■4 
 
TUFTS UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES 
 
 180 
 
 Webster Famiiy Library of Veterinary FVledicin 
 Cummings School of Veterinary/ Medicine at 
 Tufts University 
 
 90f\ \Mp^hnm Rn^rl 
 
The 
 American Foxhound 
 
 TREATING OF THE 
 
 BREEDING, REARING AND TRAINING OF THE BREED 
 
 AND EMBRACING A HISTORY OF THE ORIGIN AND 
 
 DEVELOPMENT OF THE VARIOUS STRAINS 
 
 BY 
 
 DR. A. C. HEFFENGER, T. H. BROWN, A. B. WHITLOCK 
 
 W. N. RAMSEY, W. H. LUTTRELL, O. L. HENNIGAN 
 
 C. FLOYD HUFF, J. C. BENTLEY, W. I. SPEARS 
 
 DR. W. F. STURGILL, H. E. C. BRYANT 
 
 AND OTHERS 
 
 COMPILED BY 
 
 THURSTON J. ROSTAI) 
 
 ILLUSTRATED 
 
 SPRING VALLEY, WISCONSIN 
 
 THURSTON J. ROSTAD 
 
 1905 
 
:,a 
 
 a-1 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 The absence of a book on the American Foxhound, devoted to 
 the notable strains in all parts of the country, and the wide- 
 spread and increasing interest and popularity of the breed, has 
 induced the publisher, with the generous aid of some of our best 
 known foxliound men, to compile and place a work at the dis- 
 posal of the hunting world embodying not only the ideas of indi- 
 vidual hunting men, but concrete facts, the consensus of opinion 
 of the entire American field. 
 
 The breeding and hunting of foxliounds by the sportsmen of 
 America dates from the earliest settlement of the continent, but 
 it has been done individually, resulting in the development of 
 many excellent stmins peculiarly adapted to the section of the 
 country hunted, and histories of these strains from able pens 
 have been secured. The work, however, of harmonizing them 
 and typifying and standardizing an ideal foxhound properly 
 qualified for the varying needs of the country at large was left 
 to the National Foxhunters' Association and the Brunswick 
 Foxliound Club. Both of tliese clubs hold annual foxliound field 
 trials, and the same system of judging is used to obtain uni- 
 formity of opinion. The annual hound show of the Brunswick 
 Foxliound Club is the only one in the country, and sets the 
 standard for the American Kennel Club shows, so that from 
 Boston to San Francisco the same type wins. 
 
 It is all these facts we have striven to lay before our hunting 
 readers, to assist them in breeding, training, hunting and 
 showing the up-to-date American Foxhound; and if we have 
 succeeded in any degree, we will be more than compensated for 
 the labor of compilation. 
 Spring Valley, Wisconsin, October, 1905. 
 
 THURSTON J. ROSTAD. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 PART FIRST. 
 
 AMERICAN FOXHOUND STANDARD. 
 
 PAGE. 
 
 American Foxhound Standard 1 
 
 PART SECOND. 
 
 BREEDING, REARING AND TRAINING. 
 Breeding and Training Foxhounds, Dr. W. F. Sturgill. 3 
 
 Breeding, Rearing and Training, W. N. Ramsey. 6 
 
 Breeding, Raising and Training Foxhounds, T. H. Brown. 7 
 Hounds, Rabbits and Foxes, (Excerpt). . .F. W. Samuels. 10 
 
 Breeding, Rearing and Training, O. L. Hennigan. 11 
 
 Raising and Training Foxhounds, W. I. Spears. 16 
 
 PART THIRD. 
 
 HISTORY OF NOTED STRINS. 
 
 The Buckfield Foxhounds, Dr. A. C. Heffenger. IT 
 
 The Goodman Foxhounds, W. O. Goodman. 20 
 
 The Byron Strain, Dr. A. C. Heffenger. 23 
 
 The Maryland Hound, John C. Bentley. 26 
 
 The Sugar Loaf Foxhound, H. E. C. Bryant. 30 
 
 The Trigg Strain, H. 0. Trigg. 36 
 
 BiRDSONG AND Maupin Dogs, H. C. Trigg. 39 
 
 The July Strain, W. H. Luttrell. 41 
 
 History of the July Foxhound,. . .Dr. A. C. Heffenger. 44 
 
 The Robertson Strain, S. S. Fizer. 47 
 
 The Walker Strain, Dr. A. C. Heffenger. 50 
 
 The Whitlock Strain, E. H. Howard and A. B. Whitlock. 51 
 
 The Arkansas Traveller Strain, 0. Floyd Huff. 54 
 
 The Cook Strain, Dr. A. C. Heffenger. 56 
 
 The Avent Strain, Dr. A. C. Heffenger. 59 
 
 The Wild Goose Strain, Dr. A. C. Heffenger. 60 
 
 PART FOURTH. 
 
 ILLUSTRATIONS. 
 
 Dr. a. C. Heffenger's "Joe Forester." Ad>iiral James E. 
 
 Jouett's "Lotta." Mr. O. F. Joslin's "Ranger." Mr. O. F. 
 
 Joslin's "Callie I." Judge C. Floyd Huff's "Major Rock." 
 
 Judge O. Floyd Huff's "Dude." 
 
PART I. 
 
 AMERICAN FOXHOUND STANDARD. 
 
THE 
 AMERICAN FOXHOUND. 
 
 AMERICAN FOXHOUND STANDARD. 
 
 This standard for judging American foxliounds was formu- 
 lated by Dr. A. C. Heffenger, Col. Roger D. Williams, Messrs. 
 W. S. Walker, W. C. Goodman, F. J. Hagan, W. Wade and 
 H. O. Trigg, and was adopted by the Brunswick Foxhound Club 
 on April 17, 1894. 
 
 At a meeting of the Club held on January 18, 1905, it was 
 voted that this standard be construed to call for that type of 
 hound which shows "class," meaning thereby the highest per- 
 centage of conformation needed in foxhounds for field use in 
 America. 
 
 The American foxliound should be smaller and lighter in 
 muscle and bone, than the English foxhound. Dogs should not 
 be under 21 nor over 'Z'dK inches, nor weigh more than 57 
 pounds. Bitches should not be under 20 nor over 22 lo inches 
 nor weigh more than 50 pounds. 
 
 The head (value 15) should be of medium size with muzzle in 
 harmonious proportions. 
 
 The skull should be rounded cross- wise with a slight peak, 
 line of profile nearly straight, with sufficient stop to give 
 symmetry to the head. 
 
 Ears should meet to within one inch of end of muzzle, should 
 be thin, soft in coat, low set and closely pendant. 
 
 Eyes soft, medium size, and varying shades of brown. 
 Nostrils slightly expanded. The head as a whole should denote 
 hound character. 
 
 The neck (value 5) must be clean and of good length, slightly 
 arched, strong where it springs from the shoulders and gradual- 
 ly tapering to the head, without trace of throatiness. 
 
 The shoulders (value 10) must be of sufficient length to give 
 leverage and power, well sloped, muscular, but with clean run 
 and not too broad. 
 
2 THE AMERICAN FOXHOUND 
 
 Chest and back ribs (value 10). The chest should be deep for 
 lung space, narrower in proportion to depth than the English 
 hound, 28 inches in a 23^4 i^^h hound being good. Well sprung 
 ribs, back ribs should extend well back, a three inch flank al- 
 lowing springiness. 
 
 Back and loin (value 10) should be broad, short and strong, 
 slightly arched. 
 
 The hindquarters and lower thighs (value 10) must be well 
 muscled and very strong. The stifle should be low set, not too 
 much bent, nor yet too straight, a happy medium. 
 
 The elbows (value 5) should set straight, neither in nor out. 
 Legs and feet (value 20) are of great importance. Legs should 
 be straight and placed squarely under shoulder, having plenty of 
 bone witnout clumsiness, strong pasterns well stood upon. Feet 
 round, cat-like, not too large, toes well knuckled, close and 
 compact, strong nails, pad thick, tough and indurated by use. 
 
 Color and coat (value 5). Black, white and tan are preferable, 
 thougii the solids and various pies are permissible. Coat should 
 be rough and coarse without being wiry or shaggy. 
 
 Symmetry (value 5). The form of the hound should be har- 
 monious throughout. He should show his blood quality and 
 hound character in every aspect and movement. If he scores 
 high in other properties, symmetry is bound to follow\ 
 
 The stern (value 5) must be strong in bone at the root, of 
 
 medium length, carried like a sabre on line with the spine and 
 
 must have a good brush. A docked stern shall not disqualify, 
 
 but simply handicap according to extent of docking. 
 
 SUMMARY. 
 
 Head, - ... 15 
 
 Neck, - - . . 5 
 
 Shoulders, - - - 10 
 
 Chest and back ribs, - 10 
 
 Hindquarters and low^er thighs, 10 
 
 Back and Loin, - - 10 
 
 Elbows, ... 5 
 
 Legs and feet, - - 20 
 
 Color and coat, - - 5 
 
 Stem, - - - - 5 
 
 Symmetry, . . . 5 
 
 Total, .... 100 
 
PART 11. 
 
 BREEDING, REARING AND TRAINING. 
 
THE AMERICAN FOXHOUND 3 
 
 BREEDING AND TRAINING FOXHOUNDS. 
 By W. F. Sturgill, M. D., Ceredo, W. Va. 
 
 To begin at the beginning, tbe training of foxliounds, as with 
 all other breeds of dogs of which much is expected, should start 
 several generations prior to their birth, i. e., no time should be 
 wasted on hounds whose ancestors for at least three generations 
 back have not been good performers in the field. It is impossi- 
 ble to develop a high -class foxhound by any amount of training 
 if descended from worthless ancestors. "What I consider a well- 
 bred foxhound — one worth training-^is a hound whose every 
 ancestor for not less than four generations back, and the farther 
 back the better, was a game, reliable runner. Some may not 
 have been as fast or as wide hunters as one would desire, but all 
 must have been game. Gameness, as I see it, is the one great 
 essential without which no foxliound is worth the straw he 
 sleeps on, and I might add here I have seen the blood of one 
 quitter render worthless a majority of otherwise beautifully 
 bred hounds for a number of generations. Some breeders of fox- 
 hounds liken the breeding of hounds to the breeding of race- 
 horses, claiming that a well-bred hound as is sometimes the case 
 with a well-bred horse, although a poor performer himself, may 
 produce high-class offspring. I agree that this sometimes 
 happens, but as a rule, especially with the foxliound, the reverse 
 may be expected. Were the conditions under which they per- 
 form similar, and the handling of the two the same, then one 
 might be justified in applying the same rule in breeding, but 
 such is not the case as all must agree. Given a horse with suf- 
 ficient speed and endurance it is possible to force him to make a 
 creditable race by the free application of the whip and spur, but 
 not so with the foxliound. If there is any method by which a 
 hound can be induced to run when he doesn't want to I have 
 never discovered it. The whip and spur cannot be brought into 
 play with anything but disastrous results with the foxhound. 
 If he does not want to he won't, and that is the end to it. So 
 much then on the training of foxliounds before they are 
 whelped. 
 
 Puppies should be fed well and given plenty of exercise in the 
 open air, that they may grow strong and rugged, and when six 
 months old they should be allowed to follow the trainer about 
 the neighborhood over which they are expected to hunt later on. 
 
4 THE AMERICAN FOXHOUND 
 
 They will thus become familiar with the country and learn to 
 take care of themselves. They should have been taught by this 
 time to come to the horn, which can be done in a few lessons by 
 blowing a few blasts when starting out for exercise, or at 
 feeding time. The horn should never be used except when it 
 means something. Some hunters keep up an almost continuous 
 tooting of the horn. This I consider very objectionable, as the 
 liounds sooner or later are apt to reach a point where they pay 
 no attention to it. When the trainer is moving and the hounds 
 are casting about the country for a trail, an occasional blast 
 from the horn may be given that the hounds may know the 
 direction the trainer is taking. As the puppies grow older and 
 stronger they should be taken over a wider territory until they 
 liave become familiar with the country over which they will 
 soon be expected to run. If this is done young dogs are not apt 
 to get lost when hunting, as is almost sure to occur when inex- 
 perienced hounds are hunted in a strange neighborhood. In this 
 way a great deal of trouble and worry may be averted, as all 
 ti-ainers have more or less experience looking up lost puppies, 
 some of which are never found. 
 
 When eight or nine months old their training on gray foxes or 
 a drag may begin. This should be done with a pack of trained 
 liounds not too fast. If a drag is to be used it should be a fresh 
 fox hide, and experience has taught the writer that this is a very 
 satisfactory way by which to start puppies to running. It 
 should be dragged in circles about as a fox would run. A great 
 many trained hounds will not run a drag, but in a pack there 
 will generally be found one or more that will, and these should 
 be taken out with the puppies. They should have from one to 
 tliree hours of this kind of work two or three times a week. 
 Quite a number of fox-hunters advocate the training of puppies 
 on rabbits, but I think the gray fox or drag (fox liide) preferable, 
 as breaking young hounds from chasing rabbits, when the time 
 comes to train them on foxes, is usually the most difficult task 
 and trying experience the trainer will encounter in training a 
 pack of young hounds. True a small minority will stop chasing 
 rabbits of their own accord as soon as they become familiar with 
 tlie scent of a fox, but the vast majority will give all kinds of 
 trouble till they are two or even three years old. But I have 
 found that if given their first lesson on foxes — or fox hide — they 
 i-arely care to chase rabbits ever afterward. 
 
THE AMERICAN FOXHOUND 5 
 
 Here I sliall mention an iron -clad rale which should never be 
 ignored by trainers of foxhounds. The puppies should grow up 
 with the trained hounds with which they are to receive their 
 first lessons, no matter what scent they are to be trained to 
 follow. Puppies will not go in a chase with a strange pack and 
 try to keep with that pack. They should be thoroughly ac- 
 qainted with the older hounds, and they may then be expected 
 to do their utmost to keep with their old friends. I have known 
 would-be fox-hunters to pronounce the death sentence on beauti- 
 fully br^d young foxhounds because they would not go to a 
 strange pack and run the first time taken to the woods! How^ 
 little such men know of "dogology." 
 
 When a year old young hounds should be put to work with a 
 good pack of trained hounds on the red fox. If the youngster 
 has been worked on gray foxes or fox hide he will, as a i-ule, be 
 of little trouble at this stage of the game, but if he has put in 
 several months of his life chasing rabbits, the trainer's life may 
 be expected to become a burden for the next year or two. From 
 now on the young hounds should be given from one to three 
 chases a week, all depending on how they stand up to the work. 
 It must be remembered that no man can have a high -class fox- 
 hound unless he gives him plenty of work in the field. A well 
 matured pack should be run not less than three chases a week. 
 Hunting and running the fox will develop them and nothing else 
 will. The trainer should stay with his hounds until the running 
 is over, and bring them in with him, otherwise enthusiastic 
 young hounds will frequently remain out hunting and running 
 two or three days. 
 
 BREEDING, REARING AND TRAINING. 
 By W. N. Ramsey, Winchester, Ky. 
 
 The breeding, rearing and training of foxhounds is like most 
 all other undertakings, one in which almost every hunter and 
 handler has his own ideas, and those ideas at variance with 
 those of all others to a more or less extent. 
 
 Having owned a pack of foxliounds ever since 1866, many of 
 which I have bred, reared, trained and run during that time, I 
 have of course adopted a rule or rules for my own government 
 in handling the hound from his infancy up to maturity. 
 
6 THE AMERICAN FOXHOUND 
 
 In order to produce a good hound, such as are wanted by all 
 lovers of the chase, they must first be properly bred; to do this I 
 always select a bitcli of good avei-age size, of good style and 
 formation, one whose breeding is first-class in every respect, 
 whose qualities as a hunter, trailer, tonguer, speed and en- 
 durance would satisfy the most exacting huntsman ; besides this 
 I want to know that her ancestors were of the same quality. 
 The bitch should be mated to a dog possessing all of the above 
 mentioned qualities; when this is done we may have a right to 
 expect the progeny to develop into dogs of the desired kind, pro- 
 vided they are properly handled from their puppyhood to 
 maturity. 
 
 Puppies should be kept in good, strong, growing condition, 
 but not overfed, nor crowded too much in their growth; they 
 should never be burdened with flesh, as I have known dogs to 
 develop spning legs caused by carrying too much weight when 
 quite young while their joints were soft and watery. Puppies 
 should not be confined to, nor raised in a kennel if it can be 
 avoided; they should have room to get out and play around, and 
 take all the exercise necessary, as liberty and exercise is con- 
 ducive to their health. I have always had my pups raised out in 
 the country, so that as they grow up they become accustomed to 
 stock of all kinds. They are permitted to run rabbits at their 
 pleasure. By running them their feet and muscles become 
 hardened and toughened, their lungs develop better, and of 
 course their powers of endurance are developed in proportion to 
 the chances they have had for development. I never take a 
 hound out for a red fox chase until he is a year old, as I feel that 
 until then they have not sufficiently developed to stand the wear 
 and tear of a long hard contest witli aged and seasoned dogs. 
 During the fall, winter and early spring seasons many red foxes 
 will run from four to eight or ten hours, and occasionally 
 longer, so long that dogs under twelve months of age cannot 
 stand the strain. However game and ambitious they may be, 
 they will tire and naturally have to fall behind. If game 
 enough they will follow on until from exliaustion they may 
 possibly have to quit and abandon the chase altogether. Then 
 they become discouraged to a certain extent, and if such trials 
 are repeated often there is more or less danger of making 
 quitters of them, or at least dogs that will become reconciled to 
 run behind. If gray foxes are the game to be run, then the 
 
THE AMERICAN FOXHOUND 7 
 
 puppies may be put to work much younger, say at eight months 
 of age, as the grays make shorter runs and more sudden, sliort 
 and sharp angles, consequently the trained and aged dogs make 
 more losses or overruns, giving the youngsters frequent oppor- 
 tunities to catch up and fall in line again ; neither do the grays 
 run near so long as the reds, which fact is in favor of the 
 puppies, as the fox has either been caught or nin to earth before 
 they are completely exhausted or worn out. Yet even after 
 grays I think it best not to run the puppies when too young. 
 My plan for breaking young dogs to run a fox, or rather to keep 
 them from running i*abbits, is to couple them together and lead 
 them the hunting ground and hold them until tlie broken dogs 
 strike a good hot trail, or run, then when a good opportunity 
 presents itself, turn them loose as near as possible to the 
 working dogs. Repeat this until they have had two or three 
 races, after which they are not likely to be much trouble to get 
 into the chase. They should never be punished too severely for 
 running a rabbit, as such treatment sometimes ruins a fine 
 prospect for the making of a good hunter. If whipped or abused 
 too much for this fault some of them will become timid and 
 afraid to get out to hunt or run anything; at the same time a 
 young dog should never be petted or made much of while out 
 hunting, as the chances are that they may become too affection- 
 ate and not satisfied to stay away from you as long as good fox- 
 hounds should. As a rule I never allow any of my dogs to come 
 in and lie around me while others are at work after a fox ; they 
 must either go to the dogs that are at work, or go home. By 
 adopting this plan they can soon be broke from loafing, and it is 
 often the means of making a good foxhound out of what might 
 have become a worthless dog. I love an industrious hound, but 
 detest a loafer, and will punish one quicker for the latter fault 
 than for running rabbits while on a fox-hunt. 
 
