Рита Браун: The Hounds And The Fury

Mask—The fox’s head.

Meet—The site where the day’s hunting begins.

MFH—The master of foxhounds; the individual in charge of the hunt: hiring, firing, landowner relations, opening territory (in large hunts this is the job of the hunt secretary), developing the pack of hounds, determining the first cast of each meet. As in any leadership position, the master is also the lightning rod for criticism. The master may hunt the hounds, although this is usually done by a professional huntsman, who is also responsible for the hounds in the field and at the kennels. A long relationship between a master and a huntsman allows the hunt to develop and grow.

Nose—The scenting ability of a hound.

Override—To press hounds too closely.

Overrun—When hounds shoot past the line of scent. Often the scent has been diverted or foiled by a clever fox.

Ratcatcher—The informal dress worn during cubbing season and bye days.

Stern—A hound’s tail.

Stiff-necked fox—One who runs in a straight line.

Strike hounds—Those hounds who through keenness, nose, and often higher intelligence find the scent first and press it.

Tail hounds—Those hounds running at the rear of the pack. This is not necessarily because they aren’t keen; they may be older hounds.

Tally-ho—The cheer when the fox is viewed. Derived from the Norman ty a hillaut, thus coming into the English language in 1066.

Tongue—To vocally pursue the fox.

View halloo (Halloa)—The cry given by a staff member who views a fox. Staff may also say “tally-ho” or “tally-back” should the fox turn back. One reason a different cry may be used by staff, especially in territory where the huntsman can’t see the staff, is that the field in their enthusiasm may cheer something other than a fox.

Vixen—The female fox.

Walk—Puppies are “walked out” in the summer and fall of their first year. It’s part of their education and a delight for puppies and staff.

Whippers-in—Also called whips, these are the staff members who assist the huntsman, who make sure the hounds “do right.”

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

RITA MAE BROWN is the bestselling author of (among others) Rubyfruit Jungle, Six of One, Southern Discomfort, Outfoxed, and a memoir, Rita Will. She also collaborates with her tiger cat, Sneaky Pie, on the New York Times bestselling Mrs. Murphy mystery series. An Emmy-nominated screenwriter and poet, she lives in Afton, Virginia. She is master and huntsman of the Oak Ridge Foxhunt Club and is one of the directors of Virginia Hunt Week. She is also Visiting Faculty at the University of Nebraska, Lincoln.

Books by Rita Mae Brown

with “Sister” Jane Arnold in the Outfoxed series

Outfoxed

Hotspur

Full Cry

The Hunt Ball

Books by Rita Mae Brown with Sneaky Pie Brown

Wish You Were Here

Rest In Pieces

Murder At Montecello

Pay Dirt

Murder, She Meowed

Murder on the Prowl

Cat on the Scent

Sneaky Pie’s Cookbook for Mystery Lovers

Pawing Through the Past

Claws and Effects

Catch as Cat Can

Cat’s Eyewitness

Sour Puss

Books by Rita Mae Brown

The Hand That Cradles the Rock

Songs to a Handsome Woman

The Plain Brown Rapper

Rubyfruit Jungle

In Her Day

Six of One

Southern Discomfort

Sudden Death

High Hearts

Started from Scratch: A Different Kind of Writer’s Manual

Bingo

Venus Envy

Dolley: A Novel of Dolley Madison in Love and War

Riding Shotgun

Rita Will: Memoir of a Literary Rabble-Rouser

Loose Lips

Alma Mater

The Hounds and the Fury is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons living or dead is entirely coincidental.

Copyright © 2006 by American Artists, Inc.

Title page illustrations copyright © 2006 by Lee Gildea, Jr.

All rights reserved.

Published in the United States by Ballantine Books, an imprint of The Random House Publishing Group, a division of Random House, Inc., New York.

BALLANTINE and colophon are registered trademarks of Random House, Inc.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in Publication Data

Brown, Rita Mae.

The hounds and the fury : a novel/Rita Mae Brown.—1st ed.

p. cm.

1. Fox hunting—Fiction. I. Title.

PS3552.R698H63 2006

813'.54—dc22 2006042768

www.ballantinebooks.com

eISBN: 978-0-345-49543-3

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