What’s In A Name?

A couple of weeks ago, the HSA reported on the merger of two of the south east’s last remaining fox hunts. The new outfit will be known as the ‘Southdown & Eridge with East Sussex & Romney Marsh Hunt.’ Not exactly catchy, is it?

The name may be long and unwieldy, but it does accurately reflect a simple fact: there used to be four fox hunts operating across this vast swathe of the south east, and now there is one. This pattern is being repeated across the country as fox and hare hunts collapse through sab pressure or lack of support.

In Yorkshire, there is the ‘Badsworth, Braham & York South Foxhounds’ – a miserable little pack made up of the remnants of three formerly powerful fox hunts. Down south, the ‘Palmer Marlborough & Clinkard Meon Valley Beagles’ have the run of a massive hunting country, but only because they are made up of four – yes, four – former hare hunts.

Absurdly, Tim Bonner and his mates at the Countryside Alliance try to suggest that these mergers are good news because they show that hunting is able to “adapt to the modern world”. As always, Tim is wrong. Hunt mergers are always forced and unhappy affairs, with rival factions from the original hunts jockeying for power and influence in the new organisation. The long hunt names are a symptom of this problem – supporters don’t want the name of “their” hunt to die out!

Mergers also create practical problems for hunt supporters, who suddenly have to travel many miles to get their weekly fix of animal abuse.

A Step Too Far?

But there are signs that even the hunters are realising that these names are making them look ridiculous. Back in September 2002 the…(deep breath)…Brighton, Storrington, Surrey & North Sussex Beagles – another amalgamation of four hare hunts – were forced to absorb their Kent-based neighbours, the Blean Beagles. Rather than tag on yet another name, the hunt decided on a complete rebrand…and came up with the innocuous sounding ‘Downland Club.’

Similarly, there is now just one fox hunt operating across the whole of Kent, thanks to decades of dedicated sabbing. This pack – imaginatively titled ‘The Kent Hounds’ – is yet another amalgamation of two already merged hunts – the ‘East Kent with West Street’ and the ‘Ashford Valley Tickham.’ Local sabs can now focus all their resources on finishing off this last remaining stain on Kent’s countryside.

Whether ridiculously long or deceptively short, these hunt names are yet further evidence that hunting is a dying sport.

Find out how you can get involved with our campaign to strengthen the Hunting Ban here.