 BREEDING, RAISING AND TRAINING FOXHOUNDS. 
 
 By T. H. Brown, Huntsville, Tex. 
 
 The breeding, raising and training of foxhounds is a matter in 
 which a great many sportsmen differ widely, therefore we are 
 forced to look to the manner adopted by those who have proven 
 most successful in this country. 
 
8 THE AMERICAN FOXHOUND 
 
 We cannot adopt the theories of our English brethren, as their 
 style of hunting is entirely different from ours, with few 
 exceptions. 
 
 In England they breed for similarity in size and color, equal 
 speed, and good "tongues." They as a rule do not allow their 
 dogs to range wide in quest of their game, but have an M. F. H. 
 who rides in front of his pack, sometimes numbering as high as 
 twenty-five couples. The whipper-in rides behind with whip in 
 hand and sees that no dog attempts scouting on his own hook. 
 When they reach a promising locality (usually termed a 
 "covert-side") the M. F. H. by command, throws his pack "in." 
 If game is found, all well and good, if not, the M. F. H. sounds 
 his "call" and the whipper-in gets busy. Not so in this country, 
 his size nor color cut any figure if he is able "to get there" and 
 get there quick. A wide, fast ranger, a good nose, good tongue, 
 quick to cry the scent, lots of endurance, and speed enough for 
 any company, coupled with lots of "fox sense," is what it takes 
 to constitute a fox dog here ; that is among fox-hunters. 
 BREEDING THE FOXHOUND. 
 
 The first question we will attempt to handle is the breeding of 
 the foxhound. We have quite a number of different strains of 
 foxliounds in this country. Each of these several strains have 
 their admirers; but to start with, every hunter must admit that 
 you must know the sire and dam of your pups. 
 
 You cannot expect to rear fast, game dogs from slow, rank 
 quitters, for according to the rules of nature "like begets like." 
 
 Having first selected your bitch to breed from, you should be- 
 come thoroughly acquainted with her best points as well as her 
 bad ones, for you will never find a perfect one, then select a dog 
 that will overcome as many of her bad traits as possible, and 
 breed them. If you fail to get good dogs from them, do not get 
 discouraged, but try another dog. You might breed a dog and 
 bitch that you thought were nearly perfect, and yet their pups 
 were worthless. This is an exception to the rule of nature, they 
 just simply did not nick well. 
 
 RAISING PUPS. 
 
 After your pups have come, watch your bitch well and see 
 that she is attentive and gives them plenty of milk. Let them 
 depend upon their mother until they are four weeks old, then 
 give them a dose of vermifuge (I use Glover's) as per directions, 
 then start to feeding them on a very light diet. There is no 
 
THE AMERICAN FOXHOUND 9 
 
 doubt that worms kill more puppies than all other diseases 
 combined. 
 
 Never allow your pups to go until their mother weans them 
 before you start to feeding, if you do the results will often prove 
 disastrous. Let your feeding commence by degrees. 
 
 After your pups are three months old, take them through 
 another course of vermifuge, and again at six months. 
 
 In case of distemper, the pup's next worst enemy, as soon as 
 you have discovered that they have it, put them in a good dry, 
 airy room where there is no possible chance for them to get 
 damp. Keep their bowels open and feed plenty of good, 
 wholesome food, 
 
 TRAINING. 
 
 At the age of eight months take your pups out with the your 
 old dogs where you know you cannot find any game, circle them 
 through the woods a wliile and return home. Repeat this 
 several times before you attempt to have a race; it gets them 
 used to you, your horn, the older dogs, the woods, and teaches 
 them how to return home. 
 
 If you desire your pups to be wide rangers, never permit an 
 old dog that hangs around you, to accompany you on these pre- 
 liminary trips, nor until the pup forms his habit of ranging, 
 which, if properly bred they will soon do when the old dogs you 
 have along range wide. 
 
 After you think you have familiarized them with the old dogs, 
 your horse and horn, and where home is, go to where you have a 
 fox that is somewhat cowardly, for it will not do to get them in- 
 to a too hard race. If they are bred right they will try to stay 
 in the front flight. It would be best for the pups if the first five 
 or six races only lasted for an hour. It would give them confi- 
 dence, and only make them more anxious for another race. 
 Three races of an hour each, with a half hour intervening, is 
 better than one race of two hours. If possible never let your 
 pup find out that the other dogs can beat him at any place in the 
 race. 
 
 If you are successful enough to jump a fox with your pups be- 
 fore they have ever run a rabbit or anything of the kind, you 
 will seldom have any trouble breaking them, although there are 
 lots of fine hunters who do not object to their pups running 
 rabbits. 
 
 Above all things avoid getting your young, soft, eight or ten 
 
10 THE AMERICAN FOXHOUND 
 
 months old pnps into a hard red fox, wolf or deer race, for if he 
 is forced to quit once, the next time will come easier with him 
 and he will not think it so bad to quit. Try to teach him that 
 he must stay in every race to the finish. 
 
 Before you can expect to be able to train dogs you must know 
 when your dog is in proper condition, and what should be re- 
 quired of him when in that condition. Until you know this you 
 cannot expect to properly train your dogs. 
 
 The following is taken from an article written by Mr. F. W. 
 Samuels, of Indianapolis, Ind., and published under the caption 
 of "Hounds, Rabbits and Foxes," in the Sportsmen's Review, 
 March, 1905: 
 
 "Several writers have stated that they do not allow their 
 young dogs to mn rabbits, that it ruins them for fox dogs. My 
 experience has been the reverse. A hound puppy, until he is a 
 year old, should be given his freedom, to grow and develop. 
 Chasing rabbits teaches him to search and scout, and after 
 making a start to stick to the trail. If you notice that a young 
 dog is easily discouraged on a rabbit track, does not of his own 
 accord go out and hunt, and after striking and losing gives up 
 quickly, knock him in the head; he will disappoint you later on, 
 I do not believe it policy to encourage a young dog to run 
 rabbits; let him do it for the love of the thing. In fact, pay no 
 attention to him, let him get himself in condition for a grander 
 race, and then when he is turned in with a pack of older dogs 
 after a fox, look out, for he will most likely lead the pack on 
 straightaway runs, and his experience with bunny on the loses, 
 will develop on a larger scale with Reynard. 
 
 After two or three fox races you will have no trouble to break 
 him from running rabbits. A harsh word will stop him; if it 
 don't, a good stiff club will. 
 
 A young dog should run an hour, or two hours at the longest, 
 at the start. He should be stopped, if possible, with plenty of 
 endurance up his sleeve. Many very promising, courageous 
 young dogs are ruined by being run to death the first two or 
 three races, and if they have the courage to go will break them- 
 selves down in their efforts to keep up with strong and seasoned 
 dogs." 
 
THE AMERICAN FOXHOUND 11 
 
 BREEDING, REARING AND TRAINING. 
 By O. L. Hennigan, Brick, Ala. 
 
 Different hunters have different ideas about hunting and 
 hounds. Some prefer one style of hound and some another. I 
 make no pretensions of being a "know-all," yet, by my friends 
 and hunting companions, I am called a good hunter and a good 
 judge of a hound. From friends, this is very gratifying to me ; 
 for the opinions of other people I care notliing. I have had a 
 mania for hunting, and especially fox-hunting, all my life, and 
 have spent many a hard-earned dollar in pursuit of the sport. I 
 have hunted foxes in Alabama and Arkansas, in my native 
 mountains, and in the swamps of the Red River. I have ridden 
 to hounds after deer, and followed a bear pack in the cane- 
 brakes of the great Mississippi delta— that garden spot of the 
 earth. I have also run wolves, caught 'coons and 'possums, 
 hunted wild-cats, shot birds, and pitted game-cocks. In all of 
 these most "disreputable (?) pursuits" I have attained a reason- 
 able degree of proficiency. 
 
 I shall endeavor to give the beginner the result of my experi- 
 ence in order that he may be saved some time, money, and 
 disappointments. To the man who has hunted, as I have, all 
 my life, I shall have nothing to say; he, as well as myself, are 
 wedded to our idols. 
 
 There are lots of good hounds. Everybody has some good 
 ones. Through the columns of the sporting press we have often 
 seen very warm and oftentimes acrimonious discussions as to 
 the relative merits of different strains. It is not my intention to 
 enter into such controversy. Having owned and hunted with 
 many strains, I, of course, have my opinion as to which is not 
 the best, but which I like the best. 
 
 Being of an inquiring and experimental turn of mind, and so 
 puffed up with egotism that I thought no one knew as much 
 about breeding as I did, I, with the help of some of my friends, 
 who, like myself, showed a lamentable lack of judgment, manu- 
 factured a private strain of our own. They were one -fourth 
 Walker, one-fourth English, one-fourth Virginia, and one- 
 fourth July blood. We know better now, for the hounds were a 
 great disappointment to us. In the first place, none of us had 
 money enough to buy horses fast enough to keep up with them ; 
 in the second place, they killed and ran out all the foxes in the 
 
12 THE AMERICAN FOXHOUND 
 
 country. If they were ever let out of their kennel for exercise, 
 they would go to a fox-range even if it was several miles away. 
 I haven't got any of them now. I unloaded the last of them on 
 a kinsman down in south-western Arkansas. I gave them to 
 him, and then fooled him into paying the freight. 
 
 Now in breeding and training a pack of foxliounds for red fox 
 hunting I would get the style of hound that suited me the best. 
 Some hunters prefer a dog of medium speed, that will run a red 
 fox all night and put him in a hole some time the next day. 
 Night hunting is all right to test the mettle and endurance of a 
 hound. It is no time to test a hound's speed. For those who 
 prefer that style of hunting I have no criticisms to make. I do 
 not see a great deal of sport in night hunting. Of course the 
 hound, in a night race, that will hammer his game all night, is 
 a hound of endurance, but I do not think he is better than the 
 hound that can start up his game in the day-time and kill it in a 
 fair open chase. I do not think the mere length of time a hound 
 runs is any test of liis endurance. It is the distance he covers in 
 a given length of time. While the dog that runs in the lead 
 covers more ground and does more work, as a rule, the hound 
 that is in the best condijtion will run the longest, if you could 
 jump one fox after another, so as test his endurance to the core. 
 If a pack of hounds be pitted in a daylight race with another 
 pack having more heels and speed, one of two tilings invariably 
 happens. The slower hound is left to the rear, or if he be game 
 enough to try to contend for the lead, as he should, liis heart 
 will be broken and his boasted endurance gone, while the faster 
 hound, although he may not be able to run as long as the slower 
 liound, when the game is killed will be as fresh as a daisy. 
 Salvator ran a mile in 1: 35, and that is the world's record. Dan 
 Patch paced a mile in 1 : 56I/4. How many miles could he go at 
 that gait? Yet he could be driven slower and slower until one 
 could drive him twenty, forty, or fifty miles in a day. 
 
 I want a high-headed, dashy hound, one that hunts his terri- 
 tory like a good pointer, in a gallop. I do not want him to fool 
 around with a cold trail. Of all the abominations in dog-flesh is 
 the slow trailer that turns over every leaf with his nose, and 
 every time he turns a leaf, lifts his voice toward the ceinilean 
 skies. I do not want a dog to give much tongue in trailing. I 
 want him to hit his track and run on it, if the scent will allow. 
 A pack of fast, dashy trailers will jump their game quicker, 
 
THE AMERICAN FOXHOUND 13 
 
 press it harder, and kill or hole it in half the time a pack of slow 
 trailers and close runners will do it. A pack of this description 
 will not get scattered and thrown out on bad windy days, like a 
 slow trailing and close running pack, for if the slow trailer and 
 close runner gets behind he stays behind and never gets in un- 
 less the pack should make a circle near him, while the hound, 
 his opposite in tyi3e, will throw off his track, tuck his tail and 
 catch up sooner or later. 
 
 Very well do I remember hunting one bright moonlight night 
 (I sometimes hunt at night when my business is such that I 
 cannot hunt in the day-time) striking a fox up on Town Creek. 
 Pauline, a very celebrated hound, bred in Bourbon county, Ky., 
 was up behind. Two hours later, up on Mallard's Creek, twelve 
 miles due east, the bitch passed by me in the road like a gray 
 streak. When the hounds turned back she was with them, 
 crying, with her thin, quavering voice, as if some one was 
 whipping her. A yell went up from the crowd that could have 
 been heard for miles. 
 
 A man to breed and train a good pack of hounds must be born 
 a hunter. He should be familiar with the habits of the fox, 
 and should know in what direction he would be likely to run or 
 trail. When the track is bad, or too cold, he should know 
 where to carry his pack with a likelihood of striking closer to 
 his game. He should keep up with his pack when trailing a fox, 
 and try and get them all in at the start, often though one or 
 more good hounds are left at the jump. He should yell to his 
 hounds but little, but I am well aware there are often times 
 when one's pent up enthusiasm must find utterance. As a rule 
 silence is a very necessary qualification of a successful red fox 
 hunter, one who kill or holes his game in an open, honorable 
 chase. The man who sits on a runway for hours to shoot a fox, 
 I do not think much of. To my mind he seems to have a viti- 
 ated taste. I do not see any sport, profit or pleasure in a dead 
 fox killed with a shot-gun. In the South we are as careful of 
 the lives of our foxes as we are of our pocket-books. We never 
 kill one if we can save him. I suppose if I had been educated to 
 hunt foxes with a shot-gun I would do so, but I haven't. 
 
 When raising puppies give them plenty to eat. Let them grow 
 into large strong dogs, though there is such a thing as having a 
 foxliound too big. I do n-ot like to feed meat or beef scraps 
 altogether. It makes the puppy too gross and "beefy." Down 
 
14 THE AMERICAN FOXHOUND 
 
 here we feed corn -bread and buttermilk, or mush and butter- 
 milk, all they will eat, three times a day when young, twice 
 when older. When running the pack we feed once a day, and 
 give the dog every mouthful he will eat. If we expect to run in 
 the morning we feed about four o'clock in the afternoon before. 
 If we hunt at night we feed in the early morning. Give a good 
 feed of horse-flesh or beef scraps occasionally. Do not confine 
 your puppies in a kennel unless absolutely necessary. Let them 
 run about and run rabbits. Hard hunting, when older, will 
 make fox dogs of them. Do not use a whip when training unless 
 absolutely necessary. Usually, after a race or two, a puppy will 
 go into a running pack* as far as he can hear them. Never, 
 under any circumstances, quit and go home, and leave your pack 
 running. Stick to them in running and trailing to the finish, no 
 matter how hot or cold it may be, or how tired you are. If you 
 always stick to your pack they will stick to their game. If you 
 quit them they may run out of the country and some get killed 
 or stolen. I have lost two or three good hounds just in this way. 
 Sometimes it is necessary to "lift" a running pack of hounds. 
 I do not advise this, as a rule, but some good hunters do it 
 frequently, especially in deer-hunting. One ought never yell to 
 a pack of dogs except to get them together, or "lift" them except 
 when the fox or deer has been seen and the hounds have made a 
 run-over. A scarcity of game and failure to hunt often will 
 make poor hounds out of any strain, no matter how well bred. 
 Plenty of foxes and hard hunting will make a good pack. There 
 are a dozen or more good strains of foxhounds, and there are 
 worthless dogs in all strains. Do not, I beg of you, breed from 
 an inferior hound because he may happen to be well bred. 
 Better hang him. When you have certain blood lines that you 
 know by past experience produce good red fox dogs, stick to 
 that. Promiscuous crossing is not satisfactory, neither is too 
 close inbreeding, which has a tendency to throw nervous, ex- 
 citable hounds, and babblers. I do not want a hound to open his 
 mouth unless he smell his game. I would rather have a dog that 
 was too "stingy" with his voice than one that is a babbler. The 
 dog that cuts in ahead of the pack and takes his stand to catch 
 the fox, is a nuisance. Get rid of him. Some hounds will do 
 this in a rough, mountainous country. Do not, I implore you, 
 inin "drag" races with your hounds if you expect to have a fox 
 pack. I do not know of anything that so quickly demoralizes 
 
THE AMERICAN FOXHOUND 15 
 
 and utterly ruins a pack of fox dogs, unless it might be the 
 advent of two or three confirmed sheep-killers in the pack. 
 Drag hunting causes hounds to become "road-runners." I have 
 known a good pack of dogs, after being run a few drag races, in 
 a case where a fox had ran in a public road for some distance, to 
 keep right on down the road for a mile, the fox in the meanwhile 
 liaving went about his business. All things being equal, breed 
 from the best broken, and the most level-headed and sensible 
 hounds. I have seen puppies that were born broken, and that 
 never run anything but a fox or deer. If you breed from 
 babblers, road-runners, and dogs addicted to running stock, you 
 may expect their offspring to be fools. By the term "road- 
 runner" is meant the hound, who, from a nervous, excitable 
 nature and a consequent lack of brains, when a fox has passed 
 down a road, corn -row, or cotton -middle, instead of turning with 
 his game, just keeps going. I have seen some so-called w^ell bred 
 hounds that would run a road for miles after a fox had 
 turned out, if some one with as little intelligence as the hounds 
 would only gallop after them and yell a few times. This 
 proneness to give to give tongue when no game is smelt is the 
 most undesirable trait a hound can have. Do not breed from 
 hounds that will quit and pull out when tlie screws are put to 
 them, no matter how fast. I want a hound dead game to the 
 finish, no matter how cold or hot. I have carried hounds back 
 home on my horse that had gone to absolute exhaustion on very 
 hot summer days. 
 
 In conclusion I would say, get any good strain that suits you. 
 Breed from fast, game, dashy, level-headed hounds that are good 
 hunters or rangers, and tliat have good noses and tongues, and 
 dead game stayers in a chase. Feed the puppies all they need 
 and let them grow into large, strong hounds. Hunt tliem hard 
 and often, at least three times a week, oftener if you can. Have 
 a good, true "strike" dog, and when he opens on wliat you know 
 to be a fox trail, go to him, carry your puppies, put them in and 
 then stay close up with them until the chase is over. When you 
 have your pack well trained it is not necessary that you keep so 
 close with your pack wiien running, but as for me, I never like 
 to be out of hearing distance of my dogs at any time during tlie 
 chase. The same thing will apply to any pack for any kind of 
 hunting. 
 
16 THE AMERICAN FOXHOUND 
 
 RAISING AND TRAINING FOXHOUNDS. 
 By W. I. Spears, Byhalia, Miss. 
 
 There is much to be learned along this line. I once had a 
 favorite bitch to whelp twelve fine lemon and white puppies, 
 and I was so anxious that they should all be raised that I gave 
 the mother all the rich food that she would eat, and not a single 
 pup lived to be three weeks old. I think the rich food caused 
 milk fever. Buttermilk and good bread is an excellent feed for 
 a suckling dam, and after the puppies are weaned it is still a fine 
 feed for them. They should also have several baits a week of 
 fresh beef scraps. 
 
