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The shires of Linlithgow and
Stirling are quaintly described by Sir Robert Sibbald, who was born and
lived at the Castle of Kipps, near Linlithgow, in a history ['History of the
Sheriffdorns of Linlithgow and Stirling,' by Sir Robert Sibbald, M.D. 1710.]
written early in the eighteenth century, dedicated to the Right Honourable
Charles Hope Earl of Hopetoun, Sheriff Principal of Linlithgow-shire, and to
the Right Honourable the Earl of Linlithgow and Calander, Heretable Sheriff
of Stirlingshire. The Sheriffdom of Linlithgow, as it is now," Sir Robert
states, "hath to the North the Firth of Forth. Towards the South-east
and South-west the Waters of Almond and Breich separate it from Edinburgh
Shire, and towards the North-west it is parted from Stirling Shire by the
water of Even. Towards the West it bath part of Clydsdale. The length of the
Shire from the mouth of Almond at Nether Cramond to Bedlormie is fourteen
miles, and the breadth of it, where it is broadest, from Borrowstoness upon
the Firth of Forth, to Almond Fala, will be some Nine miles. The figure of
it is unequal, and such is the Quality of the Soil. The West part is
mountainous and hilly, and the North-side and the East is plain and level;
and the middle part sloaps much from the hights, both to the North - west
and South-east. The South-west part is well watered with the Bourns which
glide through it, and so is the North side and middle part." Stirlingshire,
Sir Robert further states, "bath now for Bounds towards the West,
Dumbartonshire, and for Marches there, Loch Lomund, and the Waters of Blanc
and Ainrick and it has to the South, part of Dumbartonshire and Clydsdale:
and to the East it hath Linlithgowshire and towards the North, it is limited
by the River and Firth of Forth. Where it is longest, that is at the
Northwest point, where it joyneth with Dundaff-Moor in Lennox, to the
Nunnerie of Emanuel upon Avon water, which is to the East, the March betwixt
it and Linlithgow-shire, it will be twenty Miles in length. And where it is
broadest, from the Town of Kilsyth to the Castle of Elphingston, it will be
about twelve Miles in Breadth. The Nature and Quality of its Soil differeth
much, the West and South-west parts of it are Mountainous and Rullie: and
the North part of it from the Town of Stirling to the East March is Levell
and plain: and the South-east part is much of it a rising ground. The whole
is well watered with the Waters, and the Bourns which run through it; and
besides several Woods and Copices, the Seats of the Nobility and the Gentry
are well planted: the South side is a mixed Countrey, fitted for Pasture and
Corns : the North side is most fitted for Grains and Fruit Trees."
Mr John Penney, a native of Bathgate, also gives
an account of Linlithgowshire, written, most probably, towards the end of
the eighteenth century, which, although like Sir Robert Sibbald's, bearing
no reference to hunting, contains such a fair description of the boundaries
and contour of that county as it exists at the present day, that it may not
be out of place to quote one or two passages from it. Linlithgowshire, says
Mr Penney "has the Firth of Forth on north, Edinburghshire on the east and
south - east, Lanarkshire on south-west, and Stirlingshire on the west. On
east, it is separated from Edinburghshire, first, by the Breich Water, from
its source till it joins the Amon; and, after this junction, the Amon forms
the more remarkable boundary throughout its course to the Forth, except at
Mid-Calder, where Edinburghshire intrudes somewhat more than a mile into
Linlithgowshire. On the west, this county is separated from Stirlingshire,
first, by the Linn Burn, from its rise till its junction with the Avon,
which now forms the separation between them, till it falls into the Forth.
The length of the east side, from the foot of Almond, on the north-east, to
the top of Breich water, on the south-west, is nearly twenty-one miles; the
breadth is twelve miles. The superficial contents of the whole appear, from
very minute calculations, to be 121 square miles or 77,440 statute acres. .
