DOGS BARK BUT hounds give tongue, a euphemism widely used in the gundog world, too. Hunting with silent (mute) hounds would be very dull, for much of the pleasure of a day’s hunting comes from listening to the pack.
There’s a whole vocabulary to describe the noises they make. Hounds speak to a line but if they are scoring, it’s when the scent is extremely hot and every hound in the pack is speaking to it.
A babbler is a noisy hound, defined in an old hunting book of mine as a hound flinging its tongue without cause, a definition that would also describe many politicians. When a pack is in full cry (a chorus of tongues when all the pack acknowledges a burning scent), the resulting sound might be described by a hunting enthusiast as a crash of hound music.
In total contrast to the hunting world, where hounds are expected to make a noise, gundogs should be seen but never heard. The Kennel Club’s J-regulations, the rules that control trialling, list whining or barking as eliminating faults for all breeds — retrievers, spaniels, pointers and setters and HPRs. The sole exception is the Sussex spaniel, which is permitted to give tongue when on ascent, but at no other time.
“In a lifetime of shooting, I’ve never come across a noisy labrador”
この記事は Shooting Times & Country の July 29, 2020 版に掲載されています。
7 日間の Magzter GOLD 無料トライアルを開始して、何千もの厳選されたプレミアム ストーリー、9,000 以上の雑誌や新聞にアクセスしてください。
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この記事は Shooting Times & Country の July 29, 2020 版に掲載されています。
7 日間の Magzter GOLD 無料トライアルを開始して、何千もの厳選されたプレミアム ストーリー、9,000 以上の雑誌や新聞にアクセスしてください。
すでに購読者です? サインイン
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