[
{"source_document": "", "creation_year": 1395, "culture": " English\n", "content": "Produced by Chris Curnow, Martin Mayer and the Online\nfile was produced from images generously made available\nby The Internet Archive)\n[Transcribers' notes:\nSpelling, hyphenation, punctuation, capitalization, and accentuation\nvary throughout the text. They are retained as published; we have not\nstandardized them.\nThe oe ligature is rendered: [oe].\nLetters with a macron are preceded by an equals sign, both inside of\nsquare brackets, e.g. [=a].\nItalics are rendered between underscores, e.g. _italics_.\nUnderlined text is rendered between equal signs, e.g. =underlined\ntext=.\nSmallcap text is rendered in all caps, e.g. SMALLCAP TEXT.\nSuperscripts are preceded by the carat character, e.g. ov^r.\nHorn notes are rendered:\n    [**white] denoting a long note, [**black] a short note,\n    [**white][**white] a note of two long syllables, etc.]\nTHE MASTER OF GAME\n[Illustration: Fox hunting \"above ground\" with raches or running\nhounds. (From MS. f. fr. 616 in the Biblioth\u00e9que Nationale, Paris.)]\n THE MASTER OF GAME\n BY EDWARD, SECOND DUKE OF\n YORK: THE OLDEST ENGLISH\n BOOK ON HUNTING: EDITED BY\n WM. A. AND F. BAILLIE-GROHMAN\n WITH A FOREWORD BY THEODORE\n ROOSEVELT\n[Illustration]\nLONDON\nCHATTO & WINDUS\nMCMIX\n_All rights reserved_\nCONTENTS\n    CHAP. PAGE\n    INTRODUCTION xi\n    FOREWORD TO THE FIRST EDITION xix\n    I. THE PROLOGUE 1\n    II. OF THE HARE AND OF HER NATURE 14\n    III. OF THE HART AND HIS NATURE 23\n    IV. OF THE BUCK AND OF HIS NATURE 38\n    V. OF THE ROE AND OF HIS NATURE 41\n    VI. OF THE WILD BOAR AND OF HIS NATURE 46\n    VII. OF THE WOLF AND OF HIS NATURE 54\n    VIII. OF THE FOX AND OF HIS NATURE 64\n    IX. OF THE GREY (BADGER) AND OF HIS NATURE 68\n    X. OF THE (WILD) CAT AND ITS NATURE 70\n    XI. THE OTTER AND HIS NATURE 72\n    XII. OF THE MANNER AND HABITS AND CONDITIONS OF HOUNDS 75\n    XIII. OF SICKNESSES OF HOUNDS AND OF THEIR CORRUPTIONS 85\n    XIV. OF RUNNING HOUNDS AND OF THEIR NATURE 105\n    XV. OF GREYHOUNDS AND OF THEIR NATURE 113\n    XVI. OF ALAUNTES AND OF THEIR NATURE 116\n    XVII. OF SPANIELS AND OF THEIR NATURE 119\n    XVIII. OF THE MASTIFF AND OF HIS NATURE 122\n    XIX. WHAT MANNER AND CONDITION A GOOD HUNTER SHOULD HAVE 123\n    XX. HOW THE KENNEL FOR THE HOUNDS AND THE COUPLES FOR THE RACHES AND\n    THE ROPES FOR THE LYMER SHOULD BE MADE 125\n    XXI. HOW THE HOUNDS SHOULD BE LED OUT TO SCOMBRE 127\n    XXII. HOW A HUNTER'S HORN SHOULD BE DRIVEN 128\n    XXIII. HOW A MAN SHOULD LEAD HIS GROOM IN QUEST FOR TO KNOW A HART BY\n    HIS TRACE 130\n    XXIV. HOW A MAN SHOULD KNOW A GREAT HART BY THE FUMES 133\n    XXV. HOW A MAN SHOULD KNOW A GREAT HART BY THE PLACE WHERE HE HATH\n    FRAYED HIS HEAD 135\n    XXVI. HOW THE ORDINANCE SHOULD BE MADE FOR THE HART HUNTING BY\n    STRENGTH AND HOW THE HART SHOULD BE HARBOURED 148\n    XXVII. HOW A HUNTER SHOULD GO IN QUEST BY THE SIGHT 152\n    XXVIII. HOW AN HUNTER SHOULD GO IN QUEST BETWEEN THE PLAINS AND THE\n    XXIX. HOW A HUNTER SHOULD GO IN QUEST IN THE COPPICE AND THE YOUNG\n    XXX. HOW AN HUNTER SHOULD GO IN QUEST IN GREAT COVERTS AND STRENGTHS\n    XXXI. HOW A HUNTER SHOULD QUEST IN CLEAR SPIRES AND HIGH WOOD 157\n    XXXII. HOW A GOOD HUNTER SHALL GO IN QUEST TO HEAR THE HARTS BELLOW\n    XXXIII. HOW THE ASSEMBLY THAT MEN CALL GATHERING SHOULD BE MADE BOTH\n    WINTER AND SUMMER AFTER THE GUISE OF BEYOND THE SEA 163\n    XXXIV. HOW THE HART SHOULD BE MOVED WITH THE LYMER AND RUN TO AND\n    SLAIN WITH STRENGTH 165\n    XXXV. HOW AN HUNTER SHOULD SEEK AND FIND THE HARE WITH RUNNING HOUNDS\n    AND SLAY HER WITH STRENGTH 181\n    XXXVI. OF THE ORDINANCE AND THE MANNER OF HUNTING WHEN THE KING WILL\n    HUNT IN FORESTS OR IN PARKS FOR THE HART WITH BOWS AND GREYHOUNDS AND\n    STABLE 188\n    APPENDIX 201\n    LIST OF SOME BOOKS CONSULTED AND ABBREVIATIONS USED IN TEXT 268\n    GLOSSARY 282\nILLUSTRATIONS\n    FOX HUNTING \"ABOVE GROUND\"                          _Frontispiece_\n    GASTON PH[OE]BUS SURROUNDED BY HUNTSMEN AND HOUNDS _To face page_  1\n    ROEBUCK-HUNTING WITH GREYHOUNDS AND RUNNING HOUNDS        \"       44\n    RACHES OR RUNNING HOUNDS IN THE FIFTEENTH CENTURY         \"      106\n    THE SMOOTH AND THE ROUGH-COATED GREYHOUNDS                \"      114\n    THE FIVE BREEDS OF HOUNDS DESCRIBED IN THE TEXT           \"      122\n    THE MASTER TEACHING HIS HUNTSMAN HOW TO QUEST FOR\n    THE HART WITH THE LIMER OR TRACKHOUND             _To face page_ 130\n    HOW A GREAT HART IS TO BE KNOWN BY HIS \"FUMES\"\n    HOW THE HUNTER SHOULD VIEW THE HART                       \"      152\n    HOW TO QUEST FOR THE HART IN COVERTS                      \"      164\n    HARE-HUNTING WITH GREYHOUNDS AND RUNNING HOUNDS           \"      182\n    THE \"UNDOING\" OR GRALLOCHING OF THE HART: THE\n    MASTER INSTRUCTING HIS HUNTERS HOW IT IS DONE             \"      192\n    HART-HUNTING WITH GREYHOUNDS AND RACHES                   \"      196\n    THE \"CUR\u00c9E\" OR REWARDING OF THE HOUNDS\"                   \"      198\nINTRODUCTION\nThe \"Master of Game\" is the oldest as well as the most important work\non the chase in the English language that has come down to us from the\nMiddle Ages.\nWritten between the years 1406 and 1413 by Edward III.'s grandson\nEdward, second Duke of York, our author will be known to every reader\nof Shakespeare's \"Richard II.,\" for he is no other than the arch\ntraitor Duke of Aumarle, previously Earl of Rutland, who, according to\nsome historians, after having been an accomplice in the murder of his\nuncle Gloucester, carried in his own hand on a pole the head of his\nbrother-in-law. The student of history, on the other hand, cannot\nforget that this turbulent Plantagenet was the gallant leader of\nEngland's vanguard at Agincourt, where he was one of the great nobles\nwho purchased with their lives what was probably the most glorious\nvictory ever vouchsafed to English arms.\nHe tells us in his Prologue, in which he dedicates his \"litel symple\nbook\" to Henry, eldest son of his cousin Henry IV., \"Kyng of Jngelond\nand of Fraunce,\" that he is the Master of Game at the latter's court.\nLet it at once be said that the greater part of the book before us is\nnot the original work of Edward of York, but a careful and almost\nliteral translation from what is indisputably the most famous hunting\nbook of all times, _i.e._ Count Gaston de Foix's _Livre de Chasse_,\nor, as author and book are often called, _Gaston Ph[oe]bus_, so named\nbecause the author, who was a kinsman of the Plantagenets, and who\nreigned over two principalities in southern France and northern Spain,\nwas renowned for his manly beauty and golden hair. It is he of whom\nFroissart has to tell us so much that is quaint and interesting in his\ninimitable chronicle. _La Chasse_, as Gaston de Foix tells us in his\npreface, was commenced on May 1, 1387, and as he came to his end on a\nbear hunt not much more than four years later, it is very likely that\nhis youthful Plantagenet kinsman, our author, often met him during his\nprolonged residence in Aquitaine, of which, later on, he became the\nGovernor.\nFortunately for us, the enforced leisure which the Duke of York\nenjoyed while imprisoned in Pevensey Castle for his traitorous\nconnection with the plots of his sister to assassinate the King and to\ncarry off their two young kinsmen, the Mortimers, the elder of whom\nwas the heir presumptive to the throne, was of sufficient length to\npermit him not only to translate _La Chasse_ but to add five original\nchapters dealing with English hunting.\nThese chapters, as well as the numerous interpolations made by the\ntranslator, are all of the first importance to the student of venery,\nfor they emphasise the changes--as yet but very trifling ones--that\nhad been introduced into Britain in the three hundred and two score\nyears that had intervened since the Conquest, when the French language\nand French hunting customs became established on English soil. To\nenable the reader to see at a glance which parts of the \"Master of\nGame\" are original, these are printed in italics.\nThe text, of which a modern rendering is here given, is taken from the\nbest of the existing nineteen MSS. of the \"Master of Game,\" viz. the\nCottonian MS. Vespasian B. XII., in the British Museum, dating from\nabout 1420. The quaint English of Chaucer's day, with its archaic\ncontractions, puzzling orthography, and long, obsolete technical terms\nin this MS. are not always as easy to read as those who only wish to\nget a general insight into the contents of the \"Master of Game\" might\nwish. It was a difficult question to decide to what extent this text\nshould be modernised. If translated completely into twentieth century\nEnglish a great part of the charm and interest of the original would\nbe lost. For this reason many of the old terms of venery and the\nconstruction of sentences have been retained where possible, so that\nthe general reader will be able to appreciate the \"feeling\" of the old\nwork without being unduly puzzled. In a few cases where, through the\nomission of words, the sense was left undetermined, it has been made\nclear after carefully consulting other English MSS. and the French\nparent work.\nIt seemed very desirable to elucidate the textual description of\nhunting by the reproduction of good contemporary illuminations, but\nunfortunately English art had not at that period reached the high\nstate of perfection which French art had attained. As a matter of\nfact, only two of the nineteen English MSS. contain these pictorial\naids, and they are of very inferior artistic merit. The French MSS. of\n_La Chasse_, on the other hand, are in several cases exquisitely\nilluminated, and MS. f. fr. 616, which is the copy from which our\nreproductions--much reduced in size, alas!--are made, is not only the\nbest of them, but is one of the most precious treasures of the\n_Biblioth\u00e8que Nationale_ in Paris. These superb miniatures are\nunquestionably some of the finest handiwork of French miniaturists at\na period when they occupied the first rank in the world of art.\nThe editors have added a short Appendix, elucidating ancient hunting\ncustoms and terms of the chase. Ancient terms of venery often baffle\nevery attempt of the student who is not intimately acquainted with the\nFrench and German literature of hunting. On one occasion I appealed in\nvain to Professor Max M\u00fcller and to the learned Editor of the Oxford\nDictionary. \"I regret to say that I know nothing about these words,\"\nwrote Dr. Murray; \"terms of the chase are among the most difficult of\nwords, and their investigation demands a great deal of philological\nand antiquarian research.\" There is little doubt that but for this\ndifficulty the \"Master of Game\" would long ago have emerged from its\nseclusion of almost five hundred years. It is hoped that our notes\nwill assist the reader to enjoy this hitherto neglected classic of\nEnglish sport. Singularly enough, as one is almost ashamed to have to\nacknowledge, foreign students, particularly Germans, have paid far\nmore attention to the \"Master of Game\" than English students have, and\nthere are few manuscripts of any importance about which English\nwriters have made so many mistakes. This is all the more curious\nconsidering the precise information to the contrary so easily\naccessible on the shelves of the British Museum. All English writers\nwith a single exception (Thomas Wright) who have dealt with our book\nhave attributed it persistently to a wrong man and a wrong period.\nThis has been going on for more than a century; for it was the\nlearned, but by no means always accurate, Joseph Strutt who first\nthrust upon the world, in his often quoted \"Sports and Pastimes of the\nEnglish People,\" certain misleading blunders concerning our work and\nits author. Blaine, coming next, adding thereto, was followed little\nmore than a decade later by \"Cecil,\" author of an equally much quoted\nbook, \"Records of the Chase.\" In it, when speaking of the \"Master of\nGame,\" he says that he has \"no doubt that it is the production of\nEdmund de Langley,\" thus ascribing it to the father instead of to the\nson. Following \"Cecil's\" untrustworthy lead, Jesse, Lord Wilton, Vero\nShaw, Dalziel, Wynn, the author of the chapter on old hunting in the\nBadminton Library volume on Hunting, and many other writers copied\nblindly these mistakes.\nFive years ago the present editors published in a large folio volume\nthe first edition of the \"Master of Game\" in a limited and expensive\nform. It contained side by side with the ancient text a modernised\nversion, extended biographical accounts of Edward of York and of\nGaston de Foix (both personalities of singular historical and human\ninterest), a detailed bibliography of the existing medi\u00e6val hunting\nliterature up to the end of the sixteenth century, a glossary, and a\nvery much longer appendix than it was possible to insert in the\npresent volume, which, in order to make it conform to the series of\nwhich it forms part, had to be cut down to about one-sixth of the\nfirst edition. A similar fate had to befall the illustrations, which\nhad to be reduced materially both in number and size. We would\ntherefore invite the reader whose interest in the subject may possibly\nbe aroused by the present pages, to glance at the perhaps\nformidable-looking pages of the first edition, with its facsimile\nphotogravure reproductions of the best French and English\nilluminations to be found in fifteenth century hunting literature.\nIn conclusion, I desire to repeat also in this place the expression of\nmy thanks to the authorities of the British Museum--to Dr. G. F.\nWarner and Mr. I. H. Jeayes in particular--to the heads of the\nBodleian Library, the _Biblioth\u00e8que Nationale_, the Mazarin and the\nArsenal Libraries in Paris, the Duc d'Aumale's Library at Chantilly,\nthe _Biblioth\u00e8que Royale_ at Brussels, the _K\u00f6nigliche Bibliotheken_\nin Munich and Dresden, the _Kaiserliche und K\u00f6nigliche Haus, Hof and\nStaats Archiv_, and the _K. and K. Hof Bibliothek_ in Vienna, to Dr.\nF. J. Furnivall, Mr. J. E. Harting, Mr. T. Fitzroy Fenwick of\nCheltenham, and to express my indebtedness to the late Sir Henry\nDryden, Bt., of Canons Ashby, for his kind assistance in my research\nwork.\nTo one person more than to any other my grateful acknowledgment is\ndue, namely to Mr. Theodore Roosevelt, President of the United States,\nwho, notwithstanding the press of official duties, has found time to\nwrite the interesting _Foreword_. A conscientious historian of his own\ngreat country, as well as one of its keenest sportsmen, President\nRoosevelt's qualifications for this kindly office may be described as\nthose of a modern Master of Game. No more competent writer could have\nbeen selected to introduce to his countrymen a work that illustrates\nthe spirit which animated our common forbears five centuries ago,\ntheir characteristic devotion to the chase, no less than their\nintimate acquaintance with the habits and \"nature\" of the wild game\nthey pursued: all attributes worthy of some study by the reading\nsportsmen of the twentieth century, who, as I show, have hitherto\nneglected the study of English Venery. It was at first intended to\nprint this _Foreword_ only in the American Edition, but it soon became\nevident that this would give to it an advantage which readers in this\ncountry would have some reason to complain of, so it was inserted also\nin the English Edition, and from it taken over into the present one.\n[Illustration: Signature William A. Baillie-Grohman]\nLONDON, _March 3, 1909_.\nFOREWORD\nTO THE FIRST EDITION\nDuring the century that has just closed Englishmen have stood foremost\nin all branches of sport, at least so far as the chase has been\ncarried on by those who have not followed it as a profession. Here and\nthere in the world whole populations have remained hunters, to whom\nthe chase was part of their regular work--delightful and adventurous,\nbut still work. Such were the American backwoodsmen and their\nsuccessors of the great plains and the Rocky Mountains; such were the\nSouth African Boers; and the mountaineers of Tyrol, if not coming\nexactly within this class, yet treated the chase both as a sport and a\nprofession. But disregarding these wild and virile populations, and\nconsidering only the hunter who hunts for the sake of the hunting, it\nmust be said of the Englishman that he stood pre-eminent throughout\nthe nineteenth century as a sportsman for sport's sake. Not only was\nfox-hunting a national pastime, but in every quarter of the globe\nEnglishmen predominated among the adventurous spirits who combined the\nchase of big game with bold exploration of the unknown. The icy polar\nseas, the steaming equatorial forests, the waterless tropical deserts,\nthe vast plains of wind-rippled grass, the wooded northern wilderness,\nthe stupendous mountain masses of the Andes and the Himalayas--in\nshort, all regions, however frowning and desolate, were penetrated by\nthe restless English in their eager quest for big game. Not content\nwith the sport afforded by the rifle, whether ahorse or afoot, the\nEnglish in India developed the use of the spear and in Ceylon the use\nof the knife as the legitimate weapons with which to assail the\ndangerous quarry of the jungle and the plain. There were hunters of\nother nationalities, of course--Americans, Germans, Frenchmen; but the\nEnglish were the most numerous of those whose exploits were best worth\nrecounting, and there was among them a larger proportion of men gifted\nwith the power of narration. Naturally under such circumstances a\nlibrary of nineteenth century hunting must be mainly one of English\nauthors.\nAll this was widely different in the preceding centuries. From the\nMiddle Ages to the period of the French Revolution hunting was carried\non with keener zest in continental Europe than in England; and the\nliterature of the chase was far richer in the French, and even in the\nGerman, tongues than in the English.\nThe Romans, unlike the Greeks, and still more unlike those mighty\nhunters of old, the Assyrians, cared little for the chase; but the\nwhite-skinned, fair-haired, blue-eyed barbarians, who, out of the\nwreck of the Roman Empire, carved the States from which sprang modern\nEurope, were passionately devoted to hunting. Game of many kinds then\nswarmed in the cold, wet forests which covered so large a portion of\nEurope. The kings and nobles, and the freemen generally, of the\nregions which now make France and Germany, followed not only the wolf,\nboar, and stag--the last named the favourite quarry of the hunter of\nthe Middle Ages--but the bear, the bison--which still lingers in the\nCaucasus and in one Lithuanian preserve of the Czar--and the aurochs,\nthe huge wild ox--the _Urus_ of C\u00e6sar--which has now vanished from the\nworld. In the Nibelungen Lied, when Siegfried's feats of hunting are\ndescribed, it is specified that he slew both the bear and the elk, the\nbison and the aurochs. One of the early Burgundian kings was killed\nwhile hunting the bison; and Charlemagne was not only passionately\ndevoted to the chase of these huge wild cattle, but it is said prized\nthe prowess shown therein by one of his stalwart daughters.\nBy the fourteenth century, when the Count of Foix wrote, the aurochs\nwas practically or entirely extinct, and the bison had retreated\neastwards, where for more than three centuries it held its own in the\ngloomy morasses of the plain south-east of the Baltic. In western\nEurope the game was then the same in kind that it is now, although all\nthe larger species were very much more plentiful, the roebuck being\nperhaps the only one of the wild animals that has since increased in\nnumbers. With a few exceptions, such as the Emperor Maximilian, the\nkings and great lords of the Middle Ages were not particularly fond of\nchamois and ibex hunting; it was reserved for Victor Emmanuel to be\nthe first sovereign with whom shooting the now almost vanished ibex\nwas a favourite pastime.\nEager though the early Norman and Plantagenet kings and nobles of\nEngland were in the chase, especially of the red deer, in France and\nGermany the passion for the sport was still greater. In the end, on\nthe Continent the chase became for the upper classes less a pleasure\nthan an obsession, and it was carried to a fantastic degree. Many of\nthem followed it with brutal indifference to the rights of the\npeasantry and to the utter neglect of all the serious affairs of life.\nDuring the disastrous period of the Thirty Years War, the Elector of\nSaxony spent most of his time in slaughtering unheard-of numbers of\nred deer; if he had devoted his days and his treasure to the urgent\ncontemporary problems of statecraft and warcraft he would have ranked\nmore nearly with Gustavus Adolphus and Wallenstein, and would have\nstood better at the bar of history. Louis XVI. was also devoted to the\nchase in its tamer forms, and was shooting at driven game when the\nParis mob swarmed out to take possession of his person. The great\nlords, with whom love of hunting had become a disease, not merely made\nof game-preserving a grievous burden for the people, but also followed\nthe chase in ways which made scant demands upon the hardier qualities\neither of mind or of body. Such debased sport was contemptible then;\nand it is contemptible now. Luxurious and effeminate artificiality,\nand the absence of all demands for the hardy virtues, rob any pastime\nof all title to regard. Shooting at driven game on occasions when the\nday's sport includes elaborate feasts in tents on a store of good\nthings brought in waggons or on the backs of sumpter mules, while the\nsport itself makes no demand upon the prowess of the so-called\nsportsman, is but a dismal parody upon the stern hunting life in which\nthe man trusts to his own keen eye, stout thews, and heart of steel\nfor success and safety in the wild warfare waged against wild nature.\nNeither of the two authors now under consideration comes in this\nundesirable class. Both were mighty men with their hands, terrible in\nbattle, of imposing presence and turbulent spirit. Both were the\npatrons of art and letters, and both were cultivated in the learning\nof the day. For each of them the chase stood as a hardy and vigorous\npastime of the kind which makes a people great. The one was Count\nGaston de Foix, author of the most famous of medi\u00e6val hunting-books, a\nmighty lord and mighty hunter, as well as statesman and warrior. The\nother was Edward, second Duke of York, who at Agincourt \"died\nvictorious.\" He translated into English a large portion of Gaston de\nFoix's _La Chasse_, adding to it five original chapters. He called his\nbook \"The Master of Game.\"\nGaston's book is better known as _Gaston Ph[oe]bus_, the nickname of\nthe author which Froissart has handed down. He treats not only of the\nanimals of France, but of the ibex, the chamois, and the reindeer,\nwhich he hunted in foreign lands. \"The Master of Game\" is the oldest\nbook on hunting in the English language. The original chapters are\nparticularly interesting because of the light they throw upon English\nhunting customs in the time of the Plantagenets. The book has never\nhitherto been published. Nineteen ancient manuscript copies are known;\nof the three best extant two are on the shelves of the Bloomsbury\ntreasure house, the other in the Bodleian Library. Like others of the\nfamous old authors on venery, both the Count of Foix and the Duke of\nYork show an astonishing familiarity with the habits, nature, and\nchase of their quarry. Both men, like others of their kind among their\ncontemporaries, made of the chase not only an absorbing sport but\nalmost the sole occupation of their leisure hours. They passed their\ndays in the forest and were masters of woodcraft. Game abounded, and\nnot only the chase but the killing of the quarry was a matter of\nintense excitement and an exacting test of personal prowess, for the\nboar, or the bear, or hart at bay was slain at close quarters with the\nspear or long knife.\n\"The Master of Game\" is not only of interest to the sportsman, but\nalso to the naturalist, because of its quaint accounts of the \"nature\"\nof the various animals; to the philologist because of the old English\nhunting terms and the excellent translations of the chapters taken\nfrom the French; and to the lover of art because of the beautiful\nillustrations, with all their detail of costume, of hunting\naccoutrements, and of ceremonies of \"la grande venerie\"--which are\nhere reproduced in facsimile from one of the best extant French\nmanuscripts of the early fifteenth century. The translator has left\nout the chapters on trapping and snaring of wild beasts which were\ncontained in the original, the hunting with running hounds being the\ntypical and most esteemed form of the sport. Gaston Ph[oe]bus's _La\nChasse_ was written just over a century before the discovery of\nAmerica; \"The Master of Game\" some fifteen or twenty years later. The\nformer has been reprinted many times. Mr. Baillie-Grohman in\nreproducing (for the first time) the latter in such beautiful form has\nrendered a real service to all lovers of sport, of nature, and of\nbooks--and no one can get the highest enjoyment out of sport unless he\ncan live over again in the library the keen pleasure he experienced in\nthe wilderness.\nIn modern life big-game hunting has assumed many widely varied forms.\nThere are still remote regions of the earth in which the traveller\nmust depend upon his prowess as a hunter for his subsistence, and here\nand there the foremost settlers of new country still war against the\ngame as it has been warred against by their like since time primeval.\nBut over most of the earth such conditions have passed away for ever.\nEven in Africa game preserving on a gigantic scale has begun. Such\ngame preserving may be of two kinds. In one the individual landed\nproprietor, or a group of such individuals, erect and maintain a\nprivate game preserve, the game being their property just as much as\ndomestic animals. Such preserves often fill a useful purpose, and if\nmanaged intelligently and with a sense of public spirit and due\nregard for the interests and feelings of others, may do much good,\neven in the most democratic community. But wherever the population is\nsufficiently advanced in intelligence and character, a far preferable\nand more democratic way of preserving the game is by a system of\npublic preserves, of protected nurseries and breeding-grounds, while\nthe laws define the conditions under which all alike may shoot the\ngame and the restrictions under which all alike must enjoy the\nprivilege. It is in this way that the wild creatures of the forest and\nthe mountain can best and most permanently be preserved. Even in the\nUnited States the enactment and observance of such laws has brought\nabout a marked increase in the game of certain localities, as, for\ninstance, New England, during the past thirty years; while in the\nYellowstone Park the elk, deer, antelope, and mountain sheep, and,\nstrangest of all, the bear, are not merely preserved in all their wild\nfreedom, but, by living unmolested, have grown to show a confidence in\nman and a tameness in his presence such as elsewhere can be found only\nin regions where he has been hitherto unknown.\nThe chase is the best of all national pastimes, and this none the less\nbecause, like every other pastime, it is a mere source of weakness if\ncarried on in an unhealthy manner, or to an excessive degree, or under\nover-artificial conditions. Every vigorous game, from football to\npolo, if allowed to become more than a game, and if serious work is\nsacrificed to its enjoyment, is of course noxious. From the days when\nTrajan in his letters to Pliny spoke with such hearty contempt of the\nGreek over-devotion to athletics, every keen thinker has realised that\nvigorous sports are only good in their proper place. But in their\nproper place they are very good indeed. The conditions of modern life\nare highly artificial, and too often tend to a softening of fibre,\nphysical and moral. It is a good thing for a man to be forced to show\nself-reliance, resourcefulness in emergency, willingness to endure\nfatigue and hunger, and at need to face risk. Hunting is praiseworthy\nvery much in proportion as it tends to develop these qualities. Mr.\nBaillie-Grohman, to whom most English-speaking lovers of sport owe\ntheir chief knowledge of the feats in bygone time of the great hunters\nof continental Europe, has himself followed in its most manly forms\nthis, the manliest of sports. He has hunted the bear, the wapiti, and\nthe mountain ram in the wildest regions of the Rockies, and, also by\nfair stalking, the chamois and the red deer in the Alps. Whoever\nhabitually follows mountain game in such fashion must necessarily\ndevelop qualities which it is a good thing for any nation to see\nbrought out in its sons. Such sport is as far removed as possible from\nthat in which the main object is to make huge bags at small cost of\neffort, and with the maximum of ease, no good quality save\nmarksmanship being required. Laying stress upon the mere quantity of\ngame killed, and the publication of the record of slaughter, are sure\nsigns of unhealthy decadence in sportsmanship. As far as possible the\ntrue hunter, the true lover of big game and of life in the wilderness,\nmust be ever ready to show his own power to shift for himself. The\ngreater his dependence upon others for his sport the less he deserves\nto take high rank in the brotherhood of rifle, horse, and hound. There\nwas a very attractive side to the hunting of the great medi\u00e6val lords,\ncarried on with an elaborate equipment and stately ceremonial,\nespecially as there was an element of danger in coming to close\nquarters with the quarry at bay; but after all, no form of hunting has\never surpassed in attractiveness the life of the wilderness wanderer\nof our own time--the man who with simple equipment, and trusting to\nhis own qualities of head, heart, and hand, has penetrated to the\nuttermost regions of the earth, and single-handed slain alike the\nwariest and the grimmest of the creatures of the waste.\n    THEODORE ROOSEVELT.\n    THE WHITE HOUSE,\n[Illustration: _GASTON PH[OE]BUS_ SURROUNDED BY HUNTSMEN AND HOUNDS\n(From MS. f. fr. 616, _Bib. Nat._, Paris)]\nTHE MASTER OF GAME\nCHAPTER I\nTHE PROLOGUE\n_To the honour and reverence of you my right worshipful and dread Lord\nHenry by the grace of God eldest son and heir unto the high excellent\nand Christian Prince Henry IV. by the aforesaid grace King of England\nand of France, Prince of Wales, Duke of Guienne of Lancaster and of\nCornwall, and Earl of Chester._\n_I your own in every humble wise have me ventured to make this little\nsimple book which I recommend and submit to your noble and wise\ncorrection, which book if it pleaseth your aforesaid Lordship shall be\nnamed and called MASTER OF GAME. And for this cause: for the matter\nthat this book treateth of what in every season of the year is most\ndurable, and to my thinking to every gentle heart most disportful of\nall games, that is to say hunting. For though it be that hawking with\ngentle hounds and hawks for the heron and the river be noble and\ncommendable, it lasteth seldom at the most more than half a year. For\nthough men find from May unto Lammas_ (August 1st) _game enough to\nhawk at, no one will find hawks to hawk with.[1] But as of hunting\nthere is no season of all the year, that game may not be found in\nevery good country, also hounds ready to chase it. And since this book\nshall be all of hunting, which is so noble a game, and lasting through\nall the year of divers beasts that grow according to the season for\nthe gladdening of man, I think I may well call it MASTER OF GAME._\n_And though it be so my dear Lord, that many could better have meddled\nwith this matter and also more ably than I, yet there be two things\nthat have principally emboldened and caused me to take this work in\nhand. The first is trust of your noble correction, to which as before\nis said, I submit this little and simple book. The second is that\nthough I be unworthy, I am Master of this Game with that noble prince\nyour Father our all dear sovereign and liege Lord aforesaid. And as I\nwould not that his hunters nor yours that now be or that should come\nhereafter did not know the perfection of this art, I shall leave for\nthese this simple memorial, for as Chaucer saith in his prologue of\n\"The 25[2] Good Women\": \"By writing have men mind of things passed,\nfor writing is the key of all good remembrance.\"_\n[1] As the hawks would be mewing and unfit to fly.\n[2] The Shirley MS. in the British Museum has \"XV.\"\nAnd first I will begin by describing the nature of the hare,[3]\nsecondly of the nature of the hart, thirdly of the buck and of his\nnature, fourthly of the roe and of his nature, fifthly of the wild\nboar and of his nature, sixthly of the wolf and of his nature,\nseventhly of the fox and of his nature, eighthly of the badger and of\nhis nature, ninthly of the cat and of his nature, tenthly of the\nmarten and his nature, eleventhly of the otter and of his nature. Now\nhave I rehearsed how I will in this little book describe the nature of\nthese aforesaid beasts of venery and of chace, and therefore will I\nname the hounds the which I will describe hereafter, both of their\nnature and conditions. And first I will begin with raches (running\nhounds)[4] and their nature, and then greyhounds and their nature, and\nthen alaunts and their nature, and then spaniels and their nature, and\nthen mastiffs that men call curs and their nature, and then of small\ncurs that come to be terriers and their nature, and then I shall\ndevise and tell the sicknesses of hounds and their diseases. And\nfurthermore I will describe what qualities and manners a good hunter\nshould have, and of what parts he should be, and after that I will\ndescribe the manner and shape of the kennel, and how it should be\nenvironed and arrayed. Also I will describe of what fashion a hunter's\nhorn should be driven, and how the couplings should be made for the\nraches and of what length. Furthermore I will prove by sundry reasons\nin this little prologue, that the life of no man that useth gentle\ngame and disport be less displeasable unto God than the life of a\nperfect and skilful hunter, or from which more good cometh. The first\nreason is that hunting causeth a man to eschew the seven deadly sins.