. . None of the protuberances of this district rise into lofty eminences;
neither is its surface by any means flat. It is diversified by a number of
small hills, which do not rise to any inconvenient elevation. The most
remarkable of them forms a range, which runs from Bowden, across the middle
of the county, in an oblique direction from northwest to south-east. Cairn-naple,
the most prominent centre of this range, rises to the height of 1498 feet
above the level of the sea; and Cocklerne, on the western part of this
range, rises to the height of 500 feet.' The Kipps Hills, Knock Hills, and
Drumcross hills, all form conspicuous parts of this range. Riccarton-edge
and Binnycraig, may also be deemed a part of this range, and rise to a
considerable elevation. The second class of hills, which are more worthy of
notice, is variously distributed, throughout the northern parts of the
county, along the Forth. Of those the most conspicuous are, Mons Hill,
Craigie Hill, and Dundas Hill, in Dalmenie parish; Craigton Hill and Binns
Hill, in Abercorn parish-from whence the beauty and grandeur of the prospect
are unrivalled, and Irongarth, in Linlithgow parish. The middle and western
districts of the county are the most hilly; the east and north are the most
plain. The southern divisions of this shire consist mostly of moor, moss,
and morass, with few heights of any elevation.
In Linlithgowshire there are not many waters of
great extent. The only lakes are, the loch at Linlithgow town, and Lochcoat,
in Torphichen parish. . . . Of large rivers this county cannot boast; yet it
is well watered by several streams for every domestic purpose, while the
Amon on the east, and the Avon on the west, are the only considerable
rivulets." When the
district was first crossed by hounds— and there is evidence to show that at
least a part of it was hunted as early as the year 1762—its surface must
have presented an aspect differing considerably from that which it now
bears. It must then have been comparatively open in character, and therefore
foxes and consequently hounds may possibly have run straighter than they do
at the present time. It is stated' that about the year 1820 Linlithgowshire,
as a hunting country, was decidedly in every respect to be preferred to the
counties of Edinburgh and Haddington; that it held a remarkably good scent
at all seasons of the year; that it consisted, for a provincial, of a very
fair proportion of grass, and that it was a flat and very pleasant and
straightforward one to ride over"; while Nimrod, who visited the country in
1834, mentions that it was then considered the best in Scotland. In those
days, however, it was much less intersected than it is now, for although the
Union or Forth and Clyde canal was completed in 1822, there were no railways
and few mineral works—the lines from Edinburgh to Glasgow by Linlithgow and
by Bathgate, and to Carstairs having been opened subsequently to the year
1840, and the production of shale-oil not having become an industry in West
Lothian until about the year 1850. Nor had wire then begun to show itself as
it has since, creeping snakelike over the land and rendering more than one
district and many hundreds of acres of good old grass practically unfit for
the chase. Since the
beginning, the Linlithgow and Stirlingshire Hounds have hunted no fewer than
twelve counties, namely, Linlithgow or West Lothian and Stirling-which may
be considered originally to have formed the country proper,—Berwick,
Dumbarton, Dumfries, Edinburgh or Mid-Lothian, Fife, Forfar, Haddington or
East Lothian, Lanark, Peebles, and Perth. In addition to the shires of
Linlithgow and Stirling, part of Mid-Lothian was hunted in the year 1790, as
were portions of the counties of Dumbarton and Lanark in 1807 and some
subsequent years. From 1825 to 1828 the west of Fife country and a part of
Dumfriesshire were visited from time to time, and in 1828 and the
immediately following seasons the Duns country in Berwickshire was hunted
alternately with the counties of Linlithgow and Stirling. When the Duns
country was given up in 1833, part of Lanarkshire was lent by Lord Kelburne,
and the district around Dunblane in Perthshire received some attention. Then
Forfbrshire had its turn from 1838 to 1842, and in the year after that
last-mentioned, East Lothian was taken over with the approval of the Duke of
Buccleuch, and hunted in conjunction with the counties of Linlithgow and
Stirling, part of Mid-Lothian, and certain parts of Lanarkshire and
Peeblesshire known as the Carnwath country. In 1848, East Lothian was
relinquished, and in its place the west of Fife district was again resorted
to, Fife at that time possessing no foxhounds of its own. From 1855 to 1866
the Carnwath country seems to have been preferred to Stirlingshire, which
then received only a small share of the fixtures, but which at the end of
that period was resumed, and until 1869, was once more hunted fairly with
Linlithgowshire and part of the county of Edinburgh. During the union with
East Lothian (1869-1877) the three Lothians may be said to have constituted
the country, for the district lying to the west of the Avon was but seldom
visited; while from its termination down to the present time, the area
hunted has practically consisted of the county of Linlithgow, with the
south-eastern part of Stirlingshire and the north-western portion of Mid-
Lothian as adjuncts.
