GEORGE JOHN WHYTE-MELVILLE AND EXMOOR
George John Whyte-Melville was born in 1821 at Mount Melville near St Andrews. He was a son of John Whyte-Melville and grandson on his mother's side of the 5th Duke of Leeds. His father was a well-known sportsman and Captain of St Andrews Golf Club. George was educated at Eton, entered the army in 1839, became captain in the Coldstream Guards in 1846 and retired in 1849. After translating Horace in 1850, he published his first novel, Digby Grand, in 1853. He became a popular writer about hunting. Most of his heroes and heroines:, Digby Grand, Tilbury Nogo, the Honourable Crasher, Mr Sawyer, Kate Coventry, Mrs Lascelles, are or would be hunters. When the Crimean War broke out George went out as a volunteer major of Turkish irregular cavalry but this was the only break in his literary career.
He published twenty-one novels after his return from the Crimea. Several of these novels are historical,The Gladiators being being the best known. He also published volumes of poetry, including Songs and Verses (1869) and Legend of the True Cross (1873). However, it is for his portrayal of contemporary sporting society that he is most regarded. Although some characters reappear in different novels: such as the supercilious studgroom, the dark and wary steeple-chaser, or the fascinating sporting widow, he maintains variety in the invention of incidents and in his humour. He can be described as the principal moralist of that sporting society, exerting an influence on the manners and morals of the youth of his time.
Whyte-Melville's Exmoor connection is through the publication of his novel, Katerfelto, in 1875. This was researched while he was hunting on Exmoor, much of the information being unwittingly supplied by George Owen, a local hunter and breeder of ponies. The character of Abner Gale in the novel clearly relates to the well-known local 'hunting parsons'. The novel contrasts the kindliness of the country folk with the assassin and conspirator, who are ranked amongst the gentry. It also has a chapter describing an old-world revel at Dulverton. 'Katerfelto' was an Exmoor stallion: some say mythical, some say a real wild pony that wandered the Royal Forest of Exmoor at the time Sir Thomas Acland was its Warden. There is a story that Sir Thomas loaned the stallion to a local squire, who later informed the owner that it had died. However, it had proved to be a useful stud and reputedly lived for many years, becoming the ancestor of many Exmoors, including some brought up by George Owen. There is much confusion as there were several well known stallions of the same name. John Knight made an unsuccessful attempt at improving the wild ponies by introducing an Arab Stallion, 'Katerfelto'. The resulting produce lost the hardy characteristics needed to survive Exmoor’s harsh winters and this line eventually died out. However, many of today's New Forest ponies relate to an Exmoor mare by 'Katerfelto', known in the Polo Pony Stud Book as 'Cathephelta', which adds to the confusion. The name seems to derive from Gustavus Katterfelto, an infamous quack doctor who claimed to have a cure for influenza during the epidemic of 1782. Born in Prussia, he was also known for his public entertainment, which included conjuring, electrical and chemical experiments and demonstrations with the microscope.
By a strange accident, Whyte-Melville lost his life whilst hunting 1878, the hero of many a stiff ride meeting his fate in galloping quietly over a ploughed field in the Vale of White Horse. Some say that his death inspired the well-known hunting song John Peel. Although John Peel was a real-life huntsman in the Lake District, the author of the lyrics, John Woodcock Graves, was a close friend of Whyte-Melville. After a couple of drinks at George's funeral, Graves scribbled some verses in tribute to Whyte-Melville. He used the melody of an old folk song Bonnie Annie.