Hunting with Wild Boar with English Bulldogs (1833)

A summary I wrote based on Frederic Tolfrey's 1833 book.

The Sportsman in France (1833)

Frederic Tolfrey's "The Sportman in France" is a book based on first-hand accounts of an English gentleman’s hunting exploits through Piccardy, Normandy and Lower Brittany, France.

Based on his diaries from 1833 and published in 1841, his writing’s include a small chapter on hunting dangerous wild boar on horseback with hounds and English Bulldogs.

The book is spread across two volumes, numbered over 300 pages each, being extremely vivd in every aspect of the trip. The accounts of hunting wild boar infuse the real time excitement, danger, tragedy, and triumph experience by Mr. Tolfrey and his fellow hunters. The death of dogs and man highlight the dangers of hunting Wild Boar on Horseback in dense woodland, having to fall back on spears, whips and other hunting tools, when isolated away from man, horse, gun and dog.



After losing a man, several dogs, and many more near misses hunting wild boar, alternative tactics were required. A trip to Mr. Benjamin White, of Bayswater “no man in England has such splendid dogs”, provided a good source of Bull dogs, described as “matchless, and for boar shooting invaluable”.

These dogs from Mr. White were described by Tolfrey as “The very largest bull-dogs I ever saw, and terrific to look upon”. After purchasing at “rather a large sum” four of these “Hurculean quadrapeds”, “ finer or gamer animals could not be seen”. After Acquiring new rifles from William Moore, “the best maker we have”, and sorting shooting jackets, all was set for the voyage. Leaving London by rail to Southampton, passage to Jersey by steamboat, Sailing to St. Malo, and a carriage ride to Rennes with a stopover at the port of Dol.

A few delays par for the course came from one of the Bulldogs named Belcher, “a most pugnacious quadraped”, “who to demonstrate the purity of the breed had incontinently tackled an unoffending cow while crossing the market-place of St. Malo”. A second delay came when Belcher “took exception to the driver of the vehicle, and nothing would pacifiy him.”

The other three Bull-dogs were named by Mr White, Blutcher, Boxer and Boatswain, and were “Tolerably tractable and peaceful; but Belcher was a sad quarrelsome dog, although the most courageous and gallant fellow when occasion required”.

“The dogs were greatly admired by the gentlemen at Rennes, for their size, strength, and formidable apperance, and justly considered as curiosities”, and offers of double the value paid out were made by a French Nobleman at Rennes.

The first trial run was an eventful affair after much drinking of champagne and merriment, discarding of guns and other weapons the pack headed out for an initial test of the new pack of French hounds and English Bulldogs. With the Boar being driven by the other dogs towards our author, “I had scarcely recovered from my surprise ere Belcher had tackled him, and was hanging at his haunches: calling him off was out of the question, and the peculiar method resorted to by dog-fanciers in the Westminster Pit, of insinuating the varmint’s tail between the dentes molari (teeth), was rather too dangerous an experiment to resort to”.

Belcher hanging onto to the boars hind quarters not to be shaken off and the author without his rifle the arrival of the Bulldog Boxer and the other men was a great relief yet at the same time the booar had turned the tables on Belcher “giving poor Belcher a taste of his tusks”. “However great the courage and strength of the dog, I was fearful that his temerity might prove fatal against so formidable, and at the same time so novel, a foe.”

Thankfully at the author’s request, the guide plunged his spear gallantly into the boars chest.

“Boxer also ran to the rescue, and pinned the brute most gallanly: and Belcher gathered fresh courage at this timely assistance, and, although severly lacerated in his hind quarters, took the opportunity of releasing his hold for the purpose of securing another in some more vunerable part”.

Distracted by the spear the boar”was directed to our guide, and Belcher, with an instinctive cunning, embraced the opportunity afforded to him, and seized his antagonist by the wind-pipe, keeping his fore-legs under him in such a manner, and so closely to his own body, as to preclude the possibility of the boar taking undue liberties with them”.

With the help of two men on the spear and the bulldogs the boar was struggling and “it was evident he would soon bite the dust”. The arrival of the other two Bulldogs Boatswain and Blutcher who “lent their powerful aid, although late in the field, to finish the work so courageously begun.”

After the Boars jugular has been cut it was time to examine the dogs. “Poor Belcher had suffered severly in the struggle: his hind leg had been dreadfully lacerated”, “but the worst wound was on the shoulder; he had been awfully ripped and the gash was frightful to look at”. “Even in this crippled state we had the utmost dificulty in disengaging him from the object of his fury; in fact, it was only accomplished by biting his tail with such force as nearly to sever a joint-a masticating process, perforrmed with infinite skill and gusto by our master of the hounds in person.”

“had it not been for the indomitable courage of the noble animal by my side, there is no saying what the result would have been. There are plenty of dogs to be found in France that will hunt the boar, but few will tackle him. The English thoroughbred Bull-dog is an invaluable, and I might add, an indispensible, companion to the boar-shooter; and should any of my countrymen be induced to run over to Britanny, I strongly urge them to take one, if not two, of these faithful animals with them.”

The injured Bulldog being unable to walk was carried on horseback, “This animal, although without exception the most savage, untamebale brute of his breed, alloed Collins and myself to handle him like a child. I place him on the horse’s withers”.

Tolfrey goes into detail about the best of aftercare beingprovided for the hero Belcher with the help of a “good natured Surgeon, in dressing poor Belchers wounds. After thoughroughly cleasing and washing them stypics were applied, and under chirurgical guidance, I sewed up the deep incision made by the boar’s tusk in the shoulder. It was in truth a frightful gash; but the dog never winced, and licked my hand at almost every puncture I made with the needle.

Once Belcher was healed up it was not long before he was brought back out on another hunt finishing off a couple of wounded Boars. The problem of getting the Bulldog to let go of it's catch lends to some humourous writing. "The garde de chasse then proceeded to persuade Belcher, a la mode Anglaise, to let go his hold-I assisted also, and was squeezing his throat with as strong a gripe as I could command, while the Frenchman was munching his tail. Only the charge by another Boar made Belcher release his hold,the boar making a "desperate run at Belcher, who sprang at, but missed."

After shooting the boar under the shoulder "the gallant dog made a spring at his throat; but at the very same instant the boar ducked his head, and Belcher found himself on the animal's neck and shoulders."

"The two bull dogs tackled the savage swine with the most determined ferocity, and our guide and the piqueur had now an opportunity for the display of their prowess, ans, to their credit be it recorded, they acquitted themselves with commendable courage."

"Our dogs had behaved nobly, never leaving their hold for a moment; and it will be remembered that Belcher had ridden on the neck of his adversary for upwards of two hundred yards."

"As soon, therefore, as the "Dogues Anglais" (as Belcher and his brother bulls were called) could be shaken off-(no easy matter by the way)-the guide expertly disembowelled the animal, and the much-coveted entrails were distributed to the hounds. This said boar, which had afforded us so much sport, and had defended himself so nobly, was of gigantic stature, and the largest we had ever killed."

That same day one young man was gored in the leg from a boars tusk and two of the hounds had been ripped up by a wounded boar with "one already dead and the other past all hope of recovery". "I had no reason to complain of lack of sport but one poor fellow had been seriously injured, and two hounds killed".

 

For anyone who wants to read more the book is free here.

https://archive.org/stream/sportsmaninfran03tolfgoog#page/n8/mode/2up

 

What's everyone's view on the Old English Bulldog then?

An extinct breed or is it really the APBT or some type of American Bulldog? I think there's too much evidence of Terrier's being crossed with Bulldogs for it not to have happened.