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Dogs and All about Them
·
Robert Leighton
103
CHAPTER
XIV
THE
OTTERHOUND
The
Otterhound
is
a
descendant
of
the
old
Southern
Hound,
and
there
is
reason
to
believe
that
all
hounds
hunting
their
quarry
by
nose
had
a
similar
source.
Why
the
breed
was
first
called
the
Southern
Hound,
or
when
his
use
became
practical
in
Great
Britain,
must
be
subjects
of
conjecture;
but
that
there
was
a
hound
good
enough
to
hold
a
line
for
many
hours
is
accredited
in
history
that
goes
very
far
back
into
past
centuries.
The
hound
required
three
centuries
ago
even
was
all
the
better
esteemed
for
being
slow
and
unswerving
on
a
line
of
scent,
and
in
many
parts
of
the
Kingdom,
up
to
within
half
that
period,
the
so-called
Southern
Hound
had
been
especially
employed.
In
Devonshire
and
Wales
the
last
sign
of
him
in
his
purity
was
perhaps
when
Captain
Hopwood
hunted
a
small
pack
of
hounds
very
similar
in
character
on
the
fitch
or
pole-cat;
the
modus
operandi
being
to
find
the
foraging
grounds
of
the
animal,
and
then
on
a
line
that
might
be
two
days
old
hunt
him
to
his
lair,
often
enough
ten
or
twelve
miles
off.
When
this
sort
of
hunting
disappeared,
and
improved
ideas
of
fox-hunting
came
into
vogue,
there
was
nothing
left
for
the
Southern
Hound
to
do
but
to
hunt
the
otter.
He
may
have
done
this
before
at
various
periods,
but
history
rather
tends
to
show
that
otter-hunting
was
originally
associated
with
a
mixed
pack,
and
some
of
Sir
Walter
Scott's
pages
seem
to
indicate
that
the
Dandie
Dinmont
and
kindred
Scottish
terriers
had
a
good
deal
to
do
with
the
sport.
It
is
more
than
probable
that
the
rough-coated
terrier
is
identical
with
the
now
recognised
Otterhound
as
an
offshoot
of
the
Southern
Hound;
but
be
that
as
it
may,
there
has
been
a
special
breed
of
Otterhound
for
the
last
eighty
years,
very
carefully
bred
and
gradually
much
improved
in
point
of
appearance.
They
are
beautiful
hounds
to-day,
with
heads
as
typical
as
those
of
Bloodhounds,
legs
and
feet
that
would
do
for
Foxhounds,
a
unique
coat
of
their
own,
and
they
are
exactly
suitable
for
hunting
the
otter,
as
everyone
knows
who
has
had
the
enjoyment
of
a
day's
sport
on
river
or
brook.
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