bolio 49 Posted September 5, 2010 Report Share Posted September 5, 2010 Over the years those of us who have enjoyed the hare hunting aspect of lurcher work above all others have been short changed when it comes to literature on the activity. The few books that touch on the subject usually concentrate on the competitive coursing that involves two pure bred hounds of whichever breed being slipped on a hare with the main objective of betting on which coloured flag will be raised by the judges arm, and has little to do with lurcher work. Other books in the past have used the same formula of a chapter on each breed of dog that has been used as a cross with the greyhound, illustrated with show type pictures of each breed posed stacked for the camera. Fairly tame and all the same! Well here at last is something completely different. Jonathan Darcy has published a book with no rabbitting, no foxing and no bullshit either. "The Hare and the Swift Hound" is cover to cover hares and lurchers. It's an odd shape, the book being wider than it is high, (I'm sure there must be a term for it in publishing circles....panoramic perhaps?) but is the perfect format for the many glossy full colour pictures. And what breathtaking pictures they are! If there's any book in the realm of fieldsports of any kind that has photography which even comes close to what Darcy has produced here, well I certainly ain't seen it. From the action shots of superbly conditioned dogs to the many incredibly intimate close ups of hares in bed at that moment of recognition that they've been rumbled....with every detail, every whisker defined.....and every picture taken by J.D. himself.....it's quite simply a masterpiece! As I leafed carefully through each glossy page drinking in the beautiful images of the result of thousands of years of mainly saluki evolution, I thought it a slight pity that the pictures were'nt captioned with the dogs names, however even that was covered at the back of the book with a section of thumbnails of the same pictures and captions included. Very clever, for it means the large pictures can be appreciated artistically without intrusion from text. One sequence of shots ably illustrates how conditions on the big open arable land can have such a bearing on performance. On heavy going the chrystal clear imagery defines the balled up feet of the dog as the catch is made. Something that rarely occurs on grass meadows. The photo's also bring to life the stark reality that you can have a frosty start to the day when it's just too hard to run a dog safely. By lunch time the sun has melted the frost and the moisture that's been released makes the ground heavy and clinging. Then by late afternoon the constant wind has dried the ground out to the point where it can be once again too hard going....and thats all in one day. Included in the book are several short articles. One is a diary of the efforts to hand rear a leveret for example, which I found interesting as I once reared three Irish hare leverets myself and eventually released them back to the wild. Another important feature is the inclusion of interviews with probably the two most renowned coursing men in the country, Alan Sankey and Craig Nuttall, and about time too. What a contrast to the crabbers who never walked on fenland but seem ever keen to disparage fen dogs and fen hares based on zero experience. As Craig says the reason he went all the way down there two or three times a week pre ban was precisely because he wanted to test his dogs with the BEST HARES in the country. Alan takes care to mention and to thank the two men who donated their permission each year for the running of the Forley Cup and later the Forley Legends, Jimmy Ford and Tony Howley. And here I'd like to ad my own word of thanks to these two great lads who have left me with some of the greatest memories that'll stay with me forever. I believe this is a book for the tabletop rather than the book case. But I'll be putting my copy away when the beer comes out. Imagine ruining this work of art for the sake of a carelessly tipped tinny! 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
inan 841 Posted September 6, 2010 Report Share Posted September 6, 2010 Over the years those of us who have enjoyed the hare hunting aspect of lurcher work above all others have been short changed when it comes to literature on the activity. The few books that touch on the subject usually concentrate on the competitive coursing that involves two pure bred hounds of whichever breed being slipped on a hare with the main objective of betting on which coloured flag will be raised by the judges arm, and has little to do with lurcher work. Other books in the past have used the same formula of a chapter on each breed of dog that has been used as a cross with the greyhound, illustrated with show type pictures of each breed posed stacked for the camera. Fairly tame and all the same! Well here at last is something completely different. Jonathan Darcy has published a book with no rabbitting, no foxing and no bullshit either. "The Hare and the Swift Hound" is cover to cover hares and lurchers. It's an odd shape, the book being wider than it is high, (I'm sure there must be a term for it in publishing circles....panoramic perhaps?) but is the perfect format for the many glossy full colour pictures. And what breathtaking pictures they are! If there's any book in the realm of fieldsports of any kind that has photography which even comes close to what Darcy has produced here, well I certainly ain't seen it. From the action shots of superbly conditioned dogs to the many incredibly intimate close ups of hares in bed at that moment of recognition that they've been rumbled....with every detail, every whisker defined.....and every picture taken by J.D. himself.....it's quite simply a masterpiece! As I leafed carefully through each