\nSecondly men are better when riding, more just and more understanding,\nand more alert and more at ease and more undertaking, and better\nknowing of all countries and all passages; in short and long all good\ncustoms and manners cometh thereof, and the health of man and of his\nsoul. For he that fleeth the seven deadly sins as we believe, he shall\nbe saved, therefore a good hunter shall be saved, and in this world\nhave joy enough and of gladness and of solace, so that he keep himself\nfrom two things. One is that he leave not the knowledge nor the\nservice of God, from whom all good cometh, for his hunting. The second\nthat he lose not the service of his master for his hunting, nor his\nown duties which might profit him most. Now shall I prove how a hunter\nmay not fall into any of the seven deadly sins. When a man is idle and\nreckless without work, and be not occupied in doing some thing, he\nabides in his bed or in his chamber, a thing which draweth men to\nimaginations of fleshly lust and pleasure. For such men have no wish\nbut always to abide in one place, and think in pride, or in avarice,\nor in wrath, or in sloth, or in gluttony, or in lechery, or in envy.\nFor the imagination of men rather turns to evil than to good, for the\nthree enemies which mankind hath, are the devil, the world and the\nflesh, and this is proved enough.\n[3] Gaston de Foix has a different sequence, putting the hart first\nand the hare sixth, and having four animals more, namely, the\nreindeer, the chamois (including ibex), the bear and the rabbit, while\nthe \"Master of Game\" has one animal, the Marten, of which Gaston de\nFoix does not speak.\n[4] Gaston de Foix follows a different sequence, commencing with\nalaunts, then greyhounds, raches, spaniels, and says \"fifthly I will\nspeak of all kinds of mongrel dogs, such as come from mastiffs and\nalaunts, from greyhounds and running hounds, and other such.\"\nNevertheless there be many other reasons which are too long to tell,\nand also every man that hath good reason knoweth well that idleness is\nthe foundation of all evil imaginations. Now shall I prove how\nimagination is lord and master of all works, good or evil, that man's\nbody or his limbs do. You know well, good or evil works small or great\nnever were done but that beforehand they were imagined or thought of.\nNow shall you prove how imagination is the mistress of all deeds, for\nimagination biddeth a man do good or evil works, whichever it be, as\nbefore is said. And if a man notwithstanding that he were wise should\nimagine always that he were a fool, or that he hath other sickness, it\nwould be so, for since he would think steadfastly that he were a fool,\nhe would do foolish deeds as his imagination would command, and he\nwould believe it steadfastly. Wherefore methinks I have proved enough\nof imagination, notwithstanding that there be many other reasons the\nwhich I leave to avoid long writing. Every man that hath good sense\nknoweth well that this is the truth.\nNow I will prove how a good hunter may not be idle, and in dreaming\nmay not have any evil imaginations nor afterwards any evil works. For\nthe day before he goes out to his office, the night before he shall\nlay him down in his bed, and shall not think but for to sleep, and do\nhis office well and busily, as a good hunter should. And he shall have\nnothing to do, but think about all that which he has been ordered to\ndo. And he is not idle, for he has enough to do to think about rising\nearly and to do his office without thinking of sins or of evil deeds.\nAnd early in the dawning of the day he must be up for to go unto his\nquest, _that in English is called searching_, well and busily, for as\nI shall say more explicitly hereafter, when I shall speak of how men\nshall quest and search to harbour the hart. And in so doing he shall\nnot be idle, for he is always busy. And when he shall come again to\nthe assembly or meet, then he hath most to do, for he must order his\nfinders and relays for to move the hart, and uncouple his hounds. With\nthat he cannot be idle, for he need think of nothing but to do his\noffice, and when he hath uncoupled, yet is he less idle, and he should\nthink less of any sins, for he hath enough to do to ride _or to foot\nit well_ with his hounds and to be always near them and to hue or rout\nwell, and blow well, and to look whereafter he hunteth, and which\nhounds are _vanchasers and parfiters_,[5] and redress and bring his\nhounds on the right line again when they are at fault[6] or hunting\nrascal.[7] And when the hart is dead or what other chase he was\nhunting, then is he less idle, for he hath enough to do to think how\nto undo the hart in his manner and to raise that which appertaineth[8]\nto him, and well to do his cur\u00e9e.[9] And he should look how many of\nhis hounds are missing of those that he brought to the wood in the\nmorning, and he should search for them, and couple them up. And when\nhe has come home, should he less think to do evil, for he hath enough\nto do to think of his supper, and to ease himself and his horse, and\nto sleep, and to take his rest, for he is weary, and to dry himself of\nthe dew or peradventure of the rain. And therefore I say that all the\ntime of the hunter is without idleness and without evil thoughts, and\nwithout evil works of sin, for as I have said idleness is the\nfoundation of all vices and sins. And the hunter may not be idle if he\nwould fill his office aright, and also he can have no other thoughts,\nfor he has enough to do to think and imagine of his office, the which\nis no little charge, for whoso will do it well and busily, especially\nif they love hounds and their office.\n[5] The hounds that came in the first relay (van) and those in the\nsubsequent relays. See Appendix: Relays.\n[6] Diverted or off the line.\n[7] Chasing small or lean deer. See Appendix: Hart.\n[8] To take those parts of the deer which fell to him by custom.\n[9] Cur\u00e9e: The ceremony of giving the hounds their reward on the skin\nof the animal they have chased. See Appendix: Cur\u00e9e.\nWherefore I say that such an hunter is not idle, he can have no evil\nthoughts, nor can he do evil works, wherefore he must go into\nparadise.[10] For by many other reasons which are too long to write\ncan I prove these things, but it sufficeth that every man that hath\ngood sense knoweth well that I speak the real truth.\n[10] Gaston de Foix in the French parent work puts it even more\nforcefully; he says: \"tout droit en paradis.\" See Lavall\u00e9e's ed. 1854.\nNow shall I prove how hunters live in this world more joyfully than\nany other men. For when the hunter riseth in the morning, and he sees\na sweet and fair morn and clear weather and bright, and he heareth\nthe song of the small birds, the which sing so sweetly with great\nmelody and full of love, each in it's own language in the best wise\nthat it can according that it learneth of it's own kind. And when the\nsun is arisen, he shall see fresh dew upon the small twigs and\ngrasses, and the sun by his virtue shall make them shine. And that is\ngreat joy and liking to the hunter's heart. After when he shall go to\nhis quest or searching, he shall see or meet anon with the hart\nwithout great seeking, and shall harbour[11] him well and readily\nwithin a little compass. It is great joy and liking to the hunter. And\nafter when he shall come to the assembly or gathering, and he shall\nreport before the Lord and his company that which he hath seen with\nhis eyes, or by scantilon (measure) of the trace (slot) which he ought\nalways of right to take, or by the fumes[12] (excrements) that he\nshall put in his horn or in his lap. And every man shall say: Lo, here\nis a great hart and a deer of high meating or pasturing; go we and\nmove him; the which things I shall declare hereafter, then can one say\nthat the hunter has great joy. When he beginneth to hunt and he hath\nhunted but a little and he shall hear or see the hart start before him\nand shall well know that it is the right one, and his hounds that\nshall this day be finders, shall come to the lair (bed), or to the\nfues (track), and shall there be uncoupled without any be left\ncoupled, and they shall all run well and hunt, then hath the hunter\ngreat joy and great pleasure. Afterwards he leapeth on horseback, _if\nhe be of that estate, and else on foot_ with great haste to follow his\nhounds. And in case peradventure the hounds shall have gone far from\nwhere he uncoupled, he seeketh some advantage to get in front of his\nhounds. And then shall he see the hart pass before him, and shall\nholloa and rout mightily, and he shall see which hound come in the\nvan-chase, and in the middle, and which are parfitours,[13] according\nto the order in which they shall come. And when all the hounds have\npassed before him then shall he ride after them and shall rout and\nblow as loud as he may with great joy and great pleasure, and I assure\nyou he thinketh of no other sin or of no other evil. And when the hart\nbe overcome and shall be at bay he shall have pleasure. And after,\nwhen the hart is spayed[14] and dead, he undoeth him and maketh his\ncur\u00e9e and enquireth or rewardeth his hounds, and so he shall have\ngreat pleasure, and when he cometh home he cometh joyfully, for his\nlord hath given him to drink of his good wine at the cur\u00e9e, and when\nhe has come home he shall doff his clothes and his shoes and his hose,\nand he shall wash his thighs and his legs, and peradventure all his\nbody. And in the meanwhile he shall order well his supper, with\n_wortes_ (roots) _and of the neck_ of the hart and of other good\nmeats, and good wine _or ale_. And when he hath well eaten and drunk\nhe shall be glad and well, and well at his ease. And then shall he\ntake the air in the evening of the night, for the great heat that he\nhath had. And then he shall go and drink and lie in his bed in fair\nfresh clothes, and shall sleep well and steadfastly all the night\nwithout any evil thoughts of any sins, wherefore I say that hunters go\ninto Paradise when they die, and live in this world more joyfully than\nany other men. Yet I will prove to you how hunters live longer than\nany other men, for as Hippocras the doctor telleth: \"full repletion of\nmeat slayeth more men than any sword or knife.\" They eat and drink\nless than any other men of this world, for in the morning at the\nassembly they eat a little, and if they eat well at supper, they will\nby the morning have corrected their nature, for then they have eaten\nbut little, and their nature will not be prevented from doing her\ndigestion, whereby no wicked humours or superfluities may be\nengendered. And always, when a man is sick, men diet him and give him\nto drink water made of sugar and tysane and of such things for two or\nthree days to put down evil humours and his superfluities, and also\nmake him void (purge). But for a hunter one need not do so, for he may\nhave no repletion on account of the little meat, and by the travail\nthat he hath. And, supposing that which can not be, and that he were\nfull of wicked humours, yet men know well that the best way to\nterminate sickness that can be is to sweat. And when the hunters do\ntheir office on horseback or on foot they sweat often, then if they\nhave any evil in them, it must (come) away in the sweating; so that he\nkeep from cold after the heat. Therefore it seemeth to me I have\nproved enough. Leeches ordain for a sick man little meat and sweating\nfor the terminating and healing of all things. And since hunters eat\nlittle and sweat always, they should live long and in health. Men\ndesire in this world to live long in health and in joy, and after\ndeath the health of the soul. And hunters have all these things.\nTherefore be ye all hunters and ye shall do as wise men. Wherefore I\ncounsel to all manner of folk of what estate or condition that they\nbe, that they love hounds and hunting and the pleasure of hunting\nbeasts of one kind or another, or hawking. For to be idle and to have\nno pleasure in either hounds or hawks is no good token. _For as saith\nin his book Ph[oe]bus the Earl of Foix that noble hunter_, he saw\nnever a good man that had not pleasure in some of these things, were\nhe ever so great and rich. For if he had need to go to war he would\nnot know what war is, for he would not be accustomed to travail, and\nso another man would have to do that which he should. For men say in\nold saws: \"The lord is worth what his lands are worth.\"[15] _And also\nhe saith in the aforesaid book_, that he never saw a man that loved\nthe work and pleasure of hounds and hawks, that had not many good\nqualities in him; for that comes to him of great nobleness and\ngentleness of heart of whatever estate the man may be, whether he be a\ngreat lord, or a little one, or a poor man or a rich one.\n[11] Trace the deer to its lair.\n[12] See Appendix: Excrements.\n[13] See Appendix: Relays.\n[14] Despatched with a sword or knife. See Appendix: Spay.\n[15] Gaston de Foix says: \"Tant vaut seigneur tant vaut sa gent et sa\nterre,\" p. 9.\nCHAPTER II\nOF THE HARE AND OF HER NATURE\nThe hare is a common beast enough, and therefore I need not tell of\nher making, for there be few men that have not seen some of them. They\nlive on corn, and on weeds growing on waste land, on leaves, on herbs,\non the bark of trees, on grapes and on many other fruits. The hare is\na good little beast, and much good sport and liking is the hunting of\nher, more than that of any other beast that _any man knoweth_, if\nhe[16] were not so little. And that for five reasons: the one is, for\nher hunting lasteth all the year as with running hounds without any\nsparing, and this is not with all the other beasts. And also men may\nhunt at her both in the morning and in the evening. In the eventide,\nwhen they be relieved,[17] and in the morning, when they sit in form.\nAnd of all other beasts it is not so, for if it rain in the morning\nyour journey is lost, and of the hare it is not so. That other\n[reason] is to seek the hare; it is a well fair thing, especially who\nso hunteth her rightfully, for hounds must need find her by mastery\nand quest point by point, and undo all that she hath done all the\nnight of her walking, and of her pasture unto the time that they start\nher. And it is a fair thing when the hounds are good and can well find\nher. And the hare shall go sometimes from her sitting to her pasture\nhalf a mile or more, specially in open country. And when she is\nstarted it is a fair thing. And then it is a fair thing to slay her\nwith strength of hounds, for she runneth long and gynnously\n(cunningly). A hare shall last well four miles or more or less, if she\nbe an old male hare. And therefore the hunting of the hare is good,\nfor it lasteth all the year, as I have said. And the seeking is a well\nfair thing, and the chasing of the hare is a well fair thing, and the\nslaying of him with strength (of hounds) is a fair thing, for it\nrequireth great mastery on account of her cunning. When a hare ariseth\nout of her form to go to her pasture or return again to her seat, she\ncommonly goes by one way, and as she goes she will not suffer any twig\nor grass to touch her, for she will sooner break it with her teeth and\nmake her way. Sometime she sitteth a mile or more from her pasturing,\nand sometimes near her pasture. But when she sitteth near it, yet she\nmay have been the amount of half a mile or more from there where she\nhath pastured, and then she ruseth again from her pasture. And whether\nshe go to sit near or far from her pasture she goes so gynnously\n(cunningly) and wilily that there is no man in this world that would\nsay that any hound could unravel that which she has done, or that\ncould find her. For she will go a bow shot or more by one way, and\nruse again by another, and then she shall take her way by another\nside, and the same she shall do ten, twelve, or twenty times, from\nthence she will come into some hedge or strength (thicket), and shall\nmake semblance to abide there, and then will make cross roads ten or\ntwelve times, and will make her ruses, and thence she will take some\nfalse path, and shall go thence a great way, and such semblance she\nwill make many times before she goeth to her seat.\n[16] The hare was frequently spoken of in two genders in the same\nsentence, for it was an old belief that the hare was at one time male,\nand at another female. See Appendix: Hare.\n[17] Means here: when the hare has arisen from her form to go to her\nfeeding. Fr. _relever_. G. de F. explains, p. 42: _un lievre se\nreli\u00e8ve pour aler \u00e0 son vianders_. Relief, which denoted the act of\narising and going to feed, became afterwards the term for the feeding\nitself. \"A hare hath greater scent and is more eagerly hunted when she\nrelieves on green corn\" (_Comp. Sportsman_, p. 86). It possibly was\nused later to denote the excrements of a hare; thus Blome (1686) p.\n92, says: \"A huntsman may judge by the relief and feed of the hare\nwhat she is.\"\n[Illustration: THE HARE AND HER LEVERETS (From MS. f. fr. 616, _Bib.\nNat._, Paris)]\nThe hare cannot be judged, either by the foot or by her fumes\n(excrements), for she always crotieth[18] in one manner, except when\nshe goeth in her love that hunters call ryding time, for then she\ncrotieth her fumes more burnt (drier) and smaller, especially the\nmale. The hare liveth no long time, for with great pain may she pass\nthe second[19] year, though she be not hunted or slain. She hath bad\nsight[20] and great fear to run[21] on account of the great dryness of\nher sinews. She windeth far men when they seek her. When hounds grede\nof her (seek) and quest her she flieth away for the fear that she hath\nof the hounds. Sometimes men find her sitting in her form, and\nsometimes she is bitten (taken) by hounds in her form before she\nstarts. They that abide in the form till they be found are commonly\nstout hares, and well running. The hare that runneth with right\nstanding ears is but little afraid, and is strong, and yet when she\nholdeth one ear upright and the other laid low on her ryge (back), she\nfeareth but little the hounds. An hare that crumps her tail upon her\nrump when she starteth out of her form as a coney (does) it is a token\nthat she is strong and well running. The hare runneth in many diverse\nmanners, for some run all they are able a whole two miles or three,\nand after run and ruse again and then stop still when they can no\nmore, and let themselves be bitten (by the hounds), although she may\nnot have been seen all the day. And sometimes she letteth herself be\nbitten the first time that she starteth, for she has no more might\n(strength). And some run a little while and then abide and squat, and\nthat they do oft. And then they take their flight as long as they can\nrun ere they are dead. And some be that abide till they are bitten in\ntheir form, especially when they be young that have not passed half a\nyear. Men know by the outer side of the hare's leg if she has not\npassed a year.[22] And so men should know of a hound, of a fox, and of\na wolf, by a little bone that they have in a bone which is next the\nsinews, where there is a little pit (cavity).\n[18] Casting her excrements.\n[19] A mistake of the old scribes which occurs also in other MSS.; it\nshould, of course, read \"seventh\" year. G. de F. has the correct\nversion.\n[20] G. de F. says: \"She hears well but has bad sight,\" p. 43.\n[21] \"Fear to run\" is a mistake occasioned by the similarity of the\ntwo old French words \"pouair,\" power, and \"paour\" or fear. In those of\nthe original French MS. of G. de F. examined by us it is certainly\n\"power\" and not \"fear.\" Lavall\u00e9e in his introduction says the same\nthing. See Appendix: Hare.\n[22] See Appendix: Hare.\nSometimes when they are hunted with hounds they run into a hole as a\nconey, or into hollow trees, or else they pass a great river. Hounds\ndo not follow some hares as well as others, for four reasons. Those\nhares who be begotten of the kind of a coney, as some be in warrens,\nthe hounds lust not, nor scenteth them not so well. The other (is)\nthat the fues (footing) of some hares carry hotter scent than some,\nand therefore the hounds scenteth of one more than of the other, as of\nroses, some smell better than others, and yet they be all roses. The\nother reason is that they steal away ere they be found, and the hounds\nfollow always forth right. The others run going about and then\nabide,[23] wherefore the hounds be often on stynt (at fault). The\nother (reason) is according to the country they run in, for if they\nrun in covert, hounds will scent them better than if they run in plain\n(open) country, or in the ways (paths), for in the covert their bodies\ntouch against the twigs and leaves, because it is a strong (thick)\ncountry. And when they run in plain country or in the fields they\ntouch nothing, but with the foot, and therefore the hound can not so\nwell scent the fues of them. And also I say that some country is more\nsweet and more loving (to scent) than another. The hare abideth\ncommonly in one country, and if she hath the fellowship of another or\nof her kyndels or leverettes, they be five or six, for no strange hare\nwill they suffer to dwell in their marches (district), though they be\nof their nature (kind),[24] and therefore men say in old saws: \"Who so\nhunteth the most hares shall find the most.\" _For Phebus the Earl of\nFoix, that good hunter, saith that_ when there be few hares in a\ncountry they should be hunted and slain, so that the hares of other\ncountries about should come into that march.\n[23] G. de F. has: \"vonts riotans tournions et demourant,\" _i.e._ run\nrioting, turning and stopping, p. 44.\n[24] Both the Vespasian and the Shirley MS. in the British Museum have\nthe same, but G. de F., p. 45, has, \"except those of their nature\"\n(_fors que celle de leur nature_).\nOf hares, some go faster and be stronger than others, as it is of men\nand other beasts. Also the pasture and the country where they abide\nhelpeth much thereto. For when the hare abideth and formeth in a plain\ncountry where there are no bushes, such hares are commonly strongest\nand well running. Also when they pasture on two herbs--that one is\ncalled Soepol (wild thyme) and that other be Pulegium (pennyroyal)\nthey are strong and fast running.\nThe hares have no season of their love for, as I said, it is called\nryding time, for in every month of the year that it shall not be that\nsome be not with kindles (young). Nevertheless, commonly their love is\nmost in the month of January, and in that month they run most fast of\nany time of the year, both male and female. And from May unto\nSeptember they be most slow, for then they be full of herbs and of\nfruits, or they be great and full of kindles, and commonly in that\ntime they have their kindles. Hares remain in sundry (parts of the)\ncountry, according to the season of the year; sometimes they sit in\nthe fern, sometimes in the heath, sometimes in the corn, and in\ngrowing weeds, and sometimes in the woods. In April and in May when\nthe corn is so long that they can hide themselves therein, gladly will\nthey sit therein. And when men begin to reap the corn they will sit in\nthe vines and in other strong (thick) heaths, in bushes and in hedges,\nand commonly in cover under the wind and in cover from the rain, and\nif there be any sun shining they will gladly sit against the beams of\nthe sun. For a hare of its own kind knoweth the night before what\nweather it will be on the next morrow, and therefore she keepeth\nherself the best way she may from the evil weather. The hare beareth\nher kindles two months,[25] and when they are kindled she licketh her\nkindles as a bitch doeth her whelps. Then she runneth a great way\nthence, and goeth to seek the male, for if she should abide with her\nkindles she would gladly eat them. And if she findeth not the male,\nshe cometh again to her kindles a great while after and giveth them to\nsuck, and nourisheth them for the maintainance of 20 days or\nthereabouts. A hare beareth commonly 2 kindles, but I have seen some\nwhich have kindled at once sometime 6, sometime 5 or 4 or 2;[26] and\nbut she find the male within three days from the time she hath\nkindled, she will eat her kindles. And when they be in their love they\ngo together as hounds, save they hold not together as hounds. They\nkindle often in small bushes or in little hedges, or they hide in\nheath or in briars or in corn or in vines. If you find a hare which\nhas kindled the same day, and the hounds hunt after her, and if you\ncome thither the next morrow ye shall find how she has removed her\nkindles, and has borne them elsewhere with her teeth, as a bitch doth\nher whelps. Men slay hares with greyhounds, and with running hounds by\nstrength, _as in England, but elsewhere they slay them also_ with\nsmall pockets, and with purse nets, and with small nets, _with hare\npipes_, and with long nets, and with small cords that men cast where\nthey make their breaking of the small twigs when they go to their\npastures, as I have before said.[27] But, _truly, I trow no good\nhunter would slay them so for any good_. When they be in their heat of\nlove and pass any place where conies be, the most part of them will\nfollow after her as the hounds follow after a bitch or a brache.\n[25] This is incorrect: the hare carries her young thirty days (Brehm,\nvol. ii. p. 626; Harting, _Ency. of Sport_, vol. i. p. 504).\n[26] Should read \"three\" (G. de F., p. 47).\n[27] See Appendix: Snares.\n[Illustration: HOW TO QUEST FOR THE HART IN WOODS (From MS. f. fr.\n616, _Bib. Nat._, Paris)]\nCHAPTER III\nOF THE HART AND HIS NATURE\nThe hart is a common beast enough and therefore me needeth not to tell\nof his making, for there be few folk that have not seen some. The\nharts be the lightest (swiftest) beasts and strongest, and of\nmarvellous great cunning. They are in their love, which men call rut,\nabout the time of the Holy Rood[28] in September and remain in their\nhot love a whole month and ere they be fully out thereof they abide\n(in rut) nigh two months. And then they are bold, and run upon men as\na wild boar would do if he were hunted. And they be wonderfully\nperilous beasts, for with great pain shall a man recover that is hurt\nby a hart, and therefore men say in old saws: \"after the boar the\nleech and after the hart the bier.\" For he smiteth as the stroke of\nthe springole,[29] for he has great strength in the head and the body.\nThey slay, fight and hurt each other, when they be in rut, that is to\nsay in their love, and they sing in their language _that in England\nhunters call bellowing_ as man that loveth paramour.[30] They slay\nhounds and horses and men at that time and turn to the abbay (be at\nbay) as a boar does especially when they be weary. And yet have men\nseen at the parting of their ligging (as they start from the lair)[31]\nthat he hath hurt him that followeth after, and also the\ngreyhounds[32] and furthermore a courser. And yet when they are in\nrut, which is to say their love, in a forest where there be few hinds\nand many harts or male deer, they slay, hurt and fight with each\nother, for each would be master of the hinds. And commonly the\ngreatest hart and the most strong holdeth the rut and is master\nthereof. And when he is well pured and hath been long at rut all the\nother harts that he hath chased and flemed away (put to flight) from\nthe rut then run upon him and slay him, and that is sooth. And in\nparks this may be proved, for there is never a season but the greatest\nhart will be slain by the others not while he is at the rut, but when\nhe has withdrawn and is poor of love. In the woods they do not so\noften slay each other as they do in the plain country. And also there\nare divers ruts in the forest, but in the parks there are none but\nthat are within the park.[33] After that they be withdrawn from the\nhinds they go in herds and in soppes (troops) with the rascal (young\nlean deer) and abide in (waste) lands and in heathes more than they do\nin woods, for to enjoy the heat of the sun, they be poor and lean for\nthe travail they have had with the hinds, and for the winter, and the\nlittle meat that they find. After that they leave the rascal and\ngather together with two or three or four harts in soppes till the\nmonth of March when they mew (shed) their horns, and commonly some\nsooner than others, if they be old deer, and some later if they be\nyoung deer, or that they have had a hard winter, or that they have\nbeen hunted, or that they have been sick, for then they mew their\nheads and later come to good points. And when they have mewed their\nheads they take to the strong (thick) bushes as privily as they may,\ntill their heads be grown again, and they come into grease; after that\nthey seek good country for meating (feeding) of corn, of apples, of\nvines, of tender growing trees, of peas, of beans, and other fruits\nand grasses whereby they live. And sometimes a great hart hath another\nfellow that is called his squire, for he is with him and doth as he\nwill. And so they will abide all that season if they be not hindered\nuntil the last end of August. And then they begin to look, and to\nthink and to bolne and to bellow and to stir from the haunt in which\nthey have (been) all the season, for to go seek the hinds. They\nrecover their horns and are summed of their tines as many as they\nshall have all the year between March when they mewed them to the\nmiddle of June; and then be they recovered of their new hair that _men\ncall polished_ and their horns be recovered with a soft hair _that\nhunters call velvet_ at the beginning, and under that skin and that\nhair the horn waxes hard and sharp, and about Mary Magdalene day (July\n22) they fray their horns against the trees, and have (rubbed) away\nthat skin from their horns and then wax they hard and strong, and then\nthey go to burnish and make them sharp in the colliers places\n(charcoal pits) that men make sometimes in the great groves. And if\nthey can find none they go against the corners of rocks _or to crabbe\ntree or to hawthorn or other trees_.[34]\n[28] September 14. See Appendix: Hart, Seasons.\n[29] An engine of war used for throwing stones.\n[30] G. de F., p. 12. \"Ainsi que fet un homme bien amoureus\" (\"As does\na man much in love).\"\n[31] This word ligging is still in use in Yorkshire, meaning lair, or\nbed, or resting-place. In Devonshire it is spelt \"layer.\" Fortescue,\n[32] G. de F., p. 12, has \"limer\" instead of \"greyhound.\"\n[33] This passage is confused. In G. de F., p. 12, we find that the\npassage runs: \"Et aussi il y a ruyt en divers lieux de la forest et on\npaix ne peut estre en nul lieu, fors que dedans le part.\" Lavall\u00e9e\ntranslates these last five words, \"C'est \u00e0 dire qu'il n'y a de paix\nque lorsque les biches sont pleines.\" In the exceedingly faulty first\nedition by Verard, the word \"part\" is printed \"_parc_,\" as it is in\nour MS.\n[34] G. de F., p. 14, says the harts go to gravel-pits and bogs to\nfray.\nThey be half in grease or thereabouts by the middle of June when their\nhead is summed, and they be highest in grease during all August.\nCommonly they be calved in May, and the hind beareth her calf nine\nmonths or thereabout as a sow,[35] and sometimes she has three[36]\ncalves at a calving time. And I say not that they do not calve\nsometime sooner and sometime later, much according to causes and\nreasons. The calves are calved with hair red and white, which lasteth\nthem that colour into the end of August, and then they turn red of\nhair, as the hart and the hind. And at that time they run so fast that\na hare[37] should have enough to do to overtake him within the shot of\nan haronblast (cross-bow). Many men judge the deer of many colours of\nhair and especially of three colours. Some be called brown, some dun\nand some yellow haired. And also their heads be of divers manners, the\none is called a head well-grown, and the other is called well\naffeted,[38] and well affeted is when the head has waxed by ordinance\naccording to the neck and shape, when the tines be well grown in the\nbeam by good measure, one near the other, then it is called well\naffeted. Well grown is when the head is of great beam and is well\naffeted and thick tined, well high and well opened (spread). That\nother head is called counterfeit (abnormal) when it is different and\nis otherwise turned behind or wayward in other manner than other\ncommon deer be accustomed to bear. That other high head is open, evil\naffeted with long tines and few. That other is low and great and well\naffeted with small tines. And the first tine that is next the head is\ncalled antler, and the second Royal and the third above, the\nSur-royal, and the tines[39] which be called fourth if they be two,\nand if they be three or four or more be called troching. And when\ntheir heads be burnished at the colliers' pits commonly they be always\nblack, and also commonly when they be burnished at the colliers' pits\nthey be black on account of the earth which is black of its kind. And\nwhen they are burnished against _rock_ they abide all white, but some\nhave their heads naturally white and some black. And when they be\nabout to burnish they smite the ground with their feet and welter like\na horse. And then they burnish their heads, and when they be burnished\nwhich they do all the month of July they abide in that manner till the\nfeast of the Holy (Cross) in September 14th and then they go to rut as\nI have said.\n[35] The MS. transcriber's mistake. It should be \"cow.\"\n[36] G. de F. has \"2 calves\" as it should be.\n[37] G. de F. has \"greyhound,\" as it should be (p. 15): \"Et d\u00e8s lors\nvont ils j\u00e0 si tost que un levrier a ass\u00e9s \u00e0 fere de l'ateindre, ainsi\ncomme un trait d'arcbaleste\" (\"And from that time they go so quickly\nthat a greyhound has as much to do to catch him as he would the bolt\nfrom a crossbow).\"\n[38] Well proportioned. See Appendix: Antler.\n[39] Shirley MS. has the addition here: \"Which be on top.\"\n_And the first year that they be calved they be called a Calf, the\nsecond year a bullock; and that year they go forth to rut; the third\nyear a brocket; the fourth year a staggard; the fifth a stag; the\nsixth year a hart of ten[40] and then first is he chaseable, for\nalways before shall he be called but rascal or folly._ Then it is fair\nto hunt the hart, for it is a fair thing to seek well a hart, and a\nfair thing well to harbour him, and a fair thing to move him, and a\nfair thing to hunt him, and a fair thing to retrieve him, and a fair\nthing to be at the abbay, whether it be on water or on land. A fair\nthing is the cur\u00e9e,[41] and a fair thing to undo him well, and for to\nraise the rights. And a well fair thing and good is the devision[42]\nand it be a good deer. In so much that considering all things I hold\nthat it is the fairest hunting, that any man may hunt after. They\ncrotey their fumes (cast their excrements) in divers manners according\nto the time and season and according to the pasture that they find,\nnow black or dry either in flat forms or engleymed (glutinous) or\npressed, and in many other divers manners the which I shall more\nplainly devise when I shall declare how the hunter shall judge, for\nsometimes they misjudge by the fumes and so they do by the foot. When\nthey crotey their fumes flat and not thick, it is in April or in May,\ninto the middle of June, when they have fed on tender corn, for yet\ntheir fumes be not formed, and also they have not recovered their\ngrease. But yet have men seen sometimes a great deer and an old and\nhigh in grease, which about mid-season crotey their fumes black and\ndry. And therefore by this and many other things many men may be\nbeguiled by deer, for some goeth better and are better running and fly\nbetter than some, as other beasts do, and some be more cunning and\nmore wily than others, as it is with men, for some be wiser than\nothers. And it cometh to them of the good kind of their father and\nmother, and of good getting (breeding) and of good nurture and from\nbeing born in good constellations, and in good signs of heaven, and\nthat (is the case) with men and all other beasts. Men take them with\nhounds, with greyhounds and with nets and with cords, and with other\nharness,[43] with pits and with shot[44] and with other gins (traps)\nand with strength, as I shall say hereafter. _But in England they are\nnot slain except with hounds or with shot or with strength of running\nhounds._\n[40] In modern sporting terms, a warrantable deer.