King's White Hound
Also known as: Chien Blanc du Roi
Breed at a glance
- Origin
- France
- Other names
- Chien Blanc du Roi
intro
The King's White Hound , the Chien Blanc du Roi in French, was a breed of scent hound from France that is now extinct. The breed was said to be the favourite of the French kings from Louis XI to Louis XIV .
History
The King's White Hounds were said to have descended from a pure white St. Hubert Hound named Souillard that was gifted to King Louis XI by a poor squire from Poitou in 1470. [ 1 ] The hound was passed to the king's daughter, Anne de Beaujeu , he was widely used at stud and his white progeny gradually replaced the hounds in the king's pack until the whole pack was white. [ 1 ] [ 2 ] Several notable infusions of outside blood were added to the pack, in 1500 Louis XII introduced an Italian Pointer called Greffier, in 1520 François I introduced a powerful Grand Fauve de Bretagne called Miraud, and in 1560 Mary, Queen of Scots gifted a Talbot Hound named Barraud to her husband François II , all of these infusions improved the breed. [ 1 ] [ 2 ] The White Hounds reached the height of their fame during the reign of Louis XIII (1610–1643) when they were renowned throughout Europe for their speed, being able to run a stag down in half an hour and kill four stags in a day's hunting. [ 3 ] By this time the breed displayed many sighthound features and hunted as much by sight as by scent. [ 3 ] By Louis XIII's death the hunt employed over 90 hunt servants, and under Louis XIV the pack consisted of over 100 hounds and costs continued to rise. [ 1 ] [ 2 ] Towards the end of Louis XIV's reign (1643–1715) the king was becoming too infirm to follow the fast paced White Hounds on horseback, wishing to follow the hunt from a carriage from 1700 the hounds were crossed with the slower Norman Hounds to slow them down. [ 1 ] [ 2 ] [ 3 ] At the beginning of his reign (1715–1774), Louis XV wanted to revive the pack, so his son the Count of Toulouse procured English Staghounds which were crossed with the pack. [ 2 ] [ 3 ] In 1725 the pack was dispersed and the king adopted a new pack consisting of English Foxhound crosses. [ 1 ] [ 3 ] The King's White Hounds are believed to have been foundational in the development of a number of French hound breeds, including the Grand Griffon Vendéen , the Porcelaine and the Billy , the latter is sometimes called the Chien Blanc du Roi. [ 1 ] [ 4 ]
Characteristics
The King's White Hounds were large, powerful hounds, initially they were deep scenting, long eared scent hounds close to the St. Hubert Hound , later they displayed many features of sighthounds. [ 3 ] Charles IX said of them they "were as tall as grey-hounds , with heads as fine as braques ..." [ 3 ] Whilst initially all white in colour, despite their name the White Hounds in fact came in a number of colours from pure white, to white with yellow, red or black spots or patches, to badger or pure black. [ 3 ] They were said to have great courage and were not easily distracted by the large retinue of hunt followers that followed the royal hunts. [ 3 ]