glossy page drinking in the beautiful images of the result of thousands of years of mainly saluki evolution, I thought it a slight pity that the pictures were'nt captioned with the dogs names, however even that was covered at the back of the book with a section of thumbnails of the same pictures and captions included. Very clever, for it means the large pictures can be appreciated artistically without intrusion from text. One sequence of shots ably illustrates how conditions on the big open arable land can have such a bearing on performance. On heavy going the chrystal clear imagery defines the balled up feet of the dog as the catch is made. Something that rarely occurs on grass meadows. The photo's also bring to life the stark reality that you can have a frosty start to the day when it's just too hard to run a dog safely. By lunch time the sun has melted the frost and the moisture that's been released makes the ground heavy and clinging. Then by late afternoon the constant wind has dried the ground out to the point where it can be once again too hard going....and thats all in one day. Included in the book are several short articles. One is a diary of the efforts to hand rear a leveret for example, which I found interesting as I once reared three Irish hare leverets myself and eventually released them back to the wild. Another important feature is the inclusion of interviews with probably the two most renowned coursing men in the country, Alan Sankey and Craig Nuttall, and about time too. What a contrast to the crabbers who never walked on fenland but seem ever keen to disparage fen dogs and fen hares based on zero experience. As Craig says the reason he went all the way down there two or three times a week pre ban was precisely because he wanted to test his dogs with the BEST HARES in the country. Alan takes care to mention and to thank the two men who donated their permission each year for the running of the Forley Cup and later the Forley Legends, Jimmy Ford and Tony Howley. And here I'd like to ad my own word of thanks to these two great lads who have left me with some of the greatest memories that'll stay with me forever. I believe this is a book for the tabletop rather than the book case. But I'll be putting my copy away when the beer comes out. Imagine ruining this work of art for the sake of a carelessly tipped tinny! A fine review from someone who knows what he is looking at,one to buy methinks! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
brickie 76 Posted September 6, 2010 Report Share Posted September 6, 2010 a good review sound's a cracking book ,one for the collection Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Bosun11 537 Posted September 6, 2010 Report Share Posted September 6, 2010 From Bolio's write up, this sounds right up my street, good stuff. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
JR Yipp 111 Posted September 7, 2010 Report Share Posted September 7, 2010 .......nice, shall get my grubby mitts on a copy!! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
goshawking719 487 Posted September 26, 2010 Report Share Posted September 26, 2010 Can't wait for the book to come out... when is it actually out? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
dodger 2,660 Posted October 1, 2010 Report Share Posted October 1, 2010 Can't wait for the book to come out... when is it actually out? He sends an email everytime a new book comes out mate Quote Link to post Share on other sites
arcticgun 4,548 Posted October 1, 2010 Report Share Posted October 1, 2010 Can't wait for the book to come out... when is it actually out? early next week so Im leadto belive mind there will be two less the minute it comes on sale Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Richie10 345 Posted October 1, 2010 Report Share Posted October 1, 2010 (edited) Does it contain top tips from the top men how to create a hare razor if the ban is repealed? Edited October 1, 2010 by Richie10 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Dillon 53 Posted October 3, 2010 Report Share Posted October 3, 2010 (edited) A great review and every word the truth, I had the priveledge of a sneak preview of this book and simply cannot believe the way it draws you in, for me it is the finest book I have ever seen. Some of the pictures that adorn the pages are ones that a lot of people will never see for real and when you actually sit and think, and discuss what went in to the making of it it really is astonishing the amount of hours and miles that were clocked up to bring us what Darcy has. I cant wait for my copy !! Edited October 3, 2010 by Dillon Quote Link to post Share on other sites
arcticgun 4,548 Posted October 5, 2010 Report Share Posted October 5, 2010 For those interested the book is now on sale fill ya boots I've ordered my copy so you lot can fight it out over the remainder Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Simoman 110 Posted October 5, 2010 Report Share Posted October 5, 2010 Ordered mine, look forward to it......... Quote Link to post Share on other sites
WILF 44,182 Posted October 5, 2010 Report Share Posted October 5, 2010 Was talking to Dillon shortly after he had seen this book and his exact words were "Its the best thing Darcy has ever done!".......cant wait! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Rabbit Hunter 6,608 Posted October 5, 2010 Report Share Posted October 5, 2010 Was talking to Dillon shortly after he had seen this book and his exact words were "Its the best thing Darcy has ever done!".......cant wait! Gay boys... , looking forward to this one darcy. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
DottyDoo 500 Posted October 5, 2010 Report Share Posted October 5, 2010 much i dont see a price on his website?????? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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