Henry Rankin Poore painted The Fox Chase (1901-1905) as a fun-loving parody of the fox hunt depicted in the English prints that hung above the dining room fireplace. In his nearly 9-feet-long panel he depicts the members of the Lyme Art Colony running down Lyme Street in a mock fox hunt. Reading from right to left, the panel begins with the Griswold House, the colony’s sacred gathering place, often referred to as the “Holy House.” The scene unfolds as you move left with members of the art colony, some of whom are shown busily painting en plein air, while others run behind a pack of dogs in mad pursuit of the fox. There are twenty four artists depicted in total, all men with the exception of Matilda Browne. There are seven dogs (not counting the one painted over to look like a rock), one cat, one cow (not counting the two being painted – one onto canvas and the other on a panel), two horses, one automobile, one bicycle, and one fox. 

Fox hunting is a primarily British activity in which trained dogs pursue a red fox, followed by human hunters on horses or on foot. The Irish poet and playwright Oscar Wilde (1854-1900) once famously referred to the English country gentleman galloping after a fox as “the unspeakable in full pursuit of the uneatable.” Fox hunting has long been somewhat controversial as an inhumane pastime. Poore was a vocal proponent of the sport.

It was in England that Poore began his lifelong interest in fox hunting, a sport that would inform much of his painting and writing. Poore would later paint hunting dogs chasing rabbits on wood panels that were fastened to the outer body of his automobile.

Interestingly, by the time Poore arrived in Old Lyme and began his comical version of a fox chase over the dining room fireplace, there was already a set of English prints depicting a foxhunt hanging on the wall – presumably brought back from one of his many voyages to England by Captain Robert Griswold, Florence’s father. The prints were published in London by Ackermann and Company in 1834 based on paintings by F. C. Tanner. Each print has an accompanying verse that recounts the stages of the hunt – from venturing out to the inevitable capture of the fox. Poore began The Fox Chase in 1901, and continued painting on it through 1905, with minor additions years later. It quickly became emblematic of the exuberant camaraderie enjoyed by the Lyme artists and was a draw for tourists and visitors to Old Lyme.

The year before Poore started his magnum opus in the dining room he had already completed a painted door panel in the center hall. During the summer of 1900 Henry Ward Ranger began the tradition of painting on the doors of the Griswold House – a practice common in the boardinghouses and country inns in Europe frequented by artists. After painting an image on the right panel, Ranger challenged his friend Henry Rankin Poore to paint a complementary scene matching his subject matter, style and color. Poore rose to the challenge and added a dog baying at the moon in Ranger’s nocturnal composition.

“Here, in wild chase over the hills, are depicted all the members of the Holy House contingent, where some fifteen [sic] of our best artists, each recognizable at a glance, are shown, each in characteristic action. Some with lusty strides, kits on their backs, follow the chase.”

~ Journalist Anthony H. Euwer, 1904

“The ‘public’ has a short and vexed notion of fox-hunting. They denominate it a cruel sport and ridicule the sight of a troupe of men and women chasing to its death a defenseless little creature with a pack of hounds. As a fact, however, the American red fox feels himself so fitted for the conditions that he accepts a challenge with evident relish.”

~ Artist and Author Henry Rankin Poore, 1911

Verses printed on boarder of print:

A southerly wind and cloudy sky,
Proclaims a hunting morning;
Before the sun rises, we nimbly fly,
Dull sleep and a downy bed scorning,
To horse, my boys, to horse, away,
The Chase admits of no delay,

On horseback we’re out together we’ll trot,
On horseback we’re out together we’ll trot,
Leave off your chat see the cover appear;
The hound that strikes first cheer him without fear;
Drag on him! Ah wind him my steady good hounds,
Drag on him, ah wind him the cover resounds.

Verses printed on boarder of print:

A stormy sky over charged with rain,
Both hounds and huntsmen opposes,
In vain on your mettle you try boys in vain,
But down you must to your noses,
Each moment now the sky grows worse
Enough to make a parson curse.

Pick through the plough’d grounds, picked through, pick through,
Well hunted, good hounds, well hunted, well hunted,
If we can but get on we shall soon make him quake,
Hark I hear some hounds challenged in the midst of the brake
Tally ho, Tally ho, there across the green plain,
Tally ho, Tally ho, boys have at him again.

Verses printed on boarder of print:

How completely the cover and furze they draw,
Who talks of Barry or Maynell,
Young Lasher he flourishes now through the shaw;
And Saucebox roars out in his kennel,
Away we fly as quick as thought,
The new sown ground soon makes them fault.

Cast round the sheep’s train, cast round, cast round,
Try back the deep lane, try back, try back,
Hark I hear some hounds challenge in yonder spring sedge,
Comfort Bitch hits if off in that old thick hedge,
Hark forward, hark forward, have at him my boys,
Hark forward, hark forward, hounds don’t make a noise.

Verses printed on boarder of print:

Thus we ride whip and spur for a two hour chase
Our horses go panting and sobbing
Young Madcap and Riot begin now the race
Ride on fox and give him some mobbing,
But hold alas you’ll spoil our sport,
For thro’ the hounds you’ll head him short.

Clap round him dear Jack, clap round, clap round
Hark Drummer hark back, hark back, hark back,
He’s jumping and dodging in every bush
Little Riot has fasten’d her teeth in his brush,
Whoo’hoop Whoo’hoop he’s fairly run down
Whoo’hoop Whoo’hoop he’s fairly run down.