'Fox Hunting is an Essential Part of the Rural Idyll' Anti Hunting Lobby

Wesley Thomas GG11910 wwt7

‘Fox Hunting is an Essential Part of the Rural Idyll’

Anti Hunting Lobby

On the 19th of December 2004 (BBC, 2004) a landmark victory, for anybody with a sense of morality, occurred.

‘Commons Speaker Michael Martin has invoked the Parliament Act meaning a ban on fox hunting will be in place by February 2005.’ (BBC 2004)

This was a giant step forward of removing the myth that fox hunting is an essential part of the rural Idyll.

What is the Rural Idyll?

In an interview with ‘The Cumberland News’ the author of ‘The Farm’ Richard Benson talked about the rural idyll and why it was so important to the British way of life. One of the most brought up points when talking about the rural idyll is farming. Benson says that ‘Farming is ‘part of our cultural DNA.’’ (Cumberland News, 2006) The British people live off their farming past; most people want to retire to a little village in the middle of nowhere, with freshly cultivated pastures.

‘The imagery, smells, sounds and textures of farms hold huge appeal, he says. In a commercialised modern world it is, specifically, the appeal of tradition and authenticity.’ (2006)

People have a fixed idea of place and space, even if they have never been there. They expect to see certain things even if those things are no longer existent.

“Throughout history urban writers have looked on rural life as a timeless thing that exists outside fashion,” (Benson, 2006)

This though is a major problem, because times have changed and we no longer live in a barbaric past. Humans have moved forward in their thinking and development, so why do they need to keep going back to what they think is tradition?

You will often hear from supporters that fox hunting is part of the rural tradition but it’s not. It’s just a small group of people looking for a good time by tormenting and murdering defenceless animals.

“[The countryside] is pictured as a less-hurried lifestyle where people follow the seasons rather than the stock market, where they have more time for one another and exist in more organic community where people have a place and an authentic role. The countryside has become the refuge from modernity.” Short (1991:34)

Short agrees with Benson on the fact that the countryside seems to be timeless. He says that it’s a ‘refuge’ from the economically based urban cities. It is strapped in tradition that does not want to be removed, and in most cases probably shouldn’t be. The countryside is a major contrast to the city and should continue to be so. However if certain things don’t change then countryside could see its self lost from the values of the rest of the UK. A place only the service and upper class people can afford and value. After all it has been traditionally the upper classes that have had the time and money to waste on hunting. ‘73% people want fox hunting banned (Rosen, unknown) in Britain. That shows that the almost three quarters of British people don’t think that fox hunting is part of the rural idyll. So how come over a quarter of people do?

The History of Hunting with Hounds

‘The earliest known attempt to hunt a fox with hounds was in Norfolk in 1534, where a farmer used his dogs in an attempt to catch a fox.’ (DFR, 2006)

The idea of hunting with hounds that we ‘recognise today, has been around for about 300 years’ (BBC, 1999)

Below is a timeline taken from the Guardian Newspaper (2004)

1534 Earliest properly recorded foxhunt, in Norfolk
1660 after the restoration of the monarchy hunting grows as a sport: the first dedicated foxhound packs emerge but game remains prime quarry ...

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The History of Hunting with Hounds

‘The earliest known attempt to hunt a fox with hounds was in Norfolk in 1534, where a farmer used his dogs in an attempt to catch a fox.’ (DFR, 2006)

The idea of hunting with hounds that we ‘recognise today, has been around for about 300 years’ (BBC, 1999)

Below is a timeline taken from the Guardian Newspaper (2004)

1534 Earliest properly recorded foxhunt, in Norfolk
1660 after the restoration of the monarchy hunting grows as a sport: the first dedicated foxhound packs emerge but game remains prime quarry
1670s Britain's oldest foxhunt, the Hillsdale in Yorkshire, founded
1696 The Quorn hunt founded
1760 The first enclosure acts are passed, making deer hunting harder and fox hunting more common. The new hedges and fences encourage jumping
1831 The game laws, which restricted game hunting, repealed. Foxhunting grows in popularity as the expanding railways allow horses and hunters to travel across the country
1865 Hunting Sketches, by Anthony Trollope, published
1891 Humanitarian League founded to campaign against hunting
1924 League against Cruel Sports founded
1976 RSPCA comes out in favour of a ban on fox hunting
1979 Labour manifesto opposes hunting for the first time
1995 Parliamentary attempts to ban hunting defeated in Commons
1997 Labour elected with a promise to allow parliament to reach a decision on issue
2000 Burns report concludes that hunting "seriously compromise the welfare of the fox" but should continue under certain conditions
2003 Government introduces a bill allowing licensed hunting. This was changed by the Commons to ban the sport but did not return from the Lords
2004 The government reintroduces the bill with the intention of applying the Parliament Act to bring the law into force
2005 Ban comes into force on the 1st of February (BBC, 2005)

The timeline shows when the history of the sport as well as the attempts to abolish it. The first major campaign against the sport was in 1891, this means people were fighting against the sport for over 110 years before a ban came into force. This shows that fox hunting is certainly not part of the rural idyll. Seeing Short (1990) and Benson (2006) said that the rural idyll was all about timelessness and tradition, fox hunting obviously doesn’t fit this idea seeing people, in rural areas, have been trying to get rid of it for a very long time.

