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Foreword by Lord
Mancroft Survival - by Mary
Staib There are contributions from
Airedale
Beagles, Albany Bassets,Albrighton, Albrighton
Woodland,Aldenham Harriers, Ampleforth Beagles, Ashford
Valley, Atherstone, Avon Vale, Axe Vale Harriers,
Badsworth,
Banwen Miners, Barlow, Duke of Beaufort's, Bedale, Belvoir,
Berkeley, Berwickshire, Bewcastle Foxhounds, Bicester and
Whaddon, Bilsdale, Black Combe & District Beagles,
Blackmore and Sparkford Vale, Blankney, Blean Beagles,
Blencathra, Border, Braes of Derwent, Bramham Moor, Brecon
and Tallybont, Brighton and Storrington Beagles,Britannnia
Beagles, Brocklesby, Duke of Buccleuch, North Bucks Beagles,
Burton, Caerphilly
and District, Cambridgeshire, Carmarthenshire, Cattistock,
Cheshire, Cheshire Forest, Chiddingfold, Leconfield &
Cowdray, Chilmark Beagles, Christchurch and Farley Hill
Beagles, Claro Beagles, Cleveland, Clifton Foot Beagles,
Clifton on Teme, Clinkard Beagles, College Valley and North
Northumberland, Colne Valley Beagles, Coniston Foxhounds,
East Cornwall, North Cornwall, Coteley, Cotswold, Cotswold
Vale Farmers, North Cotswold, Cottesmore, Crawley and
Horsham, Croome and West Warwickshire, Cumberland,
Cumberland Farmers, Cumbria Beagles, Curre and Llangibby,
Cury Foxhounds, Cwrt Y Cadno Farmers' D.N.S.
Beagles, Dartmoor, North Dartmoor Beagles, David Davies, De
Burgh and North Essex Harehounds, Derwent, Devon and
Somerset Staghounds, East Devon, Mid Devon, North Devon
Beagles, South Devon, South Dorset, Dove Valley Minkhounds,
Dulverton Farmers, Dulverton West, Dumfriesshire, Dummer
Beagles, Dunston Harriers, South Durham, Easton
Harriers, Ecclesfield Beagle Hunt, Eggesford, Eglinton,
Emlyn Beagles, Enfield Chace, Eryri Hunt, Eskdale and
Ennerdale, Essex, Essex and Suffolk Foxhounds, Essex
Farmers' Union, east Essex Foxhounds, Eton College Beagles,
Exmoor Farndale,
Fernie, Fife, Fitzwilliam, Flint and Denbigh, Forest and
District Beagles, Four Burrow, Four Shires Mink
Hounds Garth
and South Bucks, Gelligaer farmers', Glaisdale, Glamorgan,
Goathland, Gogerddan, Golden Valley, Grafton, Grove and
Rufford Hampshire
Hunt, Haydon, South Herefordshire, North Herefordshire,
South Herts Beagles (and Black Coombe), Heythrop, High Peak
Harriers, Holcombe Harriers, Holderness, Huckworthy Basset
Hounds, Hunsley Beacon Beagles, Hursley Hambledon,
Hurworth Isle
of Wight, Isle of Wight Fot Beagles, Ilminster Beagles,
Irfon and Towy Jedforest Kent
and Sussex Minkhounds, East Kent, Kincardineshire Foxhounds,
Kinnaird Lambo
Beagles, Lamerton, Lanarkshire and Renfrewshire, Lauderdale,
Leadon Vale Bassets, Ledbury, North Ledbury, Liddesdale,
Llandeilo Farmers', Llanwnnen farmers', North Lonsdale,
Ludlow, Lunesdale Melbreak
Foxhounds, Mendip Farmers', Meynell and South Staffordshire,
Middleton, Minehead Harriers, Modbury Harriers,
Monmouthshire, Morpeth Nantcol,
New Forest Beagles, New Forest Hounds, Newcastle and
District Beagles, Norfolk Beagles, North Norflk Harriers,
West Norfolk Foxhounds, Nothamptonshire Mink Hounds, South
Notts Oakley,
Old Berkshire, Old Surrey, Burstow and West Kent, Osborne
Basset Hounds Palmer
Milburn Beagles, Pembrokeshire and Carmarthenshire
Minkhounds, Pembrokeshire and South Pembrokeshire Foxhounds,
Pendle Forest and Craven, Pennine Foxhounds, North Pennine
Foxhounds, Pentrych, Per Ardua Beagles, Percy, West percy,
Pimpernel Beagles ((Royal Signals), Pipewell Fooot Beagles,
Portman, Puckeridge, Pytchley Quantock
Staghounds, Quorn Radnorshire
and West Herefordshire, Rockwood Harriers, Ross Hariers,
Royal Artillery, Royal Rock Beagles Saltersgate
Farmers', Sandhurst and Aldershot Beagles, Seavington,
Sennybridge Farmers Hunt, Shropshire Beagles, North
Shropshire, South Shropshire, Silverton, Sinnington, Snowdon
Valley, West Somerset, West Somerset Beagles, West Somerset
Vale, Southdown and Eridge, Spooner's and West Dartmoor,
Staffordshire Moorland (Mr. Upton's Hounds), North
Stafffordshire, Staintondale, Stevenstone, Stoke Hill
Beagles, Stokeseley Farmers' Beagles, Stour Valley Beagles,
Suffolk Hunt, Surrey and North Sussex Beagles, Surrey union,
East Sussex and Romney Marsh Tanatside,
Taunton Vale, Taunton Vale Harriers, Taw Vale Beagles,
Tedworth, Teme Valley, Tetcott, South Tetcott, Thurlow,
Tiverton Foxhounds, Tivyside, Torrington Farmers', Towy and
Cothi, tredegar Farmers', Trinity Foot Beagles, North Tyne,
Tynedale Ullswater,
United Vale
of Aylesbury, vale of Clettwr, V.W.H., Vine and
Craven Warwickshire,
