Chiefly bred in Yorkshire, it was common in the north of England, but below the River Trent the similar Southern Hound was more abundant.

The North Country Beagle was a faster dog; in The British Encyclopedia of 1809, William Nicholson says that the North Country Beagle was kept by the "dashing class of sportsman" because it could "run down a brace [of hare] before dinner", but although a good scent hound, was probably lacking in this ability when compared to the delicate nose of the Southern Hound.

[2] The writer and poet Gervase Markham, who wrote a number of books on animal husbandry in the early 17th century described the North Country Beagle as having: ...a head more slender, with a longer nose, ears and flews more shallow, back broad, belly gaunt, joints long, tail small, and his general form more slender and greyhound-like...[3]In his The Dog, in Health and Disease in 1859, "Stonehenge" (the pen name of John Henry Walsh, later editor of The Field) says the two breeds could be differentiated by the large dewlap possessed by the Southern Hound.

The Southern Hound seems to have also had a deeper more melodious voice; Markham says the North Country Beagle had "only a little shrill sweetness" and lacked depth of tone.

[3] Both the North Country Beagle and Southern Hound seem to have fallen out of favour during the 18th century as the fashion for less time-consuming hunts led to the development of the faster Foxhound.