 Sense and ambition are two of the most important requisites 
 for a red fox hound, and if you have bred tliem right they will 
 have it. When my puppies are six months old I take them out 
 of the kennel and learn them to follow the horn, and later take 
 them out after rabbits and learn them to hark and pack after 
 rabbits just like I do after foxes. Don't let them scratch out of 
 the kennel and run off and hunt and run by themselves, for this 
 ruins a high class puppy quicker than any other one thing. 
 Never go home and leave a foxhound in the woods, for if you do 
 he soon learns to give you the dodge and stay there and run just 
 what he pleases and as long as he pleases. Never allow them to 
 run anything from puppyhood except a rabbit and a fox, and as 
 soon as they have had a few fox-chases they will scorn a rabbit. 
 Never let them run a dog or a house -cat. Never turn them loose 
 in a path or public road. Never let them bark except when they 
 are on a trail, for a babbler is the most worthless of all dogs ex- 
 cept possibly the flunker or quitter, and both ought to be killed 
 at once. By all means learn the selfish puppy to hark to the 
 pack. Study the nature of your puppies and learn them to love 
 you. Most of the liigh-class dogs are timid and will not stand 
 severe treatment. When a man has a pack of well trained, 
 sensible, close, hard running dogs, he is well equipped for the 
 grandest sport on earth. 
 
 Success, health and prosperity to biggest hearted people on 
 earth, the fox-hunters, is my wish. 
 
PART III. 
 
 HISTORY OF NOTED STRAINS. 
 
THE AMERICAN FOXHOUND 17 
 
 THE BUCKFIELD FOXHOUNDS. 
 
 A. C. Heffenger, M. D., M. F. H. Brunswick Fur Club. 
 
 The Buckfield foxhounds, the most distinctive family of the 
 breed in New England, originated in and around the town of 
 Buckfield, Me., from which they derived their name. About 
 fifteen years ago I hunted with many of these foxhounds in 
 different parts of Maine, and their fine work so interested me 
 that I made a special study of their history, and after many 
 personal trips and much letter writing obtained the followmg 
 
 facts: 
 
 About 1858 a peddler from Canada passed through Buckfield, 
 Maine, and had with him a cheap looking foxhound bitch. She 
 was blue and red mottled, with short ears, very coarse haired, 
 tail and hams well feathered, weighed about thirty or thirty-five 
 pounds, and looked as if she were a foxhound-and-Irish -setter 
 cross. Mr. Zipp Bobbins of Buckfield took a fancy to the bitch, 
 and bought her for a mere song. When taken out hunting, she 
 proved a veritable rough diamond, for she was a quick, sure 
 starter, using excellent judgement in taking a track, and drove 
 the fox fast, with very few faults from daylight till dark. She 
 had a quick, choppy bark, and gave tongue at every jump. 
 
 At about the same time a tramp stopped at the house of the 
 Keen brothers, noted fox-liunters of Buckfield, Maine, having 
 with him a black, stump-tailed hound, supposed to be of English 
 breeding. The tramp and his hound left, but the latter re- 
 turned to the Keens, who kept him, thinking his owner would 
 return for him, which, however, he never did. Soon after this 
 the Keens started, one morning, on a hunt, taking their hounds, 
 the stump-tailed dog following. Upon reaching the hunting 
 ground, the tramp's hound went to work, started the fox, and 
 carried him all day in great form, completely outpointing the 
 other hounds. 
 
 The Keens and Bobbins had a conference, and concluded to 
 breed the peddler's bitch to the tramp's dog. The bitch Skip 
 was very fast, but the dog Tige was slow, so that, though some 
 of the progeny were fast, most of them were of moderate speed. 
 Five puppies resulted from this mating— four dogs and a bitch. 
 The exact history of the dogs is not known, but the bitch was 
 bought by Mr. T. H. Gledhill, then living in Norway, Maine, 
 and he named her Bose. As this bitch became famous— was 
 
18 THE AMERICAN FOXHOUND 
 
 known tliroughout Maine as the Gledhill bitch, and was practi- 
 cally the dam of the Buckfield strain— a description of her. may 
 not be amiss. She was a small, compact, red or tan-colored 
 hound, quite shaggy in coat, and feathered on tail and hams. 
 Her ears were short ; and altogether she was an ordinary looking 
 bitch. In work slie took after her dam— being a good hunter; 
 would only take a good track ; and, when the fox was up, would 
 stay with it all day. Her trailing was wonderful, for she had 
 no hard places, even on ice, crust or ledge, but drove her fox 
 with steady, persistent smoothness. She had the same sharp, 
 choppy tongue as her dam, and always ran very near the game. 
 Mr. Gledhill bred her to a blue mottled hound, owned by Mr. 
 Lon. Buck, of Buckfield, and from this nick came the noted 
 Dime Buck, generally known as "Old Dime." Mr. Lon. Buck 
 first owned tliis dog, but Mr. Gledhill heard of his great work, 
 and went to Buckfield, bought him for $40, and took him to 
 Norway, Maine, where he remained till his death. He was a 
 tough-made, long, coarse-haired hound; his markings being tan, 
 white and red mottled. He was bred to a bitch called Daisy, 
 from Casco, Me., but owned at the time by Thomas Everett of 
 Norway, and claimed to be of Buckfield blood. The result of 
 til is breeding was Dime Danforth, considered the star hound of 
 the strain. He was owned by Mr. James Danforth, of Norway, 
 and was admitted to be the finest hound ever seen in that 
 country. He inherited his sire's size and markings, but far ex- 
 celled him in nose, speed and endurance. He would take a furi- 
 ous clip when the game was afoot, in the morning, and hold it 
 all day. His fame spread all over New England, and bitches 
 vrere sent from every direction to be bred to him. The next 
 famous liound was Red Dime, by Dime Danforth ex. Spot; Red 
 Dime sired Red Sport, out of Daisy; and Red Sport sired Mr. 
 Gledhill's present stud dcg, Tomey, out of Fanny. Mr. Gledhill 
 also has an inbred Buckfield bitch, Peggy, that has thrown some 
 fine pups by Tomey. And now for the breeding of the Buckfield 
 descendent that has won not only New Eng-land fame, but whose 
 renown througli his great winnings in tlie fourtli annual field 
 trials of the Brunswick Fur Club has reached ail parts of the 
 hunting world. This hound was Jim Blaine, and he has added 
 more luster to the strain than any of its representatives. Jim's 
 sire was a full-blooded Byron Iiound of great speed; while his 
 dam, Pert, was by Gerry's Jack, out of Gypsy; and Jack was by 
 
THE AMERICAN FOXHOUND 19 
 
 Dime Danforth, out of Fauuy. Jim inherited all of Dime Dan- 
 fortli's speed and endurance, aiid got additional dash and heel 
 from his sire, Bugle, who was a winner on the bench, as well as 
 in the first annual field trials of the B. F. C. Jim won the 
 silver endurance medal in the B. F. C, field trials in 1892. He 
 was a small black and tan, with white legs and breast, a blaze 
 on face, and tail tipped white. He was closely and strongly 
 made, and had the greatest stride I ever saw in a hound of his 
 inches. His owner was Mr. Richard Seely of Portsmouth, N. 
 H., and he was bred by Mr. A. M. Gerry of South Paris, Me. 
 His markings he got from his Soutliern side. 
 
 The coat of the Buckfields at one time was mostly coarse, 
 with heavy feather on hams and tail, but out-crosses have intro- 
 duced smooth coats, and the majority are now^ closer coated 
 than their primal ancestors. Mr. C. M. Smith of Norw^ay, Me., 
 has the shaggiest hound extant of the breed, and the feather on 
 his brush is said to be ten inches long. The markings of the 
 Buckfield hounds of to-day are red or tan, red and white, red 
 and wdiite mottled, or red and blue mottled, and now and then a 
 solid black one, a reversion of old Tige, tlie original sire. 
 
 Finally, I must speak of a famous hound which was said to 
 have come from the Buckfields, but whose breeding it has not 
 been possible to trace clearly back to the various Dimes and 
 Bose. I refer to grand Ben Butler, now alas! dead, wdio was 
 owned by Mr. L. O. Dennison of the Brunswick Fur Club. It 
 was my pleasure to have hunted with Ben for several years, and 
 he certainly had many characteristics of the strain. His judge- 
 ment in taking a trail was marvelous and his nose was so good 
 that he never put it nearer than four or five inches of the 
 ground, even in the hardest place. The hound never lived that 
 could drive a fox smoother, and when he got his game up he 
 kept it going steadily from daylight till dark. He was a strong 
 hound, of good size, blue mottled and tan in marking, and he 
 never was known to be foot-sore. He won first in endurance in 
 the first annual trial of the B. F. C, and his nose and endurance 
 mark him as a Buckfield, even though his breeding cannot be 
 clearly traced. He was bred in Maine, and came from within 
 thirty miles of Buckfield, and there can be but little doubt that 
 the blood of Tige and Skip flowed richly in his veins. 
 
 In this history of the Buckfield foxhounds seven generations 
 are given, that is, counting Tige and Skip as the first and Jim 
 
20 THE AMERICAN FOXHOUND 
 
 Blaine, Toniey, Peggy, etc., as the seventh. Among these gener- 
 ations have been many grand hounds not previously mentioned, 
 such as Smut, Dick and Dime (two brothers) and Red Tom. 
 The Maine fox-hunters, thougli obtaining liigh class foxliounds 
 from all over the country for trial, are still loyal to the 
 Buckfields, and declare tliem to be superior for their kind of 
 hunting to all other strains so far tested. 
 
 THE GOODMAN FOXHOUNDS. 
 W. C. Goodman in "Shooting and Fishing.** 
 
 The question has often been asked how these hounds came by 
 their name. The honor of naming them belongs to Dr. W. E. 
 Wyatt, Cyrena, Mo., and the history of the strain and the name 
 is as follows: Mr. Colcord and I gave some pups to Capt. R. L. 
 Bowles, Palmyra, Mo., and these hounds made quite a repu- 
 tation for themselves as red fox foxliounds. Dr. J. W. Norris 
 hunted often with the Bowles hounds, but he and the Captain 
 had a misunderstanding regarding the hounds and the Doctor 
 wrote to Kentucky for some. I answered his letter, but had 
 never met him, and in in 1886 Dr. Norris got his first Kentucky 
 or Goodman hounds. I traded him Trinket I. for a setter dog ; 
 then I bought Ball for him, and later he got Glide, Alice, 
 Fiddler H., Little Flirt, and other hounds and puppies from me. 
 In that way Dr. Norris came by them. Then I let Mr. R. H. 
 Pooler, Serena, 111., have Cull and Trinket II.; later he got 
 Colonel, Bailey, Kitsey and several more, in all about a dozen, 
 and these hounds made as great a reputation in Illinois as red 
 fox hounds as the others had done in Missouri. 
 
 Dr. Wyatt heard of them and wrote to me for some hounds. 
 I sent them to him, and, after they had been thoroughly tested, 
 he wrote requesting the liberty of using my name in a letter he 
 intended to write to the American Field. I gave my consent 
 and in the letter he called them the Goodman hounds. I had no 
 idea that he was going to use my name in that way, and I was 
 not after that kind of notoriety. 
 
 Mr. B. F. Robertson lived in Montgomery county, and his 
 hounds were called the Robertson, the Irish, or the Maryland 
 hounds; Gen. Maupin lived in Madison county, and his hounds 
 were called the Madison County hounds, while ours were known 
 
THE AMERICAN FOXHOUND 21 
 
 as the Bourbon County or Blue Grass hounds— in breeding they . 
 were the same as the Maupin hounds. Looking at the map you 
 will find these counties in the center of the blue grass region. I 
 had the creme de la creme of the Maupin blood, and as good red 
 fox hounds as ever made a track after Reynard. These I crossed 
 upon the best of the Robertson or Maryland hounds. I was the 
 first in this county to make that cross, and I made it in oppo- 
 sition to my hunting companions. To-day they stand convinced 
 that I was right. I produced great red fox hounds through the 
 pure Maupins, Old Trix, Flirt, Lizzie and Die, crossed on the 
 Wild Irishman (son of Old May), Tickler, Red Stags, Ben C, 
 Whitey and Fury, who were all pure Robertson. This cross is 
 the so-called Goodman hound. 
 
 I do not think that the Maryland or Irish blood is the best, 
 but, if it is, we have here hounds that are fourteen-sixteenths 
 pure Irish, whose ancestors were brought from Maryland by Mr. 
 Robertson. They have but one out-cross (two-sixteenths) and 
 that is the best blood in them, they run back through Whitey, 
 Fury, Wag and Red Stags to White Tickler and May uncon- 
 taminated. There is no Birdsong blood in them. We have had 
 in Kentucky since the war many of the Birdsong hounds, that 
 were brought here by our fox-hunters, who were in Georgia 
 trading in horses and mules, but we have had other hounds I 
 liked much better. I guess those that came to Kentucky were 
 an inferior lot and not Birdsongs at all, for fox-hunters, like 
 fishermen, will bear watching. I received a letter recently from 
 a gentleman in Alabama, stating that he had a Whitey-Fury 
 hound, four years old. I had the unpleasant duty of informing 
 him that Whitey and Fury had been dead for fifteen or eighteen 
 years. 
 
 I don't think that speed- alone is the great requisite in a red 
 fox hound. Some of our fastest hounds are our most indifferent 
 red fox hounds. I want courage, speed, bottom, endurance, 
 constitution, nose and fox sense, plenty of bone and feet like 
 iron — then you have red fox hounds that are able and willing to 
 run five days in succession and make a good race every day. T 
 have seen plenty of lionnds that would make one or two good 
 races a week and run to the front in them, but after that they 
 would hunt their beds. They are not the kind I want. I do not 
 think that any fox-hunters, with the exception of the Walker 
 brothers, put their hounds to so severe a test as we do. We 
 
22 THE AMERICAN FOXHOUND 
 
 frequently liunt our hounds three or four weeks on a stretch ; 
 unless badly used up they must go every day, and it takes bull- 
 dog courage to go at all times and under all conditions. TJiere 
 are other gentlemen in this county who have just as good 
 hounds as I ever owned, just as well bred and the same stock, I 
 do not claim to have a cinch on the strain. I have sold a few 
 hounds, and bought four times as many from my hunting com- 
 panions for other sportsmen in different parts of the United 
 States, without compensation. I am ever willing to help 
 brother hunters secure what they want. You will hardly find a 
 hound here, that is a fox dog, that does not tmce back to the 
 hounds mentioned in this letter. Hunters here at home give me 
 credit for honesty of purpose and the credit of breeding this 
 strain of hounds ; for the opinion of some others I do not care a 
 bauble. 
 
 If a hound is of no account, I am one of the first to condemn 
 him, let him belong to king, prince or pauper. I have no ax to 
 grind and am not prejudiced for or against any hound or strain 
 of hounds. There are good and bad hounds in all strains, and 
 the best strain is that which produces the greatest number of 
 first-class red fox hounds. 
 
 A Georgia gentleman wrote me not long ago that he was 
 tlioroughly convinced that we in the blue grass district of 
 Kentucky could breed a better hound from the same stock than 
 they could in Georgia; just as we could breed better horses, 
 cattle or mules, because our climate, our blue grass, and our 
 strong limestone soil and water, are all conducive to bone and 
 muscle. But the same stock grows larger in Missouri than in 
 Kentucky ; our hounds do not average thirty inches around the 
 cliest. I have never seen a foxliound so large. I have measured 
 over a hundred in different states and have never found one 
 twenty-nine inches. Our hounds are from twenty to twenty- 
 three inches high and twenty-four to twenty-seven inches a- 
 round the chest. Take two inches off those Missouri hounds 
 and they will be plenty large then, I tliink the Brunswick Fur 
 Club is about convinced after last year's experience that our 
 Southern foxliounds can kill their Northern red foxes. They 
 had at that meet some of the Goodman foxliounds, and I hope to 
 be present with them myself at their next meet. 
 
THE AMERICAN FOXHOUND 23 
 
 THE BYRON STRAIN. 
 Dr. A. C. Heffenger in the "American Field," July 1, '93. 
 
 Only a few years ago the Byron was the most famous strain in 
 America; but two or three years since the breeding pack was 
 sold out, scattered far and near, and the strain is doomed to 
 rapid extinction. Before their name becomes but a memory I 
 would like to tell your hunting readers what I know and have 
 read of them. 
 
 It seems that about fifty-five years ago some gentlemen of 
 Petersburg, Pa., organized a hunting club and imported some 
 fine English foxhounds. They inter-bred a couple of these 
 hounds, and among the issue was an exceptionally fine young 
 bitch, named Clio. She was taken by a member of the hunt, 
 Mr. John Dugger, from Petersburg to Lawrenceville , Va., for 
 the purpose of breeding her to a famous foxliound (Rattler) 
 owned by Mr. H. L. Percivall, whose hounds were noted for 
 their choice breeding. Forester, the sire of Rattler, was raised 
 and run by Mr. Thomas Spencer, of Greenville County, Va. 
 Rattler's dam was either an imported red and white speckled 
 bitch, or a well bred blue speckled bitch; the imported bitch 
 was presented by Capt. Manlove to Capt. Dann, of Lawrence- 
 ville, Va. It was about 1830 that Mr. Percivall had a pack, 
 with Rattler at the head. In a series of competitive chases Mr. 
 Percivall' s pack vanquished the Tucker pack, and consequently 
 tlie stud services of Rattler were soon in great demand ; and so 
 Clio was taken to the Percivall kennels to be bred to him: 
 
 From this mating resulted four puppies — Byron, Rattler II, 
 Music and Dido. These puppies were placed in the pack of Mr. 
 George Dugger, who ran them one season, when a removal to 
 Alabama caused him to turn them over to Col. P. B. Starke, 
 with the understanding that Byron should go to Col. E. P. 
 Tucker, as promised. Col. Starke kept Rattler II, and pro- 
 nounced him one of tlie finest hounds he ever saw. Eventually 
 Mr. Dugger took Dido west, and her blood is mingled with that 
 of the best strains west of the Blue Ridge Mountains. Music was 
 given to Col. Hampton of South Carolina, father of the present 
 Wade Hampton. After her arrival she was turned loose; she 
 started back to Virginia, where she turned up in due season at 
 her old home, after passing through three states — probably the 
 greatest piece of homing on record on the part of a hound. 
 
24 THE AMERICAN FOXHOUND 
 
 Byron passed into the kennels of Col. Tucker, and the Tuckers 
 and Starkes bred the strain for many years. Byron became 
 famous all over the South, was bred to bitches from many 
 states, and his fame caused the strain to take his name. He was 
 a pale black and tan, with a small white streak down his face ; 
 his coat was coarse, tail bushed and ear short. In fact he was 
 much like some of the July or Irish hounds of the present day ; 
 and as Virginia contained a large number of Irish hounds at 
 that time, taken there from Gov. Ogle's Maryland pack, it is 
 probable that Forester, Byron's grandsire, was a pure Irish 
 hound. 
 
