Nantucket-Treweryn Beagles
Glossary
Account for - To run quarry to earth, or in rare cases, to kill
All on - Every hound in the pack being hunted is present
At fault - When hounds have lost the scent, they are said to be "at fault"
Babble - To give tongue for no reason
Bitch - Female hound
Carry a line - To follow the scent well
Cast - Attempt to find or recover scent; the circle hounds make to recover the line
Check - A temporary pause in running a line while the hounds regain the scent
Couple - Two hounds. Hounds are counted in couples. A nine and a half couple pack consist of nineteen hounds. Also, the fitting used to join two hounds together for training purposes.
Cry - Voice of a hound when on a line, as in "full cry"
Cur dog - Any dog met in the field which is not part of the hunting pack
Dog - Male hound
Draft - Hound passed from one pack to another
Draw - To send hounds into a covert or field to seek a quarry
Earth - A burrow or hollow into which a quarry may run
Enter - To initiate young hounds into hunting
Entry - The new hounds brought into a pack, as in "young entry"
Feather - A hound waving his stern when not sure enough to open on a line is said to be "feathering"
Field - Those who follow the hounds, other than the master and staff
Find - When hounds first wind the scent of the quarry and open on it they are said to "find"
Foil - A scent obliterating that of the quarry
Full cry - All hounds giving tongue on a line
Give best - A rabbit which successfully eludes the hounds and is no longer pursued is said to have "given best"
Give tongue - Hounds noisily pursuing a quarry are said to "give tongue"
Gone away - Hounds in full pursuit of the quarry, giving tongue in full cry, are said to have "gone away;" also the characteristic doubling of the horn by the huntsman to encourage the hounds and tell the field that they have gone away
Gone to ground - When the quarry goes into the earth, it has "gone to ground;" also the quavering note on the horn which the huntsman blows to tell the field that the quarry has gone to ground. A hunted quarry which goes to ground is "accounted for"
Hark - Command for hounds to honor a hound giving tongue, as in "hark to Klondike;" also a command to the field for silence in order to hear
Hold hard - Warning to the field to stop and not come close to the hounds
Holloa - A shout to indicate that a whip or one of the field has seen the quarry
Honor - When hounds join another who presumably has found, they are said to "honor" that hound
Lift - To "lift" the hounds is to take them off the line they are hunting
Line - The trail of the quarry laid down by its scent
Mute - A hound working a line without giving tongue
Open - When hounds begin to give tongue, they are said to "open" on a line
Pack up - A command to hounds to come together and form a tight pack
Rate - To chastise hounds by word and/or whip
Riot - To hunt anything but the intended quarry, as in "the hounds rioted on deer"
Stern - The tail of a hound
Stirrup cup - The traditional drink, usually port or sherry, served at the meet
Tally ho - A holloa indicating that the quarry has been viewed
Venery (Venerie) - The art or practice of hunting, the sports of the chase
View - To see the quarry, when appropriate accompanied by a halloa, as in the song "John Peel:" ... "his view halloa could waken the dead, or a fox from his lair in the morning."
'Ware Charlie - A cry used to warn the staff of the presence of a fox (as in Charles Fox, famous British politician during the fashionable rise of foxhunting)
'Ware cur dog - A cry used to indicate to the staff the presence of a non-hunting dog
'Ware haunch
A cry used to indicate to the staff the presence of deer
'Ware heel
A warning to the hounds that they are working the line backwards
'Ware wing - A cry used to indicate to the staff the presence of birds
Wind - To smell a scent
Working a line - -Following a scent
-- Frederic B. Underwood, MB