Account for  - To  run quarry to earth, or in rare cases, to kill 

All on -  Every hound in the pack being hunted is present 

At fault - When hounds have lost the scent, they are said to be "at fault" 

Babble - To give tongue for no reason 

Bitch - Female hound 

Carry a line - To follow the scent well 

Cast - Attempt to find or recover scent; the circle hounds make to recover the line 

Check - A temporary pause in running a line while the hounds regain the scent 

Couple - Two hounds. Hounds are counted in couples. A nine and a half couple pack consist of nineteen hounds. Also, the fitting used to join two hounds together for training purposes. 

Cry - Voice of a hound when on a line, as in "full cry" 

Cur dog - Any dog met in the field which is not part of the hunting pack

Dog - Male hound 

Draft - Hound passed from one pack to another 

Draw - To send hounds into a covert or field to seek a quarry 

Earth - A burrow or hollow into which a quarry may run 

Enter - To initiate young hounds into hunting 

Entry - The new hounds brought into a pack, as in "young entry" 

Feather - A hound waving his stern when not sure enough to open on a line is said to be "feathering" 

Field - Those who follow the hounds, other than the master and staff 

Find - When hounds first wind the scent of the quarry and open on it they are said to "find" 

Foil - A scent obliterating that of the quarry 

Full cry  - All hounds giving tongue on a line 

Give best - A rabbit which successfully eludes the hounds and is no longer pursued is said to have "given best" 

Give tongue - Hounds noisily pursuing a quarry are said to "give tongue" 

Gone away - Hounds in full pursuit of the quarry, giving tongue in full cry, are said to have "gone away;" also the characteristic doubling of the horn by the huntsman to encourage the hounds and tell the field that they have gone away 

Gone to ground - When the quarry goes into the earth, it has "gone to ground;" also the quavering note on the horn which the huntsman blows to tell the field that the quarry has gone to ground. A hunted quarry which goes to ground is "accounted for" 

Hark - Command for hounds to honor a hound giving tongue, as in "hark to Klondike;" also a command to the field for silence in order to hear 

Hold hard - Warning to the field to stop and not come close to the hounds 

Holloa - A shout to indicate that a whip or one of the field has seen the quarry 

Honor - When hounds join another who presumably has found, they are said to "honor" that hound 

Lift - To "lift" the hounds is to take them off the line they are hunting 

Line - The trail of the quarry laid down by its scent 

Mute - A hound working a line without giving tongue 

Open - When hounds begin to give tongue, they are said to "open" on a line 

Pack up - A command to hounds to come together and form a tight pack 

Rate - To chastise hounds by word and/or whip 

Riot - To hunt anything but the intended quarry, as in "the hounds rioted on deer" 

Stern - The tail of a hound 

 

Stirrup cup - The traditional drink, usually port or sherry, served at the meet 

Tally ho - A holloa indicating that the quarry has been viewed 

Venery (Venerie) - The art or practice of hunting, the sports of the chase 

View - To see the quarry, when appropriate accompanied by a halloa, as in the song "John Peel:" ... "his view halloa could waken the dead, or a fox from his lair in the morning." 

'Ware Charlie - A cry used to warn the staff of the presence of a fox (as in Charles Fox, famous British politician during the fashionable rise of foxhunting) 

'Ware cur dog - A cry used to indicate to the staff the presence of a non-hunting dog 

'Ware haunch 

A cry used to indicate to the staff the presence of deer 

'Ware heel 

A warning to the hounds that they are working the line backwards 

'Ware wing - A cry used to indicate to the staff the presence of birds 

Wind - To smell a scent 

Working a line - -Following a scent 

 

-- Frederic B. Underwood, MB