The reason for the rise of fox-hunting was the decline in the number of deer, as a result of the clearing of woodland for farming. Hunters who had previously chased deer now looked to hares and foxes to provide their sport. In the 17th century, hunting dogs were bred for their skill in following a puzzling scent over a great distance. This was vital in tracking a hare, which uses trickery to escape pursuit, often running in rings and doubling back on itself. Despite its reputation for cunning, the fox relies on speed. It could easily outrun any dogs. So early fox hunts would often last from dawn until nightfall, and end with the fox escaping.

Father of fox-hunting

In 1753, an 18-year-old country gentleman called Hugo Meynell (which rhymes with "kennel") began to hunt foxes on his estate, Quorn, in Leicester. Meynell was the first person to breed dogs for speed and stamina as well as scent. The speed of his dogs gave a new excitement to hunting foxes. It was also now possible to begin a hunt later in the morning, making it attractive to young noblemen who kept late nights. It was Meynell, a well-known figure in London society, who made fox-hunting fashionable.

By 1800, fox-hunting was supported by most of the great landed aristocratic families, who kept their own packs of hounds. In country towns, local businessmen, lawyers and shopkeepers also joined together to form hunts, clubbing together to fund "subscription packs". Hunt clubs were set up, which became the centre of social life in the countryside. The idea developed that hunting was a unifying force, bringing the whole rural community together in a shared activity.

Melton Mowbray

The Leicester town of Melton Mowbray sits at the junction of three hunts, the Quorn, Cottesmore and Belvoir. This made it attractive to young male aristocrats, who would spend the whole hunting season in the town. Meltonians, as they became known, were devoted to hard riding, and would hunt six days a week throughout the winter months. In the evenings they relaxed with cockfighting, dogfighting, gambling and drinking. During one drunken night in Melton in 1837, the Marquess of Waterford and his friends poured red paint over the local nightwatchmen and then painted the walls of the town. This is the origin of the phrase "painting the town red".

Fox supply

The growing popularity of hunting led to problems ensuring a supply of foxes. In the early 19th century, foxes were imported from the continent, mainly from France and Holland. Landowners also planted artificial coverts - brushy areas for the foxes to live in. It became socially unacceptable for farmers to trap or shoot foxes - an act known as "vulpicide". There was a country saying: "Better kill a man than a fox".

City people go hunting

The spread of the railways in the 1840s transformed fox-hunting. A Londoner could now catch the 8.05 train to Brockenhurst in the New Forest, with his horse in a box, and get there in time for the day's meet. Between the 1840s and 1870s, the number of people hunting foxes increased tenfold. Women also began to hunt, riding side-saddle in thick skirts. For the first time, the sport attracted large numbers of people with little connection with the countryside where they hunted.

The increasing numbers of hunters caused problems for farmers, who complained of the damage caused by riders to their crops and fences. Tensions worsened in the 1870s, during the agricultural depression, caused by an influx of cheap foreign grain. Farmers began to claim compensation for damage caused by hunts, and there was an increase in vulpicide. In 1888, a Worcestershire farmer shouted at a hunter who was trampling his corn. When the hunter used his whip on the farmer, the latter put advertisements in the local papers: "Wanted, dead foxes, must be out of the Worcestershire Hunt, shot, poisoned, or trapped, price given, £1 dog foxes, 30 shillings vixens."

For the first time, people living in the countryside were questioning the basic ideals of hunting, and its place in rural society.