The hunt should be involved in the rural community

Charlie Barclay was one of the longest serving and most well-respected MFHs and hound breeders of the 20th century, as Alastair Jackson explains in the latest of his articles about great foxhunters he knew personally

- Alastair Jackson

CAPTAIN CHARLIE BARCLAY was master of his family pack, the Puckeridge in Hertfordshire, from 1947 until his death in 2002. His father, Major Maurice “Mo” Barclay and his grandfather, Edward Barclay, each completed 52 years as masters and three of his children also became masters.

He was one of the most experienced huntsmen and hound breeders for a plough country and held in great respect by the foxhunting world. Despite being a modest and shy man, his advice was often sought and readily given.

At Eton he whipped-in to Ronnie Wallace who, even in those days, was showing extraordinary sport. His own mastership of the Trinity Foot Beagles was interrupted by the Second World War, during which he served with the North Somerset Yeomanry. After the war he joined his father in the mastership and started hunting the hounds himself.

When I knew him, the family home and the kennels were at Brent Pelham Hall, which was where Edward Barclay went to live when he took on the hounds in 1896. I remember the house being well lived in and full of hunting memorabilia. Even a visit to the loo was liable to take some time as it contained so many fascinating photographs of the Puckeridge hounds and characters of the past.

THROUGH CHANGES

LOOKING back over his 40 years hunting hounds, Charlie Barclay saw many changes.

Firstly, the scratch pack of hounds that he took over, having been kept on a wartime basis, became the top-class pack, both in work and looks, that were his legacy.