Scotland's hunt supporters in defiant last stand

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Scotland bans fox hunting to rural anger

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Leading article: The mark of a civilised society is its tolerance of unpopular behaviour

There were blue skies over the Scottish town of Kelso yesterday, but a dark cloud of despair was hanging over its future.

With its pretty cobbled streets and Georgian architecture, Kelso was once described by Sir Walter Scott as the most romantic town in Scotland. A fine collection of stately homes, castles and estates nestles nearby, giving the town's 6,000 inhabitants a strong tradition of rural sports and pastimes.

But, amid fresh attempts to ban fox-hunting, the border town at the junction of the rivers Tweed and Teviot has begun to count the cost of what its residents regard as political correctness and the ignorance of Scotland's urban majority.

While Scottish politicians debated banning the sport yesterday, thousands of country dwellers from around Scotland staged a show of defiance in Kelso, promising to fight for their traditional way of life.

Almost 2,000 huntsmen, riders and followers of one of the country's oldest and most successful hunts were out in force for perhaps the last time before being outlawed. For more than four hours, the Buccleuch Hunt, which was founded more than 150 years ago, galloped, trotted and walked its way around the town and through the imposing lands of Floors Castle without even the slightest scent of a kill.

Jamie Innes, one of the hunt's organisers, said: "Contrary to what the anti-hunt lobby say we are not all a bunch of bloodthirsty killers."

"Nine times out of ten the hunt will return without even seeing a fox, it's not about killing. This Bill is an attack on our way of life. If the hunt goes, the people employed by the hunt will lose their jobs and there will be a major loss to the local economy.

"The Buccleuch Hunt generates a lot of income for local saddleries, blacksmiths and other businesses. It is a business itself that people subscribe to be part of and it creates income from holding fund-raising events."

It is estimated the total number of mounted hunt members in Scotland is about 815, and they contribute in the region of £275,000 through subscriptions alone. In addition to the riders, there are thousands of supporters who follow the hunts.

An estimated 1,500 of those supporters attended yesterday's hunt at Kelso with about 150 riders taking to the field.

Although the gathering was taking place only about 40 miles from Edinburgh, for many of the hunt members the Scottish Parliament might as well have been sitting in London or on another planet.

Trevor Adams, 43, from Melrose, said: "I left school at 15 and joined the hunt straight away. The Buccleuch Hunt is my whole life. If it's outlawed I'll lose my job and my home."

For Wendy Turnbull, 37, a groom from Duns in the Scottish Borders, the decision by Scotland's ruling Labour Party to back the hunting ban meant she would never vote for the party again. She said she had written to a number of MSPs asking them to visit the countryside and meet people from the communities that would be affected by the Bill. But they had refused to come on the grounds that she was not one of their constituents. "That doesn't stop them from voting on a Bill that affects my future though," she said angrily.

There was genuine anger and resentment among the crowd, many warning that they would not abide by the decision of the Scottish Parliament.

Sam Butler, chairman of the Campaign for Hunting, preached defiance and urged the crowd to rally behind the cause. "No surrender, We will never be beaten," said Mr Butler, who travelled from his farm in Oxfordshire to support the protest. To applause, he said: "If this is democracy then I'm a Chinaman. I believe we will be hunting way into the future, long after these politicians will have been consumed by their own prejudices."