Hunting
A History of the Devon & Somerset Staghounds Jeremy Whitehorn (DSSH Hunt Committee 2018, £25 or £50 limited edition)
The healthy state of exmoor’s red-deer herd is no accident. War, economic deprivation, farming pressures and political interference have come and gone, but the Devon & Somerset Staghounds (DSSH), one of the great West Country traditions since its formation in 1837, has survived it all to play a crucial role in controlling a burgeoning deer population.
The restrictions of the hunting act 2004 are onerous and many mourn more carefree days, but the magic of the moor when populated by hounds, horses and deer, and the pack’s vital role as social glue in a remote community, are as compelling as ever.
Tiverton bookseller Jeremy Whitehorn has valiantly pulled together myriad documents and amusing anecdotes for this fluently written, colourful history. There are name checks, irascible huntsmen and amusing tableaux, including when the master mike Robinson, a dentist, got one over on neighbouring mfh Ronnie Wallace, a notorious land grabber, by extracting a painful tooth in the tack room, which will give pleasure not only to staghunters, but to exmoor’s sporting visitors.
To order, email Pat Bawden at staghounds@exmoor.org.uk Kate Green