\n[41] See Appendix: Cur\u00e9e.\n[42] Should be: venison.\n[43] Harness, appurtenances. See Appendix: Harness.\n[44] Means from a cross-bow or long-bow.\nAn old deer is wonder wise and felle (cunning) for to save his life,\nand to keep his advantage when he is hunted and is uncoupled to, as\nthe lymer moveth him or other hounds findeth him without lymers, and\nif he have a deer (with him) that be his fellow he leaveth him to the\nhounds, so that he may warrant (save) himself, and let the hounds\nenchase after that other deer. And he will abide still, and if he be\nalone and the hounds find him, he shall go about his haunt wilily and\nwisely and seek the change of other deer, for to make the hounds\nenvoise,[45] and to look where he may abide. And if he cannot abide he\ntaketh leave of his haunt and beginneth to fly there where he wots of\nother change and then when he has come thither he herdeth among them\nand sometimes he goeth away with them. And then he maketh a ruse on\nsome side, and there he stalleth or squatteth until the hounds be\nforth after the other (deer) the which be fresh, and thus he changeth\nso that he may abide. And if there be any wise hounds, the which can\nbodily enchase him from the change, and he seeth that all can not\navail, then he beginneth to show his wiles and ruseth to and fro. And\nall this he doth so that the hounds should not find his fues (tracks)\nin intent that he may be freed from them and that he may save himself.\n[45] Go off the scent.\nSometimes he fleeth forth with the wind and that for three causes,\nfor when he fleeth against the wind it runneth into his mouth and\ndryeth him and doth him great harm. Therefore he fleeth oft forth with\nthe wind so that he may always hear the hounds come after him. And\nalso that the hounds should not scent nor find him, for his tail is in\nthe wind and not his nose.[46] Also, that when the hounds be nigh him\nhe may wind them and hye him well from them. _But nevertheless his\nnature is for the most part to flee ever on the wind till he be nigh\novercome, or at the last sideways to the wind so that it be aye_\n(ever) _in his nostrils._ And when he shall hear that they be far from\nhim, he hieth him not too fast. And when he is weary, and hot, then he\ngoeth to yield, and soileth to some great river. And some time he\nfoils down in the water half a mile or more ere he comes to land on\nany side. And that he doeth for two reasons, the one is to make\nhimself cold, and for to refresh himself of the great heat that he\nhath, the other is that the hounds and the hunter may not come after\nhim nor see his fues in the water, as they do on the land. And if in\nthe country (there) is no great river he goeth then to the little\n(one) and shall beat up the water or foil down the water as he liketh\nbest for the maintenance (extent) of a mile or more ere he come to\nland, and he shall keep himself from touching any of the brinks or\nbranches but always (keep) in the middle of the water, so that the\nhounds should not scent of him. And all that doth he for two reasons\nbefore said.\n[46] This should read as G. de F. has it (p. 20): \"Et aussi affin que\nles chiens ne puissent bien assentir de luy, quar ilz auront la Cueue\nau vent et non pas le nez\" (\"And also that the hounds shall not be\nable to wind him, as they will have their tails in the wind and not\ntheir noses\").\nAnd when he can find no rivers then he draweth to great stanks[47] and\nmeres or to great marshes. And he fleeth then mightily and far from\nthe hounds, that is to say that he hath gone a great way from\nthem,[48] then he will go into the stank, and will soil therein once\nor twice in all the stank and then he will come out again by the same\nway that he went in, and then he shall ruse again the same way that he\ncame (the length of) a bow shot or more, and then he shall ruse out of\nthe way, for to stall or squatt to rest him, and that he doeth for he\nknoweth well that the hounds shall come by the fues into the stank\nwhere he was. And when they should find that he has gone no further\nthey will seek him no further, for they will well know that they have\nbeen there at other times.\n[47] Ponds, pools. See Appendix: Stankes.\n[48] G. de F., p. 21: \"Et s'il fuit de fort longe aux chiens, c'est \u00e0\ndire que il les ait bien esloinh\u00e9s.\" See Appendix: \"Forlonge.\"\nAn hart liveth longest of any beast for he may well live an hundred\nyears[49] and the older he is the fairer he is of body and of head,\nand more lecherous, but he is not so swift, nor so light, nor so\nmighty. And many men say, but I make no affirmation upon that, when he\nis right old he beateth a serpent with his foot till she be wrath, and\nthen he eateth her and then goeth to drink, and then runneth hither\nand thither to the water till the venom be mingled together and make\nhim cast all his evil humours that he had in his body, and maketh his\nflesh come all new.[50] The head of the hart beareth medicine against\nthe hardness of the sinews and is good to take away all aches,\nespecially when these come from cold: and so is the marrow. They have\na bone within the heart which hath great medicine, for it comforteth\nthe heart, _and helpeth for the cardiac_, and many other things which\nwere too long to write, the which bear medicine and be profitable in\nmany diverse manners. The hart is more wise in two things than is any\nman or other beast, the one is in tasting of herbs, for he hath better\ntaste and better savour and smelleth the good herbs and leaves and\nother pastures and meating the which be profitable to him, better than\nany man or beast. The other is that he hath more wit and malice\n(cunning) to save himself than any other beast or man, for there is\nnot such a good hunter in the world that can think of the great malice\nand gynnes (tricks or ruses) that a hart can do, and there is no such\ngood hunter nor such good hounds, but that many times fail to slay the\nhart, and that is by his wit and his malice and by his gins.\n[49] Most old writers on the natural history of deer repeat this\nfable. See Appendix: Hart.\n[50] See Appendix: Hart.\nAs of the hinds some be barren and some bear calves, of those that be\nbarren their season beginneth when the season of the hart faileth and\nlasteth till Lent. And they which bear calves, in the morning when she\nshall go to her lair she will not remain with her calf, but she will\nhold (keep) him and leave him a great way from her, and smiteth him\nwith the foot and maketh him to lie down, and there the calf shall\nremain always while the hind goeth to feed. And then she shall call\nher calf in her language and he shall come to her. And that she doeth\nso that if she were hunted her calf might be saved and that he should\nnot be found near her. The harts have more power to run well from the\nentry of May into St. John's tide[51] than any other time, for then\nthey have put on new flesh and new hair and new heads, for the new\nherbs and the new coming out (shoots) of trees and of fruits and be\nnot too heavy, for as yet they have not recovered their grease,[52]\nneither within nor without, nor their heads, wherefore they be much\nlighter and swifter. But from St. John's into the month of August they\nwax always more heavy. Their skin is right good for to do many things\nwith when it is well tawed and taken in good season. Harts that be in\ngreat hills, when it cometh to rut, sometimes they come down into the\ngreat forests and heaths and to the launds (uncultivated country) and\nthere they abide all the winter until the entering of April, and then\nthey take to their haunts for to let their heads wax, near the towns\nand villages in the plains there where they find good feeding in the\nnew growing lands. And when the grass is high and well waxen they\nwithdraw into the greatest hills that they can find for the fair\npastures and feeding and fair herbs that be thereupon. And also\nbecause there be no flies nor any other vermin, as there be in the\nplain country. And also so doth the cattle which come down from the\nhills in winter time, and in the summer time draw to the hills. And\nall the time from rutting time into Whitsunday great deer and old will\nbe found in the plains, but from Whitsunday[53] to rutting time men\nshall find but few great deer save upon the hills, if there are any\n(hills) near or within four or five miles, and this is truth unless it\nbe some young deer calved in the plains, but of those that come from\nthe hills there will be none. _And every day in the heat of the day,\nand he be not hindered, from May to September, he goes to soil though\nhe be not hunted._\n[51] Nativity of St. John the Baptist, June 24.\n[52] See Appendix: Grease.\n[53] This sentence reads somewhat confusedly in our MS., so I have\ntaken this rendering straight from G. de F., p. 23.\nCHAPTER IV\nOF THE BUCK AND OF HIS NATURE\nA buck is a diverse beast, he hath not his hair as a hart, for he is\nmore white, and also he hath not such a head. He is less than a hart\nand is larger than a roe. A buck's head is palmed with a long palming,\nand he beareth more tines than doth a hart. His head cannot be well\ndescribed without painting. They have a longer tail than the hart, and\nmore grease on their haunches than a hart. They are fawned in the\nmonth of June and shortly to say they have the nature of the hart,\nsave only that the hart goeth sooner to rut and is sooner in his\nseason again, also in all things of their kind the hart goeth before\nthe buck. For when the hart hath been fifteen days at rut the buck\nscarcely beginneth to be in heat and bellow.\nAnd also men go not to sue him with a lymer, nor do men go to harbour\nhim as men do to the hart. Nor are his fumes put in judgment as those\nof the hart, but men judge him by the foot other head as I shall say\nmore plainly hereafter.\n[Illustration: BUCK-HUNTING WITH RUNNING HOUNDS (From MS. f. fr. 616,\n_Bib. Nat._, Paris)]\nThey crotey their fumes in diverse manners according to the time and\npasture, as doth the hart, but oftener black and dry than otherwise.\nWhen they are hunted they bound again into their coverts and fly not\nso long as doth the hart, for sometimes they run upon the hounds.[54]\nAnd they run long and fly ever if they can by the high ways and always\nwith the change. They let themselves be taken at the water and beat\nthe brooks as a hart, but not with such great malice as the hart, nor\nso gynnously (cunningly) and also they go not to such great rivers as\nthe hart. They run faster at the beginning than doth the hart. They\nbolk (bellow) about when they go to rut, not as a hart doth, but much\nlower than the hart, and rattling in the throat. Their nature and that\nof the hart do not love (to be) together, for gladly would they not\ndwell there where many harts be, nor the harts there where the bucks\nbe namely together in herds. The buck's flesh is more savoury[55] than\nis that of the hart or of the roebuck. The venison of them is right\ngood if kept and salted as that of the hart. They abide oft in a dry\ncountry and always commonly in herd with other bucks. Their season\nlasteth from the month of May into the middle of September. And\ncommonly they dwell in a high country where there be valleys and small\nhills. He is undone as the hart.\n[54] They do not make such a long flight as the red deer but by\nringing return to the hounds.\n[55] G. de F., p. 29, completes the sense of this sentence by saying\nthat \"the flesh of the buck is more savoury to all hounds than that of\nthe stag or of the roe, and for this reason it is a bad change to hunt\nthe stag with hounds which at some other time have eaten buck.\"\nCHAPTER V\nOF THE ROE AND OF HIS NATURE\nThe roebuck is a common beast enough, and therefore I need not to tell\nof his making, for there be few men that have not seen some of them.\nIt is a good little beast and goodly for to hunt to whoso can do it as\nI shall devise hereafter, for there be few hunters that can well\ndevise his nature. They go in their love that is called bokeyng in\nOctober[56], and the bucking of them lasteth but fifteen days or there\nabout. At the bucking of the roebuck he hath to do but with one female\nfor all the season, and a male and a female abide together as the\nhinds[57] till the time that the female shall have her kids; and then\nthe female parteth from the male and goeth to kid her kids far from\nthence, for the male would slay the young if he could find them. And\nwhen they be big that they can eat by themselves of the herbs and of\nthe leaves and can run away, then the female cometh again to the male,\nand they shall ever be together unless they be slain, and if one hunt\nthem and part them asunder one from another, they will come together\nagain as soon as they can and will seek each other until the time that\none of them have found the other. And the cause why the male and the\nfemale be evermore together as no other beast in this world, is that\ncommonly the female hath two kids at once, one male and the other\nfemale, and because they are kidded together they hold evermore\ntogether. And yet if they were not kidded together of one female, yet\nis the nature of them such that they will always hold together as I\nhave said before. When they withdraw from the bucking, they mew their\nheads, for men will find but few roebucks that have passed two years\nthat have not mewed their heads by All Hallowtide. And after the heads\ncome again rough as a hart's head, and commonly they burnish their\nhorns in March. The roebuck hath no season to be hunted, for they bear\nno venison[58] but men should leave them the females for their kids\nthat would be lost unto the time that they have kidded, and that the\nkids can feed themselves and live by themselves without their dame. It\nis good hunting for it lasteth all the year and they run well, and\nlonger than does a great hart in high season time. Roebucks cannot be\njudged by their fumes, and but little by their track as one can of\nharts, for a man cannot know the male from the female by her feet or\nby her fumes.\n[56] This is wrong; they rut in the beginning of August. See Appendix:\nRoe.\n[57] A clerical error. G. de F. (p. 36) says, \"as do birds,\" which\nmakes good sense.\n[58] See Appendix: Grease.\nThey have not a great tail and do not gather venison as I have said,\nthe greatest grease that they may have within is when the kidneys be\ncovered all white. When the hounds hunt after the roebuck they turn\nagain into their haunts and sometimes turn again to the hounds[59].\nWhen they see that they cannot dure[60] (last) they leave the country\nand run right long ere they be dead. And they run in and out a long\ntime and beat the brooks in the same way a hart doth. And if the\nroebuck were as fair a beast as the hart, I hold that it were a fairer\nhunting than that of the hart, for it lasteth all the year and is good\nhunting and requires great mastery, for they run right long and\ngynnously (cunningly). Although they mew their heads they do not\nreburnish them, nor repair their hair till new grass time. It is a\ndiverse (peculiar) beast, for it doth nothing after the nature of any\nother beast, and he followeth men into their houses, for when he is\nhunted and overcome he knoweth never where he goeth. The flesh of the\nroebuck is the most wholesome to eat of any other wild beast's flesh,\nthey live on good herbs and other woods and vines and on briars and\nhawthorns[61] with leaves and on all growth of young trees. When the\nfemale has her kids she does all in the manner as I have said of a\nhind. When they be in bucking they sing a right foul song, for it\nseemeth as if they were bitten by hounds. When they run at their ease\nthey run ever with leaps, but when they be weary or followed by hounds\nthey run naturally and sometimes they trot or go apace, and sometimes\nthey hasten and do not leap, and then men say that the roebuck hath\nlost his leaps, and they say amiss, for he ever leaves off leaping\nwhen he is well hasted and also when he is weary.\n[59] \"They ring about in their own country, and often bound back to\nthe hounds\" would be a better translation.\n[60] From the French _durer_, to last.\n[61] G. de F. says \"acorns.\"\nWhen he runneth at the beginning, as I have said, he runneth with\nleaps and with rugged standing hair and the eres[62] (target) and the\ntail cropping up all white.\n[62] Middle English _ars_, hinder parts called target of roebuck.\nAnd when he hath run long his hair lyeth sleek down, not standing nor\nrugged and his eres (target) does not show so white.\nAnd when he can run no longer he cometh and yieldeth himself to some\nsmall brook, and when he hath long beaten the brook upward or downward\nhe remaineth in the water under some roots so that there is nothing\nout of water save his head.\n[Illustration: ROEBUCK-HUNTING WITH GREYHOUNDS AND RUNNING HOUNDS\n(From MS. f. fr. 616, _Bib. Nat._, Paris)]\nAnd sometimes the hounds and the hunters shall pass above him and\nbeside him and he will not stir. For although he be a foolish beast he\nhas many ruses and treasons to help himself. He runneth wondrous fast,\nfor when he starts from his lair he will go faster than a brace of\ngood greyhounds. They haunt thick coverts of wood, or thick heathes,\nand sometimes in carres (marshes) and commonly in high countries or in\nhills and valleys and sometimes in the plains.\nThe kids are kidded with pomeled[63] (spotted) hair as are the hind\ncalves. And as a hind's calf of the first year beginneth to put out\nhis head, in the same wise does he put out his small brokes[64]\n(spikes) ere he be a twelvemonth old. He is hardeled[65] but not\nundone as a hart, for he has no venison that men should lay in salt.\nAnd sometimes he is given all to the hounds, and sometimes only a\npart. They go to their feeding as other beasts do, in the morning and\nin the evening, and then they go to their lair. The roebuck remains\ncommonly in the same country both winter and summer if he be not\ngrieved or hunted out thereof.\n[63] From the old French _pomel\u00e9_.\n[64] See Appendix: Roe.\n[65] See Appendix: Hardel.\nCHAPTER VI\nOF THE WILD BOAR AND OF HIS NATURE\nA wild boar is a common beast enough and therefore it needeth not to\ntell of his making, for there be few gentlemen that have not seen some\nof them. It is the beast of this world that is strongest armed, and\ncan sooner slay a man than any other. Neither is there any beast that\nhe could not slay if they were alone sooner than that other beast\ncould slay him,[66] be they lion or leopard, unless they should leap\nupon his back, so that he could not turn on them with his teeth. And\nthere is neither lion nor leopard that slayeth a man at one stroke as\na boar doth, for they mostly kill with the raising of their claws and\nthrough biting, but the wild boar slayeth a man with one stroke as\nwith a knife, and therefore he can slay any other beast sooner than\nthey could slay him. It is a proud[67] beast and fierce and perilous,\nfor many times have men seen much harm that he hath done. For some men\nhave seen him slit a man from knee up to the breast and slay him all\nstark dead at one stroke so that he never spake thereafter.\n[66] In spite of the boar being such a dangerous animal a wound from\nhis tusk was not considered so fatal as one from the antlers of a\nstag. An old fourteenth-century saying was: \"Pour le sanglier faut le\nmire, mais pour le cerf convient la bi\u00e8re.\"\n[67] Proud. G. de F., p. 56, _orguilleuse_. G. de F., p. 57, says\nafter this that he has often himself been thrown to the ground, he\nwith his courser, by a wild boar and the courser killed (\"et moy\nmeismes a il port\u00e9 moult de fois \u00e0 terre moy et mon coursier, et mort\nle coursier\").\nThey go in their love to the brimming[68] as sows do about the feast\nof St. Andrew[69], and are in their brimming love three weeks, and\nwhen the sows are cool the boar does not leave them[70].\n[68] Brimming. From Middle English _brime_, burning heat. It was also\nused in the sense of valiant-spirited (Stratmann).\n[69] November 30.\n[70] G. de F., p. 57, adds: \"comme fait l'ours.\"\nHe stays with them till the twelfth day after Christmas, and then the\nboar leaves the sows and goeth to take his covert, and to seek his\nlivelihood alone, and thus he stays until the next year when he goeth\nagain to the sows. They abide not in one place one night as they do in\nanother, but they find their pasture for (till) all pastures fail them\nas hawthorns[71] and other things. Sometimes a great boar has another\nwith him but this happens but seldom. They farrow[72] in March, and\nonce in the year they go in their love. And there are few wild sows\nthat farrow more than once in the year, nevertheless men have seen\nthem farrow twice in the year.\n[71] A badly worded phrase, the meaning of which is not quite clear.\nG. de F. has \"acorns and beachmast\" instead of hawthorns.\n[72] Farrow. See Appendix: Wild Boar.\nSometimes they go far to their feeding between night and day, and\nreturn to their covert and den ere it be day. But if the day overtakes\nthem on the way ere they can get to their covert they will abide in\nsome little thicket all that day until it be night. They wind a\nman[73] as far as any other beast or farther. They live on herbs and\nflowers especially in May, which maketh them renew[74] their hair and\ntheir flesh. And some good hunters _of beyond the sea_ say that in\nthat time they bear medicine on account of the good herbs and the good\nflowers that they eat, but thereupon I make no affirmation. They eat\nall manner of fruits and all manner of corn, and when these fail them\nthey root[75] in the ground with the rowel of their snouts which is\nright hard; they root deep in the ground till they find the roots of\nthe ferns and of the spurge and other roots of which they have the\nsavour (scent) in the earth. And therefore have I said they wind\nwonderfully far and marvellously well. And also they eat all the\nvermin and carrion and other foul things. They have a hard skin and\nstrong flesh, especially upon their shoulders which is called the\nshield. Their season begins from the Holy Cross day in September[76]\nto the feast of St. Andrew[77] for then they go to the brimming of the\nsows. For they are in grease when they be withdrawn from the sows. The\nsows are in season from the brimming time _which is to say the twelfth\nday after Christmas_ till the time when they have farrowed. The boars\nturn commonly to bay on leaving their dens for the pride that is in\nthem, and they run upon some hounds and at men also. But when the boar\nis heated, or wrathful, or hurt, then he runneth upon all things that\nhe sees before him. He dwelleth in the strong wood and the thickest\nthat he can find and generally runneth in the most covered and\nthickest way so that he may not be seen as he trusteth not much in his\nrunning, but only in his defence and in his desperate deeds.[78] He\noften stops and turns to bay, and _especially when he is at the\nbrimming_ and hath a little advantage before the hounds of the first\nrunning, and these will never overtake him unless other new hounds be\nuncoupled to him.\n[73] G. de F., p. 58, says they wind acorns as well or better than a\nbear, but nothing about winding a man. See Appendix: Wild Boar.\n[74] From F. _renouveler_.\n[75] See Appendix: Wild Boar.\n[76] September 14.\n[77] November 30.\n[78] Despiteful or furious deeds. G. de F., p. 60, says that he only\ntrusts in his defences and his weapons (\"en sa d\u00e9fense et en ses\narmes\").\nHe will well run and fly from the sun rising to the going down of the\nsun, if he be a young boar of three years old. In the third March\ncounting that in which he was farrowed, he parteth from his mother and\nmay well engender at the year's end.[79]\n[79] As this is somewhat confused we have followed G. de F.'s text in\nthe modern rendering.\nThey have four tusks, two in the jaw above and two in the nether jaw;\nof small teeth speak not I, the which are like other boar's teeth. The\ntwo tusks above serve for nothing except to sharpen his two nether\ntusks and make them cut well _and men beyond the sea call_ the nether\ntusks of the boar his arms or his files, with these they do great\nharm, and also they call the tusks above gres[80] (grinders) for they\nonly serve to make the others sharp as I have said, and when they are\nat bay they keep smiting their tusks together to make them sharp and\ncut better. When men hunt the boar they commonly go to soil and soil\nin the dirt and if they be hurt the soil is their medicine. The boar\nthat is in his third year or a little more is more perilous and more\nswift and doth more harm than an old boar, as a young man more than an\nold man. An old boar will be sooner dead than a young one for he is\nproud and heavier and deigneth not to fly, and sooner he will run upon\na man than fly, and smiteth great strokes but not so perilously as a\nyoung boar.\n[80] From the French _gr\u00e8s_, grinding-stone or grinders.\nA boar heareth wonderfully well and clearly, and when he is hunted and\ncometh out of the forest or bush or when he is so hunted that he is\ncompelled to leave the country, he sorely dreads to take to the open\ncountry and to leave the forest,[81] and therefore he puts his head\nout of the wood before he puts out his body, then he abideth there and\nharkeneth and looketh about and taketh the wind on every side. And if\nthat time he seeth anything that he thinks might hinder him in the way\nhe would go, then he turneth again into the wood. Then will he never\nmore come out though all the horns and all the holloaing of the world\nwere there. But when he has undertaken the way to go out he will spare\nfor nothing but will hold his way throughout. When he fleeth he maketh\nbut few turnings, but when he turneth to bay, and then he runneth upon\nthe hounds and upon the man. And for no stroke or wound that men do\nhim will he complain or cry, but when he runneth upon the men he\nmenaceth, strongly groaning. But while he can defend himself he\ndefendeth himself without complaint, and when he can no longer defend\nhimself there be few boars that will not complain or cry out when they\nare overcome to the death.[82]\n[81] G. de F., p. 60, has \"fortress\" instead of \"forest.\"\n[82] After the word \"death\" a full stop should occur, for in this MS.\nand, singularly enough, also in the Shirley MS. the following words\nhave been omitted: \"They drop their lesses,\" continuing \"as other\nswine do.\"\nThey drop their lesses (excrements) as other swine do, according to\ntheir pasture being hard or soft.\nBut men do not take them to the cur\u00e9e nor are they judged as of the\nhart or other beasts of venery.\nA boar can with great pain live twenty years; he never casts his teeth\nnor his tusks nor loses them unless by a stroke.[83] The boar's grease\nis good as that of other tame swine, and their flesh also. Some men\nsay that by the foreleg of a boar one can know how old he is, for he\nwill have as many small pits in the forelegs as he has years, but of\nthis I make no affirmation. The sows lead about their pigs with them\ntill they have farrowed twice and no longer, and then they chase their\nfirst pigs away from them for by that time they be two years old and\nthree Marches counting the March in which they were farrowed.[84] In\nshort they are like tame sows, excepting that they farrow but once in\na year and the tame sows farrow twice. When they be wroth they run at\nboth men and hounds and other beasts as (does) the wild boar and if\nthey cast down a man they abide longer upon him than doeth a boar, but\nshe cannot slay a man as soon as a boar for she has not such tusks as\nthe boar, but sometimes they do much harm by biting. Boars and sows go\nto soil gladly when they go to their pasture, all day and when they\nreturn they sharpen their tusks and cut against trees when they rub\nthemselves on coming from the soil. _What men call a trip of tame\nswine is called of wild swine a sounder, that is to say if there be\npassed a five or six together._\n[83] At this point G. de F., p. 61, adds: \"One says of all biting\nbeasts the trace, and of red beasts foot or view, and one can call\nboth one or the other the paths or the fues.\"\n[84] See Appendix: Wild Boar.\nCHAPTER VII\nOF THE WOLF AND OF HIS NATURE\nA wolf is a common beast enough and therefore I need not tell of his\nmake, for there are few men _beyond the sea_, that have not seen some\nof them. They are in their love in February with the females and then\nbe jolly and do in the manner as hounds do, and be in their great heat\nof love ten or twelve days, and when the bitch is in greatest heat\nthen if there are any wolves in the country they all go after her as\nhounds do after a bitch when she is jolly. But she will not be lined\nby any of the wolves save by one. She doth in such a wise that she\nwill lead the wolves for about six or eight days without meat or drink\nand without sleep for they have so great courage towards her, that\nthey have no wish to eat nor to drink, and when they be full weary she\nlets them rest until the time that they sleep, and then she claweth\nhim with her foot and waketh him that seemeth to have loved her most,\nand who hath most laboured for her love, and then they go a great way\nthence and there he lines her. And therefore men say _beyond the seas\nin some countries_ when any woman doth amiss, that she is like to the\nwolf bitch for she taketh to her the worst and the foulest and the\nmost wretched and it is truth that the bitch of the wolf taketh to her\nthe foulest and most wretched, for he hath most laboured and\nfasted[85] for her and is most poor, most lean and most wretched. And\nthis is the cause why men say that the wolf saw never his father and\nit is truth sometimes but not always, for it happeneth that when she\nhas brought the wolf that she loveth most as I have said, and when the\nother wolves awaken they follow anon in her track, and if they can\nfind the wolf and the bitch holding together then will all the other\nwolves run upon him and slay him, and all this is truth in this case.\nBut when in all the country there is but one wolf and one bitch of his\nkind then this rule cannot be truth.\n[85] G. de F., p. 63, has: \"Pource qu'il a plus travaill\u00e9 et plus\njeun\u00e9 que n'ont les autres.\"\nAnd sometimes peradventure the other wolves may be awake so late that\nif the wolf is not fast with the bitch or peradventure he hath left\nher then he fleeth away from the other wolves, so they slay him not so\nin this case the first opinion is not true.\nThey may get young whelps at the year's end, and then they leave their\nfather and their mother. And sometimes before they are twelve months\nold if so be that their teeth are fully grown after their other small\nteeth which they had first, for they teethe twice in the year when\nthey are whelps. The first teeth they cast when they are half a year\nold _and also their hooks_. Then other teeth come to them which they\nbear all their life-time and never cast. When these are full grown\nagain then they leave their father and mother and go on their\nadventures, but notwithstanding that they go far they do not bide long\naway from each other and if it happens that they meet with their\nfather and with their mother the which hath nourished them they will\nmake them joy and great reverence alway. And also I would have you\nknow that when a bitch and a wolf of her kind hath fellowship together\nthey generally stay evermore together, and though they sometimes go to\nseek their feeding the one far from the other they will be together at\nnight if they can or at the farthest at the end of three days. And\nsuch wolves in fellowship together get meat for their whelps the\nfather as well as the mother, save only that the wolf eateth first his\nfill and then bears the remnant to his whelps. The bitch does not do\nso for she beareth all her meat to her whelps and eateth with them.\nAnd if the wolf is with the whelps when the mother cometh and she\nbringeth anything and the wolf has not enough he taketh the feeding\nfrom her and her whelps, and eateth his fill first, and then he\nleaveth them the remnant, if there be any, and if there be not any\nleft they die of hunger, if they will, for he recketh but little so\nthat his belly be full. And when the mother seeth that, and has been\nfar to seek her meat she leaveth her meat a great way thence for her\nwhelps, and then she cometh to see if the wolf is with them, and if he\nbe there she stayeth till he be gone and then she bringeth them her\nmeat. But also the wolf is so malicious that when he seeth her come\nwithout food he goeth and windeth her muzzle and if he windeth she\nhath brought anything he taketh her by the teeth and biteth her so\nthat she must show him where she hath left her food. And when the\nbitch perceiveth that the wolf doth this when she returneth to her\nwhelps she keepeth in the covert and doth not show herself if she\nperceiveth that the wolf is with them, and if he be there she hideth\nherself until the time he hath gone to his prey on account of his\ngreat hunger, and when he is gone she brings her whelps her food for\nto eat. And this is truth.\nSome men say that she bathes her body and her head so that the wolf\nshould wind nothing of her feeding when she cometh to them, but of\nthis I make no affirmation.\nThere be other heavy wolves of this nature, the which be not so in\nfellowship, they do not help the bitch to nourish the whelps but when\na wolf and a bitch are in fellowship and there are no wolves in that\ncountry by very natural smelling he knoweth well that the whelps are\nhis and therefore he helpeth to nourish them but not well. At the time\nthat she hath whelps the wolf is fattest in all the year, for he\neateth and taketh all that the bitch and whelps should eat. The bitch\nbeareth her whelps nine weeks and sometimes three or four days more.