Braes of Derwent Hunt
BDH History
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Braes of Derwent Hunt BDH History |
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THE EARLY HISTORY OF FOX HUNTING IN COUNTY DURHAM – 1670 to 1819 THE BRAES OF DERWENT HUNT 1820 to 1947 Click here for a selection of historical Braes pictures Click here to step back in time to 1936. Click here for the article The Braes, back to former glories - The Field 6th January, 1977 Click here for the article A Day with the Braes of Derwent There can be few districts in which the early history of foxhunting is so obscure and so complicated as in the county of Durham. Masters and hounds appear and hunt for a few seasons. Then the Masters resign, hounds are dispersed, and, as likely as not, their country remains unhunted for a time. The earliest record of hunting in the country goes back to 1670, when Captain Robert Hutton hunted his Houghton-le-Spring hounds. He must have been a remarkable person, for he conceived the unusual idea of being buried with all his horses and hounds, and when the time came all were duly slaughtered and buried with him among the fruit trees in the gardens of Houghton Hall, which he had built. By 1770 there was a pack of hounds kept in Sunderland whose achievement also claims attention. One day a bag fox was turned out at Newbottle and was, as is customary, killed fairly soon. After a few minutes another fox jumped up, and provided a wonderful hunt of twenty-six miles as hounds ran. Nor was the end less remarkable than the duration, for the fox ultimately found safety on board a ship lying by the quayside at Sunderland. The Braes of Derwent country is, of course, the district from which Surtees drew much of his inspiration. Many situations and personalities were drawn from the Castleside Hounds, which were formed about 1845 by Mr. J. B. Richardson, father of the famous “Shotley” (for many years the hunting editor of The Field), to whose book, Hunting in Many Countries, I am indebted for various ascriptions. Mr. Richardson's huntsman was one Joseph Kirk, and he is almost certainly the original of James Pigg. Surtees wrote many of his books at his estate called Hamsterley, and this was the origin of Handley Cross. Pinch Me Near Forest was derived from the country round Chopwell House, and it is almost certain that Handley, Cross Spa owes its origin to the intended spa at Shotley, where there are still some medicinal waters. Suttees often turned out on a cob to watch Mr. Richardson's hounds, and for a time he himself hunted a pack of harriers in the country round his estate. The origins of the Braes of Derwent are very uncertain. “Shotley” records that about 1820 one Mr. Humble, of Eltringham, hunted the country with a trencher-fed pack, and that when he died the country was unhunted for several years. Some twenty years later Mr. Thomas Ramsay founded a pack known as the Prudhoe and Derwent Hounds, and when he gave up hunting there was a break of about ten years. Then the famous Mr. William Cowen started a pack known as Mr. Cowen's Hounds, and hunted them from 1854 till 1868. On his death his brother, Colonel John Cowen, held office till 1895, and it was during his Mastership that the hunt became known as the Braes of Derwent. The Colonel combined a great deal of hospitality with foxhunting, and was a very popular Master. His huntsman was the renowned Siddle Dixon, famous for his carrying yet melodious voice. In 1896 Mr. Lewis Priestman came to the rescue of the Hunt. The old kennels had been at Coal Burns, but Mr. Priestman built new ones at Tinkler Hill, and began to form a fresh pack for his first season. The kennels at Tinkler Hill are magnificent, and the Puppy Show must be a sheer delight in these surroundings. The hounds, of which there were fifty-six couple, had been mainly home bred for forty years, but the North Staffordshire and the York and Ainsty are the chief packs from which outside sires have come. Much of the breeding goes back to the South Durham hounds about twenty-five years ago. Comrade, an eight-year-old hound, has been very much used in the pack, and was himself by Cheshire '27 out of Cloudy '26. Cloudy's sister, Clover, was a well-known winner at Peterborough, Clarendon and his brother Clayton '35 were representative of the lighter type of hound used in this country, and were by Cleveland Ranger '31 out of Crafty '31. Carrier '36 was a beautifully-fronted hound by Drastic '30 out of Careless '32. Donovan '37 was nicely built, too, and was by Sinbad '32 out of Damask '33.Warlock '38, a typical hound for the country, was by North Staffordshire Clansman '33 out of Waggery '32. Among the bitches I liked a five-year-old hound (in 1939) called Cruet, by York and Ainsty Warrior '29 out of Crafty '31. Darling '37 was by the famous Comrade '31 out of Durable '30. Certainly the Hunt owes a great deal to Mr. Priestman, for he evolved an extremely good-looking pack, and one which knew how to hunt, often in very difficult conditions. Mr. G. A. Cowen, who was honorary secretary, very kindly came to the kennels and gave me a great deal of information about the hounds. Here again, I thought, was a pack whose excellence is no doubt due to skill in a great measure, but chiefly to the long and beneficial Mastership of Mr. Priestman, and to the general air of a great tradition which invests the Braes of Derwent Hunt. Hounds used to meet as a rule four times a week, and were hunted by A. Littleworth on Wednesdays and Saturdays and on Mondays and Thursdays by Major J. L. Priestman. Most of the country is pasture, but there are a good many woods in it, and a fair amount of moorland. Front the top of the hills there is a view of undulating land which can have few equals in the hunting countries of England. It is a stone wall and bank country with a fair number of ditches and timber jumps, and while I would not imagine that an exceptionally fast horse is necessary he must be able to jump. When I hunted with them the meet was at Barley Hill [see map],
