Posted by Peter H on February 06, 2000 at 20:10:04 from host213-1-43-170.host.btclick.com:
In Reply to: Drag vs Fox-hunting- AR PC before his time?? posted by alan truelove on February 06, 2000 at 18:56:26:
I have witnessed both in the Lakes, but I am fairly certain they are not seen as alternatives. What you call 'drag hunting' is in fact hound trailing - a sort of race, where the dogs are owned by the participants, and purely a leisure activity. Nancy's description in Swallowdale p. 227 can't be bettered. Fox hunting is, I think, regarded in the Lakes as something which has got to be done so it might as well be enjoyed (I express no opinion here), and it is a largely professional operation.
Whether AR's omission to mention fox hunting was deliberate, I can't say, but I think the probable answer is that the stories are nearly all set in the summer months when there would be no hunting, but there would be hound trailing. In WH, of course, there would be neither, for obvious reasons. Perhaps someone closer than me to Cumbrian life can confirm all this.
Also, if you are out on the fells, you are much more likely to get mixed up in a trail than a hunt. On several occasions I have had to flatten myself against a rock while a stream of over-excited dogs hurtles past. It is a memorable experience. They took no more notice of me than they did of the Swallowdale camp.