That might have been the end of the matter. But the court also ordered the huntsman’s horn to be seized and destroyed. The court admitted their action might seem "petty". It is far worse than that.
A huntsman’s horn is of not only practical value, but deep, symbolic weight. It is passed down as a family heirloom and used on the same land for generations. Ordering its destruction is symptomatic of a broader turn against rural culture.
The Government is currently pursuing a ban on trail hunting, having already hiked taxes on family farms and tightened rules around shotgun ownership. This comes on top of Sir Tony Blair’s government’s ban on hunting with hounds (a move he later came to regret).
From a rich tradition of depicting hunts in prints and on canvas, to the hundreds of pubs named in honour of rural pursuits (think of The Fox and Hounds, The Plough or The John Barleycorn), the activities of countryside communities have long had a hold on our cultural imagination.