 Byron had all the characteristics of a high-class foxhound, for 
 his speed, powers of endurance and perseverance were unsur- 
 passed by any one hound ; and he became still more noted as a 
 strike dog as he grew older. Col. John Tucker used to say that 
 if a dozen packs had been brought together, Byron would get 
 the strike from them all. 
 
 Rattler II took after his grandam on his sire's side, for he was 
 indigo blue, with fine coat and smooth tail. Byron, Rattler II 
 and their sister, Music, were the progenitors of the Byron 
 strain. The peculiarities of the strain were — taking to the fox 
 at an early age, dash, energy, fox sense, long distance striking, 
 endurance, and being easily corrected for bad liabits. 
 
 After Col. Starke's death the Tuckers gathered all the best 
 Byron hounds in their kennels, and by careful breeding kept up 
 the high standard of the strain. These hounds, though very 
 fast at first, liad tlieir speed increased by the judicious crossings 
 of the Tuckers. When Thomas Goode Tucker moved from Vir- 
 ginia to Gaston, N. C, he took these liounds witJi liim and bred 
 them there until his death, when they were bought by Dr. 
 Capehart, of Avoca, N. C. They were run in Avoca for a few 
 years, and then advertised by their new owner and sold to the 
 four comers of the country. The purity of their blood will soon 
 be a thing of the past; and all that will be left will be a 
 sprinkling here and there, as their new owners cross them on all 
 sorts and conditions of hounds in their respective localities. 
 
 I have seen several of the pure breed, and owned one. They 
 were great hunters, made marvelously long body-scent strikes, 
 and ran a fox like a wliirlwind; but they were not tough, their 
 feet not being close and round enough to stand New England ice 
 and crust. 
 
THE AMERICAN FOXHOUND 25 
 
 I crossed the one I owned on an English and several BncMeld 
 bitches, and the result in every instance was most satisfactoi-y, 
 yielding progeny with all the good points of the sire and ad- 
 ditional toughness, with enduring capacity or a high rute of 
 speed The noted Byron-Buckfield field trial winner ,Tim 
 Blaine, is a shining example of this cross, he being by the Byron 
 hound Bugle out of the Buckfleld bitch Pert. 
 
 A Hunting Remembrance of "Bugle," by Dr. Heffenger. 
 
 The early development of the Byron hound was brilliantly 
 shown to me by Bugle when only seven months old. I, hunt- 
 ing with an old New England foxhound, on a cold day m 
 January, took the pup along to give him his first lesson. The 
 old hound was working up a cold trail some distance oA-T'"^" 
 the pup, while hunting a tliick cover in my sight, ™ddenly 
 threw up his head, snuffed a couple of times, and rushed mto 
 the cover. Immediately he began tin-owing his tongue ma most 
 energetic manner, and went off at a tearing gait straight away 
 from me. There was just enough snow for good hunting and 
 wlien I reached the point where the pup started, I found a fresh 
 fox track in the snow, with a place hollowed under a pme tree 
 where brother reynard had been ruthlessly aroused f-^om his 
 morning's nap by the infant Bugle. The pup ran fast, and was 
 soon out of hearing; and it was not till after an l-nr hard 
 tramp that I came upon him in a swamp, still drivmg the fox 
 furiouslv. The old hound at this time joined m the chase, but 
 was always a long distance behind the youngster. At one time 1 
 Taw Hie fox in a leld, with the pup nipping at his hmd quarters, 
 but as soon as cover was reached he slipped away from him. 
 The chase was in hearing after this most of the time till 8pm 
 when I broke through the ice in crossing a large brook, getting 
 my rubber boots full of ice-water, and consequently had to go 
 home. The old hound turned up that night, but *« P»P ^id not^ 
 a^d was fomid the next day at a farm-house eight miles from 
 home, where he had tied up at dusk the night before JHus wa 
 certainly a phenomenal performance for a seven '^"'jths PJip, for 
 he made a long distance body-scent strike, and P^f ^^'^Jl^/^";^ 
 his game the entire day, as the old hound was f ™y« ^ l°°f 
 distfnee behind after he joined in the '-nt. Bugle was bred^y 
 Rhodes Bros., of Pioneer, Pa., and his sire. Drive, had a record 
 
m THE AMERICAN FOXHOUND 
 
 of having run down, caught and killed two red foxes in one day. 
 He was killed by an express train the following year, while 
 killing a red fox on the railway track, and one of the fox's ears 
 was sent to me as a memento. Bugle showed the same wonder- 
 ful speed and killing powers of his sire, and was the first fox- 
 hound I ever owned in New England that could run down and 
 kill a fox on my hunting ground. 
 
 THE MARYLAND HOUND. 
 By John C. Bentley, Sandy Spring, Md. 
 
 The Maryland hound, like most satisfactory things, has been 
 the result of evolution. The hound of to-day, in this state, is 
 the only hound which can successfully hunt the Maryland fox 
 on his chosen ground. The counties of Harford, Baltimore, 
 Howard, Montgomery, and Carroll are pre-eminently the natural 
 home of the red fox. These counties have a net-work of rivers 
 cutting their way to the sea, through rocky bluffs, whose banks 
 are densely covered with ivy, the outer timber, above the bluffs, 
 being often thick pines, and a majority of the river country is 
 still heavy woodland. 
 
 These rocky bluffs abound in deep dens, in which his fox-ship 
 is safe from hounds and hunter. The ivy banks, as they are 
 called, require a tough, wiry dog to push through them, or he 
 cannot make the fox come out, and the long reaches from one 
 river to the next, when the fox breaks cover, will tax any but 
 dogs built to travel at great speed, for given good scenting, there 
 is nothing to prevent the foxhound from running at his best gait 
 across the high, comparatively open country. 
 
 It is not out of place in a history of the Maryland hound to 
 chronicle the fact that to Maryland is due the thanks of fox- 
 hunters for the red fox. In an old print of 1738 is an interesting 
 account of this fact. One August evening, in what is now 
 Talbot county, on the eastern shore of Maryland, eight prosper- 
 ous tobacco planters were discussing the relative merits of the 
 red and gray fox. Four of these planters had hunted the wily 
 red fox in Old England, and rather cast imputations upon the 
 gray fox hunters. The discussion waxed so warm, that to prove 
 their contention, one of these planters (history unfortunately 
 .does not give his name) offered the use of his tobacco boat, the 
 
THE AMERICAN FOXHOUND 37 
 
 "Monocacy," the captain being instructed to bring over eight 
 pairs of red foxes upon his next voyage, which he was successful 
 in accomplisliing. These foxes were turned out in several parts 
 of the county and soon began to multiply. 
 
 The red fox was first seen on this side of Chesapeake Bay after 
 the tremendous hard winter of 1780, when the bay was frozen 
 over from November until April. It took them twenty years to 
 work their way up into the above mentioned counties. The 
 advent of the red fox compelled fox-hunters to change their 
 ideas of what constituted a good hound. The gray fox dog, who 
 was slow and sure on his rabbit-like quarry, would not in any 
 way do to make sport after the swift red fox who invariably left 
 his pursuers so far behind, the race gradually became a trail, 
 and at last, with exceptions, a dead loss. 
 
 About 1812, Mr. Bolton Jackson, a famous fox-hunter ■ of 
 Maryland, sent to Ireland^and imported a pair of hounds. After 
 a few years tliey fell into the hands of Col. Sterrett Ridgely, a 
 fine old Maryland gentleman, whose far-reaching hospitality and 
 great horseman -ship are still characteristics of his descendants 
 in this state. 
 
 These hounds, "Mountain" and "Muse," were given to Gov. 
 Ogle about 1823, who was so impressed with their excellence he 
 bred them pure, and from his pack came the great hound 
 "Sophy." She was such a noted hound it is said her portrait 
 was published in the Turf Register of that day. Old Mountain 
 was presented to Mr. Carroll of Carrollton. So superior were 
 these hounds for chasing the red fox that every fox-hunter in 
 this part of Maryland promptly bred to the Ogle pack, and other 
 Irish hounds were imported, but none equalled that particular 
 importation. 
 
 These Irish dogs, (whose ancestors had hunted the red fox in 
 very much such a country as Maryland, and in very much the 
 same fashion of hunting, by their masters in Ireland, as was 
 practiced by the old Maryland fox-hunters) could get upon even 
 terms with the heretofore impossible red fox, at once, not so 
 much by their speed, as their fox sense, especially exemplified in 
 their tremendous casting ahead, at losses frequently, gaining 
 more on a loss than had they continued on the line. They had 
 shrill, choppy notes, short ears, as compared with the old gray 
 fox hound, large, prominent dark eyes, were dappled in color, or 
 flecked with bluish, gray colored spots. They had rough, coarse 
 
38 THE AMERICAN FOXHOUND 
 
 heavy coats, which helped them greatly in the dense cover they 
 often had to go through in the races. 
 
 Among a number of hunters who had raised descendants of 
 old Mountain can be noted such families as the Brookes and 
 Griffiths of Montgomery county, the Hardeys and Linthicums of 
 Howard county, the Crawfords of Carroll county, and Nimrod 
 Gosnell; in later days Redmond C. Stewart, M. F. H. of Green 
 Spring Valley Hunt Club, Dorsey Williams of Patapsco Hunt 
 Club, the Sandy Spring Hunt Club of Montgomery county, and 
 William Griff ee of Carroll county. Frank Hobbs, a grandson of 
 the great Nimrod Gosnell, has a small pack of pure Maryland 
 hounds in Howard county. 
 
 Probably the oldest native strain of Maryland hounds was 
 owned by the Brookes and Griffiths of Montgomery county. 
 The Brookes had bred and raised a pack of foxliounds from an 
 importation by their ancestor. Sir Robert Brooke, who was a 
 younger son of the Earl of Warwick. He came to this country 
 with Lord Baltimore and settled at the mouth of the Patuxent 
 River, and brought his pack of English hounds with him. 
 
 Hounds have been kept in the Brooke family nearly up to the 
 present time. Roger Brookes' hounds in 1827 had a national 
 reputation, as can be proved by the following, taken from the 
 "Maryland Farmer" of that year. 
 
 "A most extraordinary run was made by a red fox last week in 
 Montgomery county before a pack of high repute from Virginia 
 and Maryland. He is estimated to have run eighty miles, and 
 was not killed until late in the afternoon. This was trying to 
 the mettle of the dogs, and it is reported that the two leading 
 dogs throughout the chase belonged to Friend Roger Brooke. 
 As they ran with ambition and performed with success, in the 
 service for wliicli Providence obviously designed them, they de- 
 serve to have their names recorded and to be more honored than 
 the most successful butcher of the human species in unprinci- 
 pled wars. John S. Skinner." 
 
 The Brooke pack produced some magnificent hounds, probably 
 the most noted was a hound known as "Brookes' Barney." This 
 dog was the result of a cross between Roger Brookes' "Sport" (a 
 hound with the conformation of a race-horse) and Thomas 
 Griffith, Jr's "Belle." He was heavily coated with steel gray 
 hair, immense in size, twenty-six inches at shoulder, powerful 
 bone and back, and a carriage of head and tail never excelled. 
 
THE AMERICAN FOXHOUND 29 
 
 He had the grandest, most earnest note. His qualities as a first- 
 class foxhound has never been equalled in this state. His en- 
 durance was phenomenal ; he would return from an all-day hunt 
 with his tail like a flag-staff over his back, and in one day he 
 helped to kill three red foxes, two of which he ran nearly to a 
 kill before the pack could get up to him. He was used as a stock 
 dog by masters of over ten packs, and there is not a pack of any 
 note in Maryland whose pedigrees does not run back to old 
 Barney. His cross with the Linthicum blood produced a bitcli, 
 "Lade," whose son "Nip," by Dr. Hardey's "Lifter," was sent 
 to Georgia and crossed with the July stock, produced the finest 
 dogs in that state. Mr. Gosnell bred a litter sister of "July" to 
 Barney and produced a litter, all of which became famous 
 foxhounds. This litter furnished stock dogs for a great many 
 hunt clubs and individual hunters. So wonderfully prepotent 
 was Barney that to this day dogs, who are the ninth or tenth 
 (male line) from him, have his color (steel gray), note and size. 
 
 This history of the Maryland foxliound would be incomplete 
 without some mention of the great work done by Dr. William 
 Hardey and his brother, John Hardey. These gentlemen, who 
 reside a few miles from the Carroll manor and the Gosnell plan- 
 tation, have from their earliest boyhood kept the best hounds. 
 Mr. John Hardey's dogs are perhaps the most carefully bred, 
 and more resemble the Gosnell dogs than any Maryland hounds. 
 Mr. Gosnell was a most painstaking breeder of foxhounds; he 
 aspired to possess the best, and was a fox-hunter who could see 
 the faults of his own dogs. Mr. Gosnell bred and presented to 
 Mr. Miles Harris of Georgia a pair of pups, one of wliich, the 
 dog, July, was perhaps the most noted American foxhound we 
 have any account of. July was a medium sized dog, black back, 
 grayish red sides, ashy tan legs, a bushy tail, which he carried 
 over his back, had a shrill, choppy note, and hunting qualities 
 of the Gosnell dogs, who liunted in a gallop, covering the ground 
 in an incredibly short time. July's great name was acquired 
 solely because he could handle the red fox as no other dog had 
 done in Georgia up to that time. 
 
 The Maryland hound is now a much larger dog than the medi- 
 um sized hound of Nimrod Gosnell's time. The prevailing 
 colors at this time in this state are dark red with white points, 
 black and tan, or gray, with ash-colored tan legs; blaze faces are 
 common. 
 
30 THE AMERICAN FOXHOUND 
 
 The gradually clearing country lias made the larger dog a 
 necessity, as to cross the wide open country, requires a dog large 
 enough to have a galloping stride, which the short coupled small 
 dog cannot have. He must also have nose and carrying sense, as 
 the distance covered by an old dog fox, ten or fifteen miles 
 straight away, will leave a hound, lacking either, far behind. 
 
 The Maryland foxliound of to-day fully upholds his ancient 
 and honorable reputation. 
 
 THE SUGAR LOAF FOXHOUND. 
 By H. E. C. Bryant, Charlotte, N. C. 
 
 Mr. Joe Plummer, who developed the Sugar Loaf foxhounds, 
 of Western Maryland, was one of the most eccentric Irishmen 
 that ever lived, but a well-to-do farmer, a capable grist mill man 
 and a successful hunter. His dogs were bred and trained to his 
 own peculiar notions; he would not give or sell to any one, 
 friend or stranger, an open bitch, or a serviceable dog, but kept 
 the stock within his own kennels and for his private use. The 
 Sugar Loaf dog is not included in what is termed "The Mary- 
 land Hound," although Mr. Plummer was a contemporary of 
 Messrs. Nimrod Gosnell, Napoleon Welch, John T. Hardey and 
 Washington Linthicum, who bred that noted strain. Mr. 
 Plummer belonged to the same school of hunters but was a little 
 selfish, and indifferent about crossing or running his dogs with 
 those of his neighbors. Most of his hunting was done on the 
 Sugar Loaf mountains, along Sugar Loaf creek, near his home, 
 with his own pack. 
 
 Some time ago I visited the kennels of Messrs. George J. 
 Garrett and Henry M. Griff ee, near Baltimore, and saw a Sugar 
 Loaf -July cross that pleased me. I was interested in the half- 
 and-half Sugar Loaf and July for I had found the latter breed to 
 be very fine but rather delicate. The July has the keen nose, 
 the speed and the stamina, but seems to lack tough, healthy 
 fibre. Mr. Garrett, who is a good breeder, a good liunter and a 
 close observer, claims that the Sugar Loaf gives to the July just 
 what is needed to make the ideal foxliound. 
 
 I have never seen a more attractive lot of hounds than the 
 ones I saw at the home of Mr. Griffee and at the country place 
 of Mr. Garrett; they were handsome, muscular, well-conditioned 
 
THE AMERICAN FOXHOUND 31 
 
 and clean. Messrs. Griffee and Garrett have the pure-bred July 
 and the Sugar Loaf cross. 
 
 The history of the Sugar Loaf hound is very simple but in- 
 tensely interesting. Mr. Plummer bred, hunted and improved 
 him for many years, and gloried in his striking peculiarities. 
 Unlike other hounds the Sugar Loaf dog was brindle in color, 
 and vicious in disposition. The average fox-hunter would not 
 accept a brindle puppy as a gracious gift for fear that he might 
 prove to be a mongrel. But Mr. Plummer liked the brindle 
 markings. His dogs frequently came with glass eyes. But these 
 queer characteristics pleased the Irishman; he had something 
 that nobody else had. But, withal, Mr. Plummer knew the 
 marks of a good hound, and could always get the best work out 
 of the pack or the individual. His dogs drove hard, and long, 
 and never quit until the fox was killed or denned. 
 
 All of the Maryland hunters of Mr. Plummer's day, except 
 Messrs. Hardey and Linthicum, are dead. Mr. Linthicum has 
 retired but Mr. Hardey is still breeding and hunting the Howard 
 county hound. He bred Lade, the dam of the famous July, 
 whose record is known throughout the foxhound world, and let 
 a friend have her, and who, in turn, gave her to Nimrod 
 Gosnell. Messrs. Hardey, Gosnell and Linthicum bred and run 
 together, and formed a trio that sent to Georgia, in the latter 
 60's and the early 70's, fifty or more fine hounds. George L. F. 
 Birdsong, the South 's most noted fox-hunter, crossed his Henry 
 hounds on those of these gentlemen. 
 
 Mr. Nimrod Gosnell took annual hunts with Mr. Joe 
 Plummer, on the Sugar Loaf mountain, in Frederick county. 
 
