MOUNTAIN MUSINGS: THE LONG & WINDING HISTORY OF SCENTHOUNDS
...THE TALBOT DOGS, BEING SLOW, HEAVY, AND METHODICAL IN FOLLOWING A SCENT, COULD BE USED ON-LEAD TO TRACK A THIEF OR THE BLOOD TRAIL OF A WOUNDED ANIMAL.
ears, and long bodies with comparatively short and heavy legs. They had wonderfully keen noses and deep, melodious voices. Today’s Bloodhounds are direct descendents of these St. Hubert Hounds, but are bred for more leg length. Eventually, as the St. Hubert hounds spread throughout France, all colors became acceptable. The St. Hubert Hounds were imported to England as early as the late 13th century. Records from this period indicate that James IV of Scotland used them to rout game, driving the animals into the open. The hunters would then release their swift gazehounds that would run down and catch the quarry. In all probability, some of those hounds were white: Enter the Talbot Dog. Legend says that the Talbot came from Normandy to England with William the Con- queror, but this cannot be verified with any documentation. What we do know is that “Talbot” was a very common name for a hound by the time of Chaucer, and that references to a white Talbot Dog existed by the mid-15th century. Beginning in those mid-1400s, the Earls of Shrewsbury, whose family name is Talbot, created on their family crest a white, short-legged hound. The Talbot Dog was certainly similar to the Bloodhound—“white” is given as one of the colors of the Bloodhound around the 16th and 17th centuries—and similar in size and in use to a leash-hound. In other words, the Talbot Dogs, being slow, heavy, and methodical in following a scent, could be used on-lead to track a thief or the blood trail of a wounded animal. The Talbot seems to have existed as a breed, a little distinct from the Bloodhound, until the end of the 18th century after which it disappeared (but not before
This Talbot Dog was painted upon the ceiling of the Dining Room after Sir Henry Vernon (1445- 1515) married Ann Talbot, daughter of the Earl of Shrewsbury. (Haddon Hall Photo)
adding its genes to the creation of several more scenthound breeds). ENGLAND’S NORTHERN HOUND & THE SOUTHERN HOUND
Mainly bred in Yorkshire, but common throughout northern England, was the North- ern Hound, a large, bony hound with a square head with long, trailing ears, that was usually tri-colored. He was also called the Northern Beagle and he descended from the Talbot Dog judiciously crossed with Greyhounds. The Northern Hound was, therefore, faster than the Talbot, so he was able to run down rabbits for dinner. The writer and poet Gervase Markham, who wrote a number of books on animal husbandry in the early 17th century, described the North Country Beagle as having: “...a head more slender, with a longer nose, ears and flews more shallow, back broad, belly gaunt, joints long, tail small and his general formmore slender and greyhound-like...” By the 18th century, the upper classes preferred the fast-paced fox hunts, so the North- ern Hound fell out of favor and, finally, became extinct by the late 19th century. However, the packs of this rabbit hunting hound were the nucleus of what would become the mod- ern Beagle. In addition, the Northern Hounds were used to develop the Harrier and the English Foxhound. The Southern Hound, as its name implies, was bred and used in the southern half of England. This hound, too, descended from the Talbot Dog and, as such, had the same heavy body, but was tall with a square head and long ears. He possessed a deep chest, a long, bony body, and an excellent scenting ability along with a melodious voice. The Southern Hound also had roots in the Gascon hounds that were a gift from Henry IV of France to James I of England at the beginning of the 17th century. Because of its lack of speed and deliberate nature, it was considered best used for hunting game such as hare or deer. Such prey animals would eventually become exhausted by the hounds’ unrelenting pursuit and could not escape to the safety of a den or burrow. “Stonehenge” wrote that the Southern Hound had a keener nose than the Northern Hound and a sweeter voice. He also indicated that the Southern Hound had a more pro- nounced dewlap and was mainly black and white with blue mottling. Although these hounds fell out of favor during the 18th century as the faster Foxhound came into vogue, they served as breeding stock for the development of the Otterhound and the Coonhounds.
An illustration of the Southern Hound from 1852, The Dog in Health and Disease by “Stonehenge”.
A canine athlete with the endurance to run for miles and for hours at a time, the English Foxhound is the epitome of a dog bred for a purpose. (www.dogtron.com)
SHOWSIGHT MAGAZINE, JULY 2021 | 251
Powered by FlippingBook