HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN FOXHOUND
T he first mention of hounds in the New World was in a diary of one of the men with Fernando de Soto, who in 1539 came from Cuba to the continent with 600 men, hors- es, hogs and hounds. No further mention is made of hounds, although Captain John Smith mentions the native gray fox among animals he wrote about in a letter in 1613. A work of Th eodore DeBrys shows the sport was enjoyed in Virginia, and there is an engraving of a horseman and a single hound chasing a deer. Th is book was pub- lished in 1619, a year before the Mayflower set sail for the New World. Th ese early hounds can be found in the background of the Old Native Virginia Hound. Robert Brooke is credited with bring- ing the first pack of hounds to the colonies. He landed at what is now Calvert County in Southern Maryland on June 30, 1650. Robert Brooke is the first Master of Fox- hounds in America. Roger Brooke Taney, Chief Justice of the United States spent the winter of 1795-1796 at his ancestor’s home and wrote an article on foxhunting. It was from this pack that the Brooke hounds of Maryland developed. Th ey have been famous for over 200 years. Th ese hounds have had material influence as the tap-root of a number of American strains both pack and field trial hounds. Th ere is reference of these hounds in letters and records of Messrs. Trigg, Maupin, Wade and Walker. Reference can be found in the American Turf Register and other sporting magazines from 1794-1864. Among Robert Brooke’s pack was a magnificent hound, “Brooke’s Barney.” He stood 26" at the shoulder, an immense size for that time, and was heav- ily coated with steel grey hair. In 1730, the red fox of England was imported to the Eastern Shore of Mary- land. Until that time the hounds had only
By Mrs. Robert D. Smith
Hazira’s Billie Joe—an excellent head study of this multiple Best in Show hound.
Ch Hazira’s Cecil—Multiple Best in Show Hound and 2nd Generation Breeder/Owner/Handled.
t4 )08 4 *()5 . "(";*/& " 13*-
Powered by FlippingBook