The First Formal Country Club Hunt in Pelham Began on October 2, 1886 at 2:30 P.M.
In 1885, James M. Waterbury, principal founder and President of the Country Club on Shore Road in Pelham, imported a pack of Harriers. (A Harrier is a medium-sized hound popular in England for use in hunting.) Waterbury gave the pack to the Country Club which raised money through subscriptions and built kennels for the dogs on the Country Club grounds. By 1886, members of the Club were ready to hunt.
I have written a number of times about the sport of riding to hounds by members of the Country Club in Pelham. See:
Fri., Apr. 17, 2009: A Brief History of the Early Years of "Riding to Hounds" by Members of the Country Club at Pelham.
Thu., April 16, 2009: A Serious Carriage Accident and Many Tumbles During the Country Club of Pelham's Riding to Hounds Event in November 1889.
Wed., April 15, 2009: More About the Country Club Sport of "Riding to Hounds" During the 1880s in Pelham.
Tue., April 14, 2009: 1889 Account of the Sport of Riding to Hounds by Members of the Country Club Located in Pelham.
There are different types of "hunts" performed when riding to hounds. One such type is the so-called "drag hunt." A drag hunt involves a pack of hounds hunting a scent (a combination of aniseed oils and, sometimes, animal meat or urine) that has been "laid" (i.e., "dragged") over a course with a defined beginning and end. After the scent has been laid, the hounds are released and riders on horseback follow the dogs.
Drag hunts typically covered ten or more miles with the "hunt" divided into "legs." The scent is laid on each "leg" of the course. As each leg is completed, the hounds are gathered and held while the scent is laid on the next leg of the course.
The principal purpose of a drag hunt is to allow the riders following the hounds to ride at high speed in a "natural" environment where fences, streams, underbrush, hedges, fallen trees, and other such obstructions serve as obstacles to be overcome by the horses and their riders. Yet, at least in the 1880s, drag hunting was considered safer than fox hunting or even the related sport of trail hunting intended to simulate the hunt for a live fox. In drag hunting, the path on which the scent is laid can be chosen carefully to ensure a thrilling ride but to make certain that obstacles are not too dangerous or difficult for the riders and their horses -- unlike the more random and devious path that might otherwise be chosen by a live fox or someone laying a scent for a trail hunt intended to simulate an escaping fox.
The logistics underlying a drag hunt are understandably difficult. First there is the challenge of obtaining the permission of nearby landowners (in a territory large enough to permit a thrilling hunt) to permit riders, their horses, and the dogs to cross their lands. Then there is the matter of compensation for inadvertent damage to fences and crops, among other things, even if such permission is obtained. Finally, such challenges were multiplied because the courses the hunts followed were rarely, if ever, the same so that the dogs, horses, and riders were always challenged. Indeed, every drag hunt had a different starting point, typically distant from previous starting points.
On October 2, 1886, the Country Club opened its first formal hunt season. It planned eight drag hunts during the month of October. Its published schedule showed dates, starting locations and starting times as follows:
Sat., Oct. 2: Starting from the Country Club at 2:30 p.m.
Wed., Oct. 6: Starting from the Thomas Paine Monument in New Rochelle at 3:30 p.m.
Sat., Oct. 9: Starting from Corson's Corners at 3:30 p.m.
Wed., Oct. 13: Starting from Mamaroneck at 3:30 p.m.
Sat., Oct. 16: Starting from Palmer's Four Corners at 3:30 p.m.
Wed., Oct. 20: Starting from Larchmont at 3:30 p.m.
Wed., Oct. 27: Starting from Cooper's Corners at 3:30 p.m.
Sat., Oct. 30: Starting from Pelhamville at 3:30 p.m.
At the outset of the 1886 hunt season, the Committee in charge of the sport announced that the Country Club had chosen the "drag hunt" form of riding to hounds for a number or reasons. The announcement said:
"Ours is to be a drag-hunt, as that is the only kind that can be indulged in by men who have to devote most of their days to work and must have their runs, and take their exercise at a fixed hour. The hounds are small, being not over 18 to 20 inches in height, and are what are called in England 'harriers'; they run at considerably less speed than for hounds, although they give more tongue. They are much safer to follow by all those who enjoy seeing them work, and also enjoy spending a few hours in the open air, but who can not risk being laid up and kept away from their business by an accident."
