True enough Giok - and at the same time, how many of the hunt supporters are people who've moved out from the town?

The point is, attitudes towards hunting divide the countryside population. In a protest about the things that are more central it doesn't belong, and it's selfish to link the two issues. A lot of miners enjoyed hare coursing, but nobody ever tried confusing that issue with the fight to save the jobs.

As for the farriers and the blacksmiths and all that, drag hunts could mean there was still the same demand for their services, assuming that the people who go hunting aren't just there for the kill, which I actually think is rather unlikely in most cases. I'd imagine its really rather fun riding around the countryside, after a pack of hounds, but a lot more enjoyable if you aren't out there trying to kill foxes.

If Morris Dancing involved ritual slaughter iI'd be agin it. Maybe it did one time, who knows? But it's better without the blood and bodies. And the same goes for hunting.