame.

Few professions can offer such opportunities; similarities between the necessary persona and skills required by conductor and huntsman should not be underestimated. A red-letter day’s hunting may struggle to hit the national press positively these days, but a dazzling debut can certainly set the rural drums a-beating.

Orchestral players, like hounds, can take no prisoners – the chief is at their mercy. However, they can also be fiercely loyal and their endeavours can blow the minds of those in their wake through the sum of their parts.

YOU CAN’T KEEP A GOOD MAN DOWN

IT takes wild horses to keep most huntsmen from hunting their hounds – chronic illness, pestilence, broken body or natural disaster. In 20 seasons, I missed one day through illness and even then, I made it to the meet before admitting defeat. From that moment on, the huntsman wants the hounds to have a good day. But if most are honest, not a brilliant day; that may cause tongues to wag.

There are exceptions, of course. During Daniel Cherriman’s tenure as professional huntsman at the Pytchley, Rowan Cope had been joint-master and became a talismanic field master. But he also had an ambition to hunt the hounds, so Daniel enabled him on several occasions.