The Country Club announcement, published in a local newspaper, also pleaded with local landowners to cooperate and grant the necessary permissions to permit the club's drag hunts to cross their lands. The announcement included an invitation for all to ride to the hounds, at no expense, regardless of whether they were members of the club and offered the following arguments for why such hunts were beneficial to all and why such permission should be granted to the club:
"Before anything can be done in the matter, it is necessary to get your permission to ride across some of your property. If any damage is done to fences or crops, it will be gladly, quickly and fully paid for. We would like to say a few words in favor of hunting, to induce you to approve of it, in case you do not already do so. A single ride across country will yield more exercise, fun and excitement than can be gotten out of a week of ordinary riding, besides laying in a stock of health. It is one of the best and most manly of sports. It requires courage, good temper and discretion, as well as the exercise of some of the best qualities of man, both physical and mental. It is essentially an American sport for it is the only one that is open to everybody. Anyone who can manage to keep a horse and come to a meet, can follow the hounds; and be his subscriptions small or nothing, it will neither affect his welcome nor his pleasure. The expense of our pack is to be paid entirely by those who approve of, and are fond of the sport. We should always like to have in the field a number of hard-riding farmers, who will certainly enjoy it, and who will find that the breeding and selling of good hunters is a very valuable part of their stock raising. Moreover, the fact of having cross-country riding in Westchester will attract a number of men to that part of the county, who otherwise would not come there. These are men of wealth, who are often induced to buy and settle on account of the sport they have, and on account of their attention being called to the beauties of the place, a fact which they otherwise would be ignorant of. All real estate owners should certainly favor this project."
The Country Club only rode to the hounds for several years out of Pelham. It moved its clubhouse to a larger facility on Throggs Neck in 1890.
"A MEET OF THE COUNTRY CLUB HOUNDS."
Source: 'MID WESTCHESTER'S HILLS, New-York
Tribune, May 4, 1890, p. 20, cols. 4-6 (NOTE: Paid
subscription required to access via this link).
NOTE: Click on Image to Enlarge.
1916 Postcard View of Drag Hunt in Southern Pines,
North Carolina. Photograph by E. C. Eddy. NOTE:
Click on Image to Enlarge.
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Below is the text of an article that appeared in the October 2, 1886 of the New Rochelle Pioneer that forms the basis of today's article. It is followed by a citation and link to its source.
"THE COUNTRY CLUB HUNT.
To-day, (Saturday, Oct. 2,) the first hunt of the Club will take place, starting from the Country Club House at 2:30, P.M. The following is the official programme:
Saturday, October 2nd. Country Club, 2:30 P.M.
Wednesday, 6th, Tom Payne's [sic] Monum't, 3:30 P.M.
Saturday, 9th, Corson's Corners, 3:30 P.M.
Wednesday, 13th, Mamaroneck, 3:30 P.M.
Saturday, 16th, Palmer's Four Corners, 3:30 P.M.
Wednesday, 20th, Larchmont, 3:30 P.M.
Wednesday, 27th, Cooper's Corners, 3:30 P.M.
Saturday, 30th, Pelhamville, 3:30 P.M.
To the Property Owners of Westchester County:
DEAR SIR: -- It is proposed to start a pack of hounds, this autumn, under the auspices of the Country Club at Pelham, which we trust will meet with your approval and encouragement. Before anything can be done in the matter, it is necessary to get your permission to ride across some of your property. If any damage is done to fences or crops, it will be gladly, quickly and fully paid for.
We would like to say a few words in favor of hunting, to induce you to approve of it, in case you do not already do so.
A single ride across country will yield more exercise, fun and excitement than can be gotten out of a week of ordinary riding, besides laying in a stock of health. It is one of the best and most manly of sports. It requires courage, good temper and discretion, as well as the exercise of some of the best qualities of man, both physical and mental. It is essentially an American sport for it is the only one that is open to everybody. Anyone who can manage to keep a horse and come to a meet, can follow the hounds; and be his subscriptions small or nothing, it will neither affect his welcome nor his pleasure. The expense of our pack is to be paid entirely by those who approve of, and are fond of the sport. We should always like to have in the field a number of hard-riding farmers, who will certainly enjoy it, and who will find that the breeding and selling of good hunters is a very valuable part of their stock raising.