 Mr. Plummer hunted whether the weather conditions were 
 favorable or not, his dogs being trained to do the best they could 
 under the circumstances. On one occasion, when Mr, Gosnell 
 was on a camp hunt with Mr. Plummer, the meal supply gave 
 out and the hunters had no dog feed. Mr. Plummer sent his 
 hired man to the nearest mill for meal ; no wagon being handy, 
 a sled was used. The meal was out tliere and the servant re- 
 turned without any, but Mr. Plummer started him to another 
 mill with orders to keep going till he got plenty to last till the 
 week's hunt was over, the ground being covered with snow did 
 not worry him. That is the sort of a man Mr. Joe Plummer 
 was, and his dogs seemed to be made of the same kind of 
 material, for they, too, were determined and tough, and did not 
 
32 THE AMERICAN FOXHOUND 
 
 know what it was to quit. For the first two or three days, on 
 the camp hunts with Mr. Plummer, Mr. Gosnell claimed that 
 his dogs had the best of the going, but after that, the honors 
 went to the brindle liounds, and the longer they hunted the 
 better they were. Mr. Gosnell called the Plummer dogs the 
 "whalebone hounds". He borrowed a pair of them once and 
 hunted with his friend, Mr. Hardey. For three days they had 
 splendid running, and all of the dogs were of a class, but on the 
 fourth day, when the Howard county hounds seemed tired and 
 ready to quit, the brindle fellows were just getting in good 
 shape; doing better work than ever, and would not listen to the 
 blowing of the horn when the hunters started home, and Mr 
 Gosnell frequently had to wait until night to get them out of 
 the woods. Mr. Hardey claims that he never saw such dogs; 
 they could take a trail that his dogs could not smell and carry 
 it. But Mr. Plummer guarded his stock closely, and would not 
 let anybody get it. By strategy, Mr. Napoleon Welch secured 
 the Sugar Loaf stock, and it was he who gave it out. There is a 
 little romance connected with the story. Old man Plummer had 
 two attractive daughters, one of whom was the avowed sweet- 
 heart of a friend of Mr. Welch ; that he might have his girl all 
 to himself the young gallant took Mr. Welch along to entertain 
 the sister. The kindness was appreciated by the young couple, 
 and when they had become husband and wife Mr. Welch ap- 
 pealed to tlie bride to fetch to him at Baltimore a pair of her 
 father's best young hounds, and she did. Therefore, Mr. Welcli 
 not only enjoyed the company of the accomplished sister for a 
 time but was rewarded in the end with something that no one 
 else had been able to get. He first gave breeding privileges on 
 the Sugar Loaf dog. 
 
 Tlie Sugar Loaf hound had faults, lie was brindle, frequently 
 came with a glass eye and was ill-tempered ; these were bred out 
 while the good qualities, the keen nose, the strong constitution, 
 the bull -dog tenacity, and the everlasting bottom were retained. 
 The Sugar Loaf blood drifted into the hands of two Carroll 
 county men, namely Messrs. Henry M. Griifee and Charley 
 Crawford, a nephew of Nimrod Gosnell. Mr. Garrett, assisted 
 by Mr. Welch, located Mr. Crawford and drove twenty-six miles 
 to his home, through a snow storm, to see his dogs. Mr. 
 Crawford insisted that the best way to test hounds was to watch 
 them work in the field, and regardless of the unsatisfactory 
 
THE AMERICAN FOXHOUND 33 
 
 weather conditions a hunt was arranged for the following morn- 
 ing after Mr. Garrett's arrival. The hunters retired, that night, 
 feeling that the elements were against them, and would be when 
 they arose, and their fears were realized, for the next morning 
 the ground was frozen and a stiff wind blew hard from the east. 
 The best of dogs could make but a poor showing under such 
 circumstances. 
 
 But within an hour after Mr. Crawford and friends left the 
 house a large red fox was up and going. He slipped out of his 
 bed twenty-two minutes before the dogs discovered that he was 
 up, and started for a big circle in that immediate neighborhood, 
 trying as it were to see what sort of dogs had routed him on 
 such a day. But it was not many minutes before he found that 
 Plummer's old brindle stock followed in his wake, and he 
 seemed to realize that he had hard work ahead of him. The 
 brindle dogs meant business, and it took fearful weather to stop 
 them. Red reynard shook the dirt of that community from his 
 feet and turned his nose to the west, with the rushing wind, and 
 toward the Great Fields. The dogs followed in fine order, pack- 
 ing and driving as they went, and the hunters were left far 
 behind, and lost. Hour after hour passed and no welcome sound 
 was heard until about four o'clock, in the afternoon, when some 
 traveler told Mr. Crawford that the hounds were running hard, 
 on Morgan's Run, nearly ten miles away. The cunning old fox 
 had made a long, straight run, and was flying for his very life. 
 The weather conditions had improved, and the dogs were going 
 like a pack of relentless, merciless wolves, fast and furious, 
 circling round and round, over hills and up and down valleys, 
 crying loud for the blood of the tired fox. But, as the hunters 
 rode up, the dogs made a sudden, and mysterious loss; they had 
 evidently been close on the fox but he had dodged them. The 
 older hounds hurried to the riglit and left, trying to make off 
 tlie track, but in vain. The quarry had disappeared. Mr. 
 Crawford went into the woods where the loss was made and 
 gave a yell to encourage the faithful dogs; the fox, who had 
 squatted under a fallen tree top, rushed out and ran to a near-by 
 den, where he barely saved his brush by an inch or two. The 
 rascal had been pushed so close that he had to resort to a dodge, 
 and slip out of sight beneath the brush ; no doubt the ruse saved 
 him. Mr. Garrett saw the hounds drive him to earth, and it 
 was quite a feat considering the day. The Crawford pack had 
 
34 THE AMERICAN FOXHOUND 
 
 acquitted itself well. They did such splendid work under 
 adverse circumstances that Mr. Garrett was thoroughly satisfied 
 that he had found the hound that he would cross on his Georgia 
 Julys. He purchased the best dogs that Mr. Crawford would 
 sell, and began to breed to them. A few years later Mr. 
 Crawford died, and then Mr. Garrett bought the remainder of 
 his pack. Some of them were kept ; others were given to friends 
 in Georgia and Tennessee. After the Crawford hounds were 
 added, the Garrett pack included such famous individuals as 
 Bill Reid, Bullet, Rockwood, Speed, Julip, and Yenus. Bill 
 Reid is of the Sugar Loaf stock, but was bred by Mr. Grififee, of 
 Westminster. He went to Mr. James W. Green, of Pulaski, 
 Tenn. 
 
 The Sugar Loaf blood is well grounded in Mr. Garrett's 
 kennels. He and Mr. Griff ee have some great champions of the 
 Gosnell-Plummer cross. Grey Bullet was bred by Mr. Griffee, 
 and he now owns Nellie, who, Mr. Garrett thinks, is the best 
 bitch in Maryland. She is high-born, handsomely marked, 
 cleverly formed and fleet-footed. She looks the part of the 
 queen that she is, and it is sweet to hear her clarion call as she 
 drives red Reynard over hill and dale. Nellie is a July (or 
 Gosnell), and Sugar Loaf (or Plummer) cross. She has twice 
 been bred to Trail, another beautiful Sugar Loaf -July cross. 
 Trail is related to Logan; the young hound who won the en- 
 durance cup and the championship all-age stake at the recent 
 meet of the Brunswick Fur Club at Barre, Mass. Mr. Robert F. 
 Perkins, of Boston, owns Logan. 
 
 The story of Logan's interesting connection and career is 
 worth knowing. His brother Dan, a white and gold brindle dog, 
 who was sent by Mr. Garrett to one of his Southern friends, 
 made a great reputation in the field; he won the laurels in a 
 pack of eleven carefully bred Kentucky dogs — he ran them out. 
 The constant reports of Dan's singular performances, while in 
 the best of company as far as blood is concerned, caused Mr. 
 Garrett to look up his brothers, and other dogs of that particular 
 cross. He found Logan in the lower part of Carroll county, and 
 purchased him, and turned him over to Mr. Griffee, who ran 
 him with his pack, and found him to be all right. 
 
 It was while chasing a red fox, near the Griffee farm, one 
 morning, that Logan mysteriously disappeared and was not 
 heard of again for three days. No trace of him could be had 
 
THE AMERICAN FOXHOUND 35 
 
 until the third morning, when Mr. Griffee went to a den where 
 his hounds had treed a fox and saw tlie lost Logan standing 
 there, half starved and nervous, with a steel trap fastened to the 
 toes of one of his front feet. The jaws of the merciless machine 
 had cut the flesh to the bone. For three days Logan had been 
 chained to a post in the field, but the music of his running mates 
 made him howl. His outcry attracted the attention of a farmer, 
 who was willing to become a friend in need, but Logan, not 
 recognizing him as such, showed fight, and in scrambling 
 around broke the chain and ran off, carrying the trap with him. 
 It was two months before Logan could put that foot to the 
 ground and it looked at one time as if he would lose the use of 
 two of his toe nails. 
 
 Becoming interested in Mr. Garrett's dogs Mr. Perkins, of 
 Boston, tried to get a cross on a good stallion hound. He was 
 desirous of improving the nose and endurance of his dogs. 
 Logan was sent to him, recommended as a good pack hound, 
 with gameness and stamina, but not as an extra individual. At 
 the time, however, Mr. Garrett predicted that Logan would win 
 on endurance at the Brunswick Fur Club trials under favorable 
 conditions. Nevertheless, Mr. Garrett was very much surprised 
 when he learned that Logan had been so successful at Barre, es- 
 pecially when competing with many of the leading hounds of 
 the land. 
 
 There are some breeders who do not like the Sugar Loaf 
 hound. Recently I wrote a story for the Sportsmen's Review, 
 giving a brief history of the Sugar Loaf strain, and within a few 
 days after the article appeared I received a letter from a well- 
 known hunter whose name I shall not give here, who had this to 
 say: "I have just finished reading your interesting story of 
 Garrett's dogs. I wrote a piece for publication about the Sugar 
 Loaf but after reading your praise of them I backed down, as I 
 did not wish to mar any laudation of them. I have two out of 
 B — and S — , sired by this Bill Reid and Bullet. Speed is the 
 same that you spoke of. I had a pair of half breed, July and 
 Sugar Loaf, sired by Bill Reid, and dam, a pure July bitch. This 
 strain of dogs has hurt my sales more than you could imagine." 
 
 This hunter says that the Sugar Loaf cross on his Julys, 
 which he has never found lacking, proved a failure. He claims 
 that they quit. 
 
 A letter from another sportsman of good standing has a word 
 
36 THE AMERICAN FOXHOUND 
 
 of praise for the brindle dog. Among other things he said: "I 
 have read your piece in regard to the Sugar Loaf hound, and 
 was very much pleased as I have at this time five of the brindle 
 dogs. I have ovs^ned the brindle hounds for thirty years, and 
 they have been in in my neighborhood since 1858, and I don't 
 believe that their equal for endurance is to be found. I don't 
 think that they can be outrun. I have run with Georgia, 
 Kentucky and Virginia dogs, and never was beaten. I could tell 
 you of some instances of their endurance that would surprise 
 you ; and I can prove what I tell you. I owned a brindle bitch 
 once that went in a chase after a deer, and after four hour's 
 hard running caught the deer, and at the close of the race gave 
 birth to one puppy, and went home and had four more. I took 
 the puppy home and raised it. What do you think of that for 
 the brindles? I have run them for two weeks on camp hunts 
 and caught seven deer in one week (without shooting a one of 
 them); at the close of the hunt they were as game as at the 
 start. On the third of December I jumped a red fox and caught 
 him in one hour. I have caught three red foxes within the last 
 month, and I don't believe any fox can outrun them in this open 
 country, or stand ahead of them over two hours." 
 
 Here I shall rest the history of the Sugar Loaf hound. His 
 color is a little off, but he seems to be a pretty tough dog in the 
 field after deer and foxes. 
 
 THE TRIGG STRAIN. 
 From '*The American Foxhound," by H. C. Trigg. 
 
 From 1845 to 1860 we o\NTied a pack of those grand old long- 
 eared, rat-tail, deep-toned, black-and-tan Virginia foxhounds. 
 In those happy, by-gone days we could on a moonlight niglit ride 
 to the covert side, throw our leg over the pommel of our saddle 
 and listen for hours to the most magnificent music made by the 
 ever-to-be-remembered dogs. 
 
 But, alas, everything must have an end. In 1860 the red fox 
 first made his advent into our section, and the days of these dogs 
 wer ended. The coming of the red fox made a great change in 
 the chase. The most important thing was to get a dog tliat 
 could successfully walk with him. With us it required years of 
 work, patience, considerable expense, and a world of trouble to 
 
THE AMERICAN FOXHOUND B7 
 
 gather the desired pack. We are now on the shady side of life 
 and wil soon have to bow to the inevitable. That our straxn of 
 dogs of which we feel a right to he proud, may be preserved we 
 ave'consented to give a brief history of them to he spor^sn^en 
 of America, believing that by great care m selecting, judicious 
 bretd ng ami constant hunting for the past thirty-five years, we 
 have ;"okuced a dog that can successfully compete with the red 
 
 *1„ 1866 we opened up a correspondence 7*'> «e L F^ 
 Birdsong, of Thomaston, Georgia, and purchased of hmi that 
 year and in 1867 the following dogs, paying these prices: 
 
 Chase and Bee (by Longstreet ) ^^^^Z 
 
 Geokge .'.'.'.'.'.'.'.'.'. 100^00 
 
 ^^^ 100.00 
 
 Fannie 
 
 Lee was presented to us. 
 
 In 1868 we visited Mr. Birdsong and spent a week with 1 in 
 H was then in feeble health, in fact «--7«\,-*,f«„ 
 terrible disease, consumption, from which he died the 18 h of 
 August the following year. He was able take us on bn one 
 hunt, when we caught a red fox in forty-five -^'^^'^^ Z' ^t- 
 pected that the fox was not in condition to run, and held a post 
 mortem, hut found nothing wrong with hmi. 
 
 Mr Birdsong then had in his kennel-we had him m the hunt 
 
 _r dog that has been talked about a great deal in ate years 
 
 ..July ?• We also had in the pack three of his get, I think then 
 
 juiy. vvea .'Madcan" "Lightfoot," and 
 
 about three years old, i. e. Madcap, f,„,., ,„ i,jg 
 
 "Echo." He also had three yearlmgs out of Echo by Ins 
 
 celebrated dog, "Longstreet," i. e. "Delta," "Dnmas, and 
 
 ^™" By Pegging two days and paying five bundled dollars 
 
 ,*500 he let us have "Lightfoot" and "Delta." In addition to 
 
 re'w': purchased of Colonel R. H. Ward, of Green «, 
 
 Georgia "Forest," by "Boston," paying one hundred dollais, 
 
 fnd "Emma" at the sime figures. "Rose," a full sister to Echo 
 
 by July, and "Hampton," we,., loaned us. Rose, we returned 
 
 after sl^ had whelped, but Hampton died in our kJnnel a few 
 
 months after we received liim. 
 
 In 86? we visited General G. W. Maupin of Madison county^ 
 Kentucky and was present at the great match race between Ben 
 "son, of Montgomery county and General Maupin^ Tins 
 meet took place at Oil Spring, in Clark county, and was much 
 
38 THE AMERICAN FOXHOUND 
 
 talked of by hunters everywhere at that time. After the race 
 we accompanied General Maupin home, spending several days 
 hunting with him. On our departure we purchased of him a 
 young bitch called "Minnie," that was one or two crosses from 
 his celebrated dog, "Tennessee Lead," on one side, and the im- 
 ported English dogs on the other. Colonel O. J. Walker at the 
 same time gave us a young bitch called "Mattie," the pedigree 
 of which is the same as that seen in Colonel Walker's letter 
 herein. Both of these were proud, magnificent foxliounds. 
 
 In 1869 we visited W. L. Waddy and Thomas Ford of Shelby 
 county, who had a splendid pack of the Maupin strain of dogs. 
 We hunted some days with these gentlemen. Mr. Waddy was 
 so well pleased with our dogs that he requested us on our de- 
 parture to take some of his best dogs with us and test their 
 qualities. We selected three, i. e. "Tip," "Waxy," and his 
 celebrated dog, "One Eyed King." This last dog was closely 
 related to Mr. Maupin 's "Lead" and the English importation 
 of 1857. We hunted these dogs about six months. The dog 
 "King" was a wonderful animal for speed, and dead game, 
 though deficient in nose. We crossed him on Delta (by Long- 
 street out of Echo by July) and succeeded in raising two 
 puppies, a dog and a bitch. The dog we kept and called 
 "Money." He was the fastest dog we ever owned, but not so 
 game as others of our pack. The bitch pup we sent to Mr. 
 Waddy and he called her "Echo." She proved to be superior to 
 anything in Mr. Waddy 's pack. The following year Mr, Waddy 
 and Thomas Ford paid us a visit. On their return we let them 
 take our celebrated dog "Forest." They had some bitches 
 served by him, the produce being, like that of King and Delta, 
 superior to any dogs they had previously owned. We submit 
 letters herewith bearing us out in these statements. 
 
 About four years ago we got of Mr. E. T. Halsey, of 
 Louisville, an imported dog, "Portland," from the "Quorn 
 Kennels," England. This dog, like all other imported dogs that 
 we have ever seen, was too large for our country. He was de- 
 ficient in nose, speed and ranging qualities — in fact a failure. 
 We bred him to a few of our bitches and the produce proved 
 fairly good. We think by three or four crosses they will make 
 fine animals. About the same time W. S. Walker, of Garrard 
 county, Kentucky, was kind enough to send us one of his stud 
 dogs, whicli we crossed on some of our best bitches, the produce 
 
THE AMERICAN FOXHOUND 39 
 
 proving very satisfactory. Mr. Walker is an experienced, practi- 
 cal sportsman, has a fine pack of clogs and is doing a great deal 
 toward improving the foxhound in Kentucky. 
 
 From 1867 to 1890 we have had in our kennel tlie following 
 dogs, of the pure Birdsong, Maupin and Walker strains, whicli 
 we begged, borrowed, and bought for tJie purpose of improving 
 our pack: Maupin's Minnie, Mattie, Lead, Couchman, Bob, 
 Dick, Milton, Blucher, Mac, Raiby (called Redhead), Tip, 
 Waxey, One Eyed King, Haefer's Dick, Rock, Venus, Lee, 
 Mercy, Brenda. Birdsong's Chase, Bee, George, Lightfoot, 
 Delta, Rip, Fannie, Lee, Forest, Emma, Hampton, Ward. 
 Walker's Buckner, Scott, Trooper. 
 
 General Maupin, the Walkers, Sam Martin, Gentrys, Whites, 
 and others of that section, were honest in their belief that Fox, 
 Rifle, Marth, Queen, Tennessee Lead, Tickler, Doc, Kate, Top, 
 Toe-String, Minnie, and other famous dogs of their packs, were 
 superior to any dogs of tlieir day. Mr. Birdsong, the Wards, 
 Robinsons, Ridgleys, Jacksons, and others, of Georgia, were 
 equally as confident that Hodo, July, Longstreet, Flora, Forest, 
 Echo, Hampton, Madcap, Lightfoot, Fannie, and others of their 
 packs, were the peers of any living dogs. Mr. Waddy and Tom 
 Ford, of Shelby county, Ky., thought as well of their One Eyed 
 King, Tip, Josephine, Venus, and others. W. S. Walker, whose 
 letter is given, states his opinion as to the merits of Trooper. 
 
 We differ from some men who make the bold assertion that 
 they have the best dogs on earth. Because a favorite dog runs 
 in the lead of a certain pack does not warrant his admirers in 
 stating he can beat all alike. Dogs are like race-horses; they 
 are the best until they meet their superiors. The true sportsman 
 is never so prejudiced as not to admit that there may be other 
 dogs equal to his own, and that by crossing on such dogs his 
 strain would be improved. 
 
 BIRDSONG AND MAUPIN DOQS. 
 
 From "The American Foxhound," by H. C. Trigg. 
 
 Of the men who have passed from the stage of life, none de- 
 serve the gratitude of the lovers of the chase more than George 
 L. F. Birdsong, of Georgia, and General G. W. Maupin, of 
 Madison county, Kentucky. 
 
