Hare
and Hounds or Fox and Hounds style chases have been around for centuries in one
form or another. Of course the original concept was to mimic the original
hunting sport during times or in locations where sporting game was sparse. Some
"gentlemen" substituted men for the game in an effort to add something
different to the sport.
There is evidence of this in colonial America as well as in England. It was a normal transition, then, to also substitute the hounds as well with runners. Men, not as well endowed with the sense of smell, required a trail of paper to their quarry.
This sport was well entrenched long before these sportsmen became known as 'hashers' and the sport was referred to as Hounds and Hares or the Paper Chase.
The
Hash House Harriers received its
humble beginnings in 1938 from a Britisher named Albert Stephen Ignatius Gispert,
in what is now Malaysia.
Having a fondness for the "paper chase", he gathered together a group
of expatriates to form a group in Kuala Lumpur that would later become a
world-wide legacy.
The fraternity received its name from the Selangor Club Chambers, which due to
it's lackluster food was commonly referred to as the "Hash House".
Known as "G", Mr. Gispert
originally took on duties as the On- Sec, convincing Cecil H. Lee and Frederick "Horse"
Thompson to become the first Joint Masters. The first runs averaged a dozen,
although attendance could sometimes be counted on one hand. (Take
heart you would-be founders out there, as this is a normal beginning.)
This relatively peaceful endeavor was cut short with the advent of the Japanese invasion, of which several hashers distinguished themselves. Captain Gispert, who had been a captain in the reserves, was field promoted to the active rank of captain in the war and died in the Battle of Singapore. But, Torch Bennett reestablished the hash after the war. He also successfully sought war reparations for 24 enamel mugs, an old galvanized tin bath and two old bags.
It was some time before the international phenomena we are familiar with today began spreading around the world. A hash was formed in 1947 in Bordighera, Italy (near Milan) by some former members of the original Hash House Harriers. It ceased operations for many years, but was reborn in 1984 and is now quite alive and well as the Royal Milan and Bordighera HHH. (I sang to midnight at the '94 Swiss Nash Hash with some of its members, while Legs played the piano. Jolly bunch! And yes, they are emphatic about being the second Hash House Harriers! S.D.)
It wasn't until 1962 that the next group was formed in Singapore (that we know of anyway). The Singapore HHH was slowly followed by others until by the Mother Hash's 1500th postwar run in 1973, there were thirty-five known hashes around the world. This figure climbed into the hundreds by the eighties and there are now well over 1300 active hashes. The number is based on those listed in the Global Trash Hash Roster and are simply the ones who have come forward to provide information, have answered the mail or have had their information provided by interhashers or national/regional On-Sex (plural for On-Sec - secretary). A now defunct publication, Harrier International, claimed over 1700 hashes in their listing. However, closer scrutiny found hundreds of outdated contacts or dead hashes, so it is still difficult to make an informed guess. With less accuracy, it could be said that there are indeed about 1500 to 2000 hashes out there, as many were started by hashers who do not have contacts with hash publications or simply don't care to register. Occasionally, there is a hash that finds out, usually by the accident of running into other hashers, that they, indeed, aren't the only one in the world. Their founders were not up on global hashing or failed to pass on that knowledge to their pack.
Wherever you go, the hash is there. If not, you can start one and the Global Trash Hash Bible is the most comprehensive hash reference available to assist you in that effort.
Every hash run is a new adventure- new scenery, different trail hazards, someone doing something stupidly humorous, etc. It's a weekly (etc.) installment of the continuing hash saga. That saga is wrought with adventure and perils and simply the amazing!
For example, early on in the Mother Hash, there were adventures. On September 10, 1951, the pack ran upon a number of men sleeping under the cover of ground sheets. The hashers scattered, with one hasher running to the Cheras Police Station to notify authorities. The army was able to capture two of the bandits and one had a substantial bounty on his head. This was divided amongst those non-government members of the pack, who promptly held a party to share the good fortune in a manner befitting hashers.
Although hashers rarely get completely lost, the Kuala Lumpur hares once lost the entire pack of 40 runners, who ended up spending the night in the jungle. The last mosquito ravaged harrier straggled in the next day in time for lunch.
Anecdotes abound. One hasher in the Seoul Hash House Harriers in Korea slipped from the foot path of a rice paddy into a manure pit (referred to by hashers as "shiggy pit"). Fortunately, the struggling hasher was rescued prior to drowning and mouth-to-mouth was unnecessary. It may be inferred from the song "Once a Bloody Hashman" that a similar incident may have also occurred with a member of the Mother Hash.
Deaths and Injury in the Hash
The sport does take its toll and there have been reported deaths. Usually, injuries are badges of honor to be earned on the trail and are minor in nature, with the occasional broken bone from the more exuberant or less lucky hasher. These hashers are considered to have earned their "blood-rights" in hashing.
The following is reprinted from an article on the subject which appeared in the Global Trash, March 1994:
Not too long ago, one of the hashers on the harriers net, Satan, sent the following: "Has anyone been killed at a hash?" Well, that started a whole series of messages on deaths, close calls and injuries, some of which were very bizarre.
For example, there was Beaver Breath, from the Dallas HHH, who described how during a run he was leaping over piles of broken concrete paving and landed on a 3/8" diameter steel reinforcing bar. His right foot was impaled. He went on to describe the pain and long healing process, but the interesting result was that the Dallas hash mounted his shoe and sock onto a steel bar imbedded into a small piece of concrete as an "Injury Trophy". It is passed on to anyone who is cut or hurt on the hash and the hasher then has to drink a beer out of Beaver Breath's shoe.
There was also an Okinawan hasher who was bit by a poisonous snake. Fortunately, it was towards the end of the trail and they were able to get him to a hospital where he received anti-venom and lived through the experience. When he returned to the hash, he was named "Holy Shit That Ain't No Fucking Log" or Holy Shit for short. There was a strange apologetic finish to this story when the author, Classified Buns, wrote, "sorry no death". Actually, the deaths are few, but Satan's summary lists what is known in the box on the next page......
This page contains excerpts from the HASH BIBLE courtesy of Global Trash
www.gthhh.com