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FeedQ&A: Collin McNeil
The Radnor Hunt devotee and author recounts a rich foxhunting history.
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A recent morning’s hunt, a 45-degree start in heavy mist, reminds Collin McNeil just how special the sport is. A devoted member of Radnor Hunt, where he serves on its board of governors as treasurer, McNeil authored Bright Hunting Morn (Derrydale Press, 256 pages) to help celebrate its recent 125th anniversary. Founded on Dec. 16, 1883, Radnor is the oldest continuously active foxhunt in America.
A former media executive, an award-winning journalist and an active philanthropist, the Chester Springs resident is also the Historical Society of Pennsylvania’s emeritus chairman of the board of trustees. It doesn’t hurt, either, that his reddish-brown hair is much like the coat of a red fox. “I have enough Celtic in me—freckles, the whole bit,” McNeil says.
MLT: Was the hunt’s anniversary the sole impetus for the book?
CM: That, and a circa-1919 series of 20-plus photos taken of the hunt when it was headquartered at Ardrossan (it moved to Providence Road in Malvern in 1931) that I bought on eBay from a bookseller in New York City. We had some blown up for the 125th anniversary. Some really drew me in—observations like Ellen Mary Cassatt (the niece of the famed artist) riding astride rather than sidesaddle.
MLT: Hadn’t Radnor Hunt’s story been told before?
CM: Radnor had done periodic histories through the years. In rummaging through the library, I found all the minute books dating back to the first meeting, written in fancy script on parchment. I wanted to offer a history—not a photo album.
MLT: How did Radnor Hunt begin?
CM: James Rawle, of train and trolley fame, became the first president, along with the Montgomerys. They all began hunting with local farmers. Soon, they wanted to start their own hunt, and so, convinced one farmer to sell his hounds with the understanding that his son,
John Hughes, would be the first huntsman.
MLT: What are some of the biggest names in Radnor Hunt’s history?
CM: Alexander Johnson Cassatt, Mary’s brother, was president from 1889 to 1907. Edward Beale—president from 1914 to ’29—for years was the longest surviving original member and the oldest to hunt. Archibald R. Montgomery first founded the Merion Cricket Club (in 1865). Then, almost 20 years later, he helped found Radnor Hunt—but he rode with only one hand. Roy Jackson, a former huntsman of Rose Tree Hunt in Media, married Almira Rockefeller.
MLT: What is the book’s most unusual account?
CM: There are lots of funny stories, mostly from Stanley Reeve. One time, he was mounted on a runaway horse that raced into a farmer’s back yard. He was pulled off by a clothesline, and then found himself sheepishly wrapped in ladies’ underwear. In 1897, a fox crossed the field at a football game at Haverford College—and the game stopped for the hunt. It’s a charming vignette. Football was a young game compared to foxhunting.
MLT: What’s the status of hunts outside this region?
CM: Many hunts no longer fox hunt. Some are called drags, where a scented rag is used to lay a course for the hounds because there are no foxes. Development curtails hunting. Drag hunts never see a fox, except by coincidence. Among the older drag hunts are the Myopia Fox Hunt near Boston, and one in Sewickley in western Pennsylvania. They have what amounts to a faux foxhunt.
MLT: Are hounds and foxes really enemies?
CM: Around here, people have dogs that play with foxes in their backyards. The fox is vulpine, which is a canine subset. If not for the blood of the chase, the two wouldn’t actually mind each other. But it’s that glandular excretion the fox makes in the excitement of the chase that makes the hounds so set on the chase.
