Berkeley Hunt
The country lies in
Gloucestershire and
South Gloucestershire, between
Gloucester and
Bristol. The hill country above
Dursley and
Wotton-under-Edge is hunted mainly in March and early April, and ajoins the Duke of Beaufort's estate. The Vale country comprises largely dairy and stock farms with much grass, although arable is increasing.
Hounds have been kept at
Berkeley since the 12th century, at first to hunt the
stag and the
buck, but since the 18th century to hunt the
fox.
The Berkeley family still own the hounds and the kennels.
Originally, there were hounds kennelled at Berkeley,
Cheltenham,
Nettlebed,
Gerrard Cross and
Cranford Middlesex. In the late 18th century, much of the land was relinquished by the 5th Earl of Berkeley. The parts around
Cheltenham and
Broadway became
Cotswold, North Cotswold and Cotswold Vale Farmer's Hunt.
*The
English slang, "
Berk", is a contraction of "Berkeley Hunt", which in turn refers to the
English vulgarity,
cunt. This is an example of
Cockney rhyming slang. Although the "Berk" in "Berkeley" is pronounced to rhyme with "bark", "Berk", as in the slang, is pronounced to rhyme with "work".
*
Berkeley Square is named after the Berkeley family's
London home, Berkeley House.
Burke's Peerage & Gentry.
