The Pub,the Drinks Trade and the Early Years of Modern Football

Many people who hunt today, and some prominent fox hunting historians hold the opinion that fox hunting as practised now began in the late eighteenth century, and that Hugo Meynell of the Quorn Hunt in Leicestershire devised this method. There is much printed evidence from medieval and later sources to show that fox hunting was carried out at least from the early fourteenth century and that it was conducted in the same manner as it is now. It certainly became more popular in the eighteenth century as more men acquired enough money to be able to afford leisure pursuits. Hugo Meynell's hunt was at best, very fashionable, but no evidence exists to indicate its excellence, and only after he had died was he singled out as the best ever fox hunter by Charles Apperley, who made his living by writing about hunts and hunting personalities. Although Apperley never saw Meynell or his hounds, the reputation that Meynell acquired from Apperley still exists. This article proposes that Meynell's reputation is a myth and that fox hunting continued as it began, a medieval practice.