and I was very kindly mounted by Colonel Ritson on three of his horses, which proved to be all that I have described as being desirable. It was a promising morning, apart from a fairly high wind which threatened to develop into a gale later. A large field turned out and included several visitors from the Haydon, the Tynedale and the Morpeth countries. The first two draws did not produce a fox, nor was it to be expected that they would, as the country was about a thousand feet above sea level and the night had been very windy. But a fox found in Bramshaw Barn whin went away at a view by School House, crossed the road into Mats Plantation and ran towards the Minster Acres Park. Just short of the park wall he turned left and ran the whole length of the School House strips to the road. Here he was headed, and was killed in the cart shed at School House Farm. Minster Acres Shrubbery was the next draw, and here there were three foxes. With their selected fox hounds raced down the drive, and passing through the thick cover of Wilds Wood set out for the open towards Kiln Pit Hill. This was a fine burst of about ten minutes, with plenty of jumping. But it emphasised the fact that the wind was rising, for hounds were running straight into it, and it was fast becoming a gale. Hounds crossed Newhouse Farm at a good pace and ran past School House. Then they hunted into Cronkley Banks, where this good fox was left. It is a sufficiently difficult cover to hunt at the best of times, but quite impossible in a roaring gale. This really ended the day as far as runs were concerned, for scent was rapidly failing and neither Littleworth nor his hounds could hear one another in the high winds. It proved impossible for hounds to push another fox out of the thick covers near Minster Acres, yet they hunted persistently and made two circles, one to Building Wood and back again, and the other round Sawmill and Hospital Wood. Eventually they were stopped at dusk. The Braes of Derwent have a grand hunting country. It is not, I think, an easy one for hounds, but when, as frequently, they do get away, it is a fine, if rough, country to ride across. There seemed to be very little wire, except along the top of some stone wails. It is, of course, put there to prevent the black-faced sheep from climbing over - an art in which they excel. But the farmers are a sporting lot and such problems do not cause much trouble. The war brought many changes to the Braes of Derwent. Mr. Lewis Priestman carried on until his death on August Bank Holiday, 1945, just as he was about to enter on his fiftieth season. Mr. G. A. Cowen took over the Mastership for the 1945-6 season, and next year he was joined by Mr. J. S. Bentham. Mr. Edward Gibson became honorary secretary in place of Mr. Cowen. During the war Alfred Littleworth hunted hounds two days a week for some four months each season, but with a very much reduced staff and pack. Last season hounds were hunted by Mr. Cowen with Littleworth as first whipper-in and kennel huntsman. Quite early in the war the eastern ends of both the Northumberland and Durham sides of the country had to be given up as they were too far from kennels and the districts were flooded with a greatly increased population from Newcastle-on-Tyne and Durham. But perhaps the chief reason for closing this part of the country was the increased pit working, which made much of the area unsafe to ride and wholly impossible from the point of view of earth stopping. The closing of this part has reduced the country from four to two days a week. The kennels at Tinkler Hill have been lent to Mr. Cowen by Major J. L. Priestman on behalf of the executors of the late Mr. Lewis Priestman, and last season there were twenty-three couple of hounds, consisting of five couple of dogs and eighteen couple of bitches. A good standard was kept up during the war by breeding from a few selected bitches each season, and last season seventeen couple of puppies were sent out to walk. At the Puppy Show in 1946 there were two couple of dogs and five couple of bitches. One couple of dogs was by York and Ainsty Dividend '40, and the other couple by Conqueror, who was entered in '41, and was himself by York and Ainsty Ranger '35 from their Constance '37. Dividend sired four couple of bitches and Conqueror one couple. The pre-war custom of getting many outside sires from the York and Ainsty is, therefore, being well maintained. The Hunt did well at Peterborough in 1946. Marquis '44 a good looking quality dog who has been much used, got second prize, and two bitches, Linden and Linsey'41, both by York and Ainsty Ragman '36 out of Laudable '38, were fourth in the entered couple class - that being, in view of their different type from the other entries, the only alternative to placing them first. Among the older hounds are the five bitches entered in 1940, and litters from three of these were sent out to wall in 1946 - Nightshade, by Fenton '35out of Norah '37; Ransom, by Renton '35 out of Retail '35 and Ravish by York and Ainsty Ragman '36 from their Gaudy '34. It is interesting to note that twelve and a half couple of the present hounds go back to the original Braes of Derwent blood when Mr. Lewis Priestman started his pack in 1896. The present Masters are intensely interested in their hounds, and there is no doubt that in a few seasons they will have built up a pack the equal of the pre-war establishment not only in excellence but in numbers. Robert Colville, 1947
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