Turning from the country to the men who conducted the hunting establishment
and to those who gave it their support,—it would seem that Sir William
Augustus Cunynghame of Livingstone and Milncraig was master about the year
1775, and that after his retirement, which probably took place some twenty
years later, the management was in the hands of a committee. Subsequently,
John, twelfth Lord Elphinstone, Mr George Ramsay of Barnton, and Mr William
Murray, younger of Polmaise, had the control from the year 1806 to the year
1814, in which the Hunt fell into abeyance; while after 1814, and until
1824, the Lothian Hounds, under Mr Robert Baird of Newbyth, hunted the
country periodically. In 1825, a renewal of the establishment was effected
by Mr James Johnston of Straiton and Champfleurie, and Mr William Downe
Gillon of Wallhouse, who acted as joint - masters for three years and three
months. On their resignation Mr William Hay of Duns Castle and Drummeizier
accepted the management, but two seasons later retired in favour of Mr
William Ramsay Ramsay of Barnton, whose reign lasted from 1830 until his
death in 1850. The conduct of affairs was then entrusted to Captain the Hon.
James Sandilands, second son of the tenth Lord Torphichen, and Captain John
Elphinstone-Fleeming, afterwards fourteenth Lord Elphinstone, the latter
taking the chief charge until 1855, and the former subsequently acting alone
for the space of ten seasons. In 1865, Mr Charles William Ramsay Ramsay of
Barnton attained majority and assumed the control, but his mastership was a
short one, for his death took place in the end of that year. Colonel Andrew
Gillon of Wallhouse succeeded him and hunted the country for three seasons,
or until 1869, when the Linlithgow and Stirlingshire and the Lothian' Hunts
were amalgamated under the title of the Lothians Hunt. Mr Henry Walter Hope
of Luffiiess was the first master of the conjoined establishments, his
successor being found in 1871 in Mr James Hope, Easter Duddingston, who
remained in office until the year 1877, when the union terminated. Then the
Linlithgow and Stirlingshire Hunt was revived under Captain, afterwards
Major, William John Wauchope of Niddrie, who, four seasons later, was
succeeded by Mr James Russel of Dundas Castle. In 1884 the management passed
to Mr John Graham Menzies, in 1887 to Captain George Clerk Cheape of
Weilfield, in 1890 to Mr Adam Paterson Cross, and in 1895 to Mr, now Sir
Robert, Usher and his brothers, Mr Fred Usher and Mr Francis James Usher,
who, with Mr Fred Usher in charge of the establishment, remained in office
until 1906. From 1906 to the close of the past season (1909) Sir Robert
Usher and Mr Andrew Gillon have hunted the country - Mr Gillon undertaking
the active part of the management— and although their resignation was
received in the end of the year 1909, Sir Robert has since agreed to
continue in office with Mr Arthur James Meldruin of Dechmont as
joint-master. From what
has been stated it will be observed that in the earlier part of the Hunt's
existence the masters were, with one exception, Mr Hay, landowners in the
counties of Linlithgow or Stir- .ling and the adjoining district, or their
relatives, and that it was only after the union with East Lothian that the
control came to rest with others. It will also be noticed that two families,
the Ramsays of Barnton and the Gillons of Wallhouse, have each contributed
three masters in successive generations,--the former being represented by Mr
George Ramsay, his son Mr W. R. Ramsay, and his grandson Mr C. W. R. Ramsay,
all of whom died while in office; and the latter, by Mr W. D. Gillon, his
son Colonel Andrew Gillon, and his grandson Mr Andrew Giflon; that two Lords
Elphinstone, the twelfth lord and the fourteenth lord, then Captain
Fleerning, gave their services to the Hunt in directing its management; and
that Captain Sandilands and Sir Robert Usher have each occupied the position
of master for the considerable space of fifteen years.
