Rebellion in the air at last fox hunt in Scotland

Lifting his horn to his lips to rally the hounds, Trevor Adams, joint master of the Duke of Buccleuch's Hunt, signalled the end to 176 years of tradition yesterday.

Only two weeks after the Bill to ban fox-hunting with hounds received Royal assent, countryside campaigners from all over Britain gathered yesterday to mark the last legal hunt north of the border.

Defiant in their blue and red coats, more than 200 riders charged across the tree-lined hills which surround the Duke's Selkirkshire estate at Bowhill in pursuit of the excited hounds.

Although there was little scent of a fox to be had among the undergrowth, the whiff of rebellion was everywhere as the Duke of Buccleuch, one of Britain's biggest landowners, urged the pro-hunt lobby to use "every legal way" to challenge the ban in Scotland.

"This is Ettrick Forrest, where people have hunted for 600 years," the Duke told the assembled huntsmen. "This may be the end-of-season hunt but the real battle will be in the law courts and is yet to begin.

"The lives of many people will be shattered in areas with few alternative jobs. The legislation must be challenged by everyone in every legal way.

"This is the last meet of the season but certainly not the last hunt for ever more". For the countryside campaigners yesterday was the day the hunters became the hunted. Representatives from as far afield as Devon and Dorset took to the field to show their support for a way of life they believe to be under threat.

Many believe their livelihoods, and the lives of their hounds, are at risk unless the pro-hunt lobby can win the legal battle to overturn the Bill passed by the Scottish Parliament on 13 February, which outlawed the use of dogs to hunt wild mammals, fox-hunting, hare-coursing and fox-baiting in Scotland.

Already the Scottish Countryside Alliance (SCA) has said it intends to challenge the Protection of Wild Mammals (Scotland) Act under human rights legislation. A judicial review will be sought at the Court of Session as lawyers acting for the pro-hunt lobby claim that the Bill breaches the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR).

"In the next month we will be seeking a judicial review on whether the law as passed is compatible with the ECHR," said Allan Murray, director of the SCA. "We have just seen the last hunt of the season in Scotland but we will do everything in our power to ensure the hunting will be able to continue next season.

"We are confident about our prospects because we know our rights are being infringed."

The basis of the legal challenge is that the legislation, which received royal assent on 15 March, violates the convention, which states that no one should be deprived of their property or livelihood without proper justification or being in the public interest.

Campaigners claim that the legislation also goes against the convention's protection for the rights of individuals to enjoy their way of life without interference from the state.

For many of the huntsmen at yesterday's event, the legislation is a clear attack on their way of life. For those who attempt to ignore the ban penalties could include a heavy fine or six months' imprisonment.

"By this time next year there will be a lot of people who have always been of previous good character and law abiding who will be criminalised because of a prejudice," claimed Tom Riall, Master of the South Dorset Hunt who joined yesterday's hunt as a protest.

"What this amounts to is nothing short of prejudice and victimisation of the town against the country. It's a form of sectarianism.

"If this ban is allowed to go ahead in Scotland, England and Wales will be next and we cannot just stand back and let that happen."

Last week the House of Lords voted against an outright ban on fox-hunting in England and Wales, despite an overwhelming vote in favour of the measure by MPs. The Government announced it would hold a six-month consultation period, after which it plans to bring forward a Bill which is expected to severely limit hunting in England and Wales.