The Four Burrow
Hounds were founded on January 1, 1780, and with them was formed
the Four Burrow Hunt Club, so called because the Four Burrows
(Stone Age burial grounds) lay as a prominent landmark at the
centre of their terrain, which contained all Cornwall between
Bodmin and The Lizard. Most packs of Hounds in those days of
two centuries ago took their names from their owners but the
Four Burrow are unique in taking their name from a central point.
As early
as 1565, Carew is writing about fox-hunting in the county. It
may well be that there were already a number of small packs
west of Bodmin and that this complicated the situation.
Perhaps
the result was that their members or owners called the meeting
on January 1st 1780 and the choice of name may well have been
to prevent seniority being given to any one person or pack.
It is also worth noting that the hounds originally belonged
individually to the clubs' members and not to the club itself,
thus six couple belonged to Sir John Rogers, and J Vivian Esq
had only one and a half couple. It is possible that these hounds
were part of their owners' private packs which had been disbanded.
That
is conjecture, but it is a fact that records show that the county
landowners led by the Vivian brothers and Sir John Rogers were
influential in the founding of Four Burrow Hunt Club on January
1, 1780, and the club started life by having 15 couple of hounds,
and that it hunted both hares and foxes.
Like
many other famous packs of hounds, the history of the pack is
also the history of a family. One of the most important dates
in the history of The Four Burrow Hunt is 1854, in which year
a member of the Williams family first became Master.
The
sequence - Sir William Williams (1854-56), Mr Fred Williams
(1856-57), Mr George Williams (1857-78) and Mr "Scorrier" John
Williams (1878-1907) - shows how much the pre-First World War
Four Burrow country owed to that family.
On the
outbreak of the first world war the Hunt was closed down. Major
W. Russell-Johnson (Master 1914) returned to his Regiment and
his hounds were put down. The result was that there were no
packs of hounds in the Four Burrow country, with the possible
exception of the St Columb Harriers or `Four Burrow East' which
hunted hares as well as foxes.
Following
the end of the war, Rugby Football was the only form of outdoor
entertainment in the area, which many watched on Saturdays.
As a result of this in 1921, 220 farmers sent a petition to
"Scorrier John" asking him to restart the Four Burrow Hunt whose
original hunting days were Tuesday and Friday. He refused saying
that he was too old, but this gave rise to the Mastership of
his son Percival (Master 1921-1964), who had returned from the
war.
Unlike
the first war, the outbreak of the second world war did not
signal an end to the Four Burrow. During the years of the war,
Percival Williams kept the Hunt going, with the assistance of
his sister, Mrs Douglas-Pennant, who whipped-in. Jack Matthews
and Percival's young son John also helped as and when possible
and Dick Beare remained in the kennel.
This
time the Four Burrow Hounds were not destroyed, though they
were reduced. The 1942 hound-list shows that the pack consisted
of twenty-two couple of hounds, of which seven and a half couple
were dog hounds.
Petrol
coupons were provided for a terrier van and many of the meets
took place on a request basis. Many members of the Forces managed
to have the odd day with the Four Burrow during the war, one
of the most welcome being Percival Williams's nephew Captain
G. T. Williams, who escaped from Italy after walking nearly
600 miles in 33 days. His brother, Brig. Stephen Williams, D.S.O.,
M.C., also came back to hunt, having reached British lines safely
after spending nearly five months in the German-occupied Italian
mountains. He returned home to find his hunter Smuggler, then
in his twenties ready to take on the Wendron banks!
It
is also perhaps of interest that at various times notable hunting
personages found themselves on duty in the general area and
managed to scrape the odd day. One of these was the Duke of
Beaufort's former Secretary Major Gerald Gundry, who reported
to his Master that he had been out with the Four Burrow and
they were about the best pack he had seen.
Following
the second world war, Percival Williams continued his Mastership
until 1955, when he and his son John became joint Masters, through
to his retirement in 1964.
The more
recent years have arguably seen the changes that have had the
greatest impact on the countryside, and specifically hunting
in the UK. The introduction of the Hunting Bill, and the associated
ban of hunting with dogs has meant that the Four Burrow has
had to quickly adapt and evolve to ensure compliance with constantly
changing legislation.
