From Meynell to the modern day

Alastair Jackson explains how riding to hounds has evolved, and how it developed into the sport we enjoy today

- Alastair Jackson

IF one were to try to pinpoint the moment at which the modern system of hunting, providing an enjoyable and exciting ride for those following the hounds, evolved, it would probably be 1753, in Leicestershire.

It was then that a Derbyshire squire called Hugo Meynell, only 18 years old, moved his hounds and household to Quorndon Hall to hunt that ideal hunting country between Nottingham and Market Harborough, attracting followers who relished the challenge of crossing the country behind his hounds.

However, it was not until Victorian and Edwardian times that foxhunting changed from being a semi-private recreation to a national sport.

Of course, hunting had existed in the British Isles even before William the Conqueror brought his formalised hunting with hounds to these shores. However, for many years it was the hunting of deer that prevailed and foxhunting was considered merely vermin control.

William the Conqueror set about preserving the forests as royal hunting grounds and put in place some savage penalties, including blinding, for killing a deer or boar. The Normans introduced a more defined technique for hunting with hounds, and several modern foxhunting terms are derived from the original French.

When the ruthless Norman hold over the country had dissipated, a passion for hunting continued for several centuries, with the management of packs being shared between royalty, the aristocracy and the local squires.

Foxhunting, however, remained a rather steady performance, with the hounds picking up the overnight scent of the fox, known as his “drag”, and hunting slowly back to his earth. Here hounds would sit by the hole, giving tongue melodiously, while the fox was dugout.