Peoples Views against Fox Hunting

“Freedom of choice is also denied to the general public, to whom parts of Exmoor and the Quantocks become inaccessible during a hunt. An idyllic day’s rambling is transformed into something akin to a stroll down the fast lane of the M1, owing to the presence of the ‘conservation-minded’ hunt and their motorised convoy of followers.” Letter to a Newspaper, quoted in Woods (1998: 321)

This is a description given by a rambler who, whilst in the country was trying to take in the rural idyll, but because of the fox hunters could not. This is because during a hunt all you can hear is the barking of dogs, and thundering of horses hooves, and sound of loud 4x4 engines from the ‘motorised followers’. The reason there are so many cars around is because hunts get a lot of followers who do not actually take part in the hunt but enjoy watching a living creature being ripped apart. The writer also makes the point that mainly people who fight for conservation of the countryside and its rurality are the ones that undertake the hunts. They would be the first to complain if a power plant was proposed to be built in their back garden; too many new houses were built around their village or if Ford decided to build a car plant in the area. However it’s perfectly alright for them to trample down the vegetation of the area on horseback or to let hounds terrorise the local wildlife. Also the fact that there are so many fuel guzzling cars in the area must mean the air quality is getting seriously affected.

‘In the past decades, landowners have systematically attacked the countryside and its natural beauty. They have grubbed out hedgerows, chopped down woodlands and turned the former fields into a prairie landscape of fields stretching to the horizon....A great number of farmers object to the hunt which can damage their crops but are reluctant to refuse permission (many are tenant farmers).’ Mather (1997:77)

Mather agrees with the newspaper letter. She says that it is the land owners that are destroying the rural idyll; the people don’t actually know anything about the land they own and are, by allowing hunting, are actually destroying it. The people who love and care for the land they earn a living on are against hunting, but because they are only renting the land can’t do anything to stop the hunts.

“If hunting was stopped the whole social life of this area would be wiped out.” (Woods, 1998:321)

This is a ridiculous thing to say, surely there is more to the lives of the upper classes than mindless destruction? Whatever happened to brisk walks in the countryside, lazy nights down the pub or finding something new to do like rock climbing or cycling? Anyway the social side of hunting has not been banned; you can still exercise dogs and ride on horseback the practice is just a little more ethical than before.

The Rural Idyll since the Ban

‘The harassment and intimidation endured by hunt monitors in England and Wales has increased dramatically following successful prosecutions for illegal hunting, which shows that the law indeed has teeth.’ (IFAW 2007)

This shows that the rural idyll is a myth. People are not pleasant, laid back and welcoming but savage and intimidation. Why would anyone want to move to an area with people like this in it? You expect intimidation and harassment from youths in run down inner city estate not the upper classes.

The ban came about on the 1st of February 2005 but still people keep fighting to stay in the past.

Having just watched our local hunt move off from their first meet in Maldon High St for several years, cheered and applauded by crowds who had turned up especially to see them, I'd definitely say; no, the ban is not working. Hunting is still very much alive. (An opinion from a BBC internet forum 2006)

As said before the hunting ban did not ban the social aspects of hunting and the hunting as an idea. As long a fox wasn’t ripped to death by hounds the act of hunting could still take place.

Hunting rabbits or rats instead of foxes or hares
Using no more than two dogs to flush out a fox to be shot
Drag or trail hunting (using an artificial scent to hunt with hounds)
Using hounds to flush out a mammal to be hunted by a bird of prey
Exercising packs of hounds without using them to hunt
Using terriers to flush and shoot foxes, to protect game birds

(BBC 2005)

Drag or trail hunting is a good ethical way for the upper classes to practice their ‘sport’. It lets them still keep everything they value but it means the fox and other animals included in the act are free to live another day.

As presented, Fox hunting is certainly not part of the rural idyll, as 73% of people want it banned it means that people don’t want to or don’t see it as part of been rural. However the 27% of people who still think it is essential to their lifestyle still have the right to practice the social aspects of it.

Reference List

BBC (1999) BBC website. Available at [Access date 11 Feb 2008]

BBC (2004) BBC website. Available at [Access date 11 Feb 2008]

BBC (2005) BBC website. Available at [Access date 11 Feb 2008]

BBC (2006) BBC website. Available at [Access date 11 Feb 2008]

Benson, R (2005) ‘The Farm: The Story of One Family and the English Countryside’ London: Hamish Hamilton.

Cumberland News (2006) ‘Why We Cling onto a Rural Idyll’ Cumberland News, August 2006.

DFR (2006) DFR website. Available at: . [Access date 11 Feb 2008].

Guardian (2004) A Short History of the Fox Hunt. Guardian November 2004

IWAF (2007) IWAF website. Available at: . [Access date 11 Feb 2008].

Mather, H (1997) ‘Fox Hunting.’ Vegan Views, Autumn 1997, p77

Rosen, A (unknown) Fox Hunting Facts: Hounded to Death. San Rafael, CA: IDAUSA

Short, J (1991) ‘Imagined Country: Environment, Culture, and Society’ New York:

Woods, M (1998) ‘Rural Conflicts: Hunting, Local Politics and Actor Networks.’ Journal of Rural Studies, 14(3) p. 321-340.

'Fox Hunting is an Essential Part of the Rural Idyll' Anti Hunting Lobby

This is a preview of the whole essay

Benson, R (2005) ‘The Farm: The Story of One Family and the English Countryside’ London: Hamish Hamilton.

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