Perks up when embracing chum in the Six Counties? (8)
I believe the answer is:
animates
'perks up' is the definition.
(to perk up is to animate or cheer up)
'embracing chum in the six counties?' is the wordplay.
'embracing' indicates putting letters inside.
'chum' becomes 'mate' (I've seen this before).
'in the six counties?' becomes 'anis' (I can't explain this - if you can you should give a lot more credence to this answer).
'mate' inserted into 'anis' is 'ANIMATES'.
'when' acts as a link.
(Other definitions for animates that I've seen before include "Brings to life" , "Enlivens" , "Gives life or movement to, say cartoon" .)