Warwickshire Beagles, Waveney Harriers, Weardale and Tees
Valley Beagles, Wensleydale, West of Yore, West Street
Tickham, Western, Weston and Banwell Harriers, Wheatland
Hunt, Wick and District Beagles, Sir Watkin
Williams-Wynn's,Wilton, South and West Wilts, Wiltshire and
Infantry, South Wold, Woodland Pytchley, Worcestershire, Wye
Beagles. York
and Ainsty (North), York and Ainsty (South), Ystrad Taf
Fechan, Ytene Mink Hunt Zetland The East Kent Hunt
- Throughout its long history
the East Kent has benefited from its own, very special
clutch of characters. One of the earliest recorded of this
interesting group was Old Norris, the earth-digger. Once,
around 1860, having discovered a poisoned vixen, he rescued
the three cubs. An account taken from the old Sporting
Magazine reports how on returning home, he discovered that
Mrs. Norris had given birth to "a little earth stopper". Old
Norris got her to suckle cubs, baby and all, which she did,
bringing the lot up safely." In 1900 the famous
Mastership of Henry Selby-Lowndes began in 1900 and the East
Kent country was to enjoy famous sport and a no less famous
tongue. A number of famous incidents are recorded of which
there is room for just two. Being reproved one day by a
clergyman for the strength and profanity of his language,
"What does that matter?" he said mildly - mildy at least for
him, "you preach and I swear, and neither of us gives a d--n
for what the other says." It is also reported of one
sportsman that, when rated by a Master for over-riding
hounds, replied: "Look here, I've been sworn at by Mr.
Forbes of the Hurworth, cursed by Lord Willoughby de Broke
in Warwickshire, and reviled by Mr. Henry Selby-Lowndes of
the East Kent, so that anything you say to me is as the
twittering of a small bird! More recently The East Kent
had the privilege of the chairmanship of Sally Whitehead.
Famous for her voice rather than any coarseness of language
she could, nonetheless, fell a mortal at 500 paces. Sadly
God saw fit to recruit Sally to whip-in for Him in September
2001 which is very much our loss and heaven's gain.
Nonetheless she left everyone who met her with some fond
recollections. The East Kent is now a two day country which
leaves a week that only Sally could accurately describe. We
discovered this one Saturday when her mount managed the
unmanageable and unseated his rider. Sally hit the road
terribly hard and was quite out cold for some moments. The
occupants of a nearby cottage summoned the air ambulance and
then went, unwittingly, to nurse the victim. Now the antis
have called our subject many names, members of the field
have almost certainly risked the odd critical thought but no
one who knew her would ever cast Sally in the role of
victim. The cottagers rejoined the patient and reassured her
that everything was going to be all right as the air
ambulance had been summoned. They might have been somewhat
taken aback by the rejoinder that they could just run along
and send that back as it wouldn't be needed. At that time
there approached a member of the mounted field and, having
completed some first aid training, felt the need to quiz
Sally to ascertain her level of consciousness and the risk
of concussion. "What's your
name?" "You know who I am," were
the words that were heard although the tone recalled the
sweatshirt that Sally favoured when running the Hunt Show. A
sweat shirt which displayed in large letters, the legend,
"Don't ask me any more damn silly questions." "What day of the week is
it?" enquired the now somewhat less enthusiastic
nurse. " Wednesday or a Saturday -
I'm hunting aren't I!" And so it has come to pass
that in East Kent we recite the days of winter weeks as
"Wednesday, some other days, Saturday, some other days,
Wednesday . . ." While not an exciting tale
of the chase it is to be hoped that this small window on the
lives of East Kent folk paints a picture of people, devoted
to their sport, the countryside and life as it should be
lived. The accounts have been chosen to amuse but this must
not mask the contribution that these people have made or the
gap that their passing has left in our lives. We are a small country,
surrounded and dissected by motorway and railway but a
country that has shown good sport for more than 200 years,
intends to show good sport for another 200 and by so doing
will give more to our communities and countryside than we
would ever take credit for.
(selected not for its
merit but because the necessary consent was readily
available!)
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