Tally Ho!

This is a sambhur. It seems to be taking an intelligent interest in the photo-shoot. When the Ooty (Ootacamund) Hunt was formed in 1835 it was their quarry.

The supply of sambhur was exhausted quite quickly and jackal were hunted until 1996. The pack is now a drag hunt. My 1974-1975 Baily’s Hunting Directory lists it as the only pack in India, a distinction that I imagine it has retained. Its survival owes much to the nearby Indian Defence Services Staff College, many of whose officers ride to hounds. It also owes a debt to Mrs (later, Lady) Gasson who in spite of a name straight out of Restoration Comedy kept the hunt going during the Second World War.

The hunt has close links with the Ooty Club, where snooker was invented by Neville Chamberlain (no, not that one). This one was a Colonel in the Devonshire regiment in 1875. A friend visiting the club one New Year’s Eve assures me that it protected its exclusivity with a sign reading “No Riff-Raff”. It’s not known as Snooty Ooty for nothing.

I’d be proud to tell you that I have visited but my sole visit to India has been for (fellow-blogger) Venetia’s wedding in Bangalore. However, I hope that JohnHB or Venetia’s connections may be able to furnish first-hand accounts of chotapegs downed amidst the leather armchairs. Meanwhile, I like to find unusual and, perhaps, unexpected connections. Patrick Macnee (Steed in The Avengers) and JohnHB are cousins.

Somewhat on a tangent, a blogger’s prerogative, we will finish where we started with another photo-shoot. I was reading about the eminent Victorian society photographer, Bassano, many of whose pictures are in the National Portrait Gallery collection.  The NPG website tells his story.

This display commemorates the centenary of the death of Alexander Bassano (1829–1913) who established one of the most important photographic portrait studios of the Victorian era. His sitters included royalty, aristocracy, politicians, and leading names from the military, sciences and arts.
Bassano opened his first studio in London during the early 1850s and was situated at 122 Regent Street from 1859. Further premises were temporarily added to accommodate his growing clientele before his grand studio at 25 Old Bond Street opened in 1877, where he remained. It was spread over three floors with several reception rooms and dressing rooms, a broad staircase and two main day-lit studios equipped with good-quality furniture and props. When Bassano arrived at his studio in the morning, he usually found clients already waiting, and he often worked without a break until the sun set.
After Bassano retired in 1901, the studio continued until the 1980s and retained its founder’s name. Most of the studio’s negatives, dating from the 1870s to the 1970s, are now held at the National Portrait Gallery.

In the 1930s my great-aunt, Elaine Lady Bellew, was photographed in his studio. While you think of the mot juste, let me just say that “handsome” springs to mind before “beautiful”.