He is a rigid methodical man; believes in original rules and ancient prerogatives; is a Wesleyan of the antique type, but is devoid of force and enthusiasm; he never sets you on fire with declamation, nor melts you with pathos; he had rather freeze than burn sinners; he thinks the harrier principle of catching a hare is the surest, and that travelling on a theological canal is the safest plan in the long run.

[dogs] dog, hound; pup, puppy; whelp, cur, mongrel; house dog, watch dog, sheep dog, shepherd's dog, sporting dog, fancy dog, lap dog, toy dog, bull dog, badger dog; mastiff; blood hound, grey hound, stag hound, deer hound, fox hound, otter hound; harrier, beagle, spaniel, pointer, setter, retriever; Newfoundland; water dog, water spaniel; pug, poodle; turnspit; terrier; fox terrier, Skye terrier; Dandie Dinmont; collie.

The harrier skims over field, copse and meadow, suddenly rounding corners and topping fences and surprising small birds, or mice, on which it drops before they have recovered from their surprise.

The Harrier and the Beagle 22.

At any rate, the oldest Foxhound or Harrier that has never touched otter is at once in ravishing excitement on it, and all dogs will hunt it.

STERNThe stern when the hound is at work is carried gaily, like that of a rough Welsh Harrier.

By such evidence the Foxhound had outstripped the Harrier in size by nearly five inches, as the latter does not appear to have been more than eighteen inches, and the early Foxhound would have been twenty-three inches.

CHAPTER XXI THE HARRIER AND THE BEAGLE

It is, indeed, a common belief that the modern Harrier is but a smaller edition of the Foxhound, employed for hunting the hare instead of the fox, and it is almost useless to reiterate that it is a distinct breed of hound that can boast of possibly greater antiquity than any other, or to insist upon the fact that Xenophon himself kept a pack of Harriers over two thousands years ago.

It is, indeed, a common belief that the modern Harrier is but a smaller edition of the Foxhound, employed for hunting the hare instead of the fox, and it is almost useless to reiterate that it is a distinct breed of hound that can boast of possibly greater antiquity than any other, or to insist upon the fact that Xenophon himself kept a pack of Harriers over two thousands years ago.

Nevertheless, in general appearance the Harrier and the Foxhound are very much alike, the one obvious distinction being that of size.

If you want to hunt your Harriers on foot, 16 inches is quite big enoughalmost too big to run with; but if you are riding to them, 20 inches is a useful height, or even 19 inches.

As in the case of the Foxhound, the Harrier is very seldom kept as a companion apart from the pack.

Doubtless the rearing of a Harrier puppy is a great responsibility, but it is also a delight to many who feel that they are helping in the advancement of a great national sport.

That a great many of the true order were bred became very manifest as soon as the Harrier and Beagle Association was formed, and more particularly when a section of the Peterborough Hound Show was reserved for them.

There are now several packs of Bassets kept in England, and they show very fair sport after the hares; but it is not their natural vocation, and their massive build is against the possibility of their becoming popular as harriers.

Occasionally, too, a marsh-harrier may be met with, but this is a rara avis even in these outlandish parts.

These animals were trained to chase a man by the scent of his footsteps, as foxhounds chase a fox, or as beagles and harriers chase a hare.

Gines indeed, in the course of his pursuit, was often obliged to double his steps; and, like the harrier, whenever he was at a fault, return to the place where he had last perceived the scent of the animal whose death he had decreed.

I am their chief Harrier; by chance only, not choice, am I a cannibal.

This hound, with the harrier, were for many centuries the only hunting dogs.

In many important respects the pattern harrier of the present day differs even from the harriers used at the beginning of the present century.]

Of the resident species which are comparatively uncommon elsewhere may be mentioned the hawfinch, the greater and lesser spotted woodpecker, the carrion crow, the raven, the buzzard, the hen-harrier, and the peregrine falcon.

It is one of the many rendezvous of the huntsman, as there are kennels here for staghounds and harriers.

So these two thrilled with different emotions and trembled, and there was the locked harrier between them.