The Drover's Boy by Irvine Hunt

One piece of the Fell Pony’s working heritage is as a pony put to a trap to take the family to town on market day.  Of course that same pony might, on other days of the week, be a shepherding pony or a sledge-pulling pony, or a pack pony carrying hay to a flock of sheep. 

Another piece of the Fell Pony’s working heritage, through its ancestors, is serving as packhorses moving goods from Cumbria to numerous points across England during the packhorse era.  During part of that era, their routes were often shared with cattle and their drovers, also making their way to markets, often outside Cumbria.

My interest in the Fell Pony’s working heritage led a colleague to recommend a book to me.  My bookshelf is heavy with books on this topic, but this one was different because it was fiction.  Nonetheless, I was assured that it was set in Cumbria and historically accurate, so I took a chance.  I’m glad I did.

The Drover’s Boy by Irvine Hunt is a reasonably quick and definitely enjoyable read.  At only 166 pages, it was one of those books that asked for excuses to be made to continue turning the pages.  The book describes an often-overlooked type of droving: of geese.  I look forward to studying the packhorse history of the area where the story is set and then rereading the book again.  A fell pony makes a short appearance in the story, as a driving pony taking a family to market. 

I love learning about the working heritage of Fell Ponies.  It isn’t often that historical fiction brings that heritage to life, so I am thankful for The Drover’s Boy and author Irvine Hunt.  The story painted a portrait in a way non-fiction often doesn’t; I admire authors who can paint such a portrait with words.

© Jenifer Morrissey, 2023