Bloodhounds: History - Origins - Breeding - Training
By Edwin Brough and Tony Read
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Bloodhounds - Edwin Brough
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BLOODHOUNDS.
THE Bloodhound was formerly called, both in England and Scotland, Slcut-hound
or Sleuth-hound,
from the Middle English sleuth,
a slot or track (Icel sloth), and Lymier or Lyme-hound (because he was led in a lyam or leash when used for harbouring the quarry). He is the most ancient breed of hound in England. Having regard to his antiquity, his historical and romantic associations, his majestic and dignified appearance, his unequalled and marvellous gift of hunting a cold scent, his freedom from change and his deep, bell-like, musical note, he holds a position which is unique, to say the least of it.
Until comparatively recent times these hounds were only to be found in the kennels of the nobility; and even now well-bred Bloodhounds are in the hands of a very few, and are all closely related. The breed is perhaps less understood than any other of the canine race.
The name Bloodhound is vulgarly supposed to be typical of everything that is bloodthirsty and supernatural. It is not an uncommon belief that the Bloodhound can, by some mysterious power, pick out the line (many days or weeks old) of a criminal from amongst those of honest men, and that he will remorselessly run him down and tear him to pieces! Rustics who have rarely seen a Bloodhound often display the greatest awe, and have been known to climb a tree or jump on a plough horse for greater safety when the mysterious animal approaches them; and even in the case of supposedly well-informed persons, who have volunteered to run for Bloodhounds, it is often amusing to see the great care they take to finish in a tree, or some other place where the hounds cannot reach them. The writer remembers a herdsman at one of the Dublin spring shows saying that he would rather have to look after half-a-dozen of the wickedest bulls in the world
than one Bloodhound; but before the show was over he was assisting to exercise the Bloodhounds with much intrepidity. Is he wicked now?
was a very common inquiry as the Bloodhound passed through the streets. As a matter of fact, the Bloodhound will compare favourably with almost any other breed as regards docility and good temper. His great fault in temperament is that he is often not courageous enough.
The Bloodhound has not only been handicapped by his name, but by being associated with the hounds used for hunting slaves in the United States, and many people still believe that the savage brutes described in Uncle Tom’s Cabin
and similar tales were Bloodhounds. No doubt the animal used for slave-hunting varied in different States; but it is quite certain that whatever the animal was it was not the Bloodhound. It seems to have been chiefly a degenerate Foxhound originally bred from English stock, but in some cases a cross with a Cuban Mastiff (or Cuban Bloodhound as it was sometimes called) was used. The Cuban was not a hound at all, and never really attained to any fixed type, but bore more resemblance to a very inferior Great Dane than anything else. The slave-hunting hounds were trained to pull down their man when they caught him. It would not be possible to do this with the Bloodhound. Unfortunately Americans call anything a Bloodhound which is used to hunt man, and the true breed suffers accordingly. We have no records of Bloodhounds being imported into the United States before 1888.
It is unfortunate that the Bloodhound should have been so much prejudiced by a misapprehension arising in part from his name, and in part from erroneous association with a very inferior animal. A real disadvantage of the breed is that (owing to in-breeding) it has become more difficult to rear. This is, however, a matter which is receiving attention, and which, it is to be hoped, will soon be remedied.
The Bloodhound was undoubtedly derived from the St. Hubert, which was brought over by William the Conqueror. The St. Hubert (formerly called the Flemish Hound) was brought by St. Hubert from the South of Gaul to his Abbey in the Ardennes about the sixth century. There were black (really black and tan) and white varieties of the St. Hubert, the former being especially esteemed. The Abbots maintained the breed very carefully in memory of their founder. From about 1200 to 1789 the Abbots of the St. Hubert Monastery annually supplied the Royal Kennels of France with three couples of black and tan St. Hubert Hounds, which were held in the very highest estimation and were used as limiers.
The Count le Couteulx believes that the Talbot was made from the Vendée, but in any case it is quite certain that the Bloodhound, and all the French breeds of hounds, were derived from the St. Hubert. The Talbot was the popular hound in England from the 12th to the 16th century, but has long been extinct. The St. Hubert became extinct in the early part of the 19th century.
Richardson’s work on Dogs says:—
The Talbot is perhaps the oldest of our slow hounds. He had a broad mouth, very long and large pendulous ears, was fine-coated and not, as some write, rough on the belly; his colour was generally a pure white. This was the hound formerly known as St. Hubert’s breed, and was distinct from the Bloodhound It was remarkable for its deep, sonorous voice, and it is very likely the same as the old Southern Hound.
The Count le Couteulx makes the following comment on the above:—
In my opinion Richardson is wrong in separating so widely the Bloodhound from the Talbot; for, according to his own words, the Bloodhound sprang directly from the Talbot;
had the same form, the same stature, the same solemn, majestic demeanour, the same long and strong head, the same pendulous ears, the summit of the cranium equally prominent—in a word the same constitution, only a little less voice, but the same hunting qualities and nearly the same defects; in fact only differing in colour from the black variety of the breed of St. Hubert which existed in past times and which I have just described.
There appears little doubt that the English Staghound—now nearly extinct—traced back to the Talbot.
The Count le Couteulx’s Manuel de Vénerie Francaise
contains a picture of a St. Hubert and a Bloodhound of very similar characteristics as regards appearance, and the Bloodhound has a much greater resemblance to the St. Hubert than to any other French breed of hound, although all originated in the St. Hubert.
Unfortunately all these beautiful