'Grass, Grass, Grass': Fox-hunting and the Creation of the Modern Landscape

Finch, Jonathan

doi:10.1179/lan.2004.5.2.41

Cited by 13 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 7 publications

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“…The "modern" version of foxhunting emerged during the eighteenth century from the enclosed landscapes of a region of central England known as the Shires. Enclosure involved the agricultural "improvement" and reallocation of rural landscapes, factors which were conducive to foxhunting (Beach Thomas 1936;Finch 2004Finch , 2007Acton 2011). Foxes had been hunted on horseback previously, using heavy, slow horses and hounds (Longrigg 1975), but the drained, partitioned lands of the enclosed countryside enabled swifter transit on horseback and added the thrill of jumping hedges.…”

Section: Foxhunting Spacesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Equine Gatekeepers, Animal Narratives and Foxhunting Landscapes

Acton¹

2014

Anthrozoös

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Firstly, this paper analyzes the dynamic between horse, rider, and landscape in foxhunting culture. Secondly, it considers nonhuman animals as active elements within the research process. The methodology principally involved extensive, in-depth participation as a rider within mounted foxhound packs, as I originally participated as a rider/ethnographer in order to understand the nexus between foxhunting culture and the landscape. However, the equine focus in my research emerged unexpectedly as my fieldwork drew me into a collaboration with an unanticipated character in this network; the "made hunter," a horse seasoned for hunting. These animals acted as my equine gatekeepers literally incorporating me into this hunting world. I relied on and respected their experience and capabilities as novice and experienced foxhunters have done for centuries. This paper presents an analysis of the quadripartite synthesis of foxhunting culture, rider, horse, and landscape and involves a corporeal and sensory exploration of the human/nonhuman inter-Hunt dynamic that defines foxhunting. Hunting cultures rely upon the capabilities of animals and have developed an ability to translate animal narratives and semiotics. Thus, they provide us with a platform for developing the multi-species perspective in social science. This paper calls for an ethnographic approach which draws upon these epistemic systems and incorporates the superhuman abilities of animals into our understanding of our relationship with space. Animals, I argue, offer more than potential subjects to study. By incorporating their knowledge, experiences, and perspectives, and by translating their engagements with the world, we have the potential to augment our perception of our shared environment.

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Section: Foxhunting Spacesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Equine Gatekeepers, Animal Narratives and Foxhunting Landscapes

Acton¹

2014

Anthrozoös

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“…Fences and barbed wire created physical barriers for riders and hounds in the same way that changing land use and suburban sprawl had done so in the interwar period. 29 The moral climate of the time also condemned blood sports as a diversion from the war effort. As a result hunting activities were reduced if not entirely eliminated and were certainly not widely publicized.…”

Section: IIImentioning

confidence: 99%

Royalty and Opposition to Blood Sports in Twentieth‐Century Britain: From Imperial Spoils to Wildlife Conservation?

Tichelar

2018

History

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This article explores the relationship between the British royal family, the growth of opposition to blood sports and the influence of wildlife conservation during the twentieth century. It explores the way in which public attitudes to the British monarchy in relation to hunting have changed over time, reflecting the growing strength of public opposition to blood sports in the twentieth century. It will argue that the royal family's patronage of the wildlife conservation movement from the 1960s provided a new justification for hunting in a post imperialist world by the preservation of endangered species in nature reserves, but that this had very little impact on the trend of public opinion. It will highlight the paradox that while members of the royal family increasingly used wildlife conservation as a scientific justification for hunting after 1950, in terms of the general trend of public opinion such arguments had little influence and tended to work against the interests of sport hunting.

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“…Unfortunately, it is also at this point that the argument becomes fragile. Only seven pages deal with hunting in post-medieval Britain, a rich area of enquiry, as the 'great hunts' of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries helped shape the aesthetics of the British countryside (see Finch 2004). Further discussion may have substantiated claims that the proliferation of country houses would have been reduced had it not been for hunting (p. 156).…”

Section: Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

Balancing the scales: new perspectives on British landscapes - Barry Lewis. Hunting in Britain from the Ice Age to the present. 224 pages, 66 illustrations, 23 colour plates. 2009. Stroud: History Press; 978-0-7524-4802-2 paperback £19.99. - Glenn Foard, David Hall & Tracey Partida. Rockingham Forest: an atlas of the medieval and early-modern landscape (Northamptonshire Record Society volume 44). 312 pages, 170 colour & b&w illustrations, 86-page atlas. 2009. Northampt

Tatlioglu¹

2011

Antiquity

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'Grass, Grass, Grass': Fox-hunting and the Creation of the Modern Landscape

Cited by 13 publications

References 7 publications

Equine Gatekeepers, Animal Narratives and Foxhunting Landscapes

Equine Gatekeepers, Animal Narratives and Foxhunting Landscapes

Royalty and Opposition to Blood Sports in Twentieth‐Century Britain: From Imperial Spoils to Wildlife Conservation?

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