From the earliest times rural communities have told stories of
fantastic and unusual creatures which have supposedly lived in their localities.
Some of these beasts are purely the result of human invention, others
have their existence based in fact: whichever, these animals of folklore
have a tremendous hold over the imagination.
The lush, rolling countryside of north-west Herefordshire is no exception.
Here the stories tell of an animal that has evaded capture by farmer and
huntsman alike: a black fox.
The red fox is well known for being ingenious and cunning; however, the
quick-witted nature of that animal is easily surpassed by that of the
black fox. How many times have farmers been woken by the teirified screeching
of their chickens, rushed out to the coop, shotgun at the ready, to find
nothing? And yet, they have known that close by they were being watched
by an animal which was confident it could not be seen in the darkness.
Or how often has the Herefordshire huntsman and his pack of hounds been
in pursuit of a fox’s scent, sure that it was feet away, yet never
managing to run him to ground?
Consequently the belief grew that as well as the red fox there also existed
a fox
which “was as black as night, so that it might live in a man’s
shadow and so never be seen.”
A favoured haunt of the black fox is said to be the cider orchard. Many
times the hunt has pursued the trail of a fox to the edge of an orchard,
and while the hounds searched aimlessly amongst the trees, the horsemen
would look on, reluctant to enter because of the heavily laden branches
hanging dangerously low. All the time, somewhere amidst the barking of
the hounds and the shouting of the men, the black fox would be, secure
that he would not be discovered. (As the fox benefited from the security
of the orchard, so he was believed to bestow good fortune upon the orchard
with an abundant crop.)
Another
association between the black fox and the cider orchard is the colour
of its eyes, which are reputed to be vivid red. In the past, on hearing
the alarms of his animals, the farmer would go out into the darkness of
night with the flame of his lantern flickering brightly; he would cross
the yard and look into his orchard, fruit already lying on the ground.
Is that the glistening of bedewed apples or the glinting of the fox’s
eyes – eyes which mimic the striking Redstreak or the vibrant Foxwhelp
varieties?
Today the allure of the wily and elusive black fox of Herefordshire casts
as potent a spell as ever, and, who’s to say that the movement which
caught your eye as you looked behind you, wasn’t the celebrated black
fox.
Sayings of the Black Fox.
The black fox must have been through this orchard a good few times
Said when a cider orchard has a very heavy crop.
He was in and out like a black fox
Said when somebody does ajob so quickly that you hardly noticed they've
been.
I felt like the black fox was after me
When one is pursued by a feeling of impending doom.
He went home like the hounds following the black fox
To walk home in a winding manner, perhaps afier drinking too much cider.
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