Regarding those, other than masters, who have
supported the Hunt—since the beginning, most of the landowners in the
country, whether they hunted or not, have given their aid or countenance to
the sport in one way or another; the farmers, although but few of them have
joined in the chase of late years, have cheerfully allowed their land to be
ridden over ill worst periods of agricultural depression; and many more,
neither owners nor occupiers of land, but followers of the pack, have
afforded pecuniary assistance. To enumerate all the supporters whom the Hunt
has, and has had, would form a difficult if not a well-nigh impossible task,
but without invidious distinction, particular mention may be made of the
Houstoun family and the Hopetoun family, for the former during several
generations has given every assistance in its power, and the latter,
notably, all through the Hunt's history, has contributed much support.
Within recent years the Hunt has had no better friend than the late Marquis
of Linlithgow, who, although keeping two private packs, the Hopetoun
harriers and beagles, was always ready, as his son is now, to welcome the
foxhounds upon his land. And although none of the main line of this family
has ever accepted the control, there has probably never been a period at
which a member of it would not have been gladly hailed as master, both by
the subscribers and by the country.
Of a long list of Hunt servants, only seven
huntsmen—Richard Forrester, Thomas Granger, Christopher Scott, Thomas
Rintoul, James Stracey, John Atkinson, and Edward Cotesworth—have been in
office for a period exceeding five years. Forrester was huntsman to the pack
at an early date (1797), and acted as such until his death in or about the
year 1805, when Robert Burton was appointed to fill his place; while
Granger, who succeeded Burton, hunted the hounds from 1807 to 1814, the year
in which the Hunt fell into abeyance. Oil renewal of the establishment in
1825, George Knight became huntsman, but three years later was superseded by
Mr Hay, who during his mastership (1828 - 1830) hunted the hounds himself.
Scott followed Mr Hay and held the huntsman's place from 1830 to 1839, when
he retired in favour of Rintoul, who at that time had seen many seasons'
service with the pack, and whose term of office as huntsman subsequently
lasted until 1851, in which year the master, Captain Fleeming, undertook the
huntsman's duties in the field. In 1853 W. Potts came as huntsman, in 1856
Robert Purslow, in 1857 Henry Nason, and in 1858 John Jones. Jones'
relinquishment of the post in 1860 cleared the way for Stracey, his first
whipper-in, who acted until 1866, when he was succeeded by Richard Horton,
the last of the Unlithgow and Stirlingshire huntsmen prior to the union with
East Lothian. On the revival of the Linlithgow and Stirlingshire Hunt in
1877, Atkinson, who had carried the horn during the union, was retained,
and, with the exception of the season of 1881, in which his nephew Charles
Atkinson was huntsman, and of the two following seasons, in which the
master, Mr Russel, was nominally huntsman and frequently hunted the hounds,
continued in office until 1887, when his hunting career closed. James Beavan
came next, and remained for two seasons, at the end of which he went to Lord
Eglinton, and Cotesworth was appointed in his stead. Cotes- worth was
huntsman in 1889 and 1890, kennel- huntsman and first whipper-in in the four
succeeding seasons, during which the master, Mr Cross, hunted the hounds,
and again huntsman from 1895 to 1904; while Tom Hall, who got the horn on
Cotesworth's retirement, carried it for two seasons or until 1906, when lie
accompanied Mr Fred Usher to Berwickshire. Since then Sam Morgan, junior, a
son of Lord Fitzwilliam's hunts- man, has had the charge at Golfhall, and
has hunted the hounds for Sir Robert Usher and Mr Gillon, as lie will now
for Sir Robert and Mr Meldrum.