\nOnce in the year they are in their love and are jolly. Some men say\nthat the bitches bear no whelps while their mother liveth, but thereof\nI make no affirmation. The bitches of them have their whelps as other\ntame bitches, sometimes more, sometimes less. They have great strength\nespecially before (fore-quarters), and evil[86] they be and strong,\nfor sometimes a wolf will slay a cow or a mare and he hath great\nstrength in his mouth. Sometime he will bear in his mouth a goat or a\nsheep or a young hog and not touch the ground (with it), and shall run\nso fast with it that unless mastiffs or men on horseback happen to run\nbefore him neither the shepherds nor no other man on foot will ever\novertake him. They live on all manner of flesh and on all carrion and\nall kinds of vermin. And they live not long for they live not more\nthan thirteen or fourteen years. Their biting is evil and venomous on\naccount of the toads and other vermin that they eat. They go so fast\nwhen they be void (are empty) that men have let run four leashes of\ngreyhounds, one after the other and they could not overtake him, for\nhe runs as fast as any beast in the world, and he lasts long running,\nfor he has a long breath. When he is long hunted with running hounds\nhe fleeth but little from them, but if the greyhounds or other hounds\npress him, he fleeth all the covert[87] as a boar does and commonly he\nruns by the high ways. And commonly he goeth to get his livelihood by\nnight, but sometimes by day, when he is sore ahungered. And there be\nsome (wolves) that hunt at the hart, at the wild boar and at the\nroebuck, and windeth as far as a mastiff, and taketh hounds when they\ncan. There are some that eat children and men and eat no other flesh\nfrom the time that they be acherned[88] (blooded) by men's flesh, for\nthey would rather be dead. They are called wer-wolves, for men should\nbeware of them, and they be so cautious that when they assail a man\nthey have a holding upon him before the man can see them, and yet if\nmen see them they will come upon them so gynnously (cunningly) that\nwith great difficulty a man will escape being taken and slain, for\nthey can wonder well keep from any harness (arms) that a man beareth.\nThere are two principal causes why they attack men; one is when they\nare old and lose their teeth and their strength, and cannot carry\ntheir prey as they were wont to do, then they mostly go for children,\nwhich are not difficult to take for they need not carry them about but\nonly eat them. And the child's flesh is more tender than is the skin\nor flesh of a beast. The other reason is that when they have been\nacharned (blooded) in a country of war, where battles have been, they\neat dead men. Or if men have been hanged or have been hanged so low\nthat they may reach thereto, or when they fall from the gallows. And\nman's flesh is so savoury and so pleasant that when they have taken to\nman's flesh they will never eat the flesh of other beasts, though they\nshould die of hunger. For many men have seen them leave the sheep they\nhave taken and eat the shepherd. It is a wonderfully wily and gynnous\n(cunning) beast, and more false than any other beast to take all\nadvantage, for he will never fly but a little save when he has need,\nfor he will always abide in his strength (stronghold), and he hath\ngood breath, for every day it is needful to him, for every man that\nseeth him chaseth him away and crieth after him. When he is hunted he\nwill fly all day unless he is overset by greyhounds. He will gladly go\nto some village or in a brook, he will be little at bay except when he\ncan go no further. Sometimes wolves go mad and when they bite a man he\nwill scarcely get well, for their biting is wonderfully venomous on\naccount of the toads they have eaten as I have said before, and also\non account of their madness. And when they are full or sick they feed\non grasses as a hound does in order to purge themselves. They stay\nlong without meat for a wolf can well remain without meat six days or\nmore. And when the wolf's bitch has her whelps commonly she will do no\nharm near where she has them, for fear she hath to lose them. And if a\nwolf come to a fold of sheep if he may abide any while he will slay\nthem all before he begins to eat any of them. Men take them _beyond\nthe sea_ with hounds and greyhounds with nets and with cords, but when\nhe is taken in nets or cords he cutteth them wonderfully fast with his\nteeth unless men get quickly to him to slay him. Also men take them\nwithin pits and with needles[89] and with haussepieds[90] or with\nvenomous powders that men give them in flesh, and in many other\nmanners. When the cattle come down from the hills the wolves come down\nalso to get their livelihood. They follow commonly after men of arms\nfor the carrion of the beasts or dead horses or other things. They\nhowl like hounds and if there be but two they will make such a noise\nas if there were a route of seven or eight if it is by night, when the\nweather is clear and bright, or when there are young wolves that have\nnot yet passed their first year. When men lay trains to acharne (with\nflesh) so as to take them, they will rarely come again to the place\nwhere men have put the flesh, especially old wolves, leastways not the\nfirst time that they should eat. But if they have eaten two or three\ntimes, and they are assured that no one will do them harm, then\nsometimes they will abide. But some wolves be so malicious that they\nwill eat in the night and in the day they will go a great way thence,\ntwo miles or more, especially if they have been aggrieved in that\nplace, or if they feel that men have made any train with flesh for to\nhunt at them. They do not complain (cry out) when men slay them as\nhounds do, otherwise they be most like them. When men let run\ngreyhounds at a wolf he turns to look at them, and when he seeth them\nhe knoweth which will take him, and then he hasteneth to go while he\ncan, and if they be greyhounds which dare not take him, the wolf knows\nat once, and then he will not hasten at his first going. And if men\nlet run at him from the side, or before more greyhounds which will\nseize him, when the wolf seeth them, and he be full, he voideth both\nbefore and behind all in his running so as to be more light and more\nswift. Men cannot nurture a wolf, though he be taken ever so young and\nchastised and beaten and held under discipline, for he will always do\nharm, if he hath time and place for to do it, he will never be so\ntame, but that when men leave him out he will look hither and thither\nto see if he may do any harm, or he looks to see if any man will do\nhim any harm. For he knoweth well and woteth well that he doth evil,\nand therefore men ascrieth (cry at) and hunteth and slayeth him. And\nyet for all that he may not leave his evil nature.\n[86] G. de F., p. 66, has \"evil biting.\"\n[87] He keeps to the coverts.\n[88] Acherned, from O. Fr. _acharn\u00e9_, to blood, from _chair_, flesh.\n[89] Needles. See Appendix: Snares.\n[90] _Aucepis_ (Shirley MS.). G. de F., p. 69: _haussepiez_, a snare\nby which they were jerked from the ground by a noose.\nMen say that the right fore foot of the wolf is good for medicine for\nthe evil of the breast and for the botches (sores) which come to swine\nunder the shoulder.[91] And also the liver of the wolf dried is good\nfor a man's liver, but thereof I make no affirmation, for I would put\nin my book nothing but very truth. The wolf's skin is warm to make\ncuffs or pilches (pelisses), but the fur thereof is not fair, and also\nit stinketh ever unless it be well tawed.[92]\n[91] This should be \"jaw.\" G. de F., p. 70, has _maisselles, i.e._\nM\u00e2choires.\n[92] Prepared. Tawing is a process of making hides into\nleather--somewhat different from tanning. There were tawers and\ntanners.\nCHAPTER VIII\nOF THE FOX AND OF HIS NATURE\nThe fox is a common beast and therefore I need not tell of his making\nand there be but few gentlemen that have not seen some. He hath many\nsuch conditions as the wolf, for the vixen of the fox bears as long as\nthe bitch of the wolf bears her whelps, sometimes more sometimes less,\nsave that the vixen fox whelpeth under the earth deeper than doth the\nbitch of the wolf. The vixen of the fox is a saute[93] (in heat) once\nin the year. She has a venomous biting like a wolf and their life is\nno longer than a wolf's life. With great trouble men can take a fox,\nespecially the vixen when she is with whelps, for when she is with\nwhelps and is heavy, she always keeps near her hole, _for sometimes\nshe whelpeth in a false hole and sometimes in great burrows and\nsometimes in hollow trees, and therefore she draweth always near her\nburrow_, and if she hears anything anon she goeth therein before the\nhounds can get to her. She is a false beast and as malicious as a\nwolf.\n[93] The term used by Turbervile (p. 188) is \"goeth a clicqueting.\"\nThe hunting for a fox is fair for the _good cry of_ the hounds[94]\nthat follow him so nigh and with so good a will. Always they scent of\nhim, for he flies through the thick wood and also he stinketh\nevermore. And he will scarcely leave a covert when he is therein, he\ntaketh not to the plain (open) country for he trusteth not in his\nrunning neither in his defence, for he is too feeble, and if he does,\nit is because he is (forced to) by the strength of men and hounds. And\nhe will always hold to covert, and if he can only find a briar to\ncover himself with, he will cover himself with that. When he sees that\nhe cannot last, then he goeth to earth the nearest he can find which\nhe knoweth well and then men may dig him out and take him, if it is\neasy digging, but not among the rocks.[95] If greyhounds _give him\nmany touches and overset him_, his last remedy, if he is in an open\ncountry, will be that he vishiteth gladly (the act of voiding\nexcrements) so that the greyhounds should leave him for the stink of\nthe dirt, and also for the fear that he hath.\n[94] G. de F., p. 72, says, \"because the hounds hunt him closely.\"\n[95] Our MS. only gives this one chapter on the fox, while Gaston\nPh[oe]bus has another: _Comment on doit chassier et prendre le\nrenard._ In this he gives directions as to earth-stopping, and taking\nhim in pursenets, and smoking him out with \"orpiment and sulphur and\nnitre or saltpetre.\" He says January, February, and March are the best\nmonths for hunting, as the leaf is off the trees and the coverts are\nclearer, so that the hounds have more chance of seeing the fox and\nhunt him closer. He says that one-third of the hounds should be put in\nto draw the covert, and the others in relays should guard the\nboundaries and paths, to be slipped as required. Although this is a\nFrenchman's account of fox-hunting, we have no reason to believe that\nthe fox was treated at that period better by English sportsmen, for\nuntil comparatively recent times the fox was accounted vermin, and any\nmeans by which his death could be encompassed were considered\nlegitimate, his extermination being the chief object in hunting him,\nand not the sport. Even as late as the seventeenth century we find\nthat such treatment was considered justifiable towards a fox, for, as\nMacaulay tells us, Oliver St. John told the Long Parliament that\nStrafford was to be regarded, not as a stag or a hare, to whom some\nlaw was to be given, but as a fox, who was to be snared by any means,\nand knocked on the head without pity (vol. i. p. 149).\nA little greyhound is very hardy when (if) he takes a fox by himself,\nfor men have seen great greyhounds which might well take a hart and a\nwild boar and a wolf and would let the fox go. And when the vixen is\nassaute, and goeth in her love to seek the dog fox she crieth with a\nhoarse voice as a mad hound doth, and also when she calleth her whelps\nwhen she misses any of them, she calleth in the same way. The fox does\nnot complain (cry) when men slay him, but he defendeth himself with\nall his power while he is alive. He liveth on all vermin and all\ncarrion and on foul worms. His best meat that he most loveth are hens,\ncapons, duck and young geese and other wild fowls when he can get\nthem, also butterflies and grasshoppers, milk and butter. They do\ngreat harm in warrens of coneys and of hares which they eat, and take\nthem so gynnously (cunningly) and with great malice and not by\nrunning. There be some that hunt as a wolf[96] and some that go\nnowhere but to villages to seek the prey for their feeding. As I have\nsaid they are so cunning and subtle that neither men nor hounds can\nfind a remedy to keep themselves from their false turns. Also foxes\ncommonly dwell in great hedges or in great coverts or in burrows near\nsome towns or villages for to evermore harm hens and other things as I\nhave said. The foxes' skins be wonderfully warm to make cuffs and\nfurs, but they stink evermore if they are not well tawed. The grease\nof the fox and the marrow are good for the hardening of sinews. Of the\nother manners of the fox and of his cunning I will speak more openly\nhereafter. Men take them with hounds, with greyhounds, with hayes and\nwith purse-nets, but he cutteth them with his teeth, as the male of\nthe wolf doth but not so soon (quickly).\n[96] According to G. de F., p. 74, it should not read that some are\nhunted like wolves, but that they themselves hunt like wolves.\nCHAPTER IX\nOF THE GREY (BADGER) AND OF HIS NATURE\nThe grey (badger) is a common beast enough and therefore I need not\ntell you of his making, for there be few men that have not seen some\nof them, and also I shall take no heed to speak much of him, for it is\nnot a beast that needeth any great mastery to devise of how to hunt\nhim, or to hunt him with strength, for a grey can fly but a little way\nbefore he is overcome with hounds, or else he goes to bay and then he\nis slain anon. His usual dwelling is in the earth in great burrows and\nif he comes out he will not walk far thence. He liveth on all vermin\nand carrion and all fruits and on all things such as the fox. But he\ndare not venture so far by day as the fox, for he cannot flee. He\nliveth more by sleeping than by any other thing. Once in the year they\nfarrow as the fox.[97] When they be hunted they defend themselves long\nand mightily and have evil biting and venomous as the fox, and yet\nthey defend themselves better than the fox. It is the beast of the\nworld that gathereth most grease within and that is because of the\nlong sleeping that he sleepeth. And his grease bears medicine as does\nthat of the fox, _and yet more_, and men say that if a child that hath\nnever worn shoes is first shod with those made of the skin of the grey\nthat child will heal a horse of farcy if he should ride upon him, but\nthereof I make no affirmation. His flesh is not to eat, neither is\nthat of the fox nor of the wolf.\n[97] G. de F., p. 76, adds: \"And they farrow their pigs in their\nburrows as does the fox.\"\n[Illustration: BADGER-DRAWING (From MS. f. fr. 616, _Bib. Nat._,\nParis)]\nCHAPTER X\nOF THE (WILD) CAT AND ITS NATURE\nThe cat is a common beast enough therefore I need not tell of his\nmaking, for there be few men that have not seen some of them.\nNevertheless there be many and diverse kind of cats, after some\nmasters' opinions, and namely of wild (cats). Especially there be some\ncats as big as leopards and some men call them _Guyenne_ loup\ncerviers[98] and other cat-wolves, and this is evil said for they are\nneither wolves nor cerviers nor cat-wolves. Men might (better) call\nthem cat-leopards than otherwise, for they draw more to a leopard kind\nthan to any other beast. They live on such meat as other cats do, save\nthat they take hens in hedges[99] and goats and sheep, if they find\nthem alone, for they be as big as a wolf, and almost formed and made\nas a leopard, but their tail is not so long. A greyhound alone could\nnot take one of them to make him abide, for a greyhound could sooner\ntake and hold fast and more steadfastly a wolf than he could one of\nthem. For he claws as a leopard and furthermore bites right (hard).\nMen hunt them but seldom, but if the hounds find peradventure such a\ncat, he would not be long hunted for soon he putteth him to his\ndefence or he runneth up a tree. And because he flieth not long\ntherefore shall I speak but little of his hunting, for in hunting him\nthere is no need of great mastery. They bear their kittens and are in\ntheir love as other cats, save that they have but two kittens at once.\nThey dwell in hollow trees and there they make their ligging[100] and\ntheir beds of ferns and of grass. The cat helpeth as badly to nourish\nhis kittens as the wolf doth his whelps. _Of common wild cats I need\nnot to speak much, for every hunter in England knoweth them, and their\nfalseness and malice are well known. But one thing I dare well say\nthat if any beast hath the devil's spirit in him, without doubt it is\nthe cat, both the wild and the tame._\n[98] According to the Shirley MS. this passage runs, \"Men calleth him\nin Guyene loupeceruyers.\" See Appendix: Wild Cat.\n[99] Shirley MS. has \"and egges,\" instead of \"in hedges,\" which is the\nrendering G. de F. gives.\n[100] Bed or resting-place. See Appendix.\nCHAPTER XI\nTHE OTTER AND HIS NATURE\nAn otter is a common beast enough and therefore I need not tell of his\nmaking. She liveth with (on?) fish and dwelleth by rivers and by ponds\nand _stanks_ (pools). And sometimes she feedeth on grass of the\nmeadows and bideth gladly under the roots of trees near the rivers,\nand goeth to her feeding as doth other beasts to grass, but only in\nthe new grass time, and to fish as I have said. They swimmeth in\nwaters and rivers and sometimes diveth under the water when they will,\nand therefore no fish can escape them unless it be too great a one.\nThey doth great harm specially in ponds and in stanks, for a couple of\notters without more shall well destroy the fish of a great pond or\ngreat stank, and therefore men hunt them. They go in their love at the\ntime that ferrets do, so they that hold (keep) ferrets in their houses\nmay well know the time thereof. They bear their whelps as long as the\nferrets and sometimes more and sometimes less. They whelp in holes\nunder the trees near the rivers. Men hunt at them with hounds by\ngreat mastery, as I say hereafter.[101] And also men take them at\nother times in rivers with small cords as men do the fox with nets and\nwith other gins. She hath an evil biting and venomous and with her\nstrength defendeth herself mightily from the hounds. And when she is\ntaken with nets unless men get to her at once she rendeth them with\nher teeth and delivereth herself out of them. Longer will I not make\nmention of her, nor of her nature, for the hunting at her is the best\nthat men may see of her, save only that she has the foot of a goose,\nfor she hath a little skin from one claw to another, and she hath no\nheel save that she hath a little lump under the foot, and men speak of\nthe steps or the marches of the otter as men speak of the trace of the\nhart, and his fumes (excrements) tredeles or spraints. The otter\ndwelleth but little in one place, for where she goeth the fish be sore\nafraid. Sometimes she will swim upwards and downwards seeking the fish\na mile or two unless it be in a stank.\n[101] The author of \"Master of Game\" does not say anything more about\nthe otter.\n[Illustration: OTTER-HUNTING (From MS. f. fr. 616, _Bib. Nat._,\nParis)]\n_Of the remnant of his nature I refer to Milbourne[102] the king's\notter hunter. As of all other vermin I speak not, that is to say of\nmartens and pole cats, for no good hunter goeth to the wood with his\nhounds intending to hunt for them, nor for the wild cat either.\nNevertheless when men seek in covert for the fox and can find none,\nand the hounds happen to find them and then the hunter rejoiceth his\nhounds for the exploit of his hounds, and also because it is vermin\nthat they run to. Of conies I do not speak, for no man hunteth them\nunless it be bishhunters_ (fur hunters), _and they hunt them with\nferrets and with long small hayes. Those raches that run to a coney at\nany time ought to be rated saying to them loud, \"Ware riot, ware,\" for\nno other wild beast in England is called riot save the coney only._\n[102] In Priv. Seal 674/6456, Feb. 18, 1410, William Melbourne is\nvalet of our otterhounds. See Appendix: Otter.\nCHAPTER XII\nOF THE MANNER AND HABITS AND CONDITIONS OF HOUNDS\nAfter that I have spoken of the nature of beasts of venery and of\nchase which men should hunt, now I will tell you of the nature of the\nhounds which hunt and take them. And first of their noble conditions\nthat be so great and marvellous in some hounds that there is no man\ncan believe it, unless he were a good skilful hunter, and well\nknowing, and that he haunted them long, for a hound is a most\nreasonable beast, and best knowing of any beast that ever God made.\nAnd yet in some case I neither except man nor other thing, for men\nfind it in so many stories and (see) so much nobleness in hounds,\nalways from day to day, that as I have said there is no man that\nliveth, but must think it. Nevertheless natures of men and all beasts\ngo ever more descending and decreasing both of life and of goodness\nand of strength and of all other things so wonderfully, _as the Earl\nof Foix Phebus sayeth in his book_, that when he seeth the hounds that\nbe now hunting and thinketh of the hounds that he hath seen in the\ntime that is passed, and also of the goodness and the truth, which was\nsometimes in the lords of this world, and other common men, and seeth\nwhat now is in them at this time, truly he saith that there is no\ncomparison, and this knoweth well every man that hath any good reason.\nBut now let God ordain thereof whatever His good will is. But to draw\nagain to my matter, and tell the nobleness of the hounds, the which\nhave been, some good tales I shall tell you the which I find in true\nwritings. First of King Claudoneus[103] of France, the which sent once\nafter his great court whereof were other kings which held of him land,\namong the which was the King Appollo of Lyonnys that brought with him\nto the court his wife and a greyhound that he had, that was both good\nand fair. The King Claudoneus of France had a seemly young man for his\nson, of twenty years of age, and as soon as he saw the Queen of\nLyonnys he loved her and prayed her of (for her) love. The Queen was a\ngood lady and loved well her lord, forsook him and would him not, and\nsaid (to) him that if he spake to her any more thereof that she would\ntell it to the King of France, and to her Lord. And after that the\nfeast was passed, King Appollo of Lyonnys turned again, he and his\nwife to their country. And when they were so turned again, he and his\nwife, the King Claudoneus son of France was before him with a great\nfellowship of men of arms for to ravish his wife from him. The King\nAppollo of Lyonnys that was a wonderful good knight of his hounds\n(hands?) notwithstanding that he was unarmed, defended himself and his\nwife in the best wise that he could unto the time that he was wounded\nto the death, then he withdrew himself and his wife into a tower. And\nthe King Claudoneus son, the which would not leave the lady, went in\nand took the lady, and would have defiled her, and then she said to\nhim \"Ye have slain my lord, and (now) ye would dishonour me, certes I\nwould sooner be dead,\" then she drew herself to (from) a window and\nleapt into the river of Loire that ran under the tower and anon she\nwas drowned. And after that within a little while, the King Appollo of\nLyonnys died of his wounds that he had received, and on the same day\nhe was cast into the river. The greyhound that I have spoke of, the\nwhich was always with the king his master, when his lord was cast in\nthe river leapt after him into the river, insomuch that with his teeth\nhe drew his lord out of the river, and made a great pit with his claws\nin the best wise that he could, and with his muzzle. And so the\ngreyhound always kept his lord about half a year in the pit, and kept\nhis lord from all manner of beasts and fowls. And if any man ask\nwhereof he lived I say that he lived on carrion and of other feeding\nsuch as he might come to. So it befell that the King Claudoneus of\nFrance rode to see the estate of his realm, and (it) befell that the\nking passed there where the greyhound was that kept his lord and\nmaster, and the greyhound arose against him, and began to yelp at him.\nThe King Claudoneus of France the which was a good man and of good\nperception, anon when he saw the greyhound, knew that it was the\ngreyhound that King Appollo of Lyonnys had brought to his court,\nwhereof he had great wonder, and he went himself there where the\ngreyhound was and saw the pit, and then he made some of his men alight\nfrom their horses for to look what was therein, and therein they found\nthe King Appollo's body all whole. And anon as the King Claudoneus of\nFrance saw him, he knew it was the King Appollo of Lyonnys, whereof he\nwas right sorry and sore aggrieved, and ordained a cry throughout all\nhis realm, that whoso would tell him the truth of the deed he would\ngive him whatsoever that he would ask. Then came a damsel that was in\nthe tower when the King Appollo of Lyonnys was dead, and thus she said\nto the King Claudoneus of France, \"Sir,\" quoth she, \"if you will grant\nme a boon that I shall ask and assure me to have it, before all your\nmen, I shall show you him that hath done the deed,\" and the King swore\nto her before his men, and it so befell that the King Claudoneus son\nof France was beside his father. \"Sir,\" she said, \"here is your son\nthe which hath done this deed. Now require I you as ye have sworn to\nme that ye give him to me, I will no other gift of you.\" The King\nClaudoneus of France turned him then towards his son and said thus:\n\"Thou cursed harlot, thou hast shamed and shent (disgraced) me and\ntruly I shall shend (disgrace) you. And though I have no more children\nyet shall I not spare.\" Then he commanded to his men to make a great\nfire, and cast his son therein, and he turned him toward the damsel\nwhen the fire was great alight, and thus to her he said: \"Damsel, now\ntake ye him for I deliver him to you, as I promised and assured you.\"\nThe damsel durst not come nigh, for by that time he was all burnt.\nThis ensample have I brought forth for the nobleness of hounds and\nalso of lords that have been in olden times. But I trow that few lords\nbe now that would do so even and so open justice. A hound is true to\nhis lord and his master, and of good love and true.\n[103] In G. de F. \"Clodoveus,\" p. 82.\nA hound is of great understanding and of great knowledge, a hound hath\ngreat strength and great goodness, a hound is a wise beast and a kind\n(one). A hound has a great memory and great smelling,[104] a hound has\ngreat diligence and great might, a hound is of great worthiness and of\ngreat subtlety, a hound is of great lightness and of great\nperseverance (?), a hound is of good obedience, for he will learn as a\nman all that a man will teach him. A hound is full of good sport;\nhounds are so good that there is scarcely a man that would not have of\nthem, some for one craft, and some for another. Hounds are hardy, for\na hound dare well keep his master's house, and his beasts, and also he\nwill keep all his master's goods, and he would sooner die than\nanything be lost in his keeping. And yet to affirm the nobleness of\nhounds, I shall tell you a tale of a greyhound that was Auberie's of\nMoundydier, of which men may see the painting in the realm of France\nin many places. Aubery was a squire of the king's house of France, and\nupon a day that he was going from the court to his own house, and as\nhe passed by the woods of Bondis, the which is nigh Paris, and led\nwith him a well good and a fair greyhound that he had brought up. A\nman that hated him for great envy without any other reason, who was\ncalled Makarie, ran upon him within the wood and slew him without\nwarning, for Auberie was not aware of him. And when the greyhound\nsought his master and found him he covered him with earth and with\nleaves with his claws and his muzzle in the best way that he could.\nAnd when he had been there three days and could no longer abide for\nhunger, he turned again to the king's court. There he found Makarie,\nwho was a great gentleman, who had slain his master, and as soon as\nthe greyhound perceived Makarie, he ran upon him, and would have\nmaimed him, unless men had hindered him. The King of France, who was\nwise and a man of perception, asked what it was, and men told him the\ntruth. The greyhound took from the boards what he could, and brought\nto his master and put meat in his mouth, and the same wise the\ngreyhound did three days or four. And then the King made men follow\nthe greyhound, for to see where he bare the meat that he took in the\ncourt. And then they found Auberie dead and buried. And then the King,\nas I have said, made come many of the men of his court, and made them\nstroke the greyhound's side, and cherish him and made his men lead him\nby the collar towards the house, but he never stirred. And then the\nKing commanded Makarie to take a small piece of flesh and give it to\nthe greyhound. And as soon as the greyhound saw Makarie, he left the\nflesh, and would have run upon him. And when the King saw that, he had\ngreat suspicions about Makarie, and said (to) him that he must needs\nfight against the greyhound. And Makarie began to laugh, but anon the\nKing made him do the deed, and one of the kinsmen of Auberie saw the\ngreat marvel of the greyhound and said that he would swear upon the\nsacrament as is the custom in such a case for the greyhound, and\nMakarie swore on the other side, and then they were led into our\nLady's Isle at Paris and there fought the greyhound and Makarie. For\nwhich Makarie had a great two-handed staff, and they fought so that\nMakarie was discomfitted, and then the king commanded that the\ngreyhound the which had Makarie under him should be taken up, and then\nthe King made enquiry of the truth of Makarie, the which acknowledged\nhe had slain Aubrey in treason, and therefore he was hanged and drawn.\n[104] G. de F., p. 84, says \"_sentement_,\" good sense, feeling, or\nsympathy.\nThe bitches be jolly in their love commonly twice in a year, but they\nhave no term of their heat, for every time of the year some be jolly.\nWhen they be a twelvemonth old, they become jolly, and be jolly while\nthey await the hounds without any defence, twelve days or less,[105]\nand sometimes fifteen days, according as to whether they be of hot\nnature or of cold, the one more than another, or whether some be in\nbetter condition than others. And also men may well help them thereto,\nfor if they give them much meat they abide longer in their heat than\nif they had but little. And also if they were cast in a river twice in\na day they should be sooner out of their jollity. They bear their\nwhelps nine weeks or more; the whelps be blind when they be whelped\ntill they be nine days old and then they may well see and lap well\nwhen they be a month old, but they have great need of their dam to the\ntime that they be two months old, and then they should be well fed\nwith goat's milk or with cow's milk and crumbs of bread made small and\nput therein, especially in the morn and at night. Because that the\nnight is more cold than the day. And also men should give them crumbs\nin flesh-broth, and in this wise men may nourish them till they be\nhalf a year old, and by that time they shall have cast their hooks,\nand when they have cast their hooks, they should teach them to eat dry\nbread and lap water little by little, for a hound that is nourished\nwith grease and fat broth when he casts his hooks, and if he hath\nalways sops or tit-bits, he is a chis[106] (dainty) hound and of evil\nward. And also they be not so well breathed than if they have eaten\nalways bread and water. When the bitches be lined they lose their\ntime, and also while they be great with whelps, and also while their\nwhelps suck. If they are not lined, soon they will lose their time,\nfor their teats remain great and grow full of wind until the time that\nthey should have had their whelps. And so that they should not lose\ntheir time men spaye them, save these that men will keep open to bear\nwhelps. And also a spayed bitch lasteth longer in her goodness than\nother two that be not spayed.[107] And if a bitch be with whelps the\nwhich be not of ward let the bitch fast all the whole day, and give\nher then with a little grease the juice of a herb men calleth titimal,\nthe which the apothecaries knoweth well, and she shall cast her\nwhelps. Nevertheless it is a great peril namely if the whelps be great\nand formed within the bitch. The greatest fault of hounds is that they\nlive not long enough, most commonly they live but twelve years. And\nalso men should let run no hounds of what condition that they be nor\nhunt them until the time that they were a twelve month old and past.\nAnd also they can hunt but nine years at the most.\n[105] G. de F., p. 85, \"Au moins,\" at least.\n[106] \"Chis,\" or \"cheese,\" hound, probably dainty hound, a chooser,\nfrom \"cheosan,\" Mid. Eng. \"choose,\" to distinguish: also written\n\"ches,\" \"chees.\" (Stratmann.)\n[107] Lasts longer good, _i.e._ lasts as long as two hounds that have\nnot been spayed. G. de F. (p. 86) adds: \"or at least one and a half.