40 THE AMERICAN FOXHOUND 
 
 In the early forties Dr. T. Y. Henry (grandson of Patrick 
 Henry), of Virginia, presented George L. F. Birdsong, of 
 Thomaston, Georgia, with a pair of puppies from his pack of 
 hounds, which at that time had made an enviable reputation in 
 Virginia. Mr. Birdsong sent a wagon overland (there being no 
 railroad at that time), for the dogs. They proved to be superior 
 to any dogs he had owned up to that time. In 1844 or 1845, Dr. 
 Henry, being threatened with that dreaded disease, consumption, 
 was ordered South by his physician. He started, traveling 
 leisurely by wagon, accompanied by a party of friends, carrying 
 his fine kennel of hounds with him, stopping at different points, 
 putting in the time hunting and fishing as it suited their fancy. 
 Mr. Birdsong, being informed of his movements, intercepted Dr. 
 Henry en route, spending some days with him. 
 
 On reaching Florida, the deer being plentiful, Dr. Henry's 
 dogs frequently ran them, when they would always take to the 
 bayous and lagoons. When swimming after the game the dogs 
 would be killed by alligators that infested these waters. Dr. 
 Henry soon realized that his much-prized pack would be ex- 
 terminated if something was not done. He wrote the facts to 
 his friend, Mr. Birdsong, telling him that he might have the 
 remnant of his famous pack if he would come after them. Mr. 
 Birdsong, while sympathizing with his friend in his misfortune, 
 was glad of an opportunity to secure these much-coveted dogs, 
 and at once started after them. 
 
 Dr. Henry called them Irish hounds, they being descendants 
 of "Mountain" and "Muse," imported from Ireland by Bolton 
 Jackson, of Maryland, and presented by him to Captain Sterrett 
 Ridgely. He gave them to Governor Ogle, of Maryland. He 
 gave Mountain to Captain Charles Carroll, of CarroUton. He 
 gave him to Dr. Buchanan, and he gave Captain (a direct 
 descendant of Mountain and Muse) to Dr. Henry. See Turf 
 Register Vol. 3, pp. 287, 350 and 403; Vol. 4, pp. 234 and 397. 
 This was the foundation of the celebrated Birdsong dogs. In 
 1861 the famous dog "July," imported into Georgia by Miles G. 
 Harris, who purchased him of Gosnell, of Maryland, was crossed 
 on the Birdsong dogs. From letters in our possession and 
 private conversation with Mr. Birdsong, we are satisfied that 
 this dog "July" was of the same strain of old "Captain" and the 
 original Henry dogs. 
 
 These dogs were called "Irish hounds" by Dr. Henry. Mr. 
 
THE AMERICAN FOXHOUND 
 
 41 
 
 Birdsong insisted that they be known as the "Henry l^-nds/^ 
 
 they have been called indiscriminately the "July honnd. 
 
 The sportsmen of Georgia will pardon us for expressing the 
 optaL'that the name "Jnly" should never have ^-n suhsti 
 /i. ^ 4^^v ''-Rirfl^oTiff " We are aware of the fact that a great 
 difference of SSon exisid among the sportsmen of Georgia as 
 to^he relative merits of the dogs after the crossing of them on 
 tothereiati ^^^^ ^^^.^^^^ Birdsong dogs 
 
 ^, no3: ol J^ly lu them unless tlirough the original 
 importation of the the dogs Mountain and Muse. 
 
 We owned and hunted the get of both Longstreet and July 
 and have our opinion of the relative merits of their produce, 
 'irearly 'fifties General Maupin and his «ends^mp^ted 
 many dogs from South Carolina, Virginia and Maryland, 
 Tptlg no expense to imp-ve their stock In o^hey im- 
 
 Tr:L TLl "Tennessee -^^ ^^^ j^ , -^S; 
 
 rgr"sp"/t : ?;irctssrtirptious nfpor^ 
 
 tTonrpr Iced Jdog which has justly become famou^ and 
 was known as the "Maupin" dog. Thisst^m has been pre 
 served and bred with great care by W. S. ^^^''J\^^°'^^^ 
 Ga^rd county, Ky., and are known to-day as the Walker dogs. 
 
 THE JULY STRAIN. 
 By W. H. Uuttrell, Waverly Hall, Oa. 
 
 Tn tliis history of the July fodiounds, dating from their intro- 
 du^ti^ in Sia. I shall'give what information I have, with 
 as little comment as possible. ^^i,,,/i hack in 
 
 These dogs were brought to Georgia from Maryland, back m 
 thfrixties^ by Mr. MUes a Harns, of H nco- 
 
 ^f^-tSXr 5 — fr; Tfn 4--n Of -un^ 
 Sterling^ Ky., w.0 XtL^^^^Z ^^^uf:^^! ^■ 
 farf^fXt Mr. 'Cfwas wealthy, and a fox-hunter of 
 
42 THE AMERICAN FOXHOUND 
 
 the old school, and had a pack of the common Georgia fox- 
 hounds that were used as negro dogs as well as fox hounds; they 
 could kill a gray fox in two or three hour's race, and gave fine 
 sport. Long before this Mr. George Birdsong and a fox-liunting 
 club at Thomaston, Ga., sent to Virginia and Vermont and 
 bought about forty red foxes, and turned them loose on Pine 
 Mountain, which runs east and west from the Flint River to the 
 Chattahoochee River, seventy-five or a hundred miles. The 
 Civil War stopped fox-hunting in Georgia for six or seven years. 
 This gave time for these foxes to multiply and fill the whole 
 country; they began to branch out over the whole of Middle 
 Georgia. Mr. Harris would occasionally run on one and his 
 pack couldn't even make them take a hole after running two or 
 three packs down in one race. 
 
 Mr. Robertson had the Maryland dogs and had been running 
 them for quite a while; he, it was, that induced Mr. Harris to go 
 to Kentucky with him and see his dogs, also to go to Baltimore 
 with him, then into Howard county, Md., and see the parties 
 that had the hounds and hunt with them a week or two. Mr. 
 Harris went to Kentucky with Mr. Robertson, and tlien they 
 both went to Maryland. There they went hunting with Messrs. 
 Nimrod Gosnell, George W. Linthicum, and John T. Hardey, 
 near Roxbury Mills, in Howard county, also with Mr. A. 
 Winters, at Westminster, in Carroll county. When Mr. Harris 
 left for his home in Georgia, Mr. Gosnell presented him with a 
 pair of pups of this breed. Mr. Harris brought them home, and 
 they were a show to all who went to see them ; they said they 
 were cur dogs. Mr. Harris turned them over to his overseer, Mr. 
 McMillan, to raise. Mr. McMillan raised them, and when they 
 were grown the bitch went into heat, and while tied up in a gin- 
 house, she jumped out through a window and hung herself. Mr. 
 Harris named this pair of dogs June and July. When the dog 
 July was old enough he put him with his pack and went 
 hunting, and when they jumped a red fox, July ran off from the 
 rest of the pack, got the fox to himself, and killed it. This was 
 about the first red fox that Harris' dogs had caught, and the 
 news spread to all the noted hunters in Middle Georgia; they 
 came to see him; they bred to him from all points — George 
 Birdsong of Thomaston, Harvey Dennis of Eatonton, Ward, 
 Kilpatrick, and Hampton Ridley of Jones county, who kept the 
 old dog until his death, and then put a tombstone over his grave 
 
THE AMERICAN FOXHOUND 43 
 
 which is there now, although Mr. Ridley died last year and 
 Totaed Dennis, Birdsong, and a numher of other good men 
 ^'oYer the river." These were some of the best men and best 
 iZers in Georgia. Prom George Birdsong I learned the hab.ts 
 nf thp red fox, and bow to hunt him. 
 
 Old My w^s a medium sized dog, weighing about orty-eight 
 or fifty pounds, close made, with a very short ear to a pomt, 
 head shaped like like a fox's i>ead, broad forehead and sharp 
 nose; he was brownish gray in color, long hair -" *» ^^ 
 curly with a fine coat of fur under this hair just hke a red fox 
 "'with a heavy brush or flag to his tail, ^^oc^Jro^^Z, 
 short back, and a big, round foot hke a wild-cat This dog 
 could outrun any red fox in Georgia or anywhere el e, and kiU i^ 
 by himself. Blessed be the name of old J^^^-^^ f°! *"^^ 
 whom the July hounds in Georgia got their name. Letters from 
 Mr. Robertson in 1872 and '78 gave this i"*°™f 7„ ,, . ^.^ t^ 
 I sent a young man from a commercial school at Baltimore to 
 see Sr Wtoters at Westminster, Carroll county, Md. I first got 
 Mr. Go^ell's address, and all these men in Maryland, from 
 Messrs. Harris and Robertson. , ^ „ , , T,,,„t piee 
 
 The first dogs I bought in Maryland, Hyland, Black llee, 
 Stinger^d Lucy, were from Mr. Winters, taking the advice of 
 M IXtson, who had a bitch called Fury, that 1- go' from 
 Mr Winters; she was the fastest and best dog he ever bought in 
 Marjand. iucy was the mother of Fury; Mr. B— "-^^ 
 Mr. Winters both said so in letters to me Shortly after this I 
 bought Palmer and Red Boston, then ^lo^^^^f ^^^^.^^^^ 
 Mr. Winters bred Lucy twice (before I got her), first to G-nelU 
 Bloomer, and later to Linthicum's Boston. Hyland, B^ck Flee 
 Stineer Palmer, Red Boston, and Flora, were from Lucy and 
 Itsnell's Bloom;r. Big Boston was from Lucy and Lmthicum's 
 Boston Lucy was pedigreed to me as an English dog iinportod 
 by G?v Ogle of Maryland. She was a large bitch, well made 
 7hite with gray spots, cream-colored ears, with a large e^ , she 
 ran with head up and tail down, voice short and quick, ana 
 ZxlL^ any pa'ck, and kill any red fox. The others were ,ust 
 as good; they had instincts for fox like a bird dog has for birds, 
 and were as ambitious as tigers. 
 
 In the meantime Mr. Winters sent me old Foo^-a P^P *-^ 
 Lucy and a full brother to Robertson's Pury-as ^ Christmas 
 gift Foot had a head just like old July's, color whit*, with 
 
44 THE AMERICAN FOXHOUND 
 
 black covering half his body, brindle ears, big brush to his tail, 
 a^d an eye as big as a deer's; he weighed sixty-five pounds, liad 
 a strong back, and good bone. Besides buying other hounds from 
 Mr. Winters, I also purchased dogs from Messrs. J. T. Hardey, 
 G. W. Linthicum, and Nimrod Gosnell, of Howard county, Md. 
 I bought twenty-three of these dogs from Maryland. 
 
 I had several letters from Mr. Gosnell. He also sent me his 
 picture, and from which he appeared to be then well advanced 
 in years. I also had several letters from Mr. Robertson in regard 
 to these dogs, and his pack, which were of the same blood as my 
 dogs. 
 
 I have handled this breed of hounds for several years, and my 
 opinion is that they are the best red fox dogs in the United 
 States. 
 
 May this history I have given you be perpetuated, and this 
 breed of hounds live until the end of time. 
 
 HISTORY OF THE JULY FOXHOUND. 
 By A. C. Heffenger, M. D. 
 
 If there is a patent of nobility for the hound world, then that 
 patent belongs to the famous Irish or July foxliounds. Possibly 
 no foxhounds in America can show a more ancient, unbroken 
 and aristocratic lineage than these phenomenal descendants of 
 Erin's green isle. In looking over my Kennel Stud Book I find 
 those in New England strain back through the purest Irish blood 
 for fourteen generations to the original emigrant Irish hounds. 
 Mountain and Muse, imported into Maryland by Mr. Bolton 
 Jackson in 1812, and passing from him through Col. Sterrett 
 Ridgely to Mr. Charles Carroll, Jr., the descendant of the 
 famous signer of the Declaration of Independence, to be bred at 
 liis country-seat, Homewood. These hounds were presented in 
 large numbers to Virginia sportsmen, and especially to Robbin 
 Pollard and Capt. Littlepage of King William county, and Mr. 
 Bromley and Gen. Chamberlayne of New Kent county. 
 
 Going back through these fourteen generations, their progeni- 
 tors include such grand hounds as Hamp, Nero Childs, Light- 
 foot, Longstreet, Obie, July, Hodo, Ringgold, Old Captain and 
 Traveller, the last a Mountain-Muse pup. 
 
 Mr. George J. Garrett of Green Spring Valley, Md., has the 
 
THE AMERICAN FOXHOUND 45 
 
 stock in its greatest purity, and carefully guards his out-crosses 
 to maintain original characteristics. 
 
 Looking into the breeding of all the now well-known working 
 strains of foxliounds of the South, it will be found that July 
 blood leavens most of them. Their short, choppy notes are 
 found wherever a trace of their blood exists. This prepotency is 
 something wonderful, and proves the Irish hound to be the 
 strongest blooded and most distinct of the hound family in the 
 South. 
 
 The Goodmans, or more properly speaking, the Robertson- 
 Maupin cross, get their fifty to seventy per cent of Irish blood 
 through Tickler, Whitey and Fury. The Trigg hounds are Irish 
 crossed on Maupin-Walker blood and native Kentucky. Col. 
 Trigg visited Mr. Birdsong and bought a large number of 
 hounds from him, and on his return to Kentucky with these 
 Birdsong Julys, bred them as before stated. All that is best in 
 the Wild Goose strain comes from the Irish, both through 
 Birdsong's kennels and Ben Robertson's; Callie Gates, Mr. 
 Lewis' best bitch, was bred to Longfellow, a hound which 
 strains back to the Robertson-Maupin cross. 
 
 The following notes, taken from the old American Turf 
 Register and Sporting Magazine, volume 3, Nos. 6, 7, 8, 10, 
 February, 1832, a copy of which is now owned by Major G. V. 
 Young, Waverly, Miss., gives us some idea of the Irish hound in 
 his days of greatest purity : 
 
 No. 6. — "The most remarkable and distinct family of hounds 
 recollected in Maryland sprang from two that were brought 
 some twenty odd years since from Ireland by Bolton Jackson, 
 Esq. They fell into the hands of Col. Sterrett Ridgely, at that 
 time one of the most gallant horsemen, as well as one of the 
 most ardent and most hospitable sportsmen in the state. They 
 were remarkable as were their descendants, according to their 
 degree of the original blood, for great speed and perse verence, 
 extreme ardor, and for casting aliead at a loss; and in this, and 
 their shrill, chopping, unmusical notes, they were distinguished 
 from the old stock of that day, which, when they came to a loss, 
 would go back, and dwelling, take it along inch by inch, until 
 they got fairly off again, whilst these Irish hounds would cast 
 widely, and by making their hit ahead would keep their game at 
 the top of his speed, and break him do^^^l in the first half hour. 
 The blood of these Irish dogs before mentioned is to be found, as 
 
46 THE AMERICAN FOXHOUND 
 
 I have understood, Mr. Editor, for I have never had the pleasure 
 to follow them, in more unmixed purity in Mr. Ogle's pack, at 
 Belle Air, than anywhere in Maryland. His stallion hound for 
 some years was old Mountain, and from his loins it is supposed 
 his pack has sprung. He was a very compact dog of middling 
 size, and what in cattle, in England, is called flecked, not 
 spotted, with large, dull, blue-grayish splotches. Such, at least, 
 was his appearance when I saw him at Homewood, the residence 
 of C. Carroll, Jr., to whom he had been presented by Mr. Ogle. 
 But the handsomest, and, from what I saw of his performance in 
 one hunt, when a large red was run into in fifteen minutes, the 
 most perfect and powerful hound I ever beheld on a drag, or 
 when running to kill, was one which you told me had been sent 
 to you at the instance of the hospitable General Chamberlayne, 
 of New Kent, in Virginia.* Venator." 
 
 No. 7. — Venator lias but done justice to old Mountain and his 
 descendants. Mr. Ogle presented me one couple which exactly 
 answer your description, and are first rate dogs. A Northern 
 Necker." 
 
 No. 8.— Selections by editor's staff from fox-hunting corre- 
 spondence: "In Essex county, Virginia, they have had some fine 
 sport since the weather moderated. There they have some of 
 Mr. Ogle's stock of Irish dogs, but they claim that they are 
 unmusical. They do not give tongue freely, and their notes are 
 chopping and shrill. By the bye, we have a portrait of Mr. 
 Ogle's famous bitch, Sophy — the leader of the pack— to be en- 
 graved on the same plate, or lithographed on stone, with the 
 portraiture, which we will have taken of any hound equally 
 distinguished that any gentleman will give us." 
 
 No. 10.— Showing that Mr. Robbin Pollard's celebrated dogs 
 were of Irish blood. ". . . .Unluckily, however, after pursuing 
 the drag from the slashes, where it was first struck, up into the 
 piney lands upon the. hills adjacent, some confusion occurred 
 among the hounds ; and the fox was unkenneled at some distance 
 from the main pack by two young dogs whose notes were un- 
 Ifnown to me, and off they went down into the slashes, and be- 
 fore I could, with all my exertions, break off from the drag the 
 balance of the pack, these two dogs had run nearly out of 
 hearing. We pursued with all possible speed, and after a run of 
 about two miles came up with them at the main road and at 
 *This hound was a pup of Mountain. 
 
THE AMERICAN FOXHOUND 47 
 
 ^ u TJo Pollard King William county, Va." The credit of 
 :: a.S:g^h~.ni Jent hounds i.to New En.W .« 
 to tlie Brunswick Foxhound Club, a syndicate of its members 
 Ling bought Wheeler and Luce from Georgia some years ago, 
 and others following later. 
 
 THE ROBERTSON STRAIN. 
 
 Ibetontas "r^ 1^ 'import fo^iounds to Kentucky 
 from Maryland. Sterling Hunting Club Rooms, 
 
 Mt Steeling, Ky., Jan. 25, 1883. 
 
 •^^^rj-sl r:.^tiENi>: T.. puppies I se^a you f . you^ 
 «ends Messrs. Loekri^^^^^^^^^^ 
 
 r^er;^";rodb1a;h M:Uie%y AlexaLer ScoWs fan^us 
 dog Foot Mollie is a light red color, of beautiful form and 
 handsome carriage, who dishonored not her mother but attest 
 the blood of her ancestor, who was a copy to dogs ot grosser 
 blood and less note, and taught them how to ramble mttie 
 woods She by Heart, a fine and splendid rminer ; he by Socks, 
 ttie champion It his pack, and he by Mack, the famous son of L 
 
 rcIrk.sUiester, who -^^^^^^^TT^^ sC 
 nntirine progeny, and was a full bi other to i. x . ^^^ » 
 
 «ie world's fam'ous shaggy, from whom our pack *^-ecl «.e 
 name of Shaggies, who was as noted and as f^et - Mcf^md^ 
 «wift footed Selim of Revolutionary renown, and also tlie lauie 
 rfS S Fiber's intrepid Red Buck, whose countenance was as 
 
 =i-frgi^e^i^?i^^ 
 SmnnreSdirirrsbioitg^^^^^^^ 
 
 Tsh wWr7ed herself with electric speed over brush ^nd 
 bramble, hedge, fen and fern, moss and moor, hill and dale, 
 
48 THE AMERICAN FOXHOUND 
 
 dashing herself recklessly through the woods, like the surging 
 billows of the wild and wasteful ocean. She was a sister to May, 
 who was so distinguished that his seed is almost as numerous as 
 that old Israelite, whose seed outnumbered the sands of the 
 shore, the leaves of the forest and tlie stars of the firmament. 
 