Turning again from the men -
masters, supporters, and huntsmen—to the hounds, there is nothing to
indicate where the original pack came from, or what was its strength in the
Hunt's earliest days. The picture of "The Death of the Fox," however,
painted by Alexander Nasmyth about the year 1795, gives some idea of the
stamp of hound in use at that time. III the hounds seem to have been small,
perhaps not more than twenty inches in height, deficient in bone and
substance, light in colour, and resembling the harrier rather than the
foxhound, but showing quality and having great neck and shoulder. The
pictures of different dates in which the hounds are depicted form in
themselves a sort of history of the latter, and it is interesting to compare
one picture with another since each, assuming always that the drawing is
correct, serves to illustrate the type of hound existing at the time, and to
demonstrate the progress which has gradually taken place in hound breeding.
In 1806, what was evidently the Linlithgow and
Stirlingshire pack was advertised to be disposed of by public sale,' but it
would seem that the hounds were not sold in this way, and eventually
remained in the country. Three or four years later, fresh blood appears to
have been obtained from the kennel of a Mr Harley Drummond, since the
accounts for the year 1810 refer to a lawsuit at his instance for the
recovery of the price of some hounds which the Hunt had purchased from him.
The picture containing the portrait of Granger,
painted by Douglas in 1813, points to the fact that the hounds were then
still wanting in bone, and harrier-like, although in character more nearly
approaching the modern foxhound than those represented by Nasnmyth. Yet it
matters little what improvement in breeding had been effected at this stage,
for in the following year the hounds were sold, and were replaced, on the
renewal of the hunting establishment in 1825, by an entirely distinct pack.
This, coming as it did from the kennel of the Earl of Kintore, and
consisting, as his list for 1824 indicates, partly of hounds which had
fallen to him on the division of the united Fife and Forfarshire packs, and
partly of drafts from various well-known kennels in England, was probably
made up of hounds of a better class than those which had constituted the
previous pack. It seems
possible that when Mr Johnston and Mr W. D. Gillon resigned their mastership
in 1828, the fifth Earl of Hopetoun may have purchased the hounds and
offered them as a gift to the gentlemen of the counties of Linlithgow and
Stirling, but it cannot be stated authoritatively that this offer, if made,
was accepted, nor is it by any means clear that either Mr Hay or Mr W. H.
Ramsay, on assuming the control, took over the hounds as county property,
and without purchasing them, as has been suggested.
In his short reign Mr Hay improved the pack in a
wonderful manner and although there are no hound lists forthcoming to show
it, he seems to have introduced a strain of blood which he had brought down
from Warwickshire and had obtained from the old Pytchley.The one and a half
couples of hounds represented in the picture containing his portrait,
painted in 1830, if forming part of the Linlithgow and Stirlingshire pack,
indicate a distinct improvement both in shape and in substance, and since
the figures in this work are by Sir Francis Grant, it may be assumed that
the drawing is good.
The large picture painted for Mr W. R. Ramsay by H. B. Chaloii in 1835,
shows some fourteen and a half couples of hounds which, although perhaps
rather wanting in bone, have at least the appearance of foxhounds, and will
be compared favourably with those portrayed by Nasmyth and Douglas. During
Mr Ramsay's mastership the pack, notwithstanding the fact that it was
strengthened by drafts from Lord Kintore's, the Duke of Cleveland's, the
Badsworth and other kennels, was generally of Beaufort and Lonsdale blood,
and possibly Mr Ramsay never had a better hound than Bedford (1830) by the
Duke of Beaufort's Brusher (1822) —Dairymaid, bred by Mr Nichol and entered
in 1824 by Lord Kintore. But "Lonsdale blood was Mr Ramsay's delight, and he
bought 17 couple of them at the Cottesmore sale in 1842, while two years
later he acquired Lord Kintore's pack, which thus, a second time, found its
way into the Linlithgow and Stirlingshire country.
Captain Sandilands did not care for a
heavy-boned hound, and the picture of "The Meet at Barnton," painted by
Stewart Watson, and finished about the year 1858, rather bears this out. At
this period drafts were got from the Brocklesby, the Bramham Moor, the
Berkeley, and other kennels; but then, as at other times both earlier and
later, there were always hounds bred at home, and the sire most used was Sir
Richard Sutton's Bajazet (1854) by Mr Lumley's Royster (1848) —Sir Richard's
Barbara (1851).
