Blood hound trials at Ravenscar

Edwin Brough of "Wyndgate" at Scalby was a famous breeder of bloodhounds and the acknowledged authority on that subject. He kept thirty couples of hounds at Scalby until 1897, exercising them daily through the village.The Earl of Londesborough was said to have offered £300 for them but his offer was not accepted. Perhaps he would have moved them to Londesborough Lodge in Scarborough's Crescent. That would have set the cat among the pigeons.

A Great Trial of Bloodhounds was staged on the moors above Ravenscar on Tuesday October 4th, 1898. Two hundred Yorkshire folk gathered including Mr Brough. Sir Charles Legard of Ganton was the judge. The first course was for five hounds in leash and the second for single hounds without leash. "Hubert II" and "Chatley Regent" covered a mile in a minute and a half. Matches followed between Colonel Johnson and Mr Brough. Their hounds followed lines, only one and a half hours old.

The blood hounds had become famous for their role in man hunts. The Ravenscar matches were far less blood curdling. The man who was hunted merely laid a trail. This was done with the scent of a pair of clean boots. He walked the course,up to three miles long, finishing an hour before the hounds were freed. He then lay on the ground or stood in the crowd. The rollicking hounds would fling them selves upon him... and lick his face.



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