 Jake was a brother of Benj. Robertson's Tickler, of whom it 
 was said Kentucky never had a hound before his day ; he in his 
 day and Fury in her day, like Alexander the Great, conquered 
 every pack on the continent and howled for another pack to 
 conquer. He was by Worthington's Ringwood, he by Hood's 
 Vesper, he from a brach imported from Ireland by Gen. Ridgely, 
 of Baltimore, all running far back to the family of royal blood. 
 Mollie is from Silk, a Georgian by birtli ; her father was a Cuban 
 bloodhound ; her limbs were made for war proof ; the luster of 
 her eye, the scent of her nose, and her speed proved that she was 
 worthy of her breeding. She was as beautiful as the butterfly, as 
 it sprang from the worm that spun the web that was woven into 
 and composed the beautiful fabric from which she took her name. 
 
 Foot is by Old Whitey, imported by Benj. Robertson, from 
 Maryland, of the royal family. Foot is nearly an alabaster 
 white, with Egyptian spots, and beautiful cerulean fringe, and 
 has a grand and noble form and handsome carriage, and is the 
 hero of our pack. He is from Fury, whose very name bears with 
 it speed, strength, durability, honor and greatness. She was also 
 imported from Maryland by Benj. Robertson. She is also the 
 mother of Gen. R. L. Williams' fine dogs, Boston, Blanche and 
 Fury; I. F. Calk's John; James Scobee's Lick; S. S. Fizer's 
 Winder and Ringwood; also mother to J. P. Games' Mary, all of 
 glorious fame and renown. Fury was the champion of her race. 
 She won her fame in many a hard-contested heat ; and wore her 
 laurels with honor till the day of her death, like a garland of 
 flowers around her neck, wreathed by fairy fingers, entwined 
 with roses of red and ribbons of blue, fanned by the breezes of 
 Summer and the zephyrs of Autumn, after many a glorious 
 victory. Speed she had deserving to lead. Her lustrous deeds 
 did blind men's eyes with tlieir beams. Her voice spread wider 
 than a dragon's wings. Her sparkling eye replete with wrathful 
 fire more dazzling, and drove back her enemies more than mid- 
 day's sun fierce bent against their faces. Her deeds excelled all 
 speech. She never trailed a reynard nor tracked a deer but 
 conquered. The blood of her stock is of that nature which 
 
THE AMERICAN FOXHOUND 
 
 49 
 
 courses through the natural alleys and gates of the body m 
 ^gular gra^lation showing the blood and speed m the luster of 
 eye, the beautiful color and form, the r^>:^%^'-^^^'^^^l^f^ 
 pUortioned limb, making one «y™-«t"f *°™ °* "/'^^'j; 
 strength and speed no other dogs possessed this side of their 
 Sand, giving them a distinction f--/!! °'^- ^^t' 
 readily perceived; and their voices, whose rude throats he im^ 
 mortal Jove's dread clamor counterfeited, are o* ™"*^ 
 strains of omniferous music, softly mellowing into intrmsic 
 sweetness, rival the wildest Utopian dreams ttat ever gathered 
 around the brow of that old inspired bard and s-e -nger o, 
 Israel as he walked the amaranthine promenades of the Garden 
 of Eden, and listened to the sweet Philomela aaid swift-wmged 
 warbler as they flitted and caroled f-m twig to t-S y'" «J^^ 
 rested beneath the shades and golden forbidden fruit a^^^ung 
 so temptingly in tlie silvery boughs and silk frmged foliage of 
 ttie Zposel tree of life. Fury with Tickler, Bird, Jake, 
 Gamester Stag, Lick, Boston, John, Eed Buck, Ringwood, 
 w'ndr Mary, Foot and MoUie and all of their ancestors run far 
 ^k to the p;ck of old righteous Sampson who -ugh* foxe 
 and tied firebrands to their tails, to scourge his e^emie and tt e 
 father and mother of his dogs were Esau's two fai hful old 
 hounds? Pinebender and Sprinkler, of far-fet.hed h,st«,.cal 
 fame, who followed him from his hunting grounds vvhen he sold 
 his birthright to Jacob for a mess of pottage for himse and 
 hungry dogs, and the progenitors of his pack were the first i»ir 
 of dog's that'ever m.de foot-prints in the damp soil or cr^ed a 
 trail upon the unsunlit and unvineclad summit of Mt. Ararat, 
 wTien Noah's second dove took her long and lonely departu . 
 and bruited back in enunciative strains of sonorous mu ic he 
 signal to Noah to unfetter his hounds, that the miirky deep had 
 assuaged and unveiled the gr«nd terraquous globe from center to 
 
 " B:;t: F:ry and many of her noble family are lying where 
 thrtall blue-gmss of Montgomery, like J-^^^'s sheaves to 
 Joseph's, bow in honor to their memory. May your puppies 
 
 prove worthy of their ancestors. ., ■ j « a Vr7vTi 
 
 Very respectfully, your friend, S. S. 1 izer, 
 Sec'y Sterling Hunting Club. 
 
50 THE AMERICAN FOXHOUND 
 
 THE WALKER STRAIN. 
 By A. C. Heffenger, M. D. 
 
 Since the advent of high class foxhounds in New England, 
 fox-hunters are continually asking of what blood these pro- 
 gressive hounds are constituted, and how they came by their 
 magnificent quality, so that a few words of explanation anent 
 this strain may be acceptable to the hunting readers of your 
 book. Mr. Walker, senior, the father of the now celebrated 
 Walker brothers, and Gen. Wash Maupin, were brought up and 
 lived very near each other in Kentucky. The home of Gen. 
 Maupin was in Madison county, the most noted hound county 
 in Kentucky. Mr. Walker, senior, and Gen. Maupin began 
 hunting together with the same hounds when quite young men. 
 They were genuine hunters, loved their hounds, took great pains 
 in breeding them, and had the best to be got. This was in the 
 time of the gray fox, about 1813, or ninety-two years ago. They 
 also hunted deer, not with a shot-gun, but in true sportsmanlike 
 form, allowing their hounds to do the killing. They hunted 
 harder, or gave their hounds more continuous work, than any 
 other hunters of their time. 
 
 When the red fox made his appearance, they soon found that 
 their hounds were not equal to the task of successfully coping 
 with him, and set about to get the necessary hound qualities, 
 demanded to run do^\^l and kill the fleet, tricky, enduring 
 newcomer. 
 
 The first out-cross that was made, was to a small black and 
 tan hound called Tennessee Lead, upon the best bitches of the 
 combined packs. This cross is said to have greatly improved the 
 striking, casting and speed of the strain. The pedigree of 
 Tennessee Lead is unknown, which is a great pity, for he was a 
 phenomenal hound. He was found running a deer on the 
 Cumberland mountains, Tenn., by a man returning from the 
 South, who took him to Kentucky and gave him to Gen. 
 Maupin. 
 
 A short time after this, in or about 1853, they imported a 
 couple of English foxliounds, dog and bitch. The bitch was im- 
 ported in whelp, and gave birth to five pups (four dogs and a 
 bitch) after reaching Kentucky. This English blood was not 
 only crossed upon the other dogs, but inbred upon itself, with 
 wonderfully good results . 
 
THE AMERICAN FOXHOUND 51 
 
 After the deaths of the senior Mr. Walker and Gen. Maupin, 
 these hounds were bred by Mr. Walker's sons, Mr. W. S. 
 Walker and Mr. E. H. Walker, and these gentlemen have 
 striven to keep the stock up to high vrater mark, and with great 
 success. While maintaining every good quality essential to a 
 high class red fox hound, they have bred especially to gameness, 
 grit and everlasting endurance. A quitter is almost unknown to 
 them, but, should one turn up, he never lives to perpetuate his 
 sin. These hounds are of all markings, black and tan, black, 
 white and tan, red and the various pies. This is the result of 
 breeding to the best hounds without regard to marking. 
 
 About fourteen years ago the Walkers imported Striver and 
 two bitches from the Duke of Eglinton's pack in Scotland, 
 (these were English dogs though coming from Scotland), and 
 crossed them upon the Walker hound, producing the noted Big 
 Strive, Pearl Strive, and many other splendid hounds. They are 
 now breeding back to the old blood again, finding they had too 
 much English blood for first-class nose and tongue. The famous 
 winnings of E. H. W^alker's Ailsie at the Brunswick Foxliound 
 Club's trials in 1903, proved the present breeding of the strain to 
 be equal to anything ever produced by the famous fox-hunting 
 family. 
 
 THE WHITLOCK STRAIN. 
 
 The "Whitlock Shaggy Foxhounds" were brought to Kentucky 
 from Maryland by Mr. Ben Robertson of Mt. Sterling, Ky. Mr. 
 Robertson was a horse dealer, and each year brought and drove 
 a lot of horses through Maryland to Baltimore. On the road he 
 would stop at the home of a gentleman who owned a large pack 
 of foxliounds, that he considered better than his dogs at home in 
 Kentucky, and on each trip would bring fresh blood for his 
 pack. His friend's dogs were kept in a large lot with boards set 
 perpendicular, ten feet high, and there was only one dog out of a 
 large number in this kennel that ever got out over the top of this 
 fence, and caught the fox that a pack of his neighbor's dogs were 
 running. He had published in one of the Maryland papers a 
 challenge offering to wager five hundred dollars that this dog 
 could catch or hole any red fox in Maryland in one hour, or beat 
 any dog in Maryland, for the same amount. There were no 
 takers. Mr. Robertson brought a son of the above dog home and 
 
52 THE AMERICAN FOXHOUND 
 
 named him. Eagle. Although he (Eagle) had a broken leg (done 
 when quite young) he was faster than any of Mr. Robertson's 
 dogs. 
 
 In 1868 I was invited to join a party going to the mountains in 
 Kentucky to hunt deer and foxes. After the hunt I stopped with 
 Col. Pat Cork, who kept the Robertson dogs, and he gave me a 
 red bitch named Patti, by Eagle, out of one of his best bitches. 
 One year previous to this Col. Cork sent me an old bitch by 
 Robertson's Tickler, with four puppies by Stag, son of one of 
 Robertson's former importations. One of the puppies was red, 
 like his sire, and I named him Stag Jr. I bred Patti to Stag Jr., 
 and from this mating got Gamester, Pool, Dean, and Stella. The 
 two latter I gave to Mr. Given of Indiana, near Sparta. He told 
 me they were the champions of his part of the state. Gamester, 
 the first named Stag and Patti puppy, was the best fox dog I ever 
 raised or saw. He ran at the head of my pack, and I never saw 
 him fail to catch a fox he got sight of. Gamester was a very 
 prepotent dog. Every bitch he was bred to produced runners. I 
 bred these dogs for eighteen years with only one out-cross. That 
 was the dog Wild Irishman. I got him from Col. Bob Stoner, 
 and he was related to Robertson's dogs. E. H. Howard. 
 
 In 1879 Mr. Howard was presented with another pair of 
 puppies from Gen. Dick Williams that he claimed were superior 
 to the red ones. They were also of the Robertson family of dogs 
 and came from Maryland. The bitch I lost by distemper. The 
 dog I saved and named him Dick Williams. Dick was out of 
 Blanch, by Robbin, he was out of Fury, by Whitey, a Maryland 
 dog. 
 
 I then bred Patti Whitlock (a red bitch by Gamester) to Dick. 
 By this mating I got Clara I, the greatest dog I ever raised or 
 owned. She lived to be seven years old, and no man that knew 
 her questioned her ability to go to the front in any company, 
 carry the track, and stay there. From her I got Clara II, who 
 had probably a greater reputation from the fact that she was a 
 bench winner. She was the winner of a good many first prizes. 
 At Lexington, Ky., at the the largest show of foxhounds ever 
 held in the U. S., she won first in class, first as a brace with The 
 Bard, and first for the best bitch in the show. Upon the advice 
 of Col. Howard I bred Clara II to her litter brother and got 
 Pansy. She was game but not fast. From her I got two litters, 
 
THE AMERICAN FOXHOUND 53 
 
 and as a whole, she throwed me the best pups I ever owned, all 
 being speedy and game. From Pansy I got Ida Pickwick, who 
 won the Chattanooga field trial when she was past eight years 
 old, with Flag, a full sister two years younger, a good second. 
 
 One of the first trials of foxliounds was at West Point, Miss. I 
 entered two dogs and sent them to Maj. Yal Young of Waverly, 
 Miss. They barred my dogs on the grounds that I was not a 
 member. We had a controversy through the American Field, 
 and I produced a receipt for my initiation, and being in good 
 standing certainly was a member. Mr. Lewis and Mr. Avent 
 were the winners that year. The committee then ordered that I 
 should have satisfaction by meeting with three dogs each and 
 running a race. There was to be a bench show in the near 
 future at Cincinnati, and I named that time for the race. Mr. 
 Avent answered an acceptance with a provision that he would 
 not go so far to run unless the consideration was a purse of |600. 
 I made my deposit with Mr. J. Shelly Hudson of Covington, 
 Ky., then the owner of the Latonia Kennels. He answered Mr. 
 Avent. Mr. Avent was at the show with his setters, but left his 
 hounds at home. 
 
 I bred a granddaughter of Gamester to Rowdy, a Walker dog, 
 and raised three puppies, one of which I gave to Mr. Walker. 
 He named him Rowdy, and he won the field trials at Cynthiana, 
 Ky. He was entered as Mr. Walker's breeding, but he was from 
 my bitch and I bred him all the same. 
 
 I ran a pack of dogs £rom Campbell county, Ky., in the days 
 of Clara II that came to my house on a steamer, and w^e went to 
 Fort Hill, Ohio, and easily defeated them. They laid no claim 
 to any part of it. My white bitch Claud caught the fox on the 
 
 ground. 
 
 I ran a match race with a Mr. Bristow of Kenton county, Ky., 
 with my bitch Clara I and her half sister. We were to run two 
 dogs each. He ran a bitch called May, tnat was bred at or near 
 Lexington, Ky., and claimed that she had never been beaten. 
 They holed the fox in less than two hours, and his dogs never 
 carried a point in the race. r^ i -n tt 
 
 The first part of this article is by my worthy friend. Col. E. H. 
 Howard, whom I hunted with from my early boyhood up to the 
 time when he gave me his dogs and practically retired from the 
 field. While his silvery hair tells that he has passed many 
 frosty mornings, he sits on his horse erect and can make many 
 
54 THE AMERICAN FOXHOUND 
 
 of the boys sit sideways returning from the chase, Mr, Howard 
 has always been a lover of fine stock and devoted much time to 
 the breeding of same, and has always been my counsel in 
 breeding my dogs. He has always been a thorough hunter and a 
 gentleman of the first water, I wish you could know him as I 
 do. 
 
 My dogs were named tlie Shaggies by Mr. Robertson before I 
 got them. They were very rough coated and could take to ice 
 or briars without harm to themselves, 
 
 I think we have always improved our hounds by judicious 
 breeding, 
 
 I am now on the shady side of the bush, and will soon have to 
 retire and make room for those that love to ride to the hounds 
 and see the finish. A, B, Whitlock. 
 
 THE ARKANSAS TRAVELLER STRAIN. 
 By C. Floyd Huff, Hot Springs, Ark. 
 
 The Arkansas Traveller hounds were given that name by my 
 hunting friends and companions. I have had them for a number 
 of years and liave been hunted and bred by me for my personal 
 pleasure. They are the result of such intelligence as I possess in 
 this line of crossing the thoroughbred English, the best Ken- 
 tucky blood, as evidenced by field trial tests, with a strain of 
 hounds that have been bred pure in Missouri since the Civil 
 War, but whose ancestry cannot be traced beyond that period, 
 Tlie predominating blood of the Arkansas Travellers is from this 
 Missouri strain, 
 
 Tlie Missouri dogs referred to have no name as a breed. They 
 were simply bred and hunted in the family for the personal 
 pleasure of their owners. 
 
 They are small, racily built, rather long haired, shaggy, short 
 eared black and tans. They are very speedy, are fast and wide 
 scouts, work a trail rapidly and only cry it here and there. They 
 are not mouthy on trail, but give sufficient tongue to pack. 
 Tliey are dead game and will run a fox under any conditions or 
 circumstances better than any strain of hounds I have ever 
 hunted. As a rule they have a sharp, screaming cry, both on 
 trail and when running. When running they tongue freely and 
 very fast, and with a viciousness that suggests interest. They 
 
THE AMERICAN FOXHOUND 55 
 
 are successful red fox hounds, but run too wide and fast for 
 grays. As a pack they are not successful gray fox hounds. They 
 will run over too far, and as they cast forward on a run-over or 
 loss, instead of backward, they run a gray ordinarily about like 
 a rabbit that dodges and tacks. This one quality of casting wide 
 and ahead, in my opinion, is one of the qualities so necessary to 
 catch a red fox, and I have known them time and again to pull 
 away from a pack of otherwise good hounds, who would go back 
 to pick up a loss and never catch up again. I have often heard 
 the owners of such hounds express wonder and chagrin at their 
 liounds being seemingly thrown out on a loss. 
 
 This strain of hounds for years have successfully run the red 
 fox. To prevent inbreeding to an injurious extent, and to inject 
 new blood, I imported a pair of English hounds. By experi- 
 menting I came to the conclusion that a proper amount of 
 English blood somewhat improved the size, and perhaps the 
 stamina or bottom of them. It required time and patience to 
 determine just where to stop the cross. Mr. Norvin T. Harris of 
 Lyndon, Ky., in 1901, presented me with a bitch sired by 
 Champion Big Strive (one-half English) out of Lygia, she by 
 Jay Bird, out of an English-July bitch, La Tosca. Big Strive, 
 Lygia, Jay Bird and La Tosca were all field trial winners at 
 National Foxliunters' Association meets, and some of them at 
 trials in Massachusetts of the Brunswick Foxhound Club. This 
 bitch proved to be exceptionally fast and thoroughly game, a 
 beautifully built hound, fine style and carriage, and altogether a 
 hound of the first class. Her greatest faults w^ere timidity, and 
 feet that got sore from hard running. Both these qualities 
 seemed to be lost in her progeny by increasing the English 
 blood. The English have strong constitutions and are ravenous 
 feeders. By transmitting these qualities to progeny of timid 
 bitches, and those lacking in strong constitutions, I found I 
 overcame these objectionable traits. By experimenting in this 
 way for years, I convinced myself that I had improved the 
 original strain and got about what I thought to be the best. 
 The qualities, traits, and individuality, and also the color of the 
 original hounds, have been largely preserved. 
 
