[Gutenberg 57007] • Foxhunting on the Lakeland Fells

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can usually download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1920 edition. Excerpt: ... CHAPTER IV HUNTING ON THE FELLS "The hounds but chop, the game ia strong, That pace of plight cannot be long, Hark I Tally-ho's from yon far height, And now the whiners wend in eight, Through Silver Ghyll for SMddaw Fell, They'll kill him if he goes to h--11" No description of fell hunting would be complete without a reference to John Peel, the famous Cumbrian Master and Huntsman. Although Peel was well known in his own country, his fame did not extend beyond the North, until the old song, "D'ye ken John Peel?" became popular. The spirited verses had little vogue until after Peel's death in 1854, when the song suddenly became fashionable. The original song differs in some respects from the modern version, particularly in the first line. "D'ye ken John Peel with his coat so gay?" is sung to-day, whereas the original is, "Did ye ken John Peel wi' his cwote seay gray?" Peel never wore a scarlet coat, his jacket was made of home-spun Cumberland wool, known locally as " hoddengray." The late Mr. Jackson Gillbanks, of Whitefield, gave a good pen-picture of John Peel, and I take the liberty of quoting it here. He said- "John Peel was a good specimen of a plain Cumberland yeoman. On less than 400 per annum he hunted at his own expense, and unassisted, a pack of foxhounds for half a century. John has in his time drawn every covert in the country, and was well known on the Scottish borders. Except on great days he followed the old style of hunting, --that is, turning out before daylight, often at five or six o'clock, and hunted his fox by the drag. He was a man of stalwart form, and well built; he generally wore a coat of home-spun Cumberland wool--a species called 'hoddengray.' John was a very good shot, and used a single-barrel, with flint...