\"\nCHAPTER XIII\nOF SICKNESSES OF HOUNDS AND OF THEIR CORRUPTIONS\nThe hounds have many divers sicknesses and their greatest sickness is\nthe rage whereof there be nine manners, of the which I shall tell you\na part. The first is called furious madness. The hounds that be mad of\nthat madness cry and howl with a loud voice, and not in the way that\nthey were wont to when they were in health. When they escape they go\neverywhere biting both men and women and all that they find before\nthem. And they have a wonderful perilous biting, for if they bite\nanything, with great pain it shall escape thereof if they draw blood,\nthat it shall go mad whatever thing it be. A token for to know at the\nbeginning, is this, that they eat not so well as they were wont to,\nand they bite the other hounds, making them cheer with the tail[108]\nfirst, smelleth[109] upon them and licketh[110] them and then he\nbloweth a great blast with his nose, and then he looketh fiercely, and\nbeholdeth his own sides and maketh semblant that he had flies about\nhim, and then he crieth. And when men know such tokens men should take\nhim from the others until the fourth day, for then men may see the\nsickness all clearly, or else that he is not mad for some time. Many\nmen be beguiled in that way. And if any hound be mad of any of the\nnine madnesses he shall never be whole. And their madness cannot last\nbut nine days[111] but they shall never be whole but dead. That other\nmanner of madness is known by these signs: In the beginning he doth as\nI said before, save that they neither bite man nor beast save only the\nhounds, as perilous is his biting as the first, and ever more they go\nup and down without any abiding. And this madness is called running\nmadness. And these two madnesses beforesaid taketh the other hounds\nthat they be with, though they bite them not. That other madness is\ncalled ragemuet (dumb madness) for they neither bite nor run not, eke\nthey will not eat for their mouth is somewhat gaping as if they were\nenosed[112] in their throat, and so they die, within the term\nbeforesaid without doing any harm. Some men say that it cometh to them\nfrom a worm[113] that they have under the tongue, and ye should find\nbut few hounds that hath not a worm under the tongue. And many men say\nthat if that worm was taken from them they would never go mad, but\nthereof I make no affirmation. Nevertheless it is good to take it from\nthem, and men should take it away in this manner. Men should take the\nhound when he is past half a year old and hold fast his fore-feet, and\nput a staff athwart his mouth so that he should not bite. And after\ntake the tongue and ye should find the worm under the tongue, then ye\nshould slit the tongue underneath and put a needle with a thread\nbetwixt the worm and tongue and cut and draw the worm out with the\nthread _or else with a small pin of wood_. And notwithstanding that\nmen call it a worm it is but a great vein that hounds have under their\ntongue. This madness diseaseth not other hounds, neither man nor other\nbeast. That other madness is called falling, for when they want to\nwalk straight they fall now on one side and now on the other side, and\nso die within the aforesaid term. This madness stretcheth to no other\nhound nor man or beast. That other madness is called flank\nmadness[114], for they be so sore and tucked up by the middle of the\nflanks as though they never ate meat, and pant in their flanks with\nmuch pain, and will not eat, but stoop low with the head and always\nlook downwards, and when they go they take up their feet high and go\nrolling _as a drunken man_. This madness stretcheth to no other hound\nnor to any other things, and they die as it is said before. The other\nmadness is called sleeping madness, for they lie always and make\nsemblant as if they were asleep, and so they die without meat. This\nsickness stretcheth to no other thing. That other madness is called\nmadness of head. Nevertheless all madnesses are of foolishness of the\nhead and of the heat of the heart, for their head becometh great and\nswelleth fast. They eat no meat and so they die in that madness. This\nmadness stretcheth to no other thing. And certainly I never saw a\nhound that had any of all these madnesses that ever might be healed.\nNevertheless many men think sometime that a hound be mad when it is\nnot so, and therefore the best proof that any man may do, is to draw\nhim from the other hounds and assaye him three whole days each one\nafter the other following, if he will eat flesh or any other thing.\nAnd if he will not eat within three days slay him as a mad hound. The\nremedies for men or for beasts that be bitten by mad hounds must need\nbe done a short time after the biting, for if it were past a whole day\nit were hard to undertake to heal him of the two first madnesses\nwhereof I spake at the beginning, for all the others can do no harm,\nand the remedy may be of divers manners. Some goeth to the sea, and\nthat is but a little help, and maketh nine waves of the sea pass over\nhim that is so bitten. Some take an old cock and pull all the feathers\nfrom above his vent and hangeth him by the legs and by the wings, and\nsetteth the cock's vent upon the hole of the biting, and stroketh\nalong the cock by the neck and by the shoulders because that the\ncock's vent should suck all the venom of the biting. And so men do\nlong upon each of the wounds, and if the wounds be too little they\nmust be made wider with a barber's lancet. And many men say, but\nthereof I make no affirmation, that if the hound were mad, that the\ncock shall swell and die, and he that was bitten by the hound shall be\nhealed. If the cock does not die it is a token that the hound is not\nmad. There is another help, for men may make sauce of salt, vinegar\nand strong garlic pulled and stamped, and nettles together and as hot\nas it may be suffered to lay upon the bite. And this is a good\nmedicine and a true, for it hath been proved, and every day should it\nbe laid upon the biting twice, as hot as it can be suffered, until the\ntime when it be whole, or else by nine days. And yet there is another\nmedicine better than all the other. Take leeks and strong garlic and\nchives and rue and nettles and hack them small with a knife, and then\nmingle them with olive oil and vinegar, and boil them together, and\nthen take all the herbs, also as hot as they may be suffered, and lay\nthem on the wound every day twice, till the wound be healed, or at\nleast for nine days. But at the beginning that the wound be closed or\ngarsed[115] (cupped) for to draw out the venom out of the wound\nbecause that it goeth not to the heart. And if a hound is bit by\nanother mad hound it is a good thing for to hollow it all about the\nbiting with a hot iron. The hounds have also another sickness that is\ncalled the mange, that cometh to them because that they be melancholy.\nThere are four manners of mange, that one is called the quick mange\nthe which pulleth[116] the hounds and breaketh their skins in many\nplaces, and the skin waxeth great and thick, and this is wonderfully\nevil to heal, for though the hounds may be whole it cometh to them\nagain. Commonly to this mange, this is the best ointment that men may\nmake thereto. Nevertheless many men would put many others thereto,\nfirst take ye six pounds of honey and a quart of verdigris, and that\nthe honey be first melted and stirred in the bottom with a ladle, and\nthen let it cool, and let it boil often with as much of oil of nuts as\nof the honey and of water, wherein an herb has been boiled that men\ncall in Latin Cleoborum, and in other language Valerian, the which\nmake men sneeze, and put all these things together and mingle them\nupon the fire, stir them well and let it be cold, and anoint the hound\nby the fire or in the sun. And look that he lick not himself, for it\nshould do him harm. And unless he be whole at the first time anoint\nhim from eight days (to eight days)[117] until the time that he be\nwhole, for certainly he shall be whole. And if he will make any more\nof that ointment, take of the things aforesaid in the same wise or\nmore or less as seemeth to you that need is. That other manner (of)\nmange is called flying mange[118], for it is not in all the body but\nit cometh more commonly about the hounds' ears, and in their legs than\nin any other place of the body[119], as the farcy, and this is the\nworst to heal, and the best ointment that any man can make for this\nmanner of mange is this: take quicksilver for as much as ye will make\nointment, as ye have need, and put it in a dish with spittle of three\nor four fasting men, and stir it altogether against the bottom of the\ndish with a pot-stick, until the time that the quicksilver be quenched\nwith the water, and then take ye as much verdigris as of the\nquicksilver and mingle it with spittle, always stirring with a\npot-stick, as I have said before, until the time that they can be all\nmingled together. And after take old swine's grease without salt, a\ngreat piece, and take away the skin above, and put it in the dish that\nI spake of, with the things before said, and mingle and stamp it\naltogether a long while, then keep it to anoint the hound there where\nhe hath the mange and in no other place, and certainly he shall be\nwhole. This ointment is marvellous and good and true not only for this\nthing, but also against the canker and fistula and farcy and other\nquick evils, the which have been hard to heal in other beasts. That\nother is a common mange when the hounds claw themselves with their\nfeet and snap with their teeth, and it is on all the body of the\nhound. And all manners of mange come to hounds from great travel and\nfrom long hunting, as when they be hot they drink of foul water and\nunclean, which corrupteth their bodys, and also when they hunt in evil\nplaces of pricklings of thorns, of briers, or peradventure it raineth\nupon them, and they be not well tended afterwards. Then cometh the\nscab, and also the scab cometh upon them when they abide in their\nkennel too long[120] and goeth not hunting. Or else their litter and\ncouch is uncleanly kept, or else the straw is not removed and their\nwater not freshened, and shortly the hounds unclean, I hold, and evil\nkept _or long waterless_, have commonly this mange. For the cure of\nwhich take ye the root of an herb that groweth upon houses and walls,\nthe which is called in Latin iroos[121] (iris) and chop it small and\nboil it well in water, and then put thereto as much of oil made of\nnuts as of water, and when it is well boiled cast out the herb, and\nthen take of black pitch and of rosin as much of the one as of the\nother, well stamped, and cast it in the water and the oil before said,\nand stir it well about on the fire with a pot-stick: and then let it\nwell grow cold, and anoint the hound as before is said. Sometime\ncometh to the hounds sickness in their eyes, for there cometh a web\nupon them, and growing flesh which cometh into that one side of the\neye, and is called a nail[122], and so they grow blind unless a man\ntake care thereof. Some men put about their necks a collar of an elm\ntree both of leaves and of bark, and seeth that when that shall be dry\nthe nail shall fall away, but that is but a little help. But the true\nhelp that may be thereto is this, take ye the juice of a herb that men\ncall Selidoyn (Celandine)[123] powder of ginger and of pepper, and put\nall together thrice in the day within the eye, and let him not claw\nnor rub it a long while, and that customarily by nine days until the\ntime that the hound's eyes be whole, and also it is good to put\ntherein of the Sousse[124] of the which men find enough at the\napothecary's for the same sickness, and if the nail were so hard grown\nand so strong that he might not be healed therewith, take a needle and\nbow it in the middle that it be crooked, and take well and subtly the\nflesh that is upon the eye with the needle and draw it up on high, and\nthen cut it with a razor, but take good care that the needle touch not\nthe eye. These things the smiths can do well[125], for as the nail is\ndrawn out of a horse's eye, right so it must be drawn out of the\nhound's eye, _and without fault he shall be whole_. And also another\nsickness cometh into the hound's ears the which cometh out of the\nrewme (cold) of the head of the hound, for they claw themselves so\nmuch with the hinder feet that they make much foul things come out\nthereof, and so out of her ears cometh much foul things, and some time\nthereof they become deaf. Therefore they should take wine luke-warm\nand with a cloth wash it well, and clean three or four times in the\nday, and when it is washed ye should cast therein oil and camomile\nmilk, warm, three drops, and suffer him not to claw it nor rub it a\ngreat while, and do so continually until the time that he be whole.\nAlso hounds have another sickness that cometh to them of the rewme,\nthat is to say, they have the malemort (glanders) in their nostrils as\nhorses have, wherefore they can smell nothing nor wind, and at the\nlast some die thereof, and they take it most when they hunt in snow.\nFor this sickness boil mastic and incense in small powder in fair\nwater, and of a thing that men call Ostoraces calamynt[126],\nbrygella[127] of rue[128] and mint and of sage, and hold the hound's\nnose upon the pot's mouth wherein these things should boil so that he\nmay retain within his nostrils the smoke that cometh thereof out of\nthe pot. And in this wise serve him a long while, three or four times\nevery day, until the time that he be whole, and this is good also for\na horse when he hath the glanders strongly coming out of the nose.\nAlso there is another sickness of hounds, the which cometh to them in\ntheir throats and sometime cometh so to men in such wise that they may\nnot keep down their meat, and so they must cast it out again. In some\ntime the sickness is so strong on them, that they can keep nothing\ndown in their bodies and so die. The best medicine is to let them go\nwherever they will, and let them eat all that ever they will. For\nsometime the contrary things turneth them to good. And give them to\neat flesh right small cut, and put in broth or in goat's milk a\nlittle, and a little because that they may swallow it down without\nlabour, and give him not too much at once, that they may digest\nbetter. And also buttered eggs doeth them much good. And sometimes the\nhounds hurt themselves in their feet, and in their legs, and in their\nbreast. And when it is in the joints of their feet that be run out of\ntheir places, the best help that there is is to bring them again into\njoint, by such men as can well do it, and then lay upon that place\nflax wetted in white of egg, and let them rest until the time that\nthey be whole. And if there be any broken bones men should knit it\nagain in the best wise, the one bone against that other and bind it\nwith flax above as I have said, and with four splints well bound\nthereto that one against that other, because that the bone should not\nunjoin, and men should remove the bands from four days to four days\nall whole. And give them to drink the juice of herbs that are called\nconsolida major[129] and minor[130], and mix it in broth or in her\nmeat, and that shall make the bones join together. Also many hounds be\nlost by the feet, and if some time they be heated take vinegar and\nsoot that is within the chimney, and wash his feet therewith until the\ntime that they be whole, and if the soles of the feet be bruised\nbecause, peradventure, they have run in hard country or among stones,\ntake water, and small salt therein, and therewith wash their feet, the\nsame day that they have hunted, and if they have hunted in evil\ncountry among thorns and briars that they be hurt in their legs or in\ntheir feet, wash their legs in sheep's tallow well boiled in wine when\nit is cold, and rub them well upward against the hair. The best that\nmen may do to hounds that they lose not their claws is that they\nsojourn not too long, for in long sojourning they lose their claws,\nand their feet, and therefore they should be led three times in the\nweek a-hunting, and at the least twice. If they have sojourned too\nmuch, cut ye a little off the end of their claws with pincers ere they\ngo hunting, so that they may not break their claws in running. Also\nwhen they be at sojourn, men should lead them out every day a mile or\ntwo upon gravel or upon a right hard path by a river side, so that\ntheir feet may be hard. Hounds also sometimes be chilled as horses\nwhen they have run too long, and come hot in some water, or else when\nthey come to rest in some cold place, then they go all forenoon and\ncannot eat, nor cannot walk well, then should men let blood on the\nfour legs. From the forelegs in the joints within the leg, from the\nhinder legs men should let blood in the veins that goeth overthwart\nabove the hocks on the other side, and in the hinder legs men may well\nsee clearly the veins that I speak of, and also in the forelegs, thus\nhe shall be whole. And give him one day sops or some other thing\ncomfortable till the morrow or other day. The hounds also have a\nsickness in the yerde that men calleth the canker, and many be lost\nthereby. Men should take such a hound and hold him fast and upright\nand bind his mouth and his four legs also, and then men should take\nhis yerde backward by the ballocks and put him upward, and another man\nshall draw the skin well in manner that the yerde may all come out,\nand then a man may take away the canker with his fingers, for if it\nwere taken away with a knife men might cut him. And then men should\nwash it with wine, milk warm, and then put therein honey and salt, so\nthat the sickness shall not come again, and then put again the yerde\nwithin the skin as it was before, and look every week that the\nsickness come not again, and take it always out if aught come thereto\nuntil the time that it be whole. And in the same wise a man should do\nto a bitch, if such a sickness were taken in her nature. In this\nsickness many hounds and bitches die for default of these cures,\nwhereof all hunters have not full knowledge. Sometimes the hounds have\na great sickness that they may not piss, and be lost thereby and also\nwhen they may not scombre (dung). Then take ye the root of a cabbage\nand put it in olive oil, and put it in his fundament so that ye leave\nsome of the end without, so much that it may be drawn out when it is\nneedful. And if he may not be whole thereby make him a clyster as men\ndo to a man, of mallows, of beets, and of mercury, a handful of each,\nand of rue and of incense, and that all these things be boiled in\nwater and put bran within, and let pass all that water through a\nstrainer, and thereto put two drachms of agarite[131] and of honey and\nof olive oil, and all this together put into his anus and he shall\nscombre.\n[108] Cherish, \"wagging their tayles and seeming to cherish them,\"\nTurbervile, p. 223. See Appendix: Madness.\n[109] It should read \"smelleth,\" as it is in Shirley MS. and in G. de\n[110] The friendly licking of other dogs has often been noticed as an\nearly symptom of rabies in a pack of hounds.\n[111] Du Fouilloux in his _La Venerie_ (published 1561) copied much\nfrom Gaston de Foix's book, but either he or his editors made the\nridiculous mistake of saying nine _months_ instead of _days_.\nTurbervile, who translated, or rather cribbed, Du Fouilloux's book,\nhas copied this absurd mistake, and says a hound may continue thus\nnine months, but not past (p. 222).\n[112] Means \"a bone in their throat.\" G. de F. (p. 88): \"comme si ils\navoient un os en la gueule.\" In the Shirley MS. \"enosed,\" _i.e._ \"_un\nos._\" See Appendix: Madness.\n[113] See Appendix: Worming.\n[114] \"Lank madness\" in Turbervile, p. 223. Tucked up. G. de F. (p.\n88): \"cousus parmi les flans\" (\"the flanks drawn in\").\n[115] In Shirley MS. \"ventoused upon or gersed.\" G. de F.: \"ventouses,\nque on appelle coupes,\" hence \"cupped and lanced\" would be the proper\nmeaning.\n[116] Makes them lose their hair. G. de F. (p. 90), \"et si _poile_ le\nchien.\"\n[117] \"To viii. days\" has been omitted.\n[118] Some confusion, which is still common, between eczema from\nvarious causes, and true parasitic mange or scabies.\n[119] G. de F. (p. 91) adds: \"et est vermeille et saute d'un lieu en\nautre.\"\n[120] In the Shirley MS. the words are added: \"to(o) hye plyte,\"\n_i.e._ too high condition. G. de F. (p. 91) adds \"gresse.\"\n[121] _Ireos_, Eng. Iris. This word is also constantly recurring in\nold household books. Aniseed and orris powder were placed among linen\nto preserve it from insects. In Edward IV.'s Wardrobe Accounts we read\nof bags of fustian stuffed with anneys and ireos.\n[122] _Pterygium_, name for the \"sickness\" in the eyes of hounds which\nour MS. describes as a \"web coming upon them.\" It is called\n_pterygium_ from its resemblance to an insect's wing; is an\nhypertrophy of the conjunctiva or lining membrane of the eye, due to\nirritation; it extends from the inner angle to the cornea, which it\nmay cover: the treatment is excision. The cure for \"the nail\"\nmentioned in our MS. of hanging a collar of elm leaves round the dog\nis taken by G. de F. (p. 92) from Roy Modus xliv., where it is given\nwithout the saving clause \"M\u00e8s cela est bien petit rem\u00e8de.\"\n[123] _Celandine_, _Chalidonium Majus_, from [Greek: chelid\u00f4n], a\nswallow. The name was derived from the tradition that swallows used it\nto open the eyes of their young or to restore their sight. Has a\nyellow flower and an acrid, bitter, orange juice. Internally an\nirritant poison. Infusions in wine used by Galen and Bioscorides for\njaundice, probably from the colour of the juice and flowers.\nExternally the juice was much used for wounds, ulcers, ophthalmic\ncases, and for the removal of warts. The Old French name for this\nplant was _herbe d'arondelles_ (_hirondelles_).\n[124] Shirley MS. has \"foussye,\" G. de F. (p. 92) \"de la poudre de la\ntutie,\" oxide of zinc.\n[125] Shirley MS. adds: \"that be marshals for horses.\"\n[126] _Estoracis calamita_, G. de F., p. 93. Lavall\u00e9e appends the\nnote: \"_Storax et Styrax calamita._\" Storax, a resin resembling\nbenzoin, was in high esteem from the time of Pliny to the eighteenth\ncentury. It was obtained from the stem of _Styrax_ _officinalis_, a\nnative of Greece and the Levant. In our MS. four other ingredients\nmentioned by G. de F. have been left out, but the Shirley MS. gives\nthem: \"and oyle of Kamamyle and of Mallyor of aushes and of calamynt,\"\n_i.e._ oil of camomile, melilot (Meliters), rosemary, thymus calamita,\na species of balm. Possibly this is a mint called _Calaminta nepeta_,\na plant formerly much used in medicine as a gentle stimulant and\ntonic. Melilot, a genus of clover-like plants of the natural order of\n_Leguminose_.\n[127] Mildew. G. de F. (p. 93), Nigella, Nielle.\n[128] _Rewe_, Mod. Eng. _rue_, Lat. _ruta_. This herb was in great\nrepute among the ancients, and is still employed in medicine as a\npowerful stimulant.\n[129] _Consolida major._ Lavall\u00e9e in his note (p. 94) translates this\n_consoude_, which in English is comfrey, Latin _Symphytum_.\n[130] _Consolida minor_ (Lavall\u00e9e: note, _petit consoude_), Mod. Fr.\n_Brunelle_. G. de F. p. 94. Eng. Selfheal. Lat. _Prunella vulgaris_.\nIt was at one time in repute as a febrifuge.\n[131] _Agarys_. G. de F. _d'agret_, probably _agrimony_, Lat.\nagrimonia. It is bitter and styptic, and was much valued in domestic\nmedicine; a decoction of it being used as a gargle and the dried\nleaves as a kind of tea, and the root as a vermifuge.\n[Illustration: HOW THE HOUNDS WERE LED OUT] (From MS. f. fr. 616,\n_Bib. Nat._, Paris)\nAnd then take five corns of spurge[132] and stamp them and temper them\nwith goat's milk or with broth, and put it in the hound's throat to\nthe amount of a glassful. And if he may not piss take the leaves of\nleeks and of a herb that is called marrubium album[133] and of\nmodirwort[134] and of peritorie[135] and morsus galline[136] and of\nnettles and parsley leaves as much of the one as of the other, and\nstamp them with swine's grease therewith, and make a plaster thereof,\nand make it a little hot, and lay it upon the hound's yerde and along\nhis belly, and that which is hard to understand ye shall find at the\napothecary's, the which know well all these things. Also to the hounds\ncometh sores, that cometh to them under the throat or in other parts\nof the body. Then take ye of the mallows and of the onions and of\nwhite lilies,[137] and cut them small with a knife, and put them in a\nladle of iron and mingle these herbs whereof I speak, and lay them\nupon the sores, and that shall make them rise, and when they be risen,\nslit them with a sharp knife. And when they be so broken, lay upon\nthem some good drawing salve, and he be whole. Sometimes the hounds\nfight and bite each other, and then they shall take sheep's wool\nunwashed, and a little olive oil, and wet the wool in the oil, and lay\nit upon the hound's wound, and bind it thereupon, and do so three\ndays, and then after twice each day anoint it with olive oil, and lay\nnothing upon it. And he shall lick it with his tongue and heal\nhimself.[138] If peradventure in the wound come worms as I have seen\nsome time, every day ye shall pick them out with a stick, and ye shall\nput in the wound the juice of leaves of a peach tree mingled with\nquicklime until the time that they be whole. Also it happeneth to many\nhounds that they smite the forelegs against the hinder wherefore their\nthighs dry[139] and be lost thereby, and then if ye see that it last\nthem longer than three days that they set not their foot to the earth,\nthen slit ye the thigh along and athwart within the thigh, crosswise\nupon the bone, that is upon the turn bone of the knee behind, and then\nput thereupon wool wet in olive oil as before is said, for three whole\ndays. And then after anoint the wound with oil without binding as I\nhave said, and he shall heal himself with his tongue. Sometimes a\nhound is evil astyfled,[140] so that he shall sometime abide half a\nyear or more ere he be well, _and if he be not so tended he will never\nrecover_. Then it needeth that ye let him long sojourn until the time\nthat he be whole, until he is no longer halting, that is that one\nthigh be no greater than the other. And if he may not be all whole, do\nto him as men do to a horse that is spauled in the shoulder in front,\ndraw throughout a cord of horsehair[141] and he shall be whole.\nSometimes an evil befalls in the ballock purse,[142] sometimes from\ntoo long hunting or from long journeys, or from rupture,[143] or\nsometimes when bitches be jolly, and they may not come to them at\ntheir ease as they would, and that the humours runneth into the\nballocks, and sometimes when they be smitten upon in hunting or in\nother places. To this sickness and to all others in that manner, the\nbest help is for to make a purse of cloth three or four times double,\nand take linseed and put it within, and put it in a pot, and let it\nmingle with wien, and let them well boil together, and mix it always\nwith a stick, and when it is well boiled put it within the purse that\nI spoke of, as hot as the hound may suffer it, and put his ballocks in\nthat purse, and bind it with a band betwixt the thighs above the back,\nmake well fast the ballocks upwards, and leave a hole in the cloth for\nto put out the tail and his anus, and another hole before for the\nyerde so that he may scombre and piss and renew that thing once or\ntwice until the time that he be whole. Also it is a well good thing\nfor a man or for a horse that hath this sickness.[144]\n[132] _Euphorbia resinifera_, common spurge, exudes a very acrid milky\njuice which dries into a gum resin. Still used for some plasters.\n[133] _Marrubium vulgare._ G. de F. _marrabre blanc_, Eng. white\nhorehound. It enjoyed a great reputation as a stimulating expectorant\nemployed in asthma, consumption, and other pulmonary affections.\n[134] _Leonurus cardiaca._ G. de F. _Artemise_, Eng. Motherwort, Mod.\nFr. _armoise_. A plant allied to the horehound as a vascular stimulant\nand diuretic and a general tonic, employed in dropsy, gout,\nrheumatism, and uterine disorders.\n[135] _Parietaria._ Eng. Wall pellitory. An old domestic remedy. It\nwas supposed to be astringent and cooling, and used locally for\ninflammation, burns, erysipelas, and internally as a diuretic. It\ngrows on old walls and heaps of rubbish.\n[136] _Morsus gallinus._\n[137] _Lilies._ The white lilies here mentioned are probably _Lilium\nconnalium_ (lilies of the valley). In an old book of recipes I find\nthem mentioned as an antidote to poison. (_Haus und Land Bib._ 1700.)\nThey have medicinal qualities, purgative and diuretic in effect. Dried\nand powdered they become a sternutatory.\n[138] In the Shirley MS. there is added: \"the hound tongue beareth\nmedicine and especially to himself.\" G. de F. has the same (p. 97).\n[139] Wither or dry up.\n[140] Inflammation of the stifle joint.\n[141] _Seton._ G. de F. (p. 98) says: \"une ortie et un sedel de\ncorde.\" His word _sedel_ came from the Spanish _sedal_. The English\n\"seton\" comes from _seta_, a hair, because hair was originally\nemployed as the inserted material.\n[142] Testicles.\n[143] The following words, which are in Shirley MS. and in G. de F.,\nare left out: \"some tyme for they more foundeth as an hors.\"\n[144] The Shirley MS. has the following ending to this chapter: \"And\nGod forbid that for (a) little labour or cost of this medicine, man\nshould see his good kind hound perish, that before hath made him so\nmany comfortable disports at divers times in hunting,\" which is not\ntaken from G. de F.\nCHAPTER XIV\nOF RUNNING HOUNDS AND OF THEIR NATURE\nA running hound is a kind of hound there be few men that have not seen\nsome of them. Nevertheless I shall devise how a running hound shall be\nheld for good and fair, and also shall I devise of their manners. Of\nall hues of running hounds, there are some which be good, and some\nwhich be bad or evil as of greyhounds. But the best hue of running\nhounds and most common for to be good, is called brown tan. Also the\ngoodness of running hounds, and of all other kinds of good hounds,\ncometh of true courage and of the good nature of their good father and\nof their good mother. And also as touching greyhounds, men may well\nhelp to make them good by teaching as by leading them to the wood and\nto fields, and to be always near them, in making of many good cur\u00e9es\nwhen they have done well, and of rating at and beating them when they\nhave done amiss, for they are beasts, and therefore have they need to\nlearn that which men will they should do. A running hound should be\nwell born, and well grown of body, and should have great nostrils and\nopen, and a long snout, but not small, and great lips and well hanging\ndown, and great eyes red or black, and a great forehead and great\nhead, and large ears, well long and well hanging down, broad and near\nthe head, a great neck, and a great breast and great shoulders, and\ngreat legs and strong, and not too long, and great feet, round and\ngreat claws, and the foot a little low, small flanks and long sides, a\nlittle pintel not long, small hanging ballocks and well trussed\ntogether, a good chine bone and great back, good thighs, and great\nhind legs and the hocks straight and not bowed, the tail great and\nhigh, and not cromping up on the back, but straight and a little\ncromping upward. Nevertheless I have seen some running hounds with\ngreat hairy tails the which were very good. Running hounds hunt in\ndivers manners, for some followeth the hart fast at the first, for\nthey go lightly and fast and when they have run so awhile, they have\nhied them so fast that they be relaxed and all breathless, and stop\nstill and leave the hart when they should chase him. This kind of\nrunning hounds men should find usually in the land of Basco and Spain.\nThey are right good for the wild boar, but are not good for the hart,\nfor they be not good to enchase at a long flight, but only for to\npress him, for they seek not well, and they run not well nor they hunt\nnot (well) from a distance, for they be accustomed to hunt close.\n[Illustration: RACHES OR RUNNING HOUNDS IN THE FIFTEENTH CENTURY (From\nMS. f. fr. 616, _Bib. Nat_., Paris)]\nAnd at the beginning they have shown their best. Other manners of\nrunning hounds there are which hunt a good deal more slowly and\nheavily, but as they begin, so they hold on all the day. These hounds\nforce not so soon a hart as the other, but they bring him best by\nmastery and strength to his end, for they retrieve and scent the line\nbetter and farther, because they are somewhat slow. They must hunt the\nhart from farther off, and therefore they scent the fues better than\nthe other that goes so hastily without stopping until the time that\nthey be weary. A bold hound should never complain or howl, unless if\nhe were out of the rights. And also he should again seek the rights,\nfor a hart flieth and ruseth. Commonly a bold hound hunteth with the\nwind when he seeth his time. He dreads his master and understands him\nand does as he bids him. A bold hound should not leave the hart\nneither for rain, nor for heat, nor for cold, nor for any evil\nweather, but at this time there be few such, and also should he hunt\nthe hart well by himself without help of man, as if the man were\nalways with him. _But alas! I know not now any such hounds._ Hounds\nthere are which be bold and brave; and be called bold for they are\nbold and good for the hart, for when the hart comes in danger[145]\nthey will chase him, but they will not open[146] nor quest while he is\namong the change, for dread to envoyse[147] and do amiss, but when\nthey have dissevered[148] him, then they will open and hunt him and\nshould overcome the hart well, and perfectly and masterfully\nthroughout all the change. These hounds be not so good nor so perfect\nas be the bold hounds before said _to most men_ for two reasons[149],\nthat one reason is for they hunt not at men's best pleasure for they\nhunt nought but the hart, and the first bold hound hunts all manner of\nbeasts that his master will uncouple him to. He opens always through\nall the changes, and a bold hound for the hart opens not for the hart,\nas I have said when the hart is amid the changes. He dreadeth where he\ngoeth that men see him lest he do amiss or envoise, but men cannot\nalways see him[150]. Of this kind of hound have I seen many a one.\nThere be other kinds of hounds which men _beyond the sea call_ hart\nhounds, good and restrained hart hounds.[151] They hunt no other beast\nbut the hart, and therefore they are called hart hounds and bold\nhounds, for they be bold and good and wise for the hart; they be\ncalled restrained, because if the hart fall among the change they\nshould abide still[152] until the hunter come, and when they see their\nmaster they make him welcome, and wag their tails upon him, and will\nby-piss the way and the bushes, _but in England men make them not so_.\nThese be good hounds _of our land_, but not so good as the bold hounds\naforesaid. They be well wise, for they know well that they should not\nhunt the change, and they are not so wise as to dissever the hart from\nthe change, for they abide still and restive. These hounds I hold full\ngood, for the hunter that knows them may well help them to slay the\nhart. None of all these three kinds of hounds hunt at the hart in\nrutting time, unless it be the good bold hound,[153] which is the best\nof all other hounds. The best sport that men can have is running with\nhounds, for if he hunt at hare or at the roe or at buck or at the\nhart, or at any other beast without greyhound[154] it is a fair thing,\nand pleasant to him that loveth them; the seeking and the finding is\nalso a fair thing, and a great liking to slay them with strength, and\nfor to see the wit and the knowledge that God hath given to good\nhounds, and for to see good recovering and retrieving, and the mastery\nand the subtleties that be in good hounds. For with greyhounds and\nwith other kinds of hounds whatever they be, the sport lasteth not,\nfor anon a good greyhound or a good alaunte taketh or faileth a beast,\nand so do all manner of hounds save running hounds, the which must\nhunt all the day questeying and making great melody in their language\nand saying great villainy and chiding the beasts that they chase. And\ntherefore I prefer them to all other kinds of hounds, for they have\nmore virtue it seems to me than any other beast. Other kind of hounds\nthere be the which open and jangle when they are uncoupled, as well\nwhen they be not in her fues (on their line), and when they be in her\nfues they questey[155] too much in seeking their chase whatever it be,\nand if they learn the habit when they are young and are not chastised\nthereof, they will evermore be noisy and wild, and namely when they\nseek their chase, for when the chase is found, the hounds cannot\nquestey too much so that they be in the fues[156]. And to rente and\nmake hounds there are many remedies. _There be also many kinds of\nrunning hounds, some small and some big, and the small be called\nkenets, and these hounds run well to all manner of game, and they\n(that) serve for all game men call them harriers.