 These are the Arkansas Travellers of to-day, and are mostly 
 the original color of black and tan, occasionally there will come 
 white, black and tan puppies, and now and then a red one. 
 They have been hunted in Texas, Louisiana, Kentucky, Missouri, 
 
56 THE AMERICAN FOXHOUND 
 
 Mississippi, Massachusetts, New York, and all over Arkansas, 
 and both their appearance and performance have challenged the 
 admiration of hunters wherever they have been. 
 
 They take to hunting foxes as a bird dog does to birds. They 
 train themselves if given an opportunity. They are in evidence 
 in any hunt, and in camp hunts I have hunted them night and 
 day for a week, and they are always willing to go and stay. 
 
 THE COOK STRAIN. 
 By A. C. Heffenger, M. D. 
 
 This strain of American foxhounds, so much in vogue in all 
 parts of the United States fifteen years ago, has almost entirely 
 disappeared, and it is doubtful if any of the pure blood exist 
 to-day. Their originator, the late Mr. H. E. Cook of Detroit, 
 Michigan, began the development of the strain in 1866 or '67, 
 and his idea was to produce a foxhound with the cold nose and 
 correct hound head of the native type, with the clean neck and 
 shoulders, and general physical excellence of the English fox- 
 hound trimmed into racing form. That he succeeded in 
 breeding some of the most beautiful and racily formed fox- 
 hounds ever seen in this country, no good hound judge who saw 
 them can deny. They had plenty of bone and muscle too, and 
 their heads were models of hound character, but where Mr. 
 Cook failed was in obtaining sufficient coat and leather, and to 
 these short-comings may be attributed the passing of the strain. 
 It is impossible to determine where Mr. Cook obtained the origi- 
 nal specimens from which he made his crosses leading up to his 
 distinctive type, but from their heads and smooth coats it would 
 seem that they came from Virginia, Pennsylvania, and northern 
 Ohio. These Cook foxliounds showed in head, coat and stern, 
 what the up-to-date hound man would call pot-licker blood, or 
 in other words total absence of tlie blood of the modern English 
 foxhound. They were both bench and field trial winners, but 
 their success was most marked in the bench shows of the United 
 States, and I think, in Canada also. 
 
 In fact these foxliounds swept everything before them in the 
 bench shows of the country until the Kentucky breeders began 
 showing their type, with the modern English cross in it. These 
 Kentucky hounds, as best represented by Big Strive and Pearl 
 
THE AMERICAN FOXHOUND 57 
 
 Strive, outpointed the Cook liounds in every way save head and 
 by co;tinuous winning soon ran them off the crcmt. Pearl 
 sirive was the cleanest and raciest foxhound I have ever seen, 
 though ha« English. Next to her, the Cook ^td., Modest G.^^ 
 filled my eye. Modest Girl liad the better head, but Pearl Strive 
 scored over her generally in body, legs and feet. 
 TspL of having been displaced upon the bench, however, i 
 Mr. Cook's hounds had been able to stand the P™'*-;"' °* 
 hard running under rough conditions, which he claimed hey 
 co^wl, they would have been just as popular with practical 
 fox-hunters to-day as they were fifteen years ago^ 
 
 Many specimens came to New England, and most of «>em 
 were large and showy in appearance, dog hounds bemg f.om 
 Twenty-three to twenty-six inches, and bitches from twenty to 
 twenty-three inches. Most of them were conventional black 
 white and tans, though some were black and tan, -^ afew b - 
 mottled, black and tan. The three most notable representatives 
 Tthe strain seen at the field trials of the Brunswick Fo^iound 
 riuh were A M Gerry's Drive, A. McDonald's Queen, and E. 
 TolIeT's Modest Girl. Drive won more in ^eld trials. Queen 
 was probably the best all-round worker, and Modest Grl was 
 the best show hound. Queen was bred to the celebrated Joe 
 Forester, and it happened that a couple of years af^rward^ at 
 the show of the New England Kennel Club, Boston, Mass^, 1890, 
 Joe Forester won first in open dogs. Modest Girl m open bitches^ 
 and Flora Temple and MoUie T., (Joe Forester-Queen) won 
 Lcond and third to Modest Girl. After this M- «ook was very 
 anxious to see Joe Forester, and breed to him, but .11 health and 
 dLh put an end to his ambitions. Had he lived to -ke pro^x 
 crosses on Joe Forester, a foxhound of great substance and ever 
 asting speed and endurance, his strain would '-ve obtained jut 
 the points needed, and would have held its popularity to-^y the 
 same as in the eighties. As previously mentioned I considered 
 Sodest Girl the best physical specimen of the strain ever saw 
 Symmetrical, strong, clean and racy from head to ^tern witii 
 the richest black, white and tan markings, f'^^/J ^""f.'f 
 beauty, fair to look upon, and the ''^t»-l "^f *° /°?^f ^^f i 
 an equally handsome hound, my property at that time and 
 haveTways regretted that I did not buy the "Girl" and make 
 
 *' Mroook's favorites were Champion Brave and Whoopey. 
 
58 THE AMERICAN FOXHOUND 
 
 One was black, white and tan, and the other black and tan. 
 They were nearly twenty-six inches and racily built. Brave was 
 the greatest bench show winner of the strain, while Mr. Cook 
 considered Whoopey the best all-round worker. In a letter to a 
 New England fox-hunter he states that he sent Wlioopey to a 
 friend in Texas, who was to hunt him on wolves, and against all 
 the noted foxhounds in the state at the time. The Texas fox- 
 hounds represented all the leading strains in the country, and 
 there were thirty -five of them, all experienced hunters on 
 wolves, while Whoopey had never seen one. He emphatically 
 says in this letter that "Whoopey took the lead and widened the 
 space between himself and the other hounds more and more, as 
 the chase progressed, until he finally overhauled and killed the 
 wolf before the second dog was up." He further says that after 
 this Whoopey made the circuit of the state and "came back 
 with a clean record and without a single defeat." 
 
 This seems remarkable to those who know what kind of 
 hounds the Texans have. It must be remembered, however, that 
 the accounts were wi'itten to Mr. Cook by enthusiastic friends, 
 and lie merely reiterates their statements. There can be no 
 doubt but that Whoopey was a remarkable all-round hound, and 
 it is greatly to Mr. Cook's credit that he should have bred him. 
 I hunted many times with Drive, Queen and Modest Girl. 
 Drive was an excellent hunter and starter, and when the fox was 
 up, drove fast and clean for several hours, after which his lack 
 of endurance became evident and the slower, but tougher, New 
 England hounds then caught up to and held him. His voice was 
 magnificent, and rang out in such clarion tones as one seldom 
 hears in these days. Queen was a nice all-round bitch, not as 
 fast as Drive, but with more leather and endurance, and stood 
 up well under a six or eight hour's hard run. Modest Girl left 
 New England before she was well trained and developed in the 
 hunting field , her excellent conformation making it more profit- 
 able to send her on the bench show circuit. 
 
 Besides Champion Brave and Modest Girl, there were many 
 other noted bench show winners in this strain, notably among 
 which were Champion Roderick and Champion Spotty. It is a 
 pity, and a distinct distinct loss to the foxhound family, that 
 this good strain should have practically disappeared. Mr. A. 
 McDonald, of Rockland, Me., previously mentioned, in the de- 
 scendants of Queen, still has some of the Cook blood in his 
 
THE AMERICAN FOXHOUND 59 
 
 kennels, but numerous out-crosses have greatly diluted it, and 
 ere long its percentage will be inappreciable. 
 
 THE AVENT STRAIN. 
 By A. C. Heffenger, M. D. 
 
 This strain of American foxhounds owned and bred originally 
 by Mr. J. M. Avent, Hickory Valley, Tenn., came into national 
 prominence in the latter eighties, and their memorable contest 
 with the Wild Goose hounds in the field trials of the Inter-State 
 Fox-hunters' Club, Waverly, Miss., Dec. 2, 1889, stamped them 
 as among the best in the country. In these trials the puppy 
 stake went to Wild Goose Pack's Mounter, with Avent Pack's 
 Flora a close second. In the all -age stake first in speed went to 
 Avent Pack's Rock, with Wild Goose Pack's Callie Gates a close 
 second. In hunting and trailing the Avent hounds were not 
 placed. In the pack stake Wild Goose took first, with Avent's 
 second, and Willis' third. Tliis fine showing made fox-liunters 
 all over the country seek the Avent blood, and some of it came 
 to New England through Mr, R. D. Perry of Massachusetts, and 
 will be mentioned later. 
 
 The origin of these hounds is not as clear as in the case of 
 some of the American strains, but like most of them traces back 
 fundamentally to the old Virginia black and tan. They were 
 known in Tennessee as the Ferguson hound and were crossed 
 with the Bacheler. They were then inbred to a great degree, 
 and to this may possibly be attributed the gradual loss of type 
 and public favor. It is said that few of the original blood are 
 left, and a gentleman who hunts with them each year has 
 recently told me that the type of the present pack was much like 
 that of some of mine of pure Kentucky breeding. In 1890 I saw, 
 hunted with, and carefully examined three young Avent hounds 
 owned by Mr. R. D. Perry, and said to be of the original, correct 
 type of the strain. They were trim, lightly built, springy black 
 and tans, a dog and two bitches. The latter failed to make good, 
 and Mr. Perry discarded them. The dog, however, named 
 Clinker, proved a wonderful youngster and deserves a special 
 description. He was about twenty-three inches at shoulder, 
 racily and strongly built, clean head and neck, nice shoulder, 
 good chest, strong in loin and quarters, legs and feet of the best 
 
60 THE AMERICAN FOXHOUND 
 
 of Americau kind, and with a docked trigger stem. He was 
 very black all all over except lower part of legs and feet which 
 were rich tan, and tan spots over eyes. His coat was short, but 
 strong and covered well. His action was quick, springy, and 
 showed power and litheness. He was a wide, galloping hunter, 
 fast trailer, swinging in circles at a loss the same as in driving, 
 but it was in driving a hot scent that he was seen at his best. 
 Here he had no equal at the time he ran in the field trials of the 
 Brunswick Foxhound Club. At the second annual trials of this 
 club. Great Island, Me., 1890, he won first in speed and driving 
 in the all-age stake, though only a puppy. At the third annual 
 trials, Princeton, Mass., 1891, where I was chairman of judges, 
 he won highest general average in the all -age stake. During 
 these trials when one one of the hottest hunts was on, some one 
 shot at and slightly wounded the fox, then about two hundred 
 yards ahead of Clinker, who was leading the pack by at least an 
 eighth of a mile. I happened to be near where the shot was 
 fired, and i-an to the place to find Clinker baying the fox, which 
 was backed against a tree. When I came up the fox started to 
 run and Clinker caught and killed him before any other hound 
 came up. This fine hound was bred to many New England 
 bitches but the crosses failed to produce notable progeny. 
 
 The fame of these hounds induced many notable sportsmen to 
 visit them, and that premier sportsman of America, Mr. Thomas 
 Hitchcock, Jr., bought a half interest in them and removed 
 them for some years during the hunting season to Aiken, S. C, 
 where they gave admirable sport for years. Mr. Hitchcock 
 finally drew out of the partnership, and started the Aiken 
 Hounds, his individual pack. The pack is now owned I am told 
 by Mr. H. B. Duryea and Mr. J. M. Avent, and is kept at 
 Hickory Valley, Tennessee, where many of America's best 
 hunting men ride to them in season. 
 
 THE WILD GOOSE STRAIN. 
 
 By A. C. Heffenger, M. D. 
 
 One of the most popular strains of foxliounds which America 
 has evolved is that known now as the Wild Goose. Though ex- 
 isting for many years in Tennessee and the South, the first speci- 
 mens found their way into New England in the eighties, and 
 
THE AMERICAN FOXHOUND 61 
 
 gained well merited fame in the field trials of the Brunswick 
 Foxlionnd Club. Two well known hunters of Massachusetts, 
 Mr R D Perry and Mr. E. J. Bates, purchased two slightly 
 different types of the strain. Mr. Perry's couple were black 
 white and tan, and out of Callie Gates, the most famous bitch of 
 the strain, and winner of first honors in the Inter-State Fox- 
 liunters' Club trials at Waverly, Miss., Dec. 2, 1889. These 
 hounds were mcily built, handsome and catchy m appearance, 
 and proved fast, wide hunters and drivers. They were rather 
 light in bone and coat for our our climate, and wmter huntmg 
 was very punishing to them. Mr. Bates had a couple of red 
 hounds, larger and coarser than Mr. Perry, and one, "Leads 
 All," proved himself a first-class working hound for any 
 climate. They all had good noses, and musical tongue, and 
 crossed on the New England foxliound, slower and tougher, pro- 
 duced splendid stock for any country. I crossed Joe Forester, 
 first winner of the American Field Cup in the B. F. C. trials, on 
 Annie Dance, a Callie Gates bitch, and every one of the progeny 
 proved first-class foxliounds; one. Resolution, is the best hound 
 I own, and the best I ever saw save his sire Joe Forester. 
 
 The origin of the strain I can best give by quoting from a 
 letter written me by Col. J. W. Lewis, Paris, Tennessee, the 
 present owner of the pack. "The original dogs were brought 
 from Virginia by my father, in 1835; he called them the "briar- 
 patch" dog. They were white, black and tan, and blue speckled 
 in color. Father was a man of affairs in those days, and a great 
 sportsman that wanted tlie best. He met here, as he told me, 
 other men of the same ambition. Soon quite a rivalry sprung 
 up between them, when each began to buy and improve his 
 dogs Mr. John Fuqua, a negro speculator, imported from 
 England some time in the fifties, an English dog that was crossed 
 on father's best bitch. A few years later, the same man, Fuqua, 
 got another dog from Georgia, that was red and white spotted. 
 They crossed tliis dog in with the other cross. Some time m the 
 sixties, another wealthy man and speculator, brought a white 
 and black spotted dog from Maryland, and crossed him on the 
 best bitch they had. This was the first of my recollection of the 
 dogs of my father. Again a gentleman traveling through this 
 country in fine style, going to Reelfoot Lake on a hunt, gave me 
 a bitch that he said was the best bred foxhound in North 
 Carolina, and we bred to her. I then took charge of the dogs 
 
62 THE AMERICAN FOXHOUND 
 
 and crossed them as best I could, breeding upon the idea of the 
 survival of the fittest, and have since that time made several 
 crosses v^ith the English, the Kentucky dog, known as the 
 Goodman, and with an Irish hound, that was bought and owned 
 by a man in Madison county. Finally Fleet and Raum were 
 produced, from whom sprang Callie Gates, the greatest fox- 
 hound in my judgement the world ever knew, together with 
 many others that have followed down through my kennel. 
 
 My dogs are all black and white with tan points, they hunt 
 like pointers, run for blood, have cold, quick noses, and know no 
 quit. I have hunted all the various strains of dogs, and have 
 owned them from nearly every important kennel in the U. S., 
 and I don't believe that there is a strain of dogs living that are 
 as good all-round red fox dogs as the Wild Goose strain. 
 
 Now as to their name ; when I owned the ancestors of Callie 
 Gates, I had a pack that I believed could catch anything that 
 could not fly. They all had peculiar, soft, quick notes. One day 
 I was hunting together with Col. Robert Gates, and had been 
 troubled, and discussed with him a name for my pack. We 
 started an old traveller, as I suppose, who made a bee-line 
 twenty miles away. We being well mounted, and having some 
 puppies that we did not want to lose, followed. We were able 
 to follow on enquiring from house to house, as the fox ran as the 
 crow flies. Finally we came to an immense swamp, with horses 
 worn out, where we met a huntsman with a long rifle sitting be- 
 hind a big tree, as if watching for something. I enquired of 
 him if he had heard our dogs. He said, 'No, but there's the 
 damnedest gang of wild geese flying round in that swamp that 
 I've ever heard,' that he had been there for two hours trying to 
 get a shot at them, and asked us to listen. We pulled our horses 
 round, and could hear our pack in full cry, when the stranger 
 said, 'Those are the wild geese.' We hollowed a time or two, 
 tlie fox left the swamp, and was overtaken in a few minutes. 
 We got to the dogs and found one of the largest red foxes it has 
 ever been my fortune to see. Callie Gates and her brother, 
 Stonewall Jackson, were just ten months old. They both staid 
 in the race and were at the death. On our way home Col. Gates 
 said, 'Lewis, that fellow has furnished the name for our pack. 
 Let's call it the Wild Goose.' 
 
 Now, Doctor, pardon me for mentioning some of the peculiari- 
 ties of Callie Gates. From that day, it being her first race, she 
 
THE AMERICAN FOXHOUND 63 
 
 never gave tongue after anytliing when was on a horse but a fox. 
 I never saw her lie down in the woods or when on a hunt. I 
 never saw her carry her tail down. She would not bark at a 
 hole or work at one. She never wanted to be fondled. She 
 would not touch a fox if another dog caught it. If she caught 
 one herself, and another dog touclied it, she would loose it and 
 walk off and have nothing more to do with it. She would not 
 lie on the ground, but would get on a plank or up in a chair. I 
 have often seen her lying on a big rail on top of the fence like a 
 cat. She was never out of a race, and never failed to go to the 
 hole or death. She would never give tongue unless leading, and 
 would never eat anything thrown lier on the ground. I never 
 expect to see her like again." 
 
 It will be seen from the foregoing letter of Col. Lewis, that 
 the Wild Goose strain dates back about fifty years, that the old 
 Virginia hound was the foundation blood, upon which various 
 crosses, English, Birdsong from Georgia, Irish or July from 
 Maryland, a North Carolina strain, probably Byron, and finally 
 Maupin-Robertson or Goodman from Kentucky, were made, 
 producing Fleet and Raum, the progenitors of Callie Gates, and 
 the present type of the strain. 
 
PART IV. 
 
 ILLUSTRATIONS. 
 
DR. A. C, HEFFENGER'S '"JOE FORESTER." 
 
 First winner American Field Cup, Brunswick Foxhound Clubs field trials, 1889. First 
 prize open dogs. New England Kennel Club's bench show, Boston, Mass., 1890. The 
 best combined field and bench hound ever bred in New England. 
 
 ADMIRAL JAMES E. JOUETT'S "LOTTA." 
 
 A pure Brooke hound, bred and presented by Mr. John C. Bentley to Admlrai 
 Jouett. 
 

 MR. O. F. JOSLIN'S "RANGER." 
 
 Winner of the Derby in 1901 , and the All Age stake in 1902, Brunswick Foxhound 
 'Club's field trials. 
 
 MR. O. F. JOSLIN'S "CALLIE I." 
 
 Cup winner of the Brunswick Foxhound Club's field trials in 1 899. A granddaughts 
 •of Joe Forester. 
 
lUDGEC. FLOYD HUFF'S "MAJOR ROCK. 
 
 JUDGE C. FLOYD HUFF'S "DUDE. 
 
Webster Family Librany of Veterinary Medicine 
 Cummings School of Veterinary f/iedicine at 
 Tiiits University 
 200 Westboro Road