During the weeks that the purpled mulberries fall, we see from one to three foxes―dog fox, vixen, and cub―together every evening, sharing summer’s bounty. Occasionally, a deer arrives, and they all share in harmony. The iPhone image was shot through a double-pane, vacuum-sealed picture window from about 50 yards. / Norm Fine photo
No, this is not a professional bridge-building crew on a typical workday. They’re Belle Meade foxhunters and family members, and they build, repair, and replace bridges in the Belle Meade hunting country on evenings and weekends.
Admittedly, they could be pros. After all, there are fifteen hunt-built bridges in the country. Each bridge has a name―they’re landmarks, after all―and staff members know the location of each and how to get there from wherever they happen to be.
Orange County Couple, Linda Volrath, oil on linen, 16 x 20 inches
This painting by Linda Volrath is part of an exhibition now hanging at Long Branch, a historic house and farm venue in Boyce, Virginia. Volrath’s sporting art and her husband Steven Parrish’s polished and light-hearted still life compositions will hang until the end of October.
Calling hunt historians for help identifying the individuals in this old photograph which may have been taken at the venerable Norfolk Hunt (est. 1895), west of Boston.
The man in hunting attire is Henry Vaughan, MFH of the Norfolk from 1903 to 1933. In the early part of the twentieth century, Henry Vaughan was well-known up and down the Eastern seaboard as an ambassador for the growing sport of organized foxhunting in North America. He participated in the founding of the MFHA in 1907 and was elected the first secretary-treasurer of the fledgling organization. In 1918, he was named vice-chairman of the National Hunt and Steeplechase Association. Vaughan traveled extensively for both associations, judging hound shows and officiating at race meets. In 1931, he was elected president of the MFHA, a post he held until his death in 1938.
I’m estimating that this photograph was taken no earlier than 1930. Vaughan would have been sixty-two years old in 1930. (I have a 1933 photo of him in the same hunting attire and appearing about the same age, if not younger.)
A. Henry Higginson is supposedly in this photograph as well. Higginson would have been in his mid-fifties in 1930 and could even be about sixty in this photo. If anyone can identify Higginson and others in the picture, a great puzzle will be resolved! And we will publish what we learn and give credit accordingly. Reply through the Comments feature or by email.
Posted May 28, 2021
“Airborne,” oil on linen by Linda Volrath, 12 x 16 inch
Pure exuberance is captured by Linda Volrath in this joyous oil painting of the beagle. Voodoo is a two-time stallion winner at the Bryn Mawr Hound Show (MD). Volrath is a highly respected animalist working from her studio in White Post, Virginia.
“This new painting portrays a veteran pack member of the Nantucket-Treweryn Beagles,” said Volrath. “He was fixated upon huntsman Russ Wagner, preparing to kennel up after an action-packed day in the field. Little did he know he was being my perfect model. Good boy!”
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