A memorable day in the Beaumont Valley back in 1979

December 1979

Martin Letts

On December 11th 1979, the College Valley hounds met at Attonburn Road End. Attonburn is a farm owned by the Duke of Roxburghe, as is most of the land in this valley. Tom Elliot had been farm manager there for a great many years and, with his wife Jean, had been tremendous supporters of the hunt.

Hounds had been in great form, and in the first week of December had killed four foxes: all but one in the open and after long hunts. The 11th was mild and cloudy with a westerly wind as it had been the previous week, but only a small field came to the meet which included Teresa Smalley from Kyloe, Hillary Brown from Woodside - some ten riders in all and, of course Watty Little, the shepherd from Cocklawfoot took up his accustomed position on top of the West Side hill, in case a fox slipped away unseen from the riverside whins. My wife, Eildon, was whipping-in on a stout mare, Melody, bought locally from Robin Armstrong, farm manager at Sourhope, and I was riding Fred, a fine 15.3hh horse acquired from Arthur White, a friend in the Barlow country.

Hounds opened at once in the young fir cover which formed a narrow finger of trees on the slopes of the Sugar hill. They streamed away out over the Percy Law and Wood hill, a spine of white grass hill that runs alongside Bowmount water towards Yetholm village. They came off the hill at Clifton and took it up the road to a crossroads above Primside mill. A crossroad is always a problem to a huntsman, because their are four different options that require time for the hounds to make good, and by the time two have been explored, it is too late for the other two unless scent is exceptionally holding. However, the 11th was such a day and after a cast forward proved unfruitful, a cast toward Yetholm led to a hit up the Heyhope farm track, and hounds once again stepped up pressure to go up Davy Rigg and catch their fox after a turn about the buildings at Halterburn at Neil Park's back door - 45 minutes.

A move to Blakedean forestry was immediately successful and a fox, after a quick turn in the trees, went away over the Blakedean Curr and down the Sourhope March to turn over the White law, and cross the Bowmont water to try the Alloa burn earth on Swindon. He then turned out over Swindon hill and back to the cover alongside the water. A dispairing turn over Bonnylaws was his final move and he was caught with a crash of music in the rocky pool upstream of Sourhope Road End - a fine 60 minutes.

At the moment the hounds emerged from the water shaking the moisture from their coats, two couple were seen melodiously working a line on the White Law and the main pack were layed in as hounds conveniently crossed the road at Swindon cottage. The fox had a fair start, and it was close and accurate hunting out to the Castle Hill into Calroust to skirt Mowlaw and into Border country at the far end of Craikmoor. Hounds turned into Heatherhope over the heather screes of Crib Hope and with ever increasing pace through the Yett to climb Chatto Hill with just Eildon and Teresa in touch. However, a short cut down the road for the huntsman was rewarded when hounds came roaring down the hill at Chatto folds to run down the water in rapidly developing dusk. The fox skirted the environs of Hownam village and, at last checked at Sharplaw bridge. Pitch darkness, beaten horses and respect for a stout fox seemed a good reason to halt a great hunt containing all the ingredients of close hunting, drive, stamina and perseverance so necessary in a successful pack. The distance covered was over 10 miles and the furthest point close to 6 miles.

Hounds had covered over three times that distance during the day with only a brief intervals between hunting and, with scant assistance from their huntsman, so the three riders who rode down to Corbet Tower, with the hooves sparking on the road in the darkness, shared a sense of enthusiasm and achievement which remains in the memory to this day.