The Percy: hunting as it should be

As Old English hounds cross this stunning country, community is as much a part of a day in Northumberland as the unceasing sport

- OCTAVIA POLLOCK

In the incomparable hunting ghost story The Shadow on the Moor, the Percy hounds are under the command of “the finest huntsman ever breathed”. Yet his heart is dark and after he kills his whipper-in, Black Tom is led on and on by a spectral fox to crash down a chasm to his death. The author, Alan Ian, 8th Duke of Northumberland, knew his country as well as his descendants did and do. Joint Master Michael Hutchinson, who has followed the Percy for 60 years, remembers the 10th Duke as a “very skilful huntsman; the less he did, the more he did” and casts current huntsman Robert McCarthy in the same mould. “The hounds love Rob. They talk about the golden thread, well, he’s got it in spades.”

McCarthy began his career with the Suffolk, under Tom Batterbee. He whipped-in to the Percy under Martin Claxton, then hunted the Essex & Suffolk until Claxton’s retirement, when he eagerly accepted the request to return. “When I first drove north, something clicked. I love it here, the people, the countryside.” (His parents also fell under the Northumberland spell: Stephen now lays trails and Toni is renowned for her Peterborough lunches.) This is a covetable job, partly thanks to its ducal mainstay. “We are so lucky. It’s a great family. The estate is in as good heart as ever, fair testament to them. All the Masters are so supportive and it makes my job much easier.”