The Batchworth Press first edition - 1951
This time we are on the Anglo-Welsh border, where a cub Tag and his brother Fang are the only survivors from a litter of four. There is an invaluable map - 'Tag's Country' - on the rear flyleaf and pastedown, and I found myself regularly referring to it as I read the novel. I quickly got to know the routes Tag took on both the English and Welsh sides of Offa's Dyke. West End with its nursery of larches; the farms of Pump House and Clutterwell in the Midlands and the Bwlch and the Cwn in Wales; There are the settlements of Castleton, Mainford and Churchtown; the hills of Caradoc and Heston; the woods of Riddings, Brockton and Dingle; the Dingle of Sheep, Herons' Gutter and the nearby reservoir. It brought home to me the many miles that Tag travelled for food, for love and to escape the various Hunts, often nine miles at a time. Love meant Stardust and Greylight; flight meant exhaustion as he ran to escape the hounds. However, the author has an interesting paragraph on the lack of fear in the fox's mind. Happily for him, his mind was unable to grasp the might-have-beens in his carefree life. He went through life oblivious of all fear of death, and was the happier for it. To him, life was eternal, leaving nothing to be desired. His highways were the rabbit-runs and the hedgerows, and he revelled in them all, with their mysterious and appetizing smells....fear of death was alien to his mode of life and the only craving he knew was that of hunger for a mate...the voices of the birds; the sound of running water; and the sigh of the wind in the trees - these symbolized his simple but vivid existence. He wished for nothing more.
There are the usual supporting cast, all named - Pipeete the bat, Crark the crow, Mulo the buzzard, Peeka the magpie, Nog the heron, Chako the stoat, Dandy the weasel, Boro the tawny owl and Iggiwick the hedgehog, most of whom Tag killed or maimed. One could argue that this naming is anthropomorphic, but just to write 'a weasel' or 'the stoat' does not draw you into the story. Two tales which stood out were that of Tuee the willow warbler, whose journey from Mt Kilimanjaro in far-away Tanganyika, through Cairo and the Nile, then Crete, Italy and Corsica, the Camargue, Avignon and the Seine, to Dover, the hopfields of Kent to the Welsh Border, is well described; and Scarl the feral tom-cat, who lived in a rabbit bury not far from Tag's earth. he met Scarl again before morning [and] remembering his humiliation at the behaviour of the lowly creature, drove in without hesitation. But, before he had time to snap his jaws together, he was met by a frenzy of slashing claws. Scarl had dropped the rabbit and was lying on his back, with razor-sharp claws unsheated and needle-like teeth open for the throat-hold...again Tag rushed. This time his teeth met through a shoulder, and Scarl yowled in pain and limped away into a rabbit hole. Scarl limped for the rest of his life, which ended in a gin-trap in the summer.
We have the usual local humans. Gethin the Bwlch - a flourishing farmer and keen sportsman (who prides himself on his partridge shoot); Evans the Cwm -a short, clean-shaven farmer; George Sharpe the forester who lived in the bungalow at the bottom of Black Hole Dingle, whose daughter Janis has a soft spot for foxes, especially Tag; Jasper the roadman, often sighting Tag as he runs across roads being pursued by the Hunt; and Patty the Poacher from Tinker's Cott, who catches Tag in one of his traps and imprisons him in an old rabbit hutch. Tag escapes due to Patty's drunkenly leaving the bolt unsecured. We also meet the foxhounds, especially Trooper, stalwart hound of six seasons. A very different dog is the one Patty brings home: "I' been doin' some snaring for Jones the Pump House, and the foxes have been takin' the rabbits o' nights...this feller's come along to warn the devils off"... it had the head of a mastiff, the quarters of a bull-terrier, and the long legs of a greyhound. Lion was left free at nights. He did kill a fox - Stardust; nearly caught Tag himself; killed Patty's bridled lurcher; and ensured the postman never came near Patty's house with any letters. Lion was also responsible for Fang's death, as he was shot by mistake for the dog by Gethin. Finally, George Sharpe the forester, shoots him. Only Patty mourned the beast.
The novel is enhanced by the splendid drawings of 'B B' (Denys Watkins-Pitchford). Each chapter heading has a small illustration, whilst there are twenty-one full page drawings in his inimitable style. If I had one small criticism of the author's book, it would be that I thought occasionally it was a little like a 'scissors and paste' job - time to add his knowledge of a particular animal or bird, or a slightly too detailed description of the season or environment. However, it is a minor quibble; when he is in full flow, describing Tag's wanderings and escapes from the Hunts, Adams' narrative sparkles.
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