HOUNDS IN ENGLAND.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume 2, Issue 87, 18 February 1879, Page 2

HOUNDS IN ENGLAND.

; No less than 108 separato packs of fox hounds are maintained in the United Kingdom, viz, 141 in England and Wales, Bin Scotland, and 19 in Ireland, numbering between them au.aggregatei of GOOO couples of hounds. " ; :

The largest pack is the Duke of Beaufort's, with their head quartersat Badmintons Wiltshire where 78 couples are main-' tained every season, hunting five days a week. ; . . . •

The next largest pack is the' Cottesmore, whose kennels ait Barleythorpe, near Oak-' ham, accommodate no'less than 67 couples of hounds; and next in order of size come, the Burkley. (Gloucestershire),; or Lord Fitz-hardinge's, with 6G£ couples, and the' Belvoir, with the Duke of Mlandasmaster, with G2 couples. The South Barkshire, the Bicester, the Fitzwilliam, the Hamble : don, the Haythope, the West Kent, the North Staffordshii'e, the Warwickshire, Sir Watkin Wynn's, and the Earl of Zetland's packs contained 120. hounds each; aiid 39 other packs number from.so couples upward apiece. - • The smallest pack is the'Stainton' Dale, hunting tho country'round Scarborough, with fourteen couples. In Scotland the Duke of Buc'cleucli maintains the largest' number Of hounds, his pack containing 64 couples, the Earl of Eglinton's cominguext, with 50 couples; whiloiu Ireland the Meath pack, with- Frank t Goodall as huntsman, aiid hunting-five' days a week/boasts as many as 72 couples, and there are four other packs with more than 100 hounds each.

Besides fox-hounds, there are 140 packs of harriers, two of which belong to Ireland and 43 to Scotland. These between them numbei'24oocouples, the largest pack being the Dufferin, ,with 30, couples of 24-inch / fox-hounds,huntingroundComber, CouiW ty Down. Eleven other packs contain 25 couples each and oveiy viz. j the Anglesea, Sir R, Bateson, Harvey's, the Holcomhe, the Lowther-(Earl of Lonsdale's), the Earl of Pembroke s and Mr Mills' in: England and wales; and the Bellinter, the..Lecale, Mr O'Hara's, Lord, Eossmore's and Sir J. Stronge's in Ireland,

The stag-hounds packs number in England, with a total of 337 couples of hounds, and four, in Ireland, with an'average of 115 couples, The largest is her Majesty's, with 80 hounds, The celebrated pack of black St. Huberts, belonging to the late Mr Thomas Nevill, which used to hunt in Hampshire, has been sold, and most of tho •hounds have gone abroad. Lord Wolverton has a packof 35 ( bloodhoundsat Shaftsbury, Dorsetshire. '

Of beagles there are 18 packs, aggregating 233 couples,-the mo3t important pack being Mr Addie's, of Airdrie,N.B., which numbers 25 couples. • It will thus be seen that, omitting a few small private packs of hounds, about2o,ooo dogs of various breeds are maintained in different parts of tho country; either through private enterprise or by local subscription, solely for the purpose of this kind of sport.