On the death of Mr C. W. R. Ramsay in 1865, the pack, which a few years
previously had been claimed as private property by Mrs W. R. Ramsay, was
sold. The dog hounds were purchased by Colonel Gillon, the next master, and
the bitches, which had been bought by Lord Eglinton, were taken to Ayrshire
by Trueman Tuff, the first whipper-in. Throughout Colonel Gillon's
mastership, the pack was afflicted to a considerable extent by kennel
lameness, and each year fresh hounds had to be purchased in order to provide
the requisite working number. These were obtained froin many sources, the
chief being the Cheshire, the Old Burton, Lord Eglinton's, and the Milton
kennels. When the
Linlithgow and Stirlingshire and the East Lothian Hunts were united in 1869,
Ni H. W. Hope purchased Colonel Gillon's pack, and shortly afterwards
acquired the Lothian one also; but, after a season, very few of the hounds
which had belonged to either remained in the kennel. During the subsistence
of the union it was necessary, in consequence of the increase of country, to
maintain a stronger pack than previously, and both Mr H. W. Hope, and his
successor, Mr James Hope, acquired drafts freely, the most important in
point of numbers being got from the Berkeley, Lord Middleton's, the
Atherstone, Mr Meynell-Ingrams, and the Badminton kennels, and the most
useful perhaps from the Badminton. After the first year of Mr James hope's
term of office, during which the hounds were lent by Mr H. W. Hope, the pack
became the property of the Hunt committee, and continued to he so throughout
the mastership of Major Wauchope, who obtained drafts from Badminton, from
Berkeley, and from the Earl of Zetland, and in 1880 put on some fifteen
couples of entered hounds purchased at Lord Coventry's and Mr Askew's sales
at Rugby in that year.
On taking the control, Mr
Russel purchased the pack from the Hunt committee and strengthened it with
drafts from Lord Eglinton's, the Brocklesby, the Milton, and the
Hertfordshire kennels, besides using the Marquis of Waterford's Rutland
(1880) by Milton Rifleman (1874)—his lordship's Redwing (1877), a hound
which he bought when the Curraghmore establishment was reduced in 1882.
When Mr Russel retired, Mr Menzies purchased the
hounds from him, and in turn sold them to Captain Cheape, who was the last
individual owner of the pack; for during the two succeeding masterships—those
of Mr Cross and the Messrs Usher— the hounds belonged partly to the country
and partly to the masters, whereas they are now entirely the property of the
country. During his term of office, Mr Menzies obtained drafts from the
Grafton and the New Forest; while subsequently Captain Cheape turned to Sir
Bache Cunard's, the Blankney, the Milton, the Atherstone, Captain
Johnstone's, and the North Cheshire kennels in order to get the number and
stamp of hounds he required.
In the beginning of Mr Cross' mastership there
set in a tendency towards home-breeding which grew during the period in
which Mr Fred Usher had the management of the pack. Consequently, very few
drafts were purchased by Mr Cross, and no hounds were put forward by Mr
Usher which were not bred at Golfhall, although from time to time he had
recourse to the sires of other kennels, such as Earl Fitzwilliam's Chanter
(1891), the Dumfriesshire Pilot (1894), the South Durham Streamer (1896),
and the Lanark and Renfrewshire Raeburn (1900). At home, Renegade (1892),
Governor (1893), Donovan (1895), Genitor (1896), Grappler (1898), Hamlet
(1899), Sounder (1900), Delegate (1901), and the Atherstone Comrade (1900)
purchased in 1904, were all used between the years 1895 and 1906—Genitor
most freely, —and there is still much of their blood in the kennel,
notwithstanding the fact that many of their descendants went to form a draft
which was presented to Mr Usher when he accepted the mastership of the
Berwickshire Hounds in 1906.
Sir Robert Usher and Mr Gillon reverted to the
old order, for although continuing home-breeding, they did so at first on a
smaller scale, and made up the working number required by the purchase of
drafts. Since the beginning of their mastership, the Atherstone, Sir W.