[157] And every hound\nthat hath that courage will come to be a harrier by nature with little\nmaking. But they need great nature and making in youth, and great\nlabour to make a hound run boldly to a chase where there is great\nchange, or other chases._ Hounds which are not perfectly wise take the\nchange commonly from May until St. John's tide (June 24th), for then\nthey find the change of hinds. The hinds will not fly far before the\nhounds, but they turn about and the hound sees them very often, and\ntherefore they run to them with a better will, because they keep near\ntheir calves the which cannot fly, therefore they hunt them gladly;\nand commonly when the harts go to rut, hounds hunt the change, for the\nharts and the hinds be commonly standing in herds together, and so\nthey find them and run to them sooner than at any other time of the\nyear. Also the hounds scent worse from May until St. John's time than\nin any other time of all the year, for as I shall say the burnt heath\nand the burning of fields taketh away the scent from the hounds of the\nbeasts that they hunt. Also in that time the herbs be best and flowers\nin their smelling, each one in their kind, and when the hounds hope to\nscent the beast that they hunt, the sweet-smelling of the herbs takes\nthe scent of the beast from them.\n[145] Danger of his being lost to the hounds.\n[146] Challenge--_i.e._ the noise the hounds make on finding the scent\nof an animal.\n[147] Get off the line.\n[148] Separated him from the other deer.\n[149] From here to the middle of the 13th line on the next page the\ntext is copied from the Shirley MS., the scribe who wrote the\nVespasian B. XII. MS. having made a mistake in his transcript, copying\non folio 65 the folio 64, which therefore appears twice over, to the\nexclusion of the matter here copied from the Shirley MS.\n[150] This sentence is difficult to understand without consulting G.\nde F. (p. 110), who says: \"as the hound does not challenge when the\nstag is with change, one does not know where he is going unless one\nsees him, and one cannot always see him.\"\n[151] G. de F.: \"cerfs baus restifz\" is the name which he gives these\nhounds.\n[152] G. de F. adds: \"and remain quite quiet.\"\n[153] \"Le chien baud,\" G. de F., p. 111. See Appendix: Running\nHounds.\n[154] The text of the MS. differs from G. de F., who says if one hunts\nstags \"ou autres bestes en traillant sans limier\" (drawing from them\nwithout having first harboured them with a lymer), and does not say\n\"without greyhounds\"; p. 111.\n[155] G. de F. has here: \"Ils crient trop en qu\u00e9rant leur beste quelle\nque soit,\" p. 111.\n[156] \"The hounds cannot challenge too loudly when they are on the\nline.\" G. de F.: \"Chien ne peut trop crier,\" p. 112.\n[157] From Mid. Eng. _harien_, _harren_, to harry or worry game. See\nAppendix: Harrier.\nCHAPTER XV\nOF GREYHOUNDS AND OF THEIR NATURE\nThe greyhound is a kind of hound there be few which have not seen\nsome. Nevertheless for to devise how a greyhound should be held for\ngood and fair, I shall devise their manner. Of all manner of\ngreyhounds there be both good and bad, nevertheless the best hue is\nred fallow with a black muzzle. The goodness of greyhounds comes of\nright courage, and of the good nature of their father and their\nmother. And also men may well help to make them good in the\nencharning[158] of them with other good greyhounds, and feed them well\nwith the best that he taketh. The good greyhound should be of middle\nsize, neither too big nor too little, and then he is good for all\nbeasts. If he were too big he is nought for small beasts, and if he\nwere too little he were nought for the great beasts. Nevertheless\nwhoso can maintain both, it is good that he have both of the great and\nof the small, and of the middle size. A greyhound should have a long\nhead and somewhat large made, resembling the making of a bace[159]\n(pike). A good large mouth and good seizers the one against the other,\nso that the nether jaw pass not the upper, nor that the upper pass not\nthe nether. Their eyes are red or black as those of a sparrow hawk,\nthe ears small and high in the manner of a serpent, the neck great and\nlong bowed like a swan's neck, his chest great and open, the hair\nunder his chyn hanging down in the manner of a lion.[160] His\nshoulders as a roebuck, the forelegs straight and great enough and not\ntoo high in the legs, the feet straight and round as a cat, great\nclaws, long head as a cow[161] hanging down.\n[158] Encharning, feed with the flesh of game, to blood.\n[159] Should be \"luce,\" and G. de F. has \"luz,\" from Lat. _lucius_,\n[160] G. de F., p. 104, says: \"La harpe bien aval\u00e9e en guise de lion,\"\n_harpe_ meaning in this instance \"flanks.\"\n[161] \"Long head as a cow\" is evidently a mistake of translator or\nscribe. G. de F. has: \"le cost\u00e9 lonc comme une biche et bien aval\u00e9\"\n(\"the sides long as a hind, and hanging down well\").\nThe bones and the joints of the chine great and hard like the chine of\na hart. And if his chine be a little high it is better than if it were\nflat. A little pintel and little ballocks, and well trussed near the\nars, small womb,[162] the hocks straight and not bent as of an ox, a\ncat's tail making a ring at the end and not too high, the two bones of\nthe chine behind broad of a large palm's breadth or more. Also there\nare many good greyhounds with long tails right swift. A good greyhound\nshould go so fast that if he be well slipped he should overtake any\nbeast, and there where he overtakes it he should seize it where he can\nget at it the soonest, _nevertheless he shall last longer if he bite\nin front or by the side_.[163] He should be courteous and not too\nfierce, following well his master and doing whatever he command him.\nHe shall be good and kindly _and clean_, glad and joyful and playful,\nwell willing and goodly to all manner of folks save to the wild beasts\nto whom he should be fierce, spiteful and eager.\n[162] The following words should be added here, a line having been\nomitted by the scribe: \"and straight near the back as a lamprey, the\nthighs great and straight as a hare.\" They are in Shirley MS. and G.\n[163] In lieu of this original passage G. de F., p. 105, has: \"sans\nabayer, et sans marchander\" (\"without baying or bargaining\").\n[Illustration: THE SMOOTH AND THE ROUGH-COATED GREYHOUNDS (From MS. f.\nfr. 616, _Bib. Nat._, Paris)]\nCHAPTER XVI\nOF ALAUNTES AND OF THEIR NATURE\nAn alaunte is of the manner and nature of hounds. And the good\nalauntes be those which men call alauntes gentle. Others there be that\nmen call alauntes veutreres, others be alauntes of the butcheries.\nThey that be gentle should be made and shaped as a greyhound, even of\nall things save of the head, the which should be great and short. And\nthough there be alauntes of all hues, the true hue of a good alaunte,\nand that which is most common should be white with black spots about\nthe ears, small eyes and white standing ears and sharp above. Men\nshould teach alauntes better, and to be of better custom than any\nother beasts, for he is better shaped and stronger for to do harm than\nany other beast. And also commonly alauntes are stordy[164] (giddy) of\ntheir own nature and have not such good sense as many other hounds\nhave, for if a man prick[165] a horse the alauntes will run gladly and\nbite the horse. Also they run at oxen and sheep, and swine, and at all\nother beasts, or at men or at other hounds. For men have seen alauntes\nslay their masters. In all manner of ways alauntes are treacherous and\nevil understanding, and more foolish and more harebrained than any\nother kind of hound. And no one ever saw three well conditioned and\ngood. For the good alaunte should run as fast as a greyhound, and any\nbeast that he can catch he should hold with his seizers and not leave\nit. For an alaunte of his nature holds faster of his biting than can\nthree greyhounds the best any man can find. And therefore it is the\nbest hound to hold and to nyme (seize) all manner of beasts and hold\nthem fast. And when he is well conditioned and perfect, men hold that\nhe is good among all other hounds. But men find few that be perfect. A\ngood alaunte should love his master and follow him, and help him in\nall cases, and do what his master commands him. A good alaunte should\ngo fast and be hardy to take all kinds of beasts without turning, and\nhold fast and not leave it, and be well conditioned, and well at his\nmaster's command, and when he is such, men hold, as I have said, that\nhe is the best hound that can be to take all manner of beasts. That\nother kind of alaunte is called veutreres. They are almost shaped as a\ngreyhound of full shape, they have a great head, great lips and great\nears, and with such men help themselves at _the baiting of the bull_\nand at hunting of a wild boar, for it is their nature to hold fast,\nbut they be (heavy) and foul (ugly) that if they be slain by the wild\nboar or by the bull, it is not very great loss. And when they can\novertake a beast they bite it and hold it still, but by themselves\nthey could never take a beast unless greyhounds were with them to make\nthe beast tarry. That other kind of alauntes of the butcheries is such\nas you may always see in good towns, _that are called great butchers'\nhounds_, the which the butchers keep to help them to bring their\nbeasts that they buy in the country, for if an ox escape from the\nbutchers that lead him, his hounds would go and take him and hold him\nuntil his master has come, and should help him to bring him again to\nthe town. They cost little to keep as they eat the foul things in the\nbutcher's row. Also they keep their master's house, they be good _for\nbull baiting_ and for hunting wild boar, whether it be with greyhounds\nat the tryst or with running hounds at bay within the covert. For when\na wild boar is within a strong hatte of wood (thicket), perhaps all\nday the running hounds will not make him come out. And when men let\nsuch mastiffs run at the boar they take him in the thick spires (wood)\nso that any man can slay him, or they make him come out of his\nstrength, so that he shall not remain long at bay.\n[164] G. de F. has \"estourdiz,\" which the \"Master of Game\" translates\nas \"stordy\" or sturdy, but the modern sense would be hairbrained,\ngiddy, not sturdy.\n[165] Means _chase_ a horse. G. de F. says: \"Se on court un cheval,\nils le prennent voulentiers,\" p. 100.\nCHAPTER XVII\nOF SPANIELS AND OF THEIR NATURE\nAnother kind of hound there is that be called hounds for the hawk and\nspaniels, for their kind cometh from Spain, notwithstanding that there\nare many in other countries. And such hounds have many good customs\nand evil. Also a fair hound for the hawk should have a great head, a\ngreat body and be of fair hue, white or tawny, for they be the\nfairest, and of such hue they be commonly best. A good spaniel should\nnot be too rough, but his tail should be rough. The good qualities\nthat such hounds have are these: they love well their masters and\nfollow them without losing, although they be in a great crowd of men,\nand commonly they go before their master, running and wagging their\ntail, and raise or start fowl and wild beasts. But their right craft\nis of the partridge and of the quail. It is a good thing to a man that\nhath a noble goshawk or a tiercel or a sparrow hawk for partridge, to\nhave such hounds. And also when they be taught to be couchers,[166]\nthey be good to take partridges and quail with a net. And also they be\ngood when they are taught to swim and to be good for the river, and\nfor fowls when they have dived, but on the other hand they have many\nbad qualities like the country that they come from. For a country\ndraweth to two natures of men, of beasts, and of fowls, and as men\ncall greyhounds _of Scotland_ and of Britain,[167] so the alauntes and\nthe hounds for the hawk come out of Spain, and they take after the\nnature of the generation of which they come. Hounds for the hawk are\nfighters and great barkers if you lead them a hunting among running\nhounds, whatever beasts they hunt to they will make them lose the\nline, for they will go before now hither now thither, as much when\nthey are at fault as when they go right, and lead the hounds about and\nmake them overshoot and fail. Also if you lead greyhounds with you,\nand there be a hound for the hawk, that is to say a spaniel, if he see\ngeese or kine, or horses, or hens, or oxen or other beasts, he will\nrun anon and begin to bark at them, and because of him all the\ngreyhounds will run to take the beast through his egging on, for he\nwill make all the riot and all the harm. The hounds for the hawk have\nso many other evil habits that unless I had a goshawk or falcon or\nhawks for the river, or sparrow hawk, or the net, I would never have\nany, _especially there where I would hunt_.\n[166] Setters, from _coucher_, to lie down. G. de F.: \"chien couchant\"\n[167] Brittany. In Shirley MS. \"England\" precedes \"Scotland.\" G. de F.\nsays nothing about Scotland. He says \"Bretainhe,\" meaning Brittany (p.\nCHAPTER XVIII\nOF THE MASTIFF AND OF HIS NATURE\nA mastiff is a manner of hound. The mastiff's nature and his office is\nto keep his master's beasts and his master's house, and it is a good\nkind of hound, for they keep and defend with all their power all their\nmaster's goods. They be of a churlish nature and ugly shape.\nNevertheless there are some _that come to be berslettis,[168] and also\nto bring well and fast and wanlace_ (range) _about_.[169] Sometimes\nthere be many good, especially for men who hunt for profit of the\nhousehold to get flesh. Also of mastiffs and alaunts there be (bred)\nmany good for the wild boar. Also from mastiffs and hounds for the\nhawk (there be bred) hounds that men should not make much mention of,\ntherefore I will no more speak of them, for there is no great mastery\nnor great readiness in the hunting that they do, _for their nature is\nnot to be tenderly nosed_.\n[168] Bercellettis or bercelettes, hounds, most likely shooting dogs,\nfrom _berser_, to shoot, _bercel_, an archer's butt.\n[169] _Wanlasour_, one who drives game. Appendix: Wanlace.\n[Illustration: THE FIVE BREEDS OF HOUNDS DESCRIBED IN THE TEXT (From\nMS. f. fr. 616, _Bib. Nat_., Paris)]\nCHAPTER XIX\nWHAT MANNER AND CONDITION A GOOD HUNTER SHOULD HAVE.\nThou, Sir, whatever you be, great or little, that would teach a man to\nbe a good hunter, first he must be a child past seven or eight years\nof age or little older, and if any man would say that I take a child\nin too tender age for to put him to work, I answer that all nature\nshortens and descends. For every man knoweth well that a child of\nseven years of age is more capable in these times of such things that\nhe liketh to learn than was a child of twelve years of age (in times\nthat I have seen). And therefore I put him so young thereto, for a\ncraft requires all a man's life ere he be perfect thereof. And also\nmen say that which a man learns in youth he will hold best in his age.\nAnd furthermore from this child many things are required, first that\nhe love his master, and that his heart and his business be with the\nhounds, and he must take[170] him, and beat him when he will not do\nwhat his master commands him, until the time that the child dreads to\nfail. And first I shall take and teach him for to take in writing all\nthe names of the hounds and of the hues of the hounds, until the time\nthat the child knoweth them both by the hue and by the name. After I\nwill teach him to make clean every day in the morning the hounds'\nkennel of all foul things. After I will learn him to put before them\ntwice a day fresh water and clean, from a well, in a vessel there\nwhere the hound drinks, or fair running water, in the morning and the\nevening. After I will teach him that once in the day he empty the\nkennel and make all clean, and renew their straw, and put again fresh\nnew straw a great deal and right thick. And there where he layeth it\nthe hounds should lie, and the place where they should lie should be\nmade of trees a foot high from the earth, and then straw should be\nlaid thereupon, because the moisture of the earth should not make them\nmorfounder nor engender other sicknesses by the which they might be\nworse for hunting. Also that he be both _at field and at wood\ndelivered_ (active) _and well eyed and well advised of his speech and\nof his terms, and ever glad to learn and that he be no boaster nor\njangler_.\n[170] \"Take\" is probably the scribe's mistake for \"tache,\" teach.\nCHAPTER XX\nHOW THE KENNEL FOR THE HOUNDS AND THE COUPLES FOR THE RACHES AND THE\nROPES FOR THE LYMER SHOULD BE MADE\nThe hounds' kennel should be ten fathoms in length and five in\nbreadth, if there be many hounds. And there should be one door in\nfront and one behind, and a fair green, where the sun shineth all day\nfrom morning till eve, and that green should be closed about with a\npaling or with a wall of earth or of stone of the same length and\nbreadth as the hounds' kennel is. And the hinder door of the kennel\nshould always be open so that the hounds may go out to play when they\nlike, for it is a great liking to the hounds when they may go in and\nout at their pleasure, for the mange comes to them later.[171] In the\nkennel should be pitched small stones wrapped about with straw of the\nhounds' litter, unto the number of six stones, that the hounds might\npiss against them. Also a kennel should have a gutter or two whereby\nall the piss of the hounds and all the other water may run out that\nnone remains in the kennel. The kennel should also be in a low house,\nand not in a solere (an upper chamber), but there should be a loft\nabove, so that it might be warmer in winter and cooler in summer, and\nalways by night and by day I would that some child lie or be in the\nkennel with the hounds to keep them from fighting. Also in the kennel\nshould be a chimney to warm the hounds when they are cold or when they\nare wet with rain or from passing and swimming over rivers. And also\nhe should be taught to spin horse hair to make couples for the hounds,\nwhich should be made of a horse tail or a mare's tail, for they are\nbest and last longer than if they were of hemp or of wool. And the\nlength of the hounds' couples between the hounds should be a foot, and\nthe rope of a limer three fathoms and a half, be he ever so wise a\nlimer it sufficeth. _The which rope should be made of leather of a\nhorse skin well tawed._\n[171] They are not likely to get the mange so soon.\n[Illustration: THE KENNEL AND KENNELMEN (From MS. f. fr. 616, _Bib.\nNat_., Paris)]\nCHAPTER XXI\nHOW THE HOUNDS SHOULD BE LED OUT TO SCOMBRE\nAlso I will teach[172] the child to lead out the hounds to scombre\ntwice in the day in the morning and in the evening, so that the sun be\nup, especially in winter. Then should he let them run and play long in\na fair meadow in the sun, and then comb every hound after the other,\nand wipe them with a great wisp of straw, and thus he shall do every\nmorning. And then shall he lead them into some fair place there where\ntender grass grows as corn and other things, that therewith they may\nfeed them (selves) as it is medicine for them, for sometimes hounds\nare sick and with the grass that they eat they void and heal\nthemselves.\n[172] The first four words are omitted in our MS., but they are in the\nShirley MS. and in others, and in G. de F.\nCHAPTER XXII\nHOW A HUNTER'S HORN SHOULD BE DRIVEN\n_There are divers kinds of horns, that is to say bugles, great\nAbbot's, hunter's horns, Ruets_ (trumpets), _small Forester's horns\nand meaner horns of two kinds. That one kind is waxed with green wax\nand greater of sound, and they be best for good hunters, therefore\nwill I devise how and in what fashion they should be driven. First a\ngood hunter's horn should be driven of two spans in length, and not\nmuch more nor much less, and not too crooked neither too straight, but\nthat the flue be three or four fingers uppermore than the head, that\nunlearned_[173] _hunters call the great end of the horn. And also that\nit be as great and hollow driven as it can for the length, and that it\nbe shorter on the side of the baldric[174] than at the nether end. And\nthat the head be as wide as it can be, and always driven smaller and\nsmaller to the flue, and that it be well waxed thicker or thinner\naccording as the hunter thinks that it will sound best. And that it be\nthe length of the horn from the flue to the binding, and also that it\nbe not too small driven from the binding to the flue, for if it be the\nhorn will be too mean of sound. As for horns for fewterers[175] and\nwoodmen, I speak not for every small horn and other mean horn unwaxed\nbe good enough for them._\n[173] Shirley MS.: \"lewed,\" _i.e._ laewed or unlearned (Stratmann).\n[174] Baldric, the belt on which the horn was carried.\n[175] Fewterer, the man who held the greyhounds in slips or couples.\nCHAPTER XXIII\nHOW A MAN SHOULD LEAD HIS GROOM IN QUEST FOR TO KNOW A HART BY HIS\nTRACE\nThen should his groom lead his lymer (tracking hound) in quest after\nhim in the morning, and teach him to know what difference is between a\nhart's trace and a hind's. As _I have said before, this word quest is\na term of hart hunters beyond the sea, and is as much for to say as\nwhen the hunter goeth to find of a hart and to harbour him_. For to\nknow a great hart's trace from a young, and to know the trace of a\nyoung deer of antler from a hind's, and how many judgments and what\nknowledge there be, and for to make more certain thereof, he should\nhave an old hart's foot and a young hart's and a hind's foot also, and\nshould put it in hard earth and in soft, and once put it fast in the\nearth as though the hart were hunted and another time soft, as if the\nhart went a pase (slowly), thereby he may advise him to know the\ndifferences of a hart's feet, and he shall find that there is no deer\nso young if he be from a brocket upwards, that his talon (heel) is not\nlarger and better and hath greater ergots (dew claws) than hath a\nhind, and commonly longer traces. Nevertheless there are some hounds\nwell traced, which have the sole of the foot as a staggard or a small\nstag, but the talon and the ergots are not so great nor so large. Also\na great hart and an old one has a better sole to his foot, and a\nbetter talon and better bones and greater and larger than has a young\ndeer or hind. And so in putting in the earth the hart's foot and the\nhind's foot as I have said, he shall know the difference and better\nthan I can devise. And also the hinds commonly have their traces more\nhollow than a staggard or a stag, and more open the cleeves (toes) in\nfront than a hart of ten, for of the others reck I never. The judgment\nis in the talon (when it is great and large; and in the sole of the\nfoot)[176] when it is great and broad, and the point of the foot\nbroad. And men have seen a great hart and an old one, the which had\nhollow traces, and that cannot matter so that he hath the other signs\nbefore said. For a hollow trace and sharp cleeves betoken no other\nthing than that the country the hart hath haunted is a soft country or\nhard, and where there be but few stones, or that he has been hunted\nbut little. And also if a man find such a hart, and men ask him what\nhart it is, he may answer that it is a hart chaceable of ten, that\nshould not be refused. And if he sees an hart's foot that hath these\nsigns aforesaid the which are great and broad, he may say that it is\nan hart that some time had borne ten tines, and if he see that the\naforesaid signs are greater and broader he may say that it is a great\nhart and an old (one), and this is all he may say of the hart. Also he\nshould call the foot of the hart the trace, and of the wild boar also.\n_Also the hunters of beyond the sea_ call of an hart and of a boar the\nroutes and the pace (path) and both is one. Nevertheless pace, they\ncall their goings where a beast goes in the routes, there where he has\npassed, _nevertheless I would not set this in my book, but for as much\nas I would English hunters should know some of the terms that hunters\nuse beyond the sea, but not with intent to call them so in England_.\n[176] The words in brackets have been omitted in our MS. but are in\nthe Shirley MS. and G. de F. p. 129; they have been thus inserted to\ncomplete the sense.\n[Illustration: THE MASTER TEACHING HIS HUNTSMAN HOW TO QUEST FOR THE\nHART WITH THE LIMER OR TRACKHOUND (From MS. f. fr. 616, _Bib. Nat_.,\nParis)]\nCHAPTER XXIV\nHOW A MAN SHOULD KNOW A GREAT HART BY THE FUMES[177]\n[177] See Appendix: Excrements.\nAfter I shall teach you to know a great hart by the fumes of the hart,\nfor sometimes they crotey in wreaths, and sometimes flat and sometimes\nformed, and sometimes sharp at both ends, and sometimes pressed\ntogether, and sometime in many other manners as I have said before.\nWhen they crotey flat and it be in April or in May or in June if the\ncroteyes be great and thick it is a token that it is a hart chaceable,\nand if he find the fumes wreathed, and it be from the middle of June\nto the middle of August in great forms and in great wreaths and well\nsoft, it is a token that it is a hart chaceable, and if he find the\nfumes that are formed and not holding together as it is from the\nbeginning of July into the end of August, if they are great and black\nand long and are not sharp at the ends, and are heavy and dry without\nslime, it is a token that it is a hart chaceable. And if the fumes are\nfaint and light and full of slime, or sharp at both ends, or at one\nend, these are the tokens that he is no deer chaceable. But if it be\nwhen they burnish that they crotey their fumes more burnt and more\nsharp at the one end, but anon when they have burnished, they crotey\ntheir fumes as before, and for that the fumes be good and great; if\nthey be slimy it is a token that he has suffered some disease. From\nthe end of August forward, the fumes are of no judgment for they undo\nthemselves for the rut.\n[Illustration: HOW A GREAT HART IS TO BE KNOWN BY HIS \"FUMES\"\n(EXCREMENTS) (From MS. f. fr. 616, _Bib. Nat._, Paris)]\nCHAPTER XXV\nHOW A MAN SHOULD KNOW A GREAT HART BY THE PLACE WHERE HE HATH FRAYED\nHIS HEAD\nFurthermore ye should know a great hart by the fraying (for if ye find\nwhere the hart hath frayed),[178] and see that the wood is great where\nhe hath frayed, and he hath not bent it, and the tree is frayed well\nhigh, and he hath frayed the bark away, and broken the branches and\nwreathed them a good height, and if the branches are of a good size,\nit is a sign that he is a great hart and that he should bear a high\nhead and well troched, for by the troching[179] he breaketh such high\nthe boughs that he cannot fold them under him. For if the fraying were\nbare and he had frayed the boughs under him, it is no token that it be\na great hart, and especially if the trees where he had frayed were\nsmall. Nevertheless men have seen some great deer fray sometimes to a\nlittle tree, but not commonly, but a young deer shall ever more[180]\nfray to a great tree, and therefore should ye look at several\nfrayings. And if ye see the aforesaid tokens oftener upon the great\ntrees than upon the small ye may deem him a great hart. And if the\nfrayings be continually in small trees and low, he is not chaceable\nand should be refused. Also ye may know a great hart by his lairs.\nWhen a great hart shall come in the morning from his pasture, he shall\ngo to his lair and then a great while after he shall rise and go\nelsewhere there where he would abide all the day. Then when ye shall\nrise and come to the lair there where the hart hath lain and rested,\nif ye see it great and broad and well trodden and the grass well\npressed down, and at the rising when he passeth out of his lair, if ye\nsee that the foot and the knees have well thrust down the earth and\npressed the grass down it is a token that it is a great deer and a\nheavy (one). And if at the rising he make no such tokens, because that\nhe hath been there but a little while, so that his lair be long and\nbroad ye may deem him a hart chaceable. Also ye may know a great hart\nby the bearing of the wood, for when a great hart hath a high head and\na large (one) and goeth through a thick wood, he findeth the young\nwood and tender boughs, his head is harder than the wood, then he\nbreaketh the wood aside and mingleth the boughs one upon the other,\nfor he beareth them and putteth them otherwise than they were wont to\nbe by their own kind. And when the glades of the woods are high and\nbroad then he may deem him a great hart, for if he had not a high head\nand wide he could not make his ways high and large. If it happen so\nthat ye find such glades and have no lymer with you, if ye will know\nat what time this glade was made, ye must set your visage in the\nmiddle of this glade, and keep your breath, in the best wise that ye\nmay, and if ye find that the spider hath made her web in the middle of\nthem, it is a token that it is of no good time[181] or at the least it\nis of the middle (of the noon) of the day before. Nevertheless ye\nshould fetch your lymer for so ye should know better. Also ye may know\na great hart by the steps _that in England is called trace_. And that\nis called stepping,[182] when he steppeth in a place where the grass\nis well thick, so that the man may not see therein the form of the\nfoot, or when he steppeth in other places, where no grass is but dust\nor sand and hard country, where fallen leaves or other things hinder\nto see the form of the foot. And when the hart steppeth upon the grass\nand ye cannot see the stepping with your eyes, then ye shall put your\nhand in the form of the foot that hunters call the trace, and if ye\nsee that the form of the foot be of four fingers of breadth, ye may\njudge that it is a great hart by the trace. And if the sole of the\nfoot be of three fingers' breadth ye may judge him a hart of ten, and\nif ye see that he hath well broken the earth and trodden well the\ngrass, it is a token that it is a great hart and a heavy deer. And if\nye cannot well see it for the hardness of the earth, or for the dust,\nthen ye must stoop down for to take away the dust and blow it away\nfrom the form of the foot until the time that ye may clearly see the\nform that is called the trace. And if ye cannot see it in one place,\nye should follow the trace until the time that ye can well see it at\nyour ease. And if ye can see none in any place, ye should put your\nhand in the form of the foot, for then ye shall find how the earth is\nbroke with the cleeves of the foot on either side, and then ye can\njudge it for a great hart or a hart chaceable, as I have said before\nby the treading of the grass; and if leaves or other things be within\nthe form that ye may not see at your ease, ye should take away the\nleaves all softly or the other things with your hands, so that ye undo\nnot the form of the foot and blow within and do the other things as I\nhave before said.[183] (After I will tell you how a man shall speak\namong good hunters of the office of venery.) First he shall speak but\na little, and boast little, and well (work[184]) and subtlely, and he\nmust be wise and do his craft busily, for a hunter should not be a\nherald of his craft. And if it happen that he be among good hunters\nthat speaketh of hunting he should speak in this manner. First if men\nask him of pastures he may answer as of harts and for all other deer,\nsweet pastures, and of all biting beasts as of wild boar, wolves, and\nother biting beasts he may answer, they feed, as I have said before.\nAnd if men speak of the fumes ye shall call fumes of a hart,\n_croteying_ of a buck, and of a roebuck in the same wise of a wild\nboar and of black beasts and of wolves ye shall call it lesses, and of\nhare and of conies ye shall say they crotey, of the fox _wagging_, of\nthe grey the _wardrobe_, and of other stinking beasts they shall call\nit drit, and that of the otter he shall call sprainting as before is\nsaid. And if men asketh of the beasts' feet, of the harts ye shall say\nthe trace of a hart _and also of a buck_, and that of the wild boar\nand of the wolf also they call traces _beyond the sea_. And that of\nthe stinking beasts that men call vermin, he shall call them steps as\nI have said. And if he hath seen a hart with his eyes, there are three\nkinds of hues of them, that one is called brown, the other yellow, and\nthe third dun, and so he may call them as he thinketh that they\nbeareth all their hues. And if men ask what head beareth the hart he\nhath seen, he shall always answer by even and not by odd, _for if he\nbe forked on the right side, and lack not of his rights[185] beneath,\nand on the right[186] side antler and royal and surroyal and not\nforked but only the beam, he shall say it is a hart of ten at\ndefault_,[187] for it is always called even of the greater number. And\nevery buck's tines should be reckoned as soon as a man can hang a\nbaldric or a leash[188] thereupon and not otherwise. And when a hart\nbeareth as many tines on the one side as on the other, _he may say if\nhe be but forked that he is a hart of ten, and if he be troched of\nthree he is a hart of twelve, if he be troched of four he is a hart of\nsixteen, always if it be seen that he hath his rights beneath as\nbefore is said. And if he lack any of his rights beneath he must_\n_abate so many on the top, for a hart's head should begin to be\ndescribed from the mule[189] upwards, and if he hath more by two on\nthe one side than on the other, you must take from the one and count\nup that other withal, as I shall more clearly speak in a chapter\nhereafter in describing a hart's head._ And if it be so that the\nhart's trace have other tokens than I have said and he thinks him a\nhart chaceable, and men ask what hart it is he may say it is a hart of\nten and no more. And if it seem to him a great hart and men ask what\nhart it is, he shall say it is a hart that the last year was of ten\nand should not be refused. And if he happen to have well seen him with\nhis eye or the before said tokens, so that he knoweth fully that it is\nas great a hart as a hart may be, if men ask him what hart it is, he\nmay say it is a great hart and an old deer. And that is the greatest\nword that he may say as I have said before. And if men ask him whereby\nhe knoweth it, he may say for, he hath good bones[190] and a good\ntalon and a good sole of foot, _for these four[191] things makes the\ntrace great_, or by fair lairs or the grass or the earth well pressed\nor by the high head,[192] or by the fumes or else other tokens as I\nhave said before. And if he see a hart that hath a well affeted\n(fashioned) head after the height and the shape and the tines well\nranged by good measure, the one from the other, and men ask him what\nhe beareth he may answer that he beareth a great head and fair of\nbeam, and of all his rights, and well opened; and if a man ask him\nwhat head he beareth, he shall answer that he beareth a fair head by\nall tokens and well grown. And if he see a hart that hath a low head\nor a high, or a great, or a small, and it be thick set, high and low\nand men ask him what head he beareth he may answer he bears a thick\nset head after his making, or that he hath low or small or other\nmanner whatever it be. And if he see a hart that hath a diverse head,\nor that antlers grow back or that the head hath double beams or other\ndiversities than other harts commonly be wont to bear, and men ask\nwhat head he bears, he may answer a diverse head or a counterfeit\n(abnormal), for it is counterfeited. And if he see a hart that beareth\na high head that is wide and thin tined with long beams, if men ask\nwhat head he beareth, he shall answer a fair head and wide, and long\nbeams, but it is not thick set neither well affeted. And if he see a\nhart that hath a low and a great and a thick set (head) and men ask\nwhat head he beareth, he may say he beareth a fair head and well\naffeted. And if men ask him by the head whereby he knoweth that it is\na great hart and an old, he may answer, that the tokens of the great\nhart are by the head, and so the first knowledge is when he hath great\nbeams all about as if they were set as it were with small stones, and\nthe mules nigh the head and the antlers, the which are the first\ntines, be great and long and close to the mule and well apperyng\n(pearled) and the royals which are the second tines, be nigh the\nantlers, and of such form, save that they should not be so great; and\nall the other tines great and long and well set, and well ranged and\nthe troching as I have said before, high and great, and all the beams\nall along both great and stony, as if they were full of gravel, and\nthat all along the beams there be small vales that men call gutters,\nthen he may say that he knows it is a great hart by the head.