Parfors hunting is an ancient type of hunting that was practiced by the Gauls. It reached its heyday and splendor in the French kingdom during the reign of Louis XIV (1643-1715). As a game, deer were mainly used. Then contained a fairly large staff of special servants, huntsmen (foot and horse), used hunting music. About parforsy hunting with hounds and terriers is described in the article.
From galls to the present day
As the Roman authors testify, already the first French kings (around the 3rd century AD) had very large packs of beagle dogs. They hunted such large and strong animals as bears, wild boars, moose, rounds, bison. They were driven to exhaustion, which in French sounds like par force, that is, "force." After the animals fell, they were finished off with the help of arrows, spears or darts.
The implementation of such a grandiose action entailed the need to maintain a large number of beagle dogs, vicious and powerful. When there was a hunt for foxes, wolves and hares, horse hunters were also needed. First, the game was driven by the hounds from the forest to the edge of the forest, in the field where horse hunters were waiting for it along with the hound dogs in the packs.
According to medieval chronicles, only in France in the XIV century there were more than 20 thousand hunters with hounds. Gradually, French beagle dogs began to “emerge” (under Louis IX), among which four were the main ones. It:
- royal whites
- St. Hubert - black,
- St. Louis - gray,
- Breton redheads.
The heyday of the "Sun King"
As mentioned above, parfors hunting in France reached its splendor under King Louis XIV. She looked as follows. The picker, with the help of the survivors, controlled the hound flock, consisting of 30 goals. These dogs drove three or four deer per day, and one year old wolf - already at ten in the morning. As a rule, hounds chased one deer at a time, on one track, without changing it to a fresh track. There were hundreds of fresh tracks in the royal parks. Deer hunting continued even at night with torches.
Period of decline
Parfors hunting began to decline in 1722, when Louis XV hunted with a flock of famous English dogs. In 1730, English hounds were constantly written to them from England. These dogs were paratroopers (frisky) and voiceless, they drove a deer in just one hour. When the animal was driven, it didn’t get cut back as before, but shot at it from a carbine. At the same time, the French hounds degenerated and lost their "greed for the beast."
The existence of large-scale hunts of kings and nobility for a long time ceased after the French Revolution. Beagles from class hatred of their masters were subjected to extermination, which was merciless and universal.
The resurrection of tradition
The hunt was resurrected by Napoleon I Bonaparte. He began to encourage national dog breeding, prohibiting the imperial hunting to write dogs from England. He himself used Norman hounds. Already in the second half of the XIX century, the French “caught on” and began to revive the local dog breeds.
The ancient hunt of the French kings has been preserved in this country to this day. There is a federation of trumpeter horns, which includes more than 2 thousand people. Parfors hunting is carried out by specialized clubs called crews. Some of them are engaged in the roe deer, others - wild boar, wild boar with deer or deer with deer.
Hunting in clubs
Such clubs are well-organized hunting farms, some of them have up to 100 working dogs. Sometimes horses are kept in them, sometimes horses are with members of the club. On the day when the hunt is scheduled, a dog kennel in the morning, from 5 o’clock, they begin to examine the dogs, selecting them for hunting. By 7 o’clock the huntsmen at the hunting site check if there is a beast. Dogs are delivered to the place by truck.
On the day of hunting, dogs and horses run from 40 to 50 km for 6–8 hours. As a rule, 35 dogs take part in the hunt. Fans of parfors hunting call it "very effective", as it does not have wounded animals and there is a tradition to spare the best individuals. During one hunting season, there are about 30 departures, which are usually made on Saturdays, following the rituals of the times of the French kings. About 700 thousand hectares are given for hunting, of which 400 thousand are private possessions.
How did the process go?
The Parfors hunting was led by its head, who, as a rule, owned a flock of hounds, a piker who was helped by two or three survivors. At the beginning of the hunt, hounds were allowed in the bushes located near the gathering place, or in the forest. Due to the fact that the game was prepared in advance, the dogs quickly took the track. While the beast circled without leaving the forest, hunters rode around the edge of the forest.
As soon as the dogs drove the game out of the forest, after it and after the dogs began a frantic leap that did not recognize any obstacles. The stone walls that surrounded the fields, and fences, and wide ditches were also overcome. When the dogs lost track, the jump was interrupted for a while, and then started again when the track was located. After the fox or hare has been driven, the dogs in one instant tore them into small pieces. If it was possible to repel game in dogs, they were given a head, entrails, pasanks (parts of the legs between the paw and knee).
In England
Parfors hunting in England is divided into classes, depending on various parameters, such as the degree of terrain, the genus of game, the dignity of horses and dogs. As a rule, hunting for goats and deer, a fox, was considered first-class. Hunting for a hare belonged to the lowest.
First-class parfors hunting with hounds was carried out with the departure of hunters on special horses, called "hunters." The flock, with up to 40 goals, consisted of steghounds (dogs chasing deer) and foxhounds (chasing foxes). The hunters were very trained people, prepared for the jump. Each of them had 5 or 6 horses, since after the hunt the horse had to rest for at least three days. The hunting season itself began in November and lasted without a break for as long as 5 months.
The external surroundings of the first-class hunting were distinguished by a great effect. The staff was dressed in red tailcoats, black velvet jockey caps, white skin-tight knickers, high over the knee boots with spurs. They had in their hands arapists, and in their saddlebags were copper pipes, which they blew during collection, and also signaled to those who fell behind during the hunt. Horses wore special covers - legs made of leather, so that they would not tear off their legs against thorns and bushes.
Hunting Terriers
As a rule, such hunting was applied to foxes. In the struggle for life, the fox, leading the cavalcade of hunters along it, often dawned - slipped away, hiding in a hole. Then the hunters, instead of "dropping their hands" and heading home, let out a terrier, who until that moment was sitting in a basket tied to the saddle of one of the riders.
Being full of strength, the dog roamed after the fox. The “exit” of the terrier could have two variants of ending: either the fox drove him out of the hole directly into the teeth of the hounds, or he “strangled” it and pulled it out of the hole. True, sometimes the beast managed to slip away, and then the race continued. Thus, the end of the Parfors hunting was largely dependent on the terriers.
For many years, the Old English Black-tan Terrier was used. However, during the heyday of hunting, it was required to create a specialized terrier - fox. So there was a fox terrier. To transport these dogs, special containers were needed - either special bags or wicker baskets. The basket was attached to the saddle, and the bag was worn diagonally over the shoulder by the hunter. The main thing is that the container in which the dog was located was not an obstacle to the rider during the race, which could pass during a fox race on a stretch of 10-30 km.
