COURSING THE HARE

Wairarapa Times-Age, 15 August 1938, Page 9

COURSING THE HARE

OLDEST SPORT ON RECORD. Coursing the hare is no new sporting activity; it is held to be the oldest sport on record, and about A.D. 200 Arrian wrote of the way that coursing should be undertaken. The rules governing the sport today closely adhere to the basic principles laid down in that distant age. The first coursing meeting of which there is an official record was held at Swafftham, in Norfolk, in- 1776, being controlled by the famous Swafftham Society, which was founded by Horace Walpole, Earl of Oxford. In 1780 records show that the Ashdown Park Club introduced a novelty by putting a hare in a trap, and after allowing a certain amount of time the greyhounds were slipped. Goodlake, a coursing authority, writing of this, said: “The system, which we have never seen or heard of being put into practice at any other club, appears to be admirably adapted to show the strength and speed of the greyhound. It was found also to give an interest to many who did not care for the wilder sport of open coursing.” The Malton Coursing Club held a meeting in 1781. and a famous meeting at Amesbury followed in 1882. These meetings were run over the downs near Stonehenge, where the hares were famed for their great staying qualities. A result of these meetings was a world challenge issued by the Altcar . Club, which swept the board in the principal event. The first Waterloo Cup ever decided was in 1836. It was then a small affair for eight dogs only. The entry fee for each dog was £2, and the prizq.for the winner was a silver snuff-box. The Waterloo Cup took its name from the Waterloo Hotel, in Liverpool, where the original organisers made their headquarters. The Central Station now stands upon the hotel site. In 1878 New Zealand held its initial Waterloo Cup meeting on the property of the late Hon Matthew Holmes, Awamoa, Oamaru. The report of this meeting said: “The Awamoa Estate, placed at the service of the club by the Hon M. Holmes, was the scene of great activity, over 400 persons being present, about a thi;;d of them on horseback. Fifty dogs were entered, the nomination fee being £l2 10s each. The winner received £2OO and a piece of plate valued at £5O. The runner-up received £lOO, and 30 dogs divided £270 between them.”