Hounds in Full Cry

Hounds in Full-Cry is the second of four humorous prints which parody the popular genre of fox-hunting prints and provide a comic view of the perils and pratfalls of the chase. The series was etched by Gillray but designed by the amateur artist Brownlow North whose "signature" includes a compass pointing (appropriately) north.

For more information about the genre of fox-hunting paintings and prints, the amateur artist Brownlow North, and the reason why we find amusement rather than distress in images like this, see my commentary on Hounds Finding.

In this print, the fox has been found by the pack and the chase is in full earnest. Unfortunately, the horse, lacking any real control by his rider, has outstripped the hounds and is now creating chaos for both the terrified hunter and his dogs. The title, Hounds in Full Cry, then, does not so much refer to the excitement of the hounds as they close in on their prey, but to their pain as they are tumbled and trampled by the inept horseman. The central figure was likely inspired by two figures in the triptych A City Hunt by Bunbury which first appeared in 1781 but was reworked by Rowlandson several times afterwards.

The first detail from A City Hunt shows the hatless rider feet forward, leaning back, holding on to the reins. But unlike the Gillray-North print, the rider is more in control, and the horse's neck leans forward to reach the shore.

The second detail shows another rider, feet forward. But as in Hounds in Full Cry the galloping horse holds his head erect and seems to have overturned at least one dog.

NEXT: Hounds Throwing Off

Sources and Reading

• Commentary from the British Museum on Hounds in Full Cry.
• "Brownlow North," Wikipedia
• "Fox hunting," Wikipedia
• Thomas Wright and R.H. Evans, Historical and Descriptive Account of the Caricatures of James Gillray #489
• Thomas Wright and Joseph Grego, The Works of James Gillray, the Caricaturist; With the History of His Life and Times p. 272

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