A Field Guide to the English Clergy by Fergus Butler-Gallie MA (Oxon) BA (Cantab);

Author:Fergus Butler-Gallie MA (Oxon) BA (Cantab);
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Lightning Source Inc. (Tier 2)

VI

The Reverend Jack Russell,

Vicar of Swimbridge (1795–1883)

The Sporting Parson

For many people, the Church’s relationship with the world of flora and fauna is predicated on the sort of theology found in the hymn ‘All Things Bright and Beautiful’, with the ideal clergyman being a sort of heaven-sent park keeper, tending to the pastoral needs of ‘all creatures great and small’. Such individuals are perhaps better off kept in the dark about the Reverend Jack Russell. Russell was considered by contemporaries to be the finest huntsman ever to have walked upon English soil and, when he wasn’t hunting foxes or shooting birds, he spent his time engineering the breeding of vast numbers of horses and, most famously, dogs, in order to find the best specimens for his sporting needs. In his spare time, he also happened to be the Vicar of the Devon village of Swimbridge for nearly fifty years.

Russell grew up in the Devon countryside and, from an early age, his stated ambition was to be the finest horseman in England. His passion for field sports was evident during his time at school, where he kept a secret pack of dogs in some outbuildings, the discovery of which nearly resulted in his expulsion. Russell, however, survived the ire of his headmaster and, in 1814, he went to Exeter College, Oxford, where a chance encounter with the milkman was to ensure his place in history. Russell showed little aptitude for and even less interest in his academic studies; he was already, however, famed as an expert on horses and dogs. Russell was in the habit of waking early in order to get a full day in the saddle. One morning, as he arrived in the small village of Marston, a mile or so from Oxford where the hounds were kept, he happened to bump into the village milkman doing his rounds, followed by his little terrier who went by the name of Trump. The animal had distinctive tan markings on her face and tail, as well as an athletic physique; Russell was captivated and asked the milkman to name his price. Russell was convinced that she was the best specimen he had seen and, such was the prolificacy of his breeding programme, he developed his own signature breed, now, of course, called the Jack Russell Terrier.

Russell was ordained in 1819 and he and Trump moved back to the West Country where he acted as his father’s Curate (although most of his time seems to have been spent amassing an even larger collection of dogs) until 1831, when he was appointed Vicar of Swimbridge. Russell soon became a well-known figure as he galloped across the Devon moorland, with his unique cry (attested to as sounding like he was shouting ‘view-halloo’) known for miles around. His riding skills were particularly admired by local gypsies, who respected him so much that they routinely left him trinkets in their wills, a rare bounty given that they were famous for their dislike of the clergy of the Established Church.

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