Doug Robinson
UKC Forum Member
Registered: Jun 2003
Location: Warsaw, New York
Posts: 4242 |
Lightfoot History
Toad Hill this was sent to me years ago by a man that interviewed Bill Clark. I had a chance to talk to Bill's grandson just before Bill died to confirm some of the info included in this write up. I had been in touch with Dustin Meyer and Brian Chorney for several years trying to purchase some of their Lightfoot stock, especially the Black Jack bloodline, but there was a very high demand and those boys culled hard and were very selective what they bred to so it was very hard to get a pup from their linebred stock. I did locate a nice local GRNITECH that carried this blood on top through Terry Goforth' Rocky Run Blue Terry dog and bred to my favorite female and just had a litter 4 weeks ago so now keeping a blue male in my kennel from that cross. History is very interesting but you always wonder if some of the stories get changed over time. Take it for what it is.
The name Light Foot was first given to this family of hounds in the 1950’s by Bill Clark of Evansville, Indiana. This family of hounds first came to America in the early 1800’s. Their point of origin, Scotland. The hunters who brought these hounds to America were Dr. Henry along with his hunting partner, Colonel Birdsong.
These men were among the more educated and wealthy men of their time. Money, time, effort or understanding was not going to be a stumbling block. Birdsong and Henry had a clear vision of the hound they intended to breed. Every mating was carefully considered and planned. Future breeding's were planned as much as three and four generation's in advance.
This list of qualities demanded by Birdsong and Henry could have been written by any serious Big Game hunter of today.
Nose, Speed, Grit and Toughness. This goal was accomplished through the dedication and discipline of two hunters. Hunters who spent the time, effort, and yes the money needed to live up to their original commitment.
This process was not easy or quick in coming. Birdsong/Henry line bred and inbred their bloodline of hounds for over twenty generations. Roughly fifty years it took this pair to achieve their goal. There were many hounds culled from the program. The bloodline became more than just hounds to Birdsong/Henry it became a life long obsession. Unfortunately life long commitments only last a life time. The blood lines created by Birdsong/Henry out lived Birdsong/Henry themselves.
_Small pockets of Birdsong/Henry hounds lived on for a number of years. Mostly adopted by the fox hunters of west Tennessee and Kentucky, the hounds became fox hounds. The nose, speed and endurance demanded by Birdsong/Henry were put to good use by the hunters of the Red Fox. Red fox were trapped and brought into Tennessee and Kentucky just for the love of the chase. The fox hunters of the day had no interest in killing a Red Fox and no interest in the hound that would catch and kill one.
This is where one of the problems with the Birdsong/Henry hounds often showed itself. The Birdsong/Henry hounds often developed into what the fox hunters called a "Cutter". A cutter is a hound that not only uses his nose to trail game, but also uses its brain to catch game.
_The term cutter is descriptive; it means that the hound cuts across country to catch the game it is running. Often in today's verbiage we call it drifting a track. Even this is often misunderstood. If a hound is following a trail whether right on the track or off to either side, the dog is running a track.
_Cutting or Drifting is when the dog leaves the scent trail and runs to where he thinks the game are going to be. Effectually, cutting across country to catch the game. _A good example of this would be if your hound were trailing and comes to an open field, Most hounds will trail the track all the way across the field making every step that the game made. A cutter will hit the field, look across and realize that the game is not in the field. He will then run across the field at full speed. When reaching the timberline on the other side of this field, the hound will again use its nose to trail the track. This hound has "Cut" across country and cut down the amount of distance/time .
Million Dollar Mac
The foundation sire of the Light Foot bloodline
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Old Mac was part mystery and part legend. Mac was owned by an old time hunter by the name of Blankenship. Also known as Pop, by the few who were fortunate enough to know him and the Great hound old Pop called Million Dollar Mac. The name came about because of Mac's Million Dollar Mouth.
Where Trixie was a trim built red tick female of about fifty pounds, Mac was a big leggy blue dog of about 80 pounds. Mac, like Trixie carried the Birdsong/Henry hounds up close.The same drifting style and speed from the Birdsong/Henry blood flowed in Macs veins. His endless endurance and nose was even better than Trixie's.
Macs sire is where the mystery comes into play. After years of research I am convinced that old Mac also carried the Galloway hounds on his sire’s side. There is a quarter of old Macs pedigree that has been impossible to track with any certain. Some have claimed Leopard cur, others have claimed Catahula hog dog. What this breeding produced in old Mac was 80 pounds of solid coon hound. All those who hunted with Mac claimed that he had the best nose of any hound they had ever hunted, and a mouth that these old hunters still talk about with awe in their voice. Mac had been blessed with one more thing. Mac was a reproducer of outstanding hounds. He sired a World Champion coon hound from the early 1950s. In those days the wild coon hunts were more of a test of a hounds endurance and ability than they are today. Mostly held in the south these hunts featured 3 to 4 hour casts and scattered coon. Cold trailing was a must. Most of old Macs pups had the nose and tracking ability to excel in these early hunts. Macs pups also had the mouth to be heard when those long tracks ended sometimes more than a mile from the hunters.
Mac was the foundation sire of 3 bloodlines of English hounds that made themselves a place in history. Unfortunately, most of these dogs were single registered. Some were false papered. Some folks never knew the true pedigree of the great hounds they bought from the western part of Tennessee. Others had old family rivalries that kept the true pedigree off the single registration form. Still others made up a pedigree so that their dog seemed to be of a new bloodline that only the owner of this dog had. This robbed the English breed of a great foundation sire at a time one was sourly needed, and it also robbed Mac of the credit he so richly deserved.
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Doug Robinson
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GRNITECH FCH GRCH ROBINSON'S SILVERTONE BLUSPECK HTX DNA-P
GRNITECH GRCH PKC CH ROBINSON'S RED LINDSAY
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GRNITECH GRCH ROBINSON'S CIDERHOUSE LULU
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NITECH GRCH ROBINSON'S OATKA VALLEY ANNIE (BLUSPECK DAUGHTER)
NITECH GRCH ROBINSON'S JJ THUNDER SUE
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CH PR ROBINSON'S OATKA VALLEY JUNEBUG - (GRNITECH PKC CH RIVER BOTTOM'S CRACKER JACK X NITECH GRCH ROBINSON'S OATKA VALLEY ANNIE)
Last edited by Doug Robinson on 04-18-2017 at 03:48 PM
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04-25-2014 01:32 AM
BACKWOODS BOYS KENNELS 