Williams-Wynn's, Earl Fitzwilliam's (Wentworth), the Cattistock, the Duke of
Buccleuch's, the Brocklesby, the Grove, and the Puckeridge, have all
contributed towards maintaining the strength of the pack, while Mr Forbes of
Callendar has presented a number of hounds from the Hurworth kennel, and the
Duke of Beaufort the Badminton Druid (1904). The Atherstone draft proved to
be a good one, and their Dagon (1900) stood out prominently for two seasons
as a working hound, being second only in his performance in the field to the
home-bred Hostile (1902).
Owing to the want of continuity in the earlier
lists, it is difficult to trace the pedigrees of the hounds, but there can
be little doubt that there is not now any blood in the kennel which goes
back in it prior to the union with East Lothian, and that the Lothians list
for 1872 contains the name of the last survivor' of the previous Linlithgow
and Stirlingshire pack.
Before concluding this chapter, a reference to
the various kennels occupied from time to time will not be out of place. The
earliest known are "the Doghouses," which were built by Sir William
Cunyngharne on the farm of Lethein between Uphall and Midcalder, in or about
the year 1775. These were probably used until the end of his mastership, or
until the committee of management, which was afterwards appointed, began to
act; but however this may have been, in the year 1797, the hounds were
kennelled at Linlithgow, where they appear to have been kept until 1806.
From 1806 to 1814, the period during which the management rested with Lord
Elphinstone, Mr George Ramsay, and Mr William Murray, kennels at Laurieston,
near Falkirk, were used as well as those at Linlithgow and it is probable
that the hounds were accommodated at Barnton when the eastern side of the
country was hunted, as they were at Hamilton when the Lanarkshire district
was visited. When Lord Kintore's hounds were purchased by Mr Johnston and Mr
Gillon in 1825, they were taken to kennels at Winchburgh, which had been
occupied by the Lothian, now the Duke of Buccieuch's, pack during the period
in which the Hunt was in abeyance (1814-1824). In the same year (1825),
however, they were transferred from Winchburgh to new kennels erected by Mr
Johnston at the Bonnytoun entry to Linlithgow, and from these they hunted
the whole country except the west of Fife, the west of Stirlingshire, and
part of Dumfriesshire. On the occasions upon which these outlying districts
were visited, the pack was put up at Torryburnat Stirling, and at Lochmaben
respectively. It would seem that between the years 1828 and 1830, during
which Mr Hay had the management, the hounds, when in the home country,
occupied kennels at Kettleston, about a mile to the west of Linlithgow, and
when in Berwickshire, the kennels at Duns Castle. Throughout Mr W. H.
Ramsay's mastership the head- quarters were at Laurieston,—the Barnton
kennels, and subsequently others at Golfhall, an old inn and posting -
house, receiving the pack when the eastern and southern parts of the home
country were hunted. So long as Mr Ramsay hunted the Duns country, it is
probable that he had the
use of the Duns Castle kennels. When he hunted
Lanarkshire and the Carnwath country, he had kennels at Newmains and
Carnbroe, and at Camwath; when in Forfarshire, kennels at Forfar; and when
in East Lothian, kennels at Amisfield near Haddington; while the west of
Fife district was probably overtaken from Torryburn or some other convenient
centre. Captain Fleeming seems to have used the Laurieston, Golfhall, and
Camnwath kennels during his term of office in the same way that Captain
Sandilands did later. In 1856, however, kennels at Kersewell were
substituted for those at Carnwath, and in the following year the Laurieston
kennels were given up, and those at Golfhall, which had been rebuilt or
repaired, were constituted the headquarters. In Mr C. W. R. Ramsay's short
mastership there was no change, the kennels used being those at Golfhall and
at Kersewell, but when Colonel Gillon undertook the management, he reverted
to the Laurieston kennels, with outlying quarters at Hopetoun and at Uphall.
In 1869 the kennels at Golfhall again became the headquarters, and there the
hounds have been kept ever since. |