Moreover, the fact of having cross-country riding in Westchester will attract a number of men to that part of the county, who otherwise would not come there. These are men of wealth, who are often induced to buy and settle on account of the sport they have, and on account of their attention being called to the beauties of the place, a fact which they otherwise would be ignorant of. All real estate owners should certainly favor this project.
Ours is to be a drag-hunt, as that is the only kind that can be indulged in by men who have to devote most of their days to work and must have their runs, and take their exercise at a fixed hour. The hounds are small, being not over 18 to 20 inches in height, and are what are called in England 'harriers'; they run at considerably less speed than for hounds, although they give more tongue. They are much safer to follow by all those who enjoy seeing them work, and also enjoy spending a few hours in the open air, but who can not risk being laid up and kept away from their business by an accident.
Trusting that our project will not meet with your opposition, we remain, yours truly,
F. O. Beach, John C. Forman, H. N. Potter, J. M. Waterbury, Committee."
Source: THE COUNTRY CLUB HUNT, New Rochelle Pioneer, Oct. 2, 1886, p. 3, col. 5.
* * * * *
I have written extensively about The Country Club at Pelham and its famous steeplechase races, rides with the hounds, baseball games, polo matches, and other such events of the 1880's. For a few of many more examples, see:
Bell, Blake A., The Pelham Steeplechase Races of the 1880s, The Pelham Weekly, Vol. XIV, Issue 12, March 25, 2005, p. 10, col. 2.
Thu., Mar. 23, 2006: Baseball Fields Opened on the Grounds of the Westchester Country Club in Pelham on April 4, 1884.
Tue., Apr. 14, 2009: 1889 Account of the Sport of Riding to Hounds by Members of the Country Club Located in Pelham.
Wed., Apr. 15, 2009: More About the Country Club Sport of "Riding to Hounds" During the 1880s in Pelham.
Thu., Apr. 16, 2009: A Serious Carriage Accident and Many Tumbles During the Country Club of Pelham's Riding to Hounds Event in November 1889.
Fri., Apr. 17, 2009: A Brief History of the Early Years of "Riding to Hounds" by Members of the Country Club at Pelham.
Wed., Sep. 09, 2009: 1884 Engraving of Winner of the Great Pelham Steeplechase, Barometer, and His Owner and Rider, J. D. Cheever.
Wed., Sep. 16, 2009: September 1884 Advertisement for The Country Club Steeplechase.
Thu., Sep. 17, 2009: Controversy in 1887 When The Country Club Tries to Dedicate a Large Area of Pelham as a Game Preserve.
Wed., Sep. 30, 2009: Score of June 1, 1887 Baseball Game Between The Country Club and The Knickerbocker Club.
Mon., Oct. 19, 2009: Polo at the Country Club in Pelham in 1887.
Fri., Oct. 30, 2009: Preparations for Annual Country Club Race Ball Held in Pelham in 1887.
Thu., Apr. 15, 2010: Account of Baseball Game Played in Pelham on June 9, 1884: The Country Club Beat the Knickerbockers, 42 to 22.
Tue., Feb. 25, 2014: An Interesting Description of the Country Club at Pelham Published in 1884.
Mon., Mar. 03, 2014: The Suydam Estate known as “Oakshade” on Shore Road in the Town of Pelham, built by James Augustus Suydam.
Fri., Sep. 12, 2014: Reference to an 1884 Baseball Game Between the Country Club of Pelham and Calumet.
Fri., Feb. 27, 2015: Brief History of the 19th Century "Country Club at Pelham" Published in 1889.
Thu., Jul. 16, 2015: More on the History of the Country Club at Pelham in the 19th Century.
Tue., Nov. 03, 2015: A Major Tennis Tournament was Played in Pelham in 1885.
Tue., Feb. 09, 2016: Polo Played in Pelham in 1887.
Wed., Sep. 07, 2016: Origins of the Country Club at Pelham and the Move to its New Clubhouse in 1890.
Labels: 1885, 1886, 1890, Country Club, Drag Hunt, Hounds, James M. Waterbury, Recreation, Riding to Hounds, Shore Road, The Country Club at Pelham
posted by Blake A. Bell @ 5:23 AM
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