THE complicated, close and much-misunderstood relationship between fox and huntsman is adroitly captured in fiction by David Rook in T his 1970 novel The Belstone Fox. An abandoned cub, Tag, is brought up in hunt kennels before being released into the wild, where his cleverness in evading hounds engenders affection and respect from the huntsman who reared him. After many runs: "Tag had the devil in him the game had slowed down to the point where it had become boring, so now he was going to liven it up a little' and the fox leads the pack across a railway track with tragic, bloody results.
The huntsman, maddened by grief at the loss of his hounds, obsessively determines to catch Tag and, some members of the antihunting fraternity may be pleased to know, dies in the attempt; the fox and his hound protector, Merlin, soberly regard the man's prone body from a granite rock on Dartmoor. (The film The Fox and the Hound is a Disneyfied version of the tale, with Tag renamed Tod.)
The peerless naturalist writer and artist Denys Watkins-Pitchford (BB'), a schoolmaster and field sportsman, also captures that complex hunter-quarry dynamic in his evocative book Wild Lone: The Story of a Pytchley Fox (1938). BB's hero, Rufus, exemplifies both the 'survival of the fittest' principle by which wild species are preserved and the bitterly accepting 'Nature red in tooth and claw' line in Tennyson's grief poem In Memoriam. His Rufus is a ruthless, casual killer of wildlife, including hedgehogs, and domestic fowl, yet the heart of the hunting man rejoices as he evades the Pytchley Hunt time and time again: 'May the good earth keep you, now and for always. Good hunting, little red fox.'
Bu hikaye Country Life UK dergisinin December 13 - 20, 2023 (Double Issue) sayısından alınmıştır.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Giriş Yap
Bu hikaye Country Life UK dergisinin December 13 - 20, 2023 (Double Issue) sayısından alınmıştır.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Giriş Yap
Kitchen garden cook - Apples
'Sweet and crisp, apples are the epitome of autumn flavour'
The original Mr Rochester
Three classic houses in North Yorkshire have come to the market; the owner of one inspired Charlotte Brontë to write Jane Eyre
Get it write
Desks, once akin to instruments of torture for scribes, have become cherished repositories of memories and secrets. Matthew Dennison charts their evolution
'Sloes hath ben my food'
A possible paint for the Picts and a definite culprit in tea fraud, the cheek-suckingly sour sloe's spiritual home is indisputably in gin, says John Wright
Souvenirs of greatness
FOR many years, some large boxes have been stored and forgotten in the dark recesses of the garage. Unpacked last week, the contents turned out to be pots: some, perhaps, nearing a century old—dense terracotta, of interesting provenance.
Plants for plants' sake
The garden at Hergest Croft, Herefordshire The home of Edward Banks The Banks family is synonymous with an extraordinary collection of trees and shrubs, many of which are presents from distinguished friends, garnered over two centuries. Be prepared to be amazed, says Charles Quest-Ritson
Capturing the castle
Seventy years after Christian Dior’s last fashion show in Scotland, the brand returned under creative director Maria Grazia Chiuri for a celebratory event honouring local craftsmanship, the beauty of the land and the Auld Alliance, explains Kim Parker
Nature's own cathedral
Our tallest native tree 'most lovely of all', the stately beech creates a shaded environment that few plants can survive. John Lewis-Stempel ventures into the enchanted woods
All that money could buy
A new book explores the lost riches of London's grand houses. Its author, Steven Brindle, looks at the residences of plutocrats built by the nouveaux riches of the late-Victorian and Edwardian ages
In with the old
Diamonds are meant to sparkle in candlelight, but many now gather dust in jewellery boxes. To wear them today, we may need to reimagine them, as Hetty Lintell discovers with her grandmother's jewellery