ONE OF THE ENDURING traditions of fox hunting is the New Year’s Day meet when riders, horses and hounds make a splendid sight in many parts of rural England and attract large crowds as they sip their stirrup cups before galloping off across the countryside. 

Fox hunting has become a controversial subject in recent years, resulting in the Hunting Act of 2005 which banned the pursuit of wild animals with dogs. Yet the traditional meets continue and although the hounds are no longer allowed to hunt down foxes, many hunts use alternatives such as following an artificially scented trail or a rider dragging a lure. 

In  past times, Bourne was often the centre of fox hunting activity in South Lincolnshire, the Cottesmore Hunt, established 1666 by Viscount Lowther, being one of the most active, together with the pack owned by Sir John Trollope [who became the first Lord Kesteven when he was raised to the peerage in 1869] and there were still regular meets in recent years but apart from occasional forays by hunt saboteurs, the sport attracted little adverse comment in this area.  

As a result, hunts pursued their activities with scant regard for person and property because this was the sport of the landed gentry who were also usually magistrates and few people dared question their activities. There were also scenes of real cruelty to animals but it was to be another 150 years before the sport was finally banned. 

One such incident involved Sir John Trollope’s hounds that met at Manthorpe on Saturday 22nd January 1859 and soon picked up a fox, chasing it into Bourne along South Road and into the town where it crossed the river and jumped into the vicarage garden where it was trapped by a six foot high wall. The animal hid behind some flower pots but was quickly located and a local newspaper later reported: “The hounds and huntsmen were soon upon him and he was brought on to the lawn and after the brush and head had been cut off, the master of the hounds stepped forward and threw the body of the fox into the air to fall amongst the dogs which tore it to pieces. By this time a large concourse of persons had gathered who appeared highly excited by the sport.” 

Ten years later, Sir John Trollope's hounds were again involved in an incident. The hunt met at Manthorpe, near Bourne, on Saturday 12th March 1868 and after running a vixen to ground in Dole Wood, they proceeded to Thurlby Wood where they started another fox which again headed for the town and after a chase of three hours, took refuge in a hen roost in West Street. “A couple of dogs were put in to keep him company and the result of their short acquaintance we need not relate“, reported a local newspaper. “He was then taken into the market place where his brush, head and feet were cut off and his carcass thrown into the air to fall amongst the dogs which in a few moments tore it to pieces.” 

Because hunting invariably involved the gentry, there was great public amusement whenever they suffered indignities such as that which occurred on Saturday 25th January 1850, when riders with the Cottesmore came to grief. The hounds met at Castle Bytham and having raised a fox on the Grimsthorpe estate, chased it across the countryside around Edenham where it crossed the river, badly swollen by thawing snow, but when they attempted to follow, several riders were swept off their horses and left floundering in the water, their hats floating ignominiously downstream as they struggled to reach the safety of the bank, a tale that was recounted in some detail and with much hilarity in the hostelries around Bourne for several weeks. 

The appearance of the Cottesmore hounds in full cry on the outskirts of Bourne on Friday 26th January 1872 also caused a good deal of pleasure to local folk. Riders were unseated while trying to cross low lying land that had been flooded by recent rain and one found himself up to the neck in a dyke with a struggling horse that was rescued with difficulty. The fox they were chasing made its way across a row of cottage gardens and the owners rushed to the upstairs windows to watch the cause of the hubbub, finding their little plots invaded by swift running hounds and eager huntsmen. The fox, however, which had given the field a gallop of an hour and a half, eventually escaped unharmed. 

But there were also tragedies in the hunting field and in 1861 a local doctor met his death while riding to hounds. Mr Henry Bromley, of Rippingale, near Bourne, who was also surgeon to the Bourne Rifle Corps, joined the Duke of Rutland's hounds when they met at Lenton village on Friday 20th December but shortly afterwards, near Kirkby Underwood, his horse slipped at a dangerous fence and he was pitched over the top, the horse following, trampling on his body and inflicting fearful injuries internally and externally. He was taken home by carriage and medical aid summoned from Bourne and Stamford but after enduring great agony for many hours, he died the following Monday. 

Hunting has had a declining reputation in recent years and hunts have recognised their unpopularity by keeping contentious issues to a minimum. There was however one incident in 1998 which raised public anger when the Cottesmore chased a fox through Bourne Wood, much to the distress of walkers who had to jump aside as horses galloped along footpaths in pursuit, and finally ended up at the Beech Avenue entrance where the fox took refuge in a culvert and the hounds ran amok in a private garden. The hunt subsequently tendered a public apology and there were no further incidents. 

In view of the barbarity apparent at those earlier incidents described, accounts of which survive in some detail, it is difficult to understand how fox hunting continued for so long yet the sight of horses and hounds at the traditional meets with a picturesque village as a back drop, such as Folkingham where the Belvoir Hunt met in centuries past, will remain an evocation of old England for many years to come.