|
Long Run Hounds
History
| This is
an account of the sport of organized fox hunting in
the Louisville, Kentucky and and in particular, the
background and history of the Long Run Hounds Hunt
by
Robert M. Nash MFH 1967-1988, written in January of
1992. |
It was only natural and
predictable that Kentuckians would practice and pursue the
sport of chasing the fox with hounds. The settlers and
farmers who came from Virginia and Pennsylvania brought with
them a tradition and understanding of wood craft and hunting
and a love for sporting animals. Most of these pioneers to
the new land of Kentucky also came with their favorite
hounds.
A popular pastime was turning
hounds loose at night and listening to their cry in hunting
and running a fox. The practice of this sport and its
competition among friends and neighbors was a personal and
individual affair rather than any type of organized
activity. It was enjoying the cry of one’s individual hound
against that of another that gave pleasure and pride. It was
a companionable social event to be on a hilltop at night
around a fire and compare the progress of one’s hound
against another by recognized cry. Each hound owner knew his
hound’s individual howl or cry and usually where it was in
the chase of the fox.
Hound ownership and fox hunting
was not just in Kentucky but was prevalent throughout most
of rural America. It was inevitable that one would wish to
establish his hound or hounds as superior to others. As a
result, the National Fox Hunters Association was formed to
hold field trials to establish the best of hound
conformation, and the best in scenting and running ability.
It also served the purpose of registering individual hounds
for ownership and breeding records.
The first competition was scheduled for November, 1894 at
Olympia. Because of extreme dry weather no decisions were
made in the running of hounds until the second annual field
trial which was held at Owingsville in December of 1895.
National field trials have been held continuously ever since
to determine which hound or hounds can best run a fox. Today
there is a Kentucky Fox Hunters Association which was formed
in 1912 and has held a field trial event every fall in
Kentucky. The National Association meets also in the fall,
usually in North or South Carolina.
These
night running hounds are known as American fox hounds, bred
for their cry, speed and endurance. They hunt individually
and independently though they will honor another hound’s
find and cry and can run as a pack.
Organized
fox hunting, that is hunting the fox on horseback with a
disciplined pack of hounds, was slower to gain popularity In
America although George Washington had a pack of hounds at
Mount Vernon and hunted them regularly while at home.
Maintaining horses and a pack of hounds was more of a landed
gentry sport because of the expense and time necessary to
participate. It did attract some support and popularity on
the Eastern seaboard. The Montreal Hunt in Canada was first
established in 1826 and the Piedmont Foxhounds of Virginia
dates to 1840. It is interesting to note that Mrs. Edward S.
Bonnie’s mother, Mrs. A. C. Randolph is currently Master of
the Piedmont at Upperville, Virginia.
Foxhound
pack hunting and riding to hounds also established its own
formal and national organization, the Master of Foxhounds
Association. Established in 1907, this organization is made
up of the Masters of Hunts and Hunt Clubs of North America.
It is the governing body which sets the standards for formal
hunting including the rule of hunt procedure, dress and
etiquette. It registers new hunts and after a trial period
and examination and inspection by a representative, formally
recognizes a hunt. Without its approval and recognition, a
hunt is not accepted as an accredited organization in the world
of fox hunting. The Association registers the hounds of each
pack in a yearly published stud book under three hound
classifications, American, English and Crossbred. The
Association records the hunt country of each hunt acts as
arbitrator of disputes between hunts and administers a
pension fund to help retired hunt staff persons who may need
extra financial assistance. Through its officers and
directors it promotes good will and understanding of the
sport to the general public and helps in the education of
new Masters of hunts.
The first organized and
recognized bunt in Kentucky was the Iroquois Hunt Club in
Athens-Boonesboro area of Clark County near Lexington.
Founded in 1880 by General Roger Williams, It has a long
history of successfully chasing the fox ova the rolling
hillsides of the central bluegrass. For many years it was
the only recognized hunt in Kentucky.
One of the Iroquois Hunt’s
ardent followers was Louisvillian Lowry Watkins, a real
estate broker and sportsman who loved hones and hounds and
had an early interest in field trials. Living on a farm
called Frog’s Jump at Skylight, in Oldham County, Watkins
hunted a few of his own hounds starting as early as 1927.
In 1939, Watkins started his
own organized hunt with sixteen couples of American and
Crossbred hounds which he obtained from L Mason Houghland,
MFH of the Hillsboro Hounds of Nashville, Tennessee and 0.
de Gray Vanderbilt, Jr., MPH of the Camargo Hunt of
Cincinnati, Ohio. He hunted two days a week the country near
his home at Skylight and LaGrange. There were 25 members of
his hunt as listed in this appendix. He was registered with
the Master of Foxhounds Association In September, 1941 as
the Oldham County Hounds and he be came a member of MFH
Association in 1945.
In the spring of 1947, Watkins
found it necessary to disband the Oldham County Hounds due
to a large farm in the center of his country being broken up
and other encroachments in the territory. He so informed the MFH Association and was dropped from registration.
He tuned the hunt’s hounds
over to one of his honorary whips, Dinwiddie Lampton, Jr.,
who moved them first to his home on Blankenbaker Lane in
Louisville and later to his farm near Sligo. Lampton hunted
the hounds as a private pack, still calling them the Oldham
County Hounds. He never registered with the MPH Association
although in 1956 he did organize a formal hunting group.
(member list in appendix) This group had as its Chairman,
Almond Cooke and Vice Chairman, Judge Roscoe Dalton. Dues
were $150 a year but the hunt was operated as a private pack
and membership was at the discretion of the Master (Lampton).
<1
2 3
4 5
6 7 > |