About Us
It all started in 1840………
Degrees for hunting are not awarded by the University; indeed, the drag might be regarded as an extra-mural study, honours being awarded in the hunting pastures of the world in later life. Nevertheless, a glimpse at the long list of now famous masters of hounds, who served their apprenticeship with the Drag, is sufficient proof of its value to hunting through the world.
The Drag was started about the year 1840 but all its records were lost in 1887 whilst passing between the outgoing and incoming masters, the first recorded masters being Mortimer Ford and Digby Caley, but apart from a list of masters and whips, the first available records are those written and presented to the Drag by Claude Beddington in 1890. Even so, the history is incomplete, as the records between 1909 and 1939 have been lost, It would appear that at the time of the "Munich Agreement," when war with Germany appeared inevitable, these gentlemen interested in the Drag came up early in order to wind it up for "the duration." This winding up, naturally included a dinner, and that in its turn led to a fire, whereby the records got burned and in this fashion many masters have failed to keep any records of its activities.