\n[178] The words in brackets are omitted in our MS. but are in the\nShirley MS. and in G. de F. p. 132.\n[179] The tines at top. See Appendix: Antler.\n[180] Ever more is here a mistake; it should be never more. G. de F.\nsays: \"Mes jeune cerf ne froyera j\u00e0 en gros arbre\" (p. 132). Also in\nthe Shirley MS.\n[181] Not of \"good time\" means in the old sporting vocabulary an old\ntrack, not a recent one.\n[182] G. de F. calls the track of deer on grass \"_foul\u00e9es_,\" from\nwhich the modern \"foil,\" \"stepping on grass,\" is derived.\n[183] A whole line is missing here in our MS. The words in brackets\nare taken from the Shirley MS. It runs: \"Affter I wal telle yowe a man\nhowe he shal speke amonge good hunters of y offyce of venerye.\"\n[184] The word \"work\" has been omitted. \"Et bien _ouvrer_ subtilement\"\n[185] Brow, bay, and tray tines. See Appendix: Antler.\n[186] In Shirley MS. it is \"left.\"\n[187] Instead of this original passage G. de F. says: \"For if he had\non one side ten points and on the other only one, it should be called\nsummed of twenty\" (p. 135).\n[188] G. de F. has \"spur\" instead.\n[189] Burr, mule, from the Fr. _meule_.\n[190] Dew claws.\n[191] According to Shirley MS. and the sense, the \"iiii\" should be\nomitted.\n[192] G. de F. (p. 136) says: \"Ou belles port\u00e9es\"--port\u00e9es being the\nbranches, and twigs broken or bent asunder by the head of the deer,\ntermed \"entry\" or \"rack\" in mod. Eng.--Stuart, vol. ii. 551.\nAfter I will tell you how ye should know a great wild boar, and for to\nknow how to speak of it among hunters of beyond the sea. And if a man\nsee a wild boar the which seemeth to him great enough, as men say of\nthe hart chaceable of ten, he shall say a wild boar of the third year\nthat is without refusal, and whenever they be not of three years men\ncall them swine of the sounder, and if he see the great tokens that I\nshall rehearse hereafter he may say that he is a great boar. Of the\nseason and nature of boar and of other beasts, I have spoken here\nbefore. And if men ask him of a boar's feeding, it is properly called\nof acorns of oak's bearing, and of beechmast, the other feeding is\ncalled worming and rooting of the roots out of the earth that feed\nhim. The other kind of feeding is of corn and of other things that\ncome up out of the land, and of flowers and of other herbs; the other\nkind of feeding is when they make great pits, and go to seek the root\nof ferns and of spurge within the earth. And if men ask whereby he\nknoweth a great boar, he shall answer that he knoweth him by the\ntraces and by his den, and by the soil (wallowing pool). And if men\nask whereby he knoweth a great boar from a young, and the boar from\nthe sow, he shall answer that a great boar should have long traces and\nthe clees round in front, and broad soles of the feet and a good\ntalon, and long bones, and when he steppeth it goeth into the earth\ndeep and maketh great holes and large, and long the one from the\nother, for commonly a man shall not see the traces of a boar without\nseeing also the traces of the bones, and so shall he not of the hart,\nfor a man shall see many times by the foot, that which he will not see\nby the ergots, but so shall he not see of the boar. What I call the\nbones of the boar, of the hart I call the ergots, and the cause that a\nman shall not know as well by the ergots of the hart as by bones of\nthe boar is this, for the bones of the boar are nearer the talon than\nthose of a hart are, and also they are longer, and greater and sharper\nin front. And therefore as soon as the form of the traces of his foot\nis in the earth, the form of the bones is there also, and commonly a\ngreat boar maketh a longer trace with one of his claws than with the\nother in front or behind, and sometimes both. And when a man seeth the\ntokens beforesaid greater, he may deem him greater, and the smaller\nthe trace, the smaller the boar. The sow from the boar ye may know\nwell, for the sow maketh not so good a talon as a right young boar\ndoth. And also a sow's claws are longer and sharper in front than a\nyoung boar's. And also her traces are more open in front and\nstraighter behind, and the sole of the foot is not so large as of a\nyoung boar, and her bones are not so large nor so long, nor so far the\none from the other as those of a young boar, nor go not so deep in the\nearth, for they be small, and sharp and short, and nearer the one to\nthe other, than a young boar's. And these are the tokens by the which\nmen know a young boar so that he be two year old from all sows, by the\ntrace, for that say I not of the young boars of sounder. And if men\nask him how he shall know a great boar by his den, he may answer that\nif the den of the boar be long and deep and broad, it is a token that\nit is a great boar so that the den be newly made and that he hath lain\ntherein but once. And if the boar's den is deep without litter, and if\nthe boar lie near the earth it is a token that it is no[193] fat boar.\nAnd if men ask him how he knoweth a great boar by the soil, then may\nhe answer that commonly when a boar goeth to soil in the coming in or\nin the going out, men may know by the trace, and so it may be deemed\nas I have said by his wallowing in the soil. Nevertheless some time he\nturneth himself from the one side upon the other, and up and down, but\na man shall evermore know the form of his body. Also sometimes when\nthe boar parteth from the soil, he rubbeth against a tree, and there a\nman may know his greatness and his height. And some time he rubs his\nsnout and his head higher than he is, but a man may well perceive\nwhich is of the chine and which is of the head. For by his lesses,\nthat is to say what goes from him behind, nor by other judgment a man\ncannot know a great boar unless he see him, save that he maketh great\nlesses, and that is a token that he hath a great bowel, and that he be\na great boar, and also by the tusks when he is dead, for when the\ntusks of a boar be great as of half a cubit or more and be both great\nand large of two fingers or more and there be small gutters along both\nabove and beneath, these be the tokens that he is a great boar and\nold, and of a smaller boar the judgment is less. And also when the\ntusks be low and worn, by the nether tusks it is a token of a great\nboar.\n[193] G. de F. (p. 139) says if \"le senglier gise pr\u00e8s de la terre,\nc'est signe qu'il ait bonne venoison,\" so our MS. is evidently wrong\nwhen it says \"it is a token that it is _no_ fat boar.\"\nCHAPTER XXVI\nHOW THE ORDINANCE SHOULD BE MADE FOR THE HART HUNTING BY STRENGTH AND\nHOW THE HART SHOULD BE HARBOURED\n_When the king or my lord the Prince or any of their blood will hunt\nfor the hart by strength, the Master of the Game must forewarn on the\nprevious evening the sergeant of the office, and the yeomen berners at\nhorse, and also the lymerer.[194] And then he must ordain which of\nthem three shall go for to harbour the hart, and with them the lymerer\nfor the morrow, and charge the foresters, or if it be in a park, the\nparkers to attend to him busily. And all the four must accord where\nthe meeting shall be on the morrow, and he must charge the sergeant\nand one of the two yeomen, if the sergeant be not there, to warn all\nthe yeomen and grooms of the office to be at the meeting at sunrise.\nAnd that the yeomen berners on foot and the grooms that are called\nChacechiens bring with them the hart hounds and this done ask for the\nwine, and let them go after. And he that is charged to harbour the\nhart must_ _accord with the forester of the bailie in which they seek\nhim where they should meet in the grey dawning. Nevertheless it were\ngood readiness to look if they might see any deer at its meating_\n(feeding) _the previous evening to know the more readily where to seek\nand harbour him on the morrow. And on the morrow when they meet the\nforester that well ought to know of his great deer's haunts, he shall\nlead the hunter and the lymerer thither, where he best hopes to see\nhim or find of him without noise. And if they can see him and they be\nin the wind they ought to withdraw from him in the softest manner they\ncan, for dread of frightening him out of his haunt, and then go\nprivily till they be under the wind. And as he stereth_ (stalks) _and\npaceth forth feeding, they are to draw nigh him as readily and warily\nas they can so that the deer find them not. And when he has entered\nhis covert, and to his ligging, they ought to tarry till they know\nthat he be entered two skilful bowshots from thence. And then ought\nthe lymerer by bidding of the hunter to cast round with his lymer the\nquarter that the deer is in, if it be in a huge covert, and if it be\nin a little covert that the deer is in, set[195] all the covert to\nknow whether he is gone away or abides there still. And if he abides,_\n_then shall the lymerer go there where the hart went in, and take the\nscantilon_ (measure) _of the trace for which he should cut off the end\nof his rod, and lay it in the talon of the trace, there where he went\nin hardest ground, in the bottom thereof, so that the scantilon will\nscarcely touch at either end. And that done he should break a bough of\ngreen leaves and lay it there where the hart went in, and cut another\nscantilon thereafter to take to the hunter that he may take it to the\nlord or to the Master of the Game at the meeting which some men call\nAssembly. But on the other side, if it be so that they cannot see him\nas before is said, the forester ought to bring him where most defoil\nis_ (tracks) _of great male deer within his bailiewick, and there\nwhere the best haunt is, and most likely for a hart. And when the\nharbourer and the lymerer be there, the lymer if he crosses the fues\nof a deer he will anon challenge it, and then shall the lymerer take\nheed to his feet to know by the trace what deer it is that the lymer\nfindeth, and if he finds thereby that it is no hart he shall take up\nhis hound and say to him softly, not loud,_ \"WARE RASCAL, WARE!\" _And\nif it be of a hart that the lymer findeth, and that it be new he ought\nto sue_ (hunt up) _with as little noise as he can contreongle_\n(hunting heel) _to undo all his moving[196] till he find his fumes_\n(excrements), _which he ought to put in the great end of his horn, and\nstop it with grass to prevent them falling out and reward his hound a\nlittle. And that done come again there where he began to sue and sue\nforth the right line till he comes to the entering of the quarter\nwhere he thinks that the hart is in. And always with little noise and\ncast round the quarters, if it be in a great covert as I said before.\nAnd also if it be in a little covert, to do of the scantilon and of\nall other things right as I have said before. And if he be voided_\n(gone) _to another quarter or wood, and there be any other covert near\nalways to sue forth and cast round quarter by quarter, and wood by\nwood till he be readily harboured. And when he is harboured of the\nscantilon and of all other things do as before is said, and then draw\nfast to the meeting that men call assembly. And it is to be known that\noftentimes a deer is harboured by sight of man's eye, but who should\ndo it well it behoves him to be a skilful and wise hunter.\nNevertheless to teach hunters the more readily to seek and harbour a\nhart according to the country that he is in, I have devised it in\ncertain chapters as ye may hereafter hear._\n[194] The man who leads the hound in leash when harbouring the hart.\n[195] To set the covert was for the huntsman or limerer with his hound\non a leash to go round the covert that he had seen the deer enter, and\nto look carefully whether he could find any signs of the stag having\nleft the place. This in more modern parlance is called making his ring\nwalks.\n[196] Moving, moves. See Appendix: Move.\nCHAPTER XXVII\nHOW A HUNTER SHOULD GO IN QUEST BY THE SIGHT\nAfterwards I shall show you how a man should go in quest for the hart\nwith his lymer or by himself. _This word quest for the hart is a term\nof hunters beyond the sea, and means when a man goeth to find a deer\nand to harbour him, and it is a fair term and shorter said than our\nterm of England to my seeming._ And then shall the groom quest in the\ncountry that shall be devised to him the night before, and he shall\nrise in the dawning, and then he must go to the meating (pasturing) of\nthe deer to look if he may see anything to his liking, and leave his\nlymer in a certain place where he may not alarm them. And thence he\nshould go to the newly hewn wood of the forest or other places where\nhe hopes best to see a hart, and keep always from coming into the wind\nof the hart, he should also climb upon a tree so that the hart shall\nwind nothing of him, and that he can see him further. And if he sees a\nhart standing stably he must look well in what country he shall go to\nhis lair, and privily repair to some place where he can best see\nhim and there break a bough for a mark. But he must remain a great\nwhile after, for some time a hart will stall and look about a great\nwhile before he will go to his lair, and specially when a great dew is\nfalling, or else sometimes he cometh out again to look about, and to\nlisten and to dry himself, and therefore he should stay long, so as\nnot to frighten him. Then he should fetch his lymer and cast round _as\nit is before said in the chapter of the harbouring of a hart_, and\ntake care that neither he nor his hounds make but little noise for\ndread lest he void.\n[Illustration: HOW THE HUNTER SHOULD VIEW THE HART (From MS. f. fr.\n616, _Bib. Nat._, Paris)]\nCHAPTER XXVIII\nHOW AN HUNTER SHOULD GO IN QUEST BETWEEN THE PLAINS AND THE WOOD\nAlso a man may go in quest in the fields in corn, in vines, in\ngardens, and in other places, where the harts go to their pasture in\nthe fields out of the wood, and he must go forth right early so that\nhe may look at the ground and judge well, and if he sees anything that\npleases him he can break boughs and lay his mark and cast round as\nbefore is said.\nCHAPTER XXIX\nHOW A HUNTER SHOULD GO IN QUEST IN THE COPPICE AND THE YOUNG WOOD\nAlso a man may go in quest among young wood, and although he has been\nin the morning and (seen) nought, nevertheless he should not neglect\nto quest with his lymer when it is high day when all the deer have\ngone to their lairs, for peradventure the hart will sometimes have\ngone into the wood before the hunter and lymer came to quest for him.\nCHAPTER XXX\nHOW AN HUNTER SHOULD GO IN QUEST IN GREAT COVERTS AND STRENGTHS\nAlso a hunter may go in quest and put himself and his lymer in the\ngreat thickets by high time of day, as I have said, for it befalleth\nsometimes that harts are so malicious, that they pasture within\nthemselves, that is to say within their covert, and go not out to the\nfields nor to the coppices nor to the young wood, especially when they\nhave heard the hounds run before in the forest once or twice. He must\nhave affeeted (trained) his lymer in such a manner that he neither\nopens nor quests[197] when he hunts in the morning, for he would make\nthe hart void, and that must be by high noon, as I have said, when all\nbeasts are in their lairs. And if his lymer find anything he should\nhold him short and lead him behind him, and look what deer it is, and\nif it be anything that pleases him, then he shall sue with his lymer\ntill the time that he has brought it into some thicket, and then he\nshall break his boughs _and take the scantilon and cast round as is\nbefore said, and then return home again to the assembly that in\nEngland is called a meeting or gathering_.\n[197] Should not give tongue.\nCHAPTER XXXI\nHOW A HUNTER SHOULD QUEST IN CLEAR SPIRES AND HIGH WOOD[198]\n[198] In the text of our MS. (the Vespasian) no break occurs here, but\nin the table of chapters at the beginning of the MS. the chapter as\nhere given is enumerated, and this corresponds also with the Shirley\nand other MSS.\nAlso I will tell you how a hunter should go in quest among clear\nspires, and among high trees, and specially when it has rained the\nnight before and in the morning. Eke in the time when the heads of the\nharts be tender, commonly they abide among clear spires and in high\nwoods, for a thick country peradventure would do harm to their heads\nwhich be tender. If he meets rain as I before have said, or when their\nheads (are tender, and he meeteth[199]) anything that pleaseth him, he\nshould not follow it with his lymer, for they remain in such a country\nas I have said in that time, that is to say in rain and when their\nheads are tender, for he might make the deer void into some other\nplace of the quests as it is before said. And whoso meets him in the\nwood in sight of his eyes, then he must set his lymer in his fues. And\nif it be a deer that enter-changeth,[200] that is to say if a deer\nputs his hind feet in the trace of the fore-feet without passing on,\nit is no good token, but if he sets his hinder feet far from the fore\nfeet it is a good token, for when a hart entre-marcheth it is a token\nthat he is a light deer and well running and of great flight, for if\nhe had a side belly and great flanks he could not entre-marche, but\nthe contrary would he do.[201] And sometimes when the hart makes a\nlong stride with the hind foot, commonly they cannot fly well, and\nhave been little hunted. And if he has of the fumes, he should put\nthem in his horn with grass, or in his lap[202] with grass, for a man\nshould not bear them in his hand, for they would all break. And when\nhe should meet in the fields anything that pleaseth him, he should\ndraw towards his covert, for to make him draw the sooner to his\nstronghold, and when he findeth where he goeth in, then he should\nbreak a bough towards the place where the hart is gone, and take the\nscantilon, and follow him no further in the wood. Then he should make\na long turn and cast round about by some ways or by-paths, and if he\nsees that he hath not passed out of his turn, he may return again to\nthe gathering, and make them his report, and if it be so that he pass\nthere where he would umbicast (cast round) and make his turn, and his\nlymer before him, then he should look if it is the same hart he had\numbicast (cast round), and if he cannot well see at his ease, then he\nshould reconnoitre the country till he can see easily and plainly, but\nhave a care that his lymer open not, _and if his lymer be\ndislave[203]_ (be wild), _let him investigate it with his eye_. And if\nhe seeth that it is his first hart he should not follow him, but then\nhe should take another turn and umbicast. He must look that he go not\nalong the ways, for it is the worst sueing that is: for the lymer\ncommonly overshoots. But he should go a little way off the paths on\none side or the other, until he (the hart) be within his turn, for\nthen he is most securely harboured and the search shall be shorter.\nBut if he see that it be too late to run him with strength, and if he\nsee that the hart goes but softly pacing towards his stronghold he\nneed not do all these things. And I pray him where he hath met with\nthe hart, or harboured him in his stronghold or in coppices or in\nother thickets, that he take all his blenches (tricks) and his ruses\nbefore said, to be more secure, and to make a shorter search, if he\nhath time to do as I have said. Thus I have rehearsed the readiness\nthat belongs to the harbouring of the hart. _And now will I devise\nwhere men will best find them in bellowing time. It is known that they\nbegin to bellow fifteen days before grease time[204] ends, especially\nold deer, and also if the end of August and the beginning of September\nbe wet and rainy._\n[199] The scribe who copied the Vespasian MS. omitted the bracketed\nwords.\n[200] See Appendix: Hart.\n[201] The explanation of this sentence is that a stag which\nentre-marched or sur-marched, or in other words placed the hind foot\non the track or beyond the track made by the front foot, was a thin or\nlight deer, and therefore not a fat stag, which latter was what the\nhunter would be looking for.\n[202] Lappet of his coat.\n[203] Shirley MS. _Dislavee_--obsolete word meaning going beyond\nbounds, immoderate.\n[204] _After_ grease time. See Appendix: Grease Time.\nCHAPTER XXXII\nHOW A GOOD HUNTER SHALL GO IN QUEST TO HEAR THE HARTS BELLOW\nAlso a good hunter should go before daybreak to hear the harts bellow\nwhich peradventure bellow in the forest in divers parts, and to look\nby the bellowing of the harts which seemeth to him the greatest. And\nalways hearkening nearer and nearer under the wind, in such wise that\nwhen he will begin to sue, that he need nothing but to bring the lymer\nto the fues. And anon when he seeth that it is a hart that he findeth,\nuncouple the finders, but not too many, and this, for fear of falling\nin danger (of losing the right deer), should be done right early as\nsoon as men can see day-light, for in that time the harts chase the\nhinds, and go hither and thither and abide no while in one place as\nthey do in the right season. And because a man cannot come nigh him\nwith a lymer, it is good to uncouple the hounds, for the hounds will\nget nigh them quicker and the bolder hounds will soon dissever\n(separate) the harts from the hinds. The harts bellow in divers\nmanners, according as they be old or young, and according whether\nthey be in a country where they have not heard the hounds, or where\nthey have heard them. Some of them bellow with a full open mouth and\noften cast up their heads. And these be those that have heard the\nhounds only a little in the season, and that are well heated and\nswelled. And sometimes about high noon they bellow as before is said.\nThe others bellow low and great and stooping with the head, and the\nmuzzle towards the earth, and that is a token of a great hart, and an\nold and a malicious, or that he hath heard the hounds, and therefore\ndare not bellow or only a few times in the day, unless if it be in the\ndawning. And the other belloweth with his muzzle straight out before\nhim, bolking and rattling in the throat, and also that is a token of a\ngreat and old hart that is assured and firm in his rut. In short all\nthe harts that bellow greatest and mightiest by reason should be\ngreatest and oldest.\nCHAPTER XXXIII\nHOW THE ASSEMBLY THAT MEN CALL GATHERING SHOULD BE MADE BOTH WINTER\nAND SUMMER AFTER THE GUISE OF BEYOND THE SEA\nThe assembly _that men call gathering_ should be made in this manner:\nthe night before that the Lord or the Master of the Game will go to\nthe wood, he must cause to come before him all the hunters and the\nhelps, the grooms and the pages, and shall assign to each one of them\ntheir quests in a certain place, and separate the one from the other,\nand the one should not come into the quest of the other, nor do him\nannoyance or hinder him. And every one should quest in his best wise,\nin the manner that I have said; and should assign them the place where\nthe gathering shall be made, at most ease for them all, and the\nnearest to their quests. And the place where the gathering shall be\nmade should be in a fair mead well green, where fair trees grow all\nabout, the one far from the other, and a clear well or beside some\nrunning brook. And it is called gathering because all the men and the\nhounds for hunting gather thither, for all they that go to the quest\nshould all come again in a certain place that I have spoken of. And\nalso they that come from home, and all the officers that come from\nhome should bring thither all that they need, every one in his office,\nwell and plenteously, and should lay the towels and board clothes all\nabout upon the green grass, and set divers meats upon a great\nplatter[205] after the lord's power. And some should eat sitting, and\nsome standing, and some leaning upon their elbows, some should drink,\nsome laugh, some jangle, some joke and some play--in short do all\nmanner of disports of gladness, and when men be set at tables ere they\neat then should come the lymerers and their grooms with their lymers\nthe which have been questing, and every one shall say his report to\nthe lord of what they have done and found and lay the fumes before the\nlord he that hath any found, and then the Lord or the Master of the\nhunting by the counsel of them all shall choose which they will move\nand run to and which shall be the greatest hart and the highest deer.\nAnd when they shall have eaten, the lord shall devise where the relays\nshall go and other things which I shall say more plainly, and then\nshall every man speed him to his place, and all haste them to go to\nthe finding.\n[205] G. de F. (p. 151) says \"in great plenty,\" not \"upon a great\nplatter.\"\n[Illustration: HOW TO QUEST FOR THE HART IN COVERTS (From MS. f. fr.\n616, _Bib. Nat._, Paris)]\nCHAPTER XXXIV\nHOW THE HART SHOULD BE MOVED WITH THE LYMER AND RUN TO AND SLAIN WITH\nSTRENGTH\n_When the hart is harboured as before is said and they before named\ncome to the meeting that some men call the assembly, and also the\nscantilon,[206] and the fumes well liked by the Lord and Master of the\nGame, then shall the Master of the Game choose of the sergeants or of\nthe yeoman at horse, which of them shall be at the finding, or all, or\nsome. Nevertheless, if the deer be likely to fall among danger it were\ngood to assign some of the horsemen among the relays to help more\nreadily the hounds, if they fall upon the stint,[207] and when the\nhunters on horseback be assigned then he must assign which of the\nyeomen berners on foot shall be finders, and which hounds he shall\nhave with him to the finding, and the lymerer and the pages to go with\nhim. And after that to assign the relays by advice of them that know\nthe country and the flight of the deer._\n[206] Measure of the deer's footprint. In old English, a measure\n(Stratmann).\n[207] Wrong scent, or check.\n_And there where most danger is, there set the readiest hunters and\nthe best footers with the boldest hounds with them. And at every relay\nsufficeth two couple of hounds or three at the most. And see that amid\nthe relays, somewhat toward the hinder-most relay, especially if it be\nin danger, that one of the lymerer's pages be there with one of the\nlymers. And the more danger_ (there is) _the older and the readier,\nand the most tender nosed hound. And when all is ordained then shall\nthe Lord and the Master of the Game, if he liketh better to be at the\nfinding than with a relay, shall go thither where the deer is\nharboured, and set ready waits about the quarter of the wood that the\ndeer is in, to see what cometh out, or to see if the deer that is\nharboured would start and steal away ere the lymer moved him. And this\ndone, then should the Lord and Master of the Game bid the lymerer\nbring them there where he marked that the hart went in, and when they\nbe there the lymerer should take away the boughs he laid over the\ntrace at the harbouring, and set his lymer in the fues, and then shall\nthe Lord if he can blow, blow three motes, and after him the Master of\nthe Game, and after the hunters, as they be greatest in office, that\nbe at the finding, and then the lymerer. And after that if the lymer\nsue boldly and lustily the lymerer shall say to him loud; \"Ho moy, ho\nmoy, hole hole hole.\" And ever take good heed to his feet, and look\nwell about him. And as oft as he findeth the fues, or if it be in\nthick spires,[208] boughs or branches broken, where the deer hath\nwalked, he should say aloud--\"Cy va--cy va--cy va,\" and rally with his\nhorn, and always should the yeoman berner the which is ordained to be\nfinder, follow the lymer and be as nigh him as he might with the\nraches that he leadeth for the finding, and if the lymer as he sueth,\novershoot and be out of the fues, the lymerer should always, till his\nhounds be fallen in again, speak to him, calling his name, be it\nLoyer, or Beaumont, or Latimer or Bemond according to what the hound\nis named, and anon as he falls in again and finds the fues or branches\nas before is said he shall say loud, \"Cy va\" as before and rally and\nso forth at every time that he findeth thereof, until that the lymer\nmove him. Nevertheless I have seen when a lymer sueth long and could\nnot so soon move him as men would, that they have taken up the lymer\nand uncoupled one or two hounds, to have him sooner found, but this\ntruly no skilful hunter ought to do, unless the lymer cannot put it\nforth, nor bring it any further, or that the deer be stirring in the\nquarter, and hath not waited for the moving of the lymer. Or else that\nit be so far advanced in the day, that the sun hath dried up the fues,\nand that they have little day enough to run him and hunt him with\nstrength. But now to come again to the lymer, it is to wit that when\nthe lymer_ _hath moved him, if the lymerer can see him he shall blow a\nmote,[209] and rechace_ (recheat),[210] _and if the deer be soule_\n(alone) _the Berners shall uncouple all the finders, and if he be not\nalone two hounds sufficeth till he be separated, and if the lymerer\nsaw him _(not) _at the moving he should go to his lair and look\nthereby whether it be a hart or not, and if he see by the lair or by\nthe fues that it is the same deer, that he hath sued_ (hunted) _and\nalone he should rechase without a long mote, for the mote should never\nbe blown before the rechasing,[211] unless a man seeth that which he\nhunteth for. And then the Berner should do as I have said before, and\nif he be not alone the Berner should do as above is said, for it is to\nwit that the mote before rechasing_ (recheating) _shall never be blown\nbut when a man seeth what he hunteth for, as I have said. Now\nfurthermore, when the hart is moved and the finders cast off, then\nshould the lymerer take up his hounds and follow after, and foot it in\nthe best wise that he can. And the Berner also and every horseman go\nthat can go, so that they come not into the fues_ (across the line)\n_nor in front of the hounds, and shape_ (their course) _as often as\nthey can to meet him. And as often as any man see him or meet him, he\nshould go to the fues and blow a mote and rechace and then holloa to\nthe hounds to come forth withall, and this done, speed him fast in the\nmanner that I have said to meet with him again. And the relay that he_\n(the hart) _cometh to first should take good heed that he\nvauntlay[212] not, if other relays be behind for dread of bending out\nfrom the relay. But he should let the deer pass and go to the fues,\nand there blow a mote, and rechace and rally upon the fues. And the\nhunter ought to be advised that his hounds catch it _(the scent) _well\nin couple, ere he relay, that they run not counter.[213] For that\nmight make the hounds that come therewith and the hunters to be on a\nstynt _(at fault), _and peradventure not recover it all the day after.\nAnd if it so be that the hunter that hath relayed, see that the deer\nbe likely to fall into danger, that is to say among other deer, and\nelse it needeth not, he should when he hath relayed stand still in the\nfues, and holloa the hounds that come forth therewith and take up the\nhindermost, and if it be in a park go stand again with them at his\nplace, and if it be out of park in a forest or other wood follow after\nas well as he is able. And in this wise ought every relay to do till\nhe come among the back relays. For if they at the back see by the\nspreading of the clees_ (claws) _by setting fast and deep his ergots_\n(dew claws) _in the earth, and if they see him also cast his\nchaule,[214] then they ought to vauntlay for advantage of the hounds,\nfor so shall they sooner have him at bay, and from then he is but dead\nif the hunters serve aright the hounds. Nevertheless men have seen at\nthe first finding or soon after, deer turn the head_ (to bay), _and\noftenest in rutting time, but I mean not of deer that turneth so to\nbay, but I mean of hunted deer when men have seen of them the tokens\nsaid before that he stand at bay. And if it be so that the hounds have\nenvoised[215] or have overshot, or that they be on a stynt by any\nother ways, those hunters on horseback or on foot to whom belongs the\nright, first should blow the stynt as I shall devise in a chapter that\nshall be of all blowing.