THERE are so few hunting books published in recent years that it was a pleasant surprise to have a new entry to the market, Scarlet Tales, which arrived in my post to review. It was additionally interesting as it tells the story of the oldest hunt in South Africa, the Cape Hunt, of which we usually don’t see coverage. It is a credit to author Janet Stevens, and also a reminder that every hunt should have an archivist to document its history and maintain a photographic portfolio particularly as sadly people pass on, and that vital connection and social history goes with them.

The Cape Hunt was founded in 1822 by the Cape Governor Lord Charles Somerset, a son of the fifth Duke of Beaufort who was born in Badminton House in Gloucestershire, where the Badminton Horse Trials are held. It is also where the Beaufort hounds are kennelled, the most chronicled animals in the world going back more than 60 generations, and their current master and huntsman is Will Bryer, who hunted the County Limerick Foxhounds.

This book is a ‘keeper’ for any hunt follower’s library, with its 150 photos, hunt reports and lists of masters, huntsmen, hounds, hunter trials, Cape Hunt Races, The Cooper Cup and Hunt Ball, including interesting historical records. The style of hunting from an etiquette aspect is based on English hunting.

There are interviews with 47 prominent members of the hunt, recording the hunt’s history and anecdotes over 70 years of its existence and, where members have passed on, friends and family step in to share their memories. We are told that some members have hunted both in Ireland with the Duhallow and the County Limericks, and in the UK with the Beaufort, Cotswolds, Croome, Pytchley, Fitzwilliam, Puckeridge and the Ledbury.

They hunt from May to September with magnificent views of mountains, vineyards and the sea, across 14 venues. They originally hunted wild jackal, as it was considered vermin in the same way as the fox and a constant worry for sheep farmers. Due to urbanisation, they now hunt a drag line made up of a scented rag, where they lay five or six drag lines in a day’s hunting covering 20 to 30 kilometres at a very fast pace and have between 50 and 150 riders on horseback. You will be pleased to hear that there is a mandatory champagne stop after the fourth line. In the 1960s, apparently a jackal that they kept in the Kennels named Charlie, obliged with proper scent!

Like all good books, you will be entertained, as they are a fun-loving group. One story tells us of two riders that fell off their horses even before the hunt moved off, when they were drinking their stirrup cup or maybe multiple stirrup cups.

Another story is of a member on the night of the Hunt Ball, throwing a piano out the first-floor window of the hotel to see what it sounded like when it hit the ground. There are so many great stories that will be retold at hunt functions far and near in the future, many that can’t be related here for fear of bordering on defamation, but well worth buying the book as a reminder!

I like the story of Calendar Girls, when they got the idea from the film of producing a hunt calendar on the same theme. Although it only took one of the ladies ‘to throw caution to the wind’ and the rest relished the challenge, which raised so much money towards the keep of hounds. But they omitted to copyright the images and later on, at a local market stall, a master found numerous images on tablemats of his wife in a state of undress and had to buy the complete lot!

There is also a lovely description of the Gentlemen’s Knobbly Knees Competition and the Ladies Can Can Competition, where some of the ladies got too much in the spirit of the competition and I leave the rest to your imagination! As the author reminds us, it is also a story of just what often goes on when horsey people get together.

I can highly recommend it as a valuable addition to your hunting library, as each time you pick it up, it is guaranteed to make you smile!

It is available on Amazon in hard copy and for Kindle.