There has been much written about these two famous hounds. In keeping in line with our Blast from the Past, the history of Mountain and Muse can be read in several foxhunting books and articles over the years.
According to The American Foxhound: 1747-1967, by Alexander Mackay-Smith:
“Of all the imported strains used by foxhound breeders to increase the speed of their hounds, the most successful (and the most famous certainly) was that of the “Irish dogs” Mountain and Muse, imported about 1814 by Bolton Jackson, an Irish man who came to live in Baltimore about 1810. Jackson presented this famous couple to Charles Sterrett Ridgely of Oakland Manor near Ellicott City, Maryland. It was said that Mountain (dog hound) was too unruly and was given away, with his companion Muse, to Mr. Benjamin Ogle, Jr. of Belair. From them, Mr. Ogle bred a whole pack of hounds including the famous grey tan Sophy (by Mountain out of Muse) who had her portrait drawn.”
Another publication, The American Turf Register, says of these hounds: “They (Mountain and Muse) were remarkable, as are their descendants, according to the degree of their original blood, for great speed and perseverance, extreme ardor, for casting ahead at a loss. From Belair, Mountain went to Charles Carroll, Jr. at Homewood, and his final home was with Dr. James A. Buchanan of Sharpsburg, Washington County, Maryland. In later years, a grandson of Mountain, named Captain (owned by Dr. Thomas Y. Henry) was bred in 1842 to a Virginia black and tan bitch. About 5 years later because of ill health he moved his pack from Virginia to Florida. Within a year of the move, driven by fear of alligators, he presented the hounds to George L.F. Birdsong of Thomastown Ga. It was the cross of the Birdsong and other well-bred Georgia bitches, on a hound imported in July 1858 from Nimrod Gosnell, Maryland, by Col. Miles G. Harris of Hancock County, Georgia, which the latter named July (whelped 1858), that produced the strain of hounds since known by the name of its progenitor.”
While on the subject, we want to take a moment to thank the Mountain & Muse Foundation for their support with the development of the MFHA online Stud Book. Very much appreciated!