OUT WITH THE FOXHOUNDS

Dominion, Volume 30, Issue 113, 6 February 1937, Page 23

OUT WITH THE FOXHOUNDS

“The Sweet Cry of Hounds.” by E. 0. Somerville and Martin Ross: (London: Methuen). This is not the haughty cry of wellbred hounds in a fashionable English pack, but. a much more human sound from packs in Southern Ireland, not of unimpeachable breeding it is true, but, nevertheless, keen on the scent. Dr. Somerville relates delightful anecdotes of informal days out with the hounds, in a countryside where the love of the sport and the love of a good horse are common to all the inhabitants and where everyone who is humanly able, despite his mount or lack of one. follows the hunt. Here the country aids the fox and a kill is often lacking at the finish of a run while the weather tries the endurance of the hardiest debtees of the sport. The incidents are widely divided in character, ranging from the trials of a new made M.F.H. to a charming modern version of Red Riding Hood. The authors need no introduction as writers upon fox-hunting and the style has a grace and charm all its own while added atmosphere is given by the vivid illustrations of “E. O. S.' £