[216] And after that he should fall before the\nhounds as soon as he can and take them up, and if so be that they have\nenvoysed two deer of antler[217] they should not be rated badly, but\nget in front off them and take them off in the fairest way that men\ncan. And if they run ought else they should be got in front of and\nrated and well lashed. And what hounds they may get up, bring them to\nthe next rights_ (right line) _if they know where, or else there where\nhe_ (the hart) _was last seen. And if it be great danger they ought to\nblow a mote for the lymer and let him sue till he hath retrieved him\nor else till he hath brought him out of danger. And as oft as he\nfindeth or seeth that he is in the rights the lymerer should say loud,\n\"Cy va\" twice or thrice--and recheat, and so should the hunters as oft\nas they lust to blow. And if the lymer overshoot or cannot put it\nforth, every hunter that is there ought to go some deal abroad for to\nsee if he may find the rights by vesteying_ (searching) _thereof. And\nwhoso may find it before the lymer be fallen in again, he should\nrecheat in the rights, and blow after that a mote for the lymer and\nsue forth as is said before. And if the lymer gave it up, and cannot\nand will not do his devoire_ (duty), _then should they blow two motes\nfor the raches and cast them off there where they were last in the\nrights. And if the hunters hear that the hounds run well and put it\nlustily forth they should rout and jopey[218] to them lustily and\noften and recheat also. And if there be but one hound that undertaketh\nit lustily they shall hue and jopey to him, and also recheat. As oft\nas they be on a stynt they should blow the stynt and do as before is\nsaid. And if any of the aforesaid hounds retrieve him so that men may\nknow and hear it by the doubling of their menee,[219] but if they hear\nany hunter above them that hath met_ (the deer) _that bloweth the\nrights and holloaeth else_ (where) _they should haste them thither\nwhere they thought the hounds retrieved it; or else to meet with the\nhounds for to see the fues whether it be the hunted deer or not. And\nif it is not he, they should do as above is said when they be on a\nstynt, and if it be he every man shall speed him that speed may, and\nevery relay do as before is said. And if any of the hunters happen\nwhile they be on a stynt to see a hart that he thinketh to be the\nhunted deer he ought to blow a mote and recheat and after that blow\ntwo motes for the hounds and stand still before the fues till the\nBerner with the hounds do come. And if they suppose that they may not\nhear him he should draw to them till they have heard him. And when any\nof the Berners or the lymerer hear a man blow for them, they should\nanswer blowing in this wise in their horn: \"trut trut trut,\" but he\nshould know readily by the fues after the tokens that have been said\nbefore, whether it be the hunted deer or not. And in the same wise\nshall a hunter do that findeth an hart quat_ (couched), _and he\nthinketh it to be the hunted deer, and he sees that his fellows and\nthe hounds be on a stynt, he should well beware that he blow not too\nnigh him, lest he start, and go away, before the hounds come.\nNevertheless for to wit whether it be the hunted deer or no, the\ntokens have been rehearsed before--and when he hath been so well run\nto and enchased and retrieved, and so oft relayed and vauntelayed to,\nand that he seeth that_ (neither) _by beating up the rivers nor brooks\nnor foiling him down, nor going to soil, nor rusing to and fro upon\nhimself, which is to say in his own fues, can help him, then turns he\nhis head and standeth at bay. And then as far as it may be heard every\nman draweth thither, and the knowing thereof is that the hunter that\ncometh first, and the hunters_ (one) _after the other they holloa all\ntogether, and blow a mote and rechace all at once. And that they never\ndo but when he is at bay or when bay is made for the hounds, after he\nis dead, when they should be rewarded or enquerreyde.[220] And when\nthe hunters that held the relays be there, or that they be nigh the\nbay, they should pull off the couples from the hounds' necks and let\nthem draw thither. And the hunters should break the bay as often as\nthey can for two causes; the one lest he _(the stag) _hurt the hounds,\nif he stand and rest long in one place; another is that the relays\nthat stand far can come up with their hounds the while he is alive,\nand be at the death. And it is to be known that if any of the hunters\nhave been at any time while the deer hath been run to out of hearing\nof hound and horn, he should have blown the forloyne,[221] unless he\nwere in a park, for there it should never be blown. And whoso first\nheard him so blow should blow again to him the \"perfect,\"[222] if it\nso be that he were in his rights, and else not. For by that shall he\nbe brought to readiness and comfort who before did not know where the\ngame or any of his fellows were. And when it so is, that they have\nthought that the bay has lasted long enough, then should he whoso be\nthe most master bid some of the hunters go spay[223] him behind the\nshoulder forward to the heart. But the lymerer should let slip the\nrope while he_ (the deer) _stood on his feet, and let the lymer go to_\n(him), _for by right the lymer should never_ (go) _out of the rope,\nthough he_ (be let) _slip from ever so far. And when the deer is dead,\nand lieth on one side then first it is time to blow the death, for it\nshould never be blown at hart hunting till the deer be on its side.\nAnd then should the hounds be coupled up and as fast as a man can. One\nof the Berners should encorne him, that is to say turn his horns\nearthwards and the throat upwards, and slit the skin of the throat all\nalong the neck, and cut labelles_ (small flaps) _on either side of the\nskin, the which shall hang still upon the head, for this belongeth to\nan hart slain with strength, and else not. And then should the hunter\nflay down the skin as far as he can, and then with a sharp trencher\ncut as thick as he can the flesh down to the neck bone, and this done\nevery man stand abroad and blow the death, and make short bay for to\nreward the hounds. And every man_ (shall) _have a small rod in his\nhand to hold the hounds that they should the better bay and every man\nblow the death that can blow. And as oft as any hunter beginneth to\nblow every man shall blow for the death to make the better noise, and\nmake the hounds better know the horns and the bay, and when they have\nbayed a while let the hounds come to eat the flesh, to the hard bone\nfrom in front of the shoulders right to the head, for that is their\nreward of right. And then take them off fair and couple them up again.\nAnd then bring to the lymers and serve each by himself, and then\nshould the Lord if he list or else the Master of the Game, or if he be\nabsent whoso is greatest of the hunters, blow the prise at coupling\nup, and that should be blown only of the aforesaid, and by no others.\nNevertheless it is to wit that if the Lord be not come soon enough to\nthe bay, while the deer is alive they ought to hold the bay as long as\nthey can, without rebuking the hounds, to await the Lord, and if the\nLord remains away too long, when the deer is spayed and laid on one\nside, before they do ought else, the Master of the Game, or which of\nthe horsemen that be there at the death, should mount their horses and\nevery man draw his way blowing the death till one of them hath met\nwith him, or heard of him, and brought him thither. And if they cannot\nmeet with him, and that they have word that he is gone home, they\nought to come again, and do, whoso is greatest master, as the Lord\nshould do, if he were there, and right so should they do to the Master\nof the Game in the Lord's absence. Also if the Lord be there all\nthings should be done of the bay and rewarding as before is said, and\nthen he should charge whom he list to undo the deer, if the hounds\nshall not be enquyrid thereon, for if they should, there needeth no\nmore but to caboche[224] his head, all the upper jaw still thereon,\nand the labelles aforesaid; and then hold him and lay the skin open,\nand lay the head at the skin's end right in front of the shoulders.\nAnd when the hounds are thus inquirreide the lymers should have both\nthe shoulders for their rights, and else they should not have but the\nears and the brain whereof they should be served, the hart's head\nlying under their feet. But on the other hand if the lord will have\nthe deer undone, he that he biddeth as before is said, should undo him\nmost woodmanly and cleanly that he can and wonder ye not that I say\nwoodmanly, for it is a point that belongeth to woodmanscraft, though\nit be well suiting to an hunter to be able to do it. Nevertheless it\nbelongeth more to woodmanscraft than to hunters, and therefore as of\nthe manner he should be undone I pass over lightly, for there is no\nwoodman nor good hunter in England that cannot do it well enough, and\nwell better than I can tell them. Nevertheless when so is that the\npaunch is taken out clean and whole and the small guts, one of the\ngroom chacechiens should take the paunch and go to the next water\nwithal, and slit it, and cast out the filth and wash it clean, that no\nfilth abide therein. And then bring it again and cut it in small\ngobetts in the blood that should be kept in the skin and the lungs\nwithal, if they be hot and else not, and all the small guts withal,\nand bread broken therein according whether the hounds be few or many,\nand all this turned and meddled together among the blood till it be\nwell brewed in the blood, and then look for a small green, and thither\nbear all this upon the skin with as much blood as can be saved, and\nthere lay it, and spread the skin thereupon, the hair side upward, and\nlay the head, the visage, forward at the neck end of the skin. And\nthen the lord shall go take a fair small rod in his hand, the which\none of the yeomen or of the grooms should cut for him, and the Master\nof the Game and other, and the sergeants, and each of the yeomen on\nhorse, and others, and then the Lord should take up the hart's head by\nthe right side between the surroyal and the fork or troche whichever\nit be that he bear, and the Master of the Game, the left side in the\nsame wise, and hold the head upright that the nose touch the earth.\nAnd then every man that is there, save the berners on foot and the\nchacechiens and the lymerers which should be with their hounds and\nwait upon them in a fair green where there is a cool shadow, should\nstand in front on either side of the head, with rods, that no hound\ncome about, nor on the sides, but that all stand in front. And when it\nis ready the Master of the Game or the sergeant should bid the berners\nbring forth their hounds and stand still in front of them a small\nquoit's cast from thence, as the bay is ordained. And when they be\nthere the Master of the Game or sergeant should cry skilfully loud:\n\"Devour\" and then holloa every wight, and every hunter blow the death.\nAnd when the hounds be come and bay the head, the Berners should pull\noff the couples as fast as they can. And when the Lord thinketh the\nbay hath lasted long enough, the Master of the Game should pull away\nthe head and anon others should be ready to pull away the skin and let\nthe hounds come to the reward, and then should the Lord and Master of\nthe Game, and all the hunters stand around all about the reward, and\nblow the death. As oft as any of them begin every man bear him\nfellowship till the hounds be well rewarded, and that they have nought\nleft. And right thus should be done when the hounds should be\nenquyrreied of the whole deer. And when there is nought left then\nshould the Lord, if he wishes, or else the Master of the Game or in\nhis absence whoso is greatest next him, stroke_ (blow) _in this wise,\nthat is to say blow four motes and stynt_ (stop) _not_ (for the time\nof) _half an Ave Maria and then blow other four motes a little longer\nthan the first four motes. And thus should no wight stroke, but when\nthe hart is slain with strength, and when one of the aforesaid hath\nthus blown then should the grooms couple up the hounds and draw\nhomewards fair and soft. And all the rest of the hunters should stroke\nin this wise: \"Trut, trut, tro-ro-row, tro-ro-row,\" and four motes all\nof one length not too long and not too short. And otherwise should no\nhart hunter stroke from thenceforth till they go to bed. And thus\nshould the Berners on foot and the grooms lead home the hounds and\nsend in front that the kennel be clean and the trough filled with\nclean water, and their couch renewed with fresh straw. And the Master\nof the Game and the sergeant and the yeoman at horse should come home\nand blow the menee at the hall door or at the cellar door as I shall\ndevise. First the master, or whoso is greatest next him, shall begin\nand blow three motes[225] alone, and at the first mote[226] the\nremnant of the aforesaid should blow with him, and beware that none\nblow longer than another, and after the three motes even forthwith\nthey should blow the recoupling as thus: \"Trut, trut, trororo rout,\"\nand that they be advised that from the time they fall in to blow\ntogether, that none of them begin before_ (the) _other nor end after_\n(the) _other. And if it be the first hart slain with strength in the\nseason, or the last, the sergeant and the yeoman shall go on their\noffice's behalf and ask their fees of the which I report me to the old\nstatutes and customs of the King's house. And this done the Master of\nthe Game ought to speak to the officers that all the hunters' suppers\nbe well ordained, and that they drink not ale, and nothing but wine\nthat night for the good and great labour they have had for the Lord's\ngame and disport, and for the exploit and making of the hounds. And\nalso that they may the more merrily and gladly tell what each of them\nhath done all the day and which hounds have best run and boldest._\n[208] Shoots, fresh-growing young wood.\n[209] A long note.\n[210] Recheat, a hunting signal on the horn.\n[211] Recheating. See Appendix: Hunting-Music.\n[212] Vauntlay, to cast off the relay before the hounds already\nhunting have passed. See Appendix: Relays.\n[213] Do not hunt heel: _contre_, counter.\n[214] Drop his jaw. (?)\n[215] Gone off the right line.\n[216] This chapter does not exist.\n[217] If the hounds have gone away after two stags.\n[218] Call to the hounds encouragingly.\n[219] Shirley MS.: \"doubling of their mouths,\" from the Fr. _menee_.\nSee Appendix: Menee.\n[220] See Appendix: Cur\u00e9e.\n[221] A horn signal denoting that the chase is being followed at a\ndistance by those who blow. From the Fr. _fortloin_, written forlonge.\nSee Appendix: Forlonge.\n[222] A note sounded only by those who are on the right line.\n[223] To kill with a sword or hunting knife. See Appendix: Spay.\n[224] Cut off the head close behind the antlers. Shirley MS.:\n\"Cabache.\"\n[225] Shirley MS. says four notes.\n[226] Should read: \"at the last moot.\"\nCHAPTER XXXV\nHOW AN HUNTER SHOULD SEEK AND FIND THE HARE WITH RUNNING HOUNDS AND\nSLAY HER WITH STRENGTH\n_Ere I speak how the hare should be hunted, it is to be known that the\nhare is king of all venery, for all blowing and the fair terms of\nhunting cometh of the seeking and the finding of the hare. For certain\nit is the most marvellous beast that is, for ever she fumeth or\ncroteth and roungeth and beareth tallow and grease. And though men say\nthat she fumeth inasmuch as she beareth tallow, yet that which cometh\nfrom her is not called fumes but croteys. And she hath teeth above in\nthe same wise as beneath. It is also to be known that the hare is at\none time male and another time female. When she is female sometimes\nshe kindles in three degrees, two rough, two smooth and two knots that\nafterwards should be kindles, but this happeneth but seldom. Now for\nto speak of the hare how he shall be sought and found and chased with\nhounds. It is to be known what the first word_ (should be) _that the\nhunter should speak to his hounds when he lets them out of the kennel.\nWhen the door is opened he shall say loud: \"Ho ho arere,\"[227]\nbecause that his hounds will come out too hastily. And when he\nuncoupleth his hounds, he shall say to them when he comes into the\nfield: \"Sto mon amy sto atrete,\" but when he is come forth into the\nfield he shall blow three motes and uncouple the hounds, then he shall\nspeak twice to his hounds in this wise, \"Hors de couple, avaunt cy\navaunt\"[228] and then he shall say thrice \"So how\" and no more;\nafterward he shall say loud \"Sa say cy avaunt\" and then \"Sa cy avaunt,\nsa cy avaunt so how,\" and if he see the hounds draw fast from him and\nwould fain run, he shall say thus to them here: \"How amy--how amy,\"\nand then shall he say \"Swe mon famy swef\"[229] for to make them go\nsoftly, and between always blow three motes. And if any of his hounds\nfind and own to the hare where he hath been, he shall say to them in\nthis wise: \"Oyez a Beaumont le vaillant,\" or what the hound is called.\nAnd if he seeth that the hare hath been at pasture in green corn or in\nany other place and his hounds find of her and that they fall well in\nenquest[230]_ (hunt) _and chase it well, then he shall say \"La Douce,\nla il a este\"[231] and therewith \"So howe\" with a high voice, and if\nhis hounds chase not well at his pleasure and they grede_ (hunt)\n_there where he has not pastured, then shall he say \"Illeoqs\nilleoqs\"[232] in the same place while they seek her. And then he\nshould cast and look about the field, to see where she hath been and\nwhether she hath pastured or not, or whether she be in her form, for\nshe does not like to remain where she hath pastured except in time of\nrelief. If any hounds scent her, and she hath gone from thence to\nanother place, he shall say thus to his hounds as loud as he can: \"Ha\ncy douce cy et venuz arere, so howe.\"[233] And if he see that she be\ngone to the plain or the field or to arable land or into the wood, if\nhis hounds get well on her scent, then he shall say: \"La douce amy, il\nad est illeoqs\"[234] and therewith he shall say: \"so-how illeoqs, sy\ndouce cy vayllant\"[235] and twice \"so-howe,\" and when he is come there\nwhere he supposeth the hare dwells then shall he say thus: \"La douce\nla est il venuz\" and therewith thrice \"so-howe\" and no more. And if he\nthinks he is sure to find her in any place then he shall say: \"La\ndouce how-here, how-here, how-here, how-here, douce how-here\nhow-here,\" and when she is found and started he shall blow a mote and\nrechase[236] and holloa as often as he wishes and then say loud:\n\"Oyez! a Beaumond\" or what the hound is named, \"le vailaunt oyez,\noyez, oyez, who-bo-lowe,\" and then \"Avaunte assemble, avaunte.\" And\nthen should the horsemen keep well to one side and some way to the\nfront with long rods in their hands to meet with her, and so blowe a\nmote and rechace and holloa and set the hounds in the rights if they\nsee her, and also for to prevent any hound following sheep, or other\nbeasts, and if they do to ascrie_ (rate) _them sorely and dismount and\ntake them up and lash them well, saying loud \"Ware ware ha ha ware\"\nand lash them back to their fellows, and if it happens that the hare\nbe seated in her form in front of the hounds, and that they cannot\nfind her as soon as they would, then shall he say: \"How-sa amy sa sa\nacouplere, sa arere, so-how,\" but not_ (blow) _the stynt too soon. And\nif he seeth that his hounds cannot put her up as soon as he would,\nthen shall he blow the stynt, and say loud: \"ho ho ore swef a la\ndouce, a lui, a lui, so how assamy, assamy, la arere so-howe, venez\nacouplere,\" and thus as oft as the aforesaid case happeneth. And as\noft as any hound catcheth it_ (the scent) _he should hue to him by his\nname, and rout him to his fellows as before is said, but not rechace\ntill the hare be found, or that some man meet it and blow the rights\nand holloa, or else that he findeth her pointing or pricking whichever\nit be, for both mean the same, but some call it the one and some the\nother. And if he find that he can well blow the rights and holloa and\njopey three or four times and cry loud \"le voy, le voy,\" till the\nhounds come thither and have well caught it. And_ (when) _she is\nretrieved blow and holloa and rout to the hounds as it is said you\nshould do at the finding, and follow after and foot it who can foot\nit. And if it happen when men hunt her and hounds chase her that she\nsquat anywhere before the hounds, and that any hunter find her\nsquatting, if the hounds be nigh about, he should blow a mote and\nrechace and start her, and then halloa and rout to them as above is\nsaid. And if he find her squat, and the hounds be far from him, then\nshould he blow as I last said before, and after two motes for the\nhounds, and the berners that hear him should answer him thus \"trut,\ntrut, trut\" and draw all towards him with the hounds as fast as they\ncan, saying to their hounds: \"so-how, mon amy, so-howe.\" And when they\nbe there and the hounds have all come up, they should check them with\none of their rods, and when she is started, blow, holloa and rout as\nbefore is said, and according to what the case requireth, do as before\nis said and devised. And when she hath been well chased and well\nretrieved, notwithstanding her rusing and squatting and reseating, so\nthat by strength at last she is bitten by the hounds, whoso is nearest\nshould start to take her whole from them, and hold her in his one hand\nover his head high, and blow the death that men may gather thither,\nand when they be come, then should she be stripped, all save the head,\nand the gall and the paunch cast away, and the remnant should be laid\non a great staff or on a board, whoso hath it, or on the earth, and\nthen it should be chopped as small as it can be, so that it hang\ntogether; and when it is so done then should one of the berners take\nit up with the head and hold it as high as he is able in his hands,\nand then whoso is most master, blow the death, and anon as he\nbeginneth every man help and holloa. And when the hounds have bayed,\nas long as is wished by the aforesaid most master, then should the\nberner pull as high as he can every piece from the other and cast to\nevery hound his reward. And then should the most master blow a mote\nand stroke, if so be that he thinks that the hounds have done enough,\nand else he should rest awhile, if the hounds be hot, till they be\ncooled, and then led to the water to lap. And then if he wish blow\nthree motes and uncouple and speak and so do as before is said. And if\nthey will seek a covert for the hare and set greyhounds without, they\nshould blow and seek and speak in the manner as before is said, save\nthat if the hounds find anything what so ever it be, he shall rally\nand jopey till he has seen it, or that he knows what it is (and if it\nbe an hare do as above is said),[237] and if it be ought else he shall\nblow drawing with his horn and cry loud \"So-how mon amy, so-how, sto\narere, so-how, so-howe,\" and seek forthwith again with three long\nmotes till the hare be found. Yet nevertheless if they be hart-hunters\nthat seek a covert for the hare, and their hounds find a fox, whoso\nmeeteth with him should blow out upon him to warn the fewterers[238]\nthat there is a thief in the wood. And if they run at the hare and the\nhare happen to come out to the greyhounds in front of the raches and\nbe killed, the fewterer that let run should blow the death and keep it\nas whole as he may till the hunters be come, and then should they\nreward the hounds as before is said._\n[227] \"Back there!\" from the Fr. _arri\u00e8re_.\n[228] \"Out of couples, forward there, forward!\" (Precisely the same\ninstructions are given by the later Twety and Gyfford.)\n[229] \"Gently, my friend, gently!\"\n[230] Quest, hunt, seek, also challenge.\n[231] \"Softly, there he has been!\"\n[232] \"In this place,\" or \"here, here.\" This passage, which reads\nsomewhat confusedly in our MS., is clearer in Twety and Gyfford\n(_Reliqui\u00e6 Antiqu\u00e6_, vol. i. p. 149). It reads as follows: \"And then\nye shall blowe iij notes, yf yowr hund ne chace not well hym, there\none ther another, as he hath pasturyd hym, ye shall say _'Illeosque,\nilleosque, illeosque_,'\" meaning that 3 motes should be blown where\nthe hare has pastured to bring your hounds to the place, _illeosque_\nmeaning here, in this place.\n[233] \"Softly there, here she has been, back there.\" Following this\nthe Shirley MS. and Twety and Gyfford contain a passage which our MS.\nhas not got: \"And thenne _sa cy, a este sohow_, and afterwards _sa cy\navaunt_.\"\n[234] \"Softly, my friend, she has been here.\"\n[235] \"Here gently, here valiantly.\"\n[236] To call back the hounds from a wrong scent, the same as\n\"recheat.\"\n[237] The words in brackets are in the Shirley MS.\n[238] Huntsman holding hounds in leash.\n[Illustration: HARE-HUNTING WITH GREYHOUNDS AND RUNNING HOUNDS (From\nMS. f. fr. 616, _Bib. Nat._, Paris)]\n[Illustration: HARE-DRIVING WITH LOW BELLS (From MS. f. fr. 616, _Bib.\nNat._, Paris)]\n[Illustration: NETTING HARES IN THEIR \"MUSES\" (From MS. f. fr. 616,\n_Bib. Nat._, Paris)]\nCHAPTER XXXVI\nOF THE ORDINANCE AND THE MANNER OF HUNTING WHEN THE KING WILL HUNT IN\nFORESTS OR IN PARKS FOR THE HART WITH BOWS AND GREYHOUNDS AND STABLE\n_The Master of the Game should be in accordance with the master\nforester or parker where it should be that the King should hunt such a\nday, and if the tract be wide, the aforesaid forester or parker should\nwarn the sheriff of the shire where the hunting shall be, for to order\nsufficient stable,[239] and carts, also to bring the deer that should\nbe slain to the place where the cur\u00e9es at huntings have been usually\nheld. And thence he should warn the hunters and fewterers whither they\nshould come, and the forester should have men ready there to meet\nthem, that they go no farther, nor straggle about for fear of\nfrightening the game, before the King comes. And if the hunting shall\nbe in a park all men should remain at the park gate, save the stable\nthat ought to be set ere the King comes, and they should be set by the\nforesters or parkers. And early in the morning the Master of the Game\nshould be at the wood to see that all be ready, and he or his\nlieutenant or such hunters that he wishes, ought to set the greyhounds\nand who so be teasers[240] to the King or to the Queen, or to their\nattendants. As often as any hart cometh out he should when he passes\nblow a mote and recheat, and let slip to tease it forth, and if it be\na stag, he should let him pass as I said and rally to warn the\nfewterers what is coming out. And to lesser deer should no wight let\nrun, and if he hath seen the stag, not unless he were commanded.[241]\nAnd then the master forester or parker ought to show him the King's\nstanding if the King would stand with his bow, and where all the\nremnant of the bows would stand. And the yeoman for the King's bows\nought to be there to keep and make the King's standing, and remain\nthere without noise, till the King comes. And the grooms that keep the\nking's dogs and broken greyhounds should be there with him, for they\nbelong to the yeomen's office, and also the Master of the Game should\nbe informed by the forester or parker what game the king should find\nwithin the set,[242] and when all this is done, then should the Master\nof the Game worthe_ (mount) _upon_ (his) _horse and meet the King and\nbring him to his standing and tell him what game is within the set,\nand how the greyhounds be set, and also the stable, and also tell him\nwhere it is best for him to stand with his bow or with his greyhounds,\nfor it is to be known that the attendants of his chamber and of the\nqueen's should be best placed, and the two fewterers ought to make\nfair lodges of green boughs at the tryste to keep the King and Queen\nand ladies, and gentlewomen and also the greyhounds from the sun and\nbad weather. And when the King is at his standing or at his tryste,\nwhichever he prefers, and the Master of the Game or his lieutenant\nhave set the bows and assigned who shall lead the Queen to her tryste,\nthen he should blow the three long motes for the uncoupling. And the\nhart hounds and the harriers that before have been led by some\nforester or parker thither where they should uncouple, and all the\nhounds that belong to both the mutes_ (packs) _waiting for the Master\nof the Game's blowing. Then should the sergeant of the mute of the\nhart-hounds, if there be much rascal within the set, make all them of\noffice, save the yeomen of the horse, hardel[243] their hounds, and in\nevery hardel two or three couple of hounds at the most suffice. And\nthen to stand abroad in the woods for relays, and then blow three\nmotes to the uncoupling. And then should the harrier uncouple his\nhounds and blow three motes and seek forth saying loud and long, \"hoo\nsto ho sto, mon amy, ho sto\" and if they draw far from him in any\nunruly manner he should speak to them in that case as when he seeketh\nfor the hare. And as oft as he passes within the set from one quarter\nto another, he should blow drawing, and when he is passed the boundary\nof the quarter, and entered into a new quarter, he should blow three\nmotes and seek forth, but if so be, that his hounds enchace anything\nas he wishes, and if any hound happen to find of the King's_ (game),\n_he should hue to him by his name and say loud: \"Oyez a Bemond,\noyez-oyez, assemble, assemble,\" or what the hound is named, \"assemble,\nassemble\" and jopey and rally. And if it be an hart and any of the\nhart hounds meet with it they should blow a mote and rechace and\nrelay, and go forth therewith all rechacing among. And if it come to\nthe bows or to greyhounds and be dead, he should blow the death when\nhe is come thither, and reward his hounds a little, and couple them up\nand go again to his place. And if the hart has escaped he should no\nlonger rechace, but blow drawing and draw in again, and in the best\nway that he can, take up his hounds and get in front of them. And\nafter that the harriers have well run and well made the rascal\nvoid,[244] then should the sergeant and the berners of the hart hounds\nblow three motes, the one after the other and uncouple there where\nthey suppose the best ligging_ (lair) _is for a hart, and seek as\nbefore is said; unless it be the season when the hart's head is\ntender, then he shall use some of the aforesaid words of seeking to\nthe hounds: \"Le doulez, mon amy, le doulez, le doules,\" and if his\nhounds find anything do as before is said, and if it be a hart, do as\nabove is said, as he may know by his fues or by men that meet with\nhim. And if it be ought else, the berner ought to blow drawing, and\nwho meeteth with him_ (the hart) _call to them, and the berner should\nsay \"Sto arere so how, so how.\" And if the lymerer meet withal, or see\nby the fues that it is an hart, he should sue thereto till he be dead.\nIf it go to the greyhounds and if it go to the bows, and be smitten\nanon, as he findeth blood he should take up his hounds and lead them\nthence and reward them a little, and then if he escape out of the set,\nhe should reward his hounds, and take them up and go again to the wood\nand look if he may meet with anything. And as often as he meeteth and\nfindeth, or his hounds run on a fresh scent, do as before is said. And\none thing is to be known, that the hart-hounds should never be\nuncoupled before any other, unless a hart be readily harboured, and\nthat he may be sued to and moved with the lymer, or else that they be\nuncoupled to a herd of great male deer at the view, namely within a\nset in a forest or in a park, there where there is a great change of\nrascal. And that is the cause why the other hounds shall be first\nuncoupled to make the rascal void, for small deer will sooner leave\ntheir covert than will a great hart, unless it be a hind that hath her\ncalf in the wood, and hath lately calved. And when the rascal is thus\nvoided then the hart hounds are uncoupled and they find the great old\nwily deer that will not lightly void, and they enchace him well and\nlustily and make him void both to bows and to greyhounds, so that they\nfully do their duty. And all the while that the hunting lasteth should\nthe carts go about from place to place for to bring the deer to the\ncur\u00e9e. And there should the server[245] of the hall be to arrange the\ncur\u00e9es, and to lay the game in a row, all the heads one way--and every\ndeer's feet to the other's back. The harts should be laid in two or\nthree rows_ (by themselves) _according to whether there be many or\nfew, and the rascal in the same way by themselves, and they should\ntake care that no man come within the cur\u00e9es till the King come, save\nthe Master of the Game. And when the covert is well hunted and\ncleared, then should the Master of the Game come to the King to know\nif he would hunt any more. And if the King say yea, then shall the\nMaster of the Game if the greyhounds or bows or stable need not to be\nremoved, blow two long motes for the hounds, and forthwith blow\ndrawing with three long motes that men should stand still, and the\nhunters may know that they should come to a new seeking with their\nhounds. And when the hounds be come there where they should uncouple\nblow three long motes and do and seek and blow, as is before said. And\nif the bows and greyhounds and stable should be removed, then should\nhe blow a mote and stroke, without the mote in the middle, for to draw\nmen together, and thereby may men know that the king will hunt more\nere he go home. And when men come together, then should the Master of\nthe Game see to the placing of the King and of the Queen and of the\nbows and of the greyhounds and of the stable, as I have said here\nbefore, and the hunters to their seeking, and of all other things do\nin the same manner as I have said. And if the king will hunt no more,\nthen should the Master of his Game, if the King will not blow, blow a\nmote and stroke with a mote in the middle and the sergeant or whoso\nbloweth next him, and no man else, should blow the first mote but only\nthe middle, and so every man as oft as he likes to stroke, if they\nhave obtained that which they hunted for. And the middle mote should\nnot be blown save by him that bloweth next the master. And thereby may\nmen know as they hear men stroke homeward whether they have well sped\nor not. And this way of stroking should serve in the manner I have\nrehearsed for all hunting save when the hart is slain with strength.\nAnd when the mote is blown and stroked, then should the Master of the\nGame lead the King to the cur\u00e9e, and show it him, and no man as I have\nsaid above should come within it, but every man_ (keep) _without it.\nAnd then the King shall tell the Master of the Game what deer he would\nwere_ (given away) _and to whom, and_ (after this) _if the King wishes\nto stay he may. Nevertheless he usually goes home when he hath done\nthis. And then should the Master of the Game begin at one row and so\nforth, and tythe all the deer right as they lie, rascal and others,\nand deliver it to the proctors of the church that ought to have it.\nAnd then_ (separate) _the deer that the king commandeth him to\ndeliver, and if any of them that should have part of the deer be not\nthere he should charge the master forester to send it home, and then\nhe should deliver a certain_ (part) _of the remnant to the afore said\nsewers and to the sergeant of the larder and the remnants should be\ngiven by the Master of the Game, some to the gentlemen of the country\nby the information of the forester or parker, as they have been\nfriendly to the bailie, and the remnant to the officers and hunters as\nhe liketh best. And it is to be known that every man bow and fewterer\nthat hath slain anything should mark it that he might challenge his\nfee, and have it at the cur\u00e9e, but let him beware that he marks no\nlord's mark nor_ (other) _fewterers nor hunters, or he will lose his\nfee. And also it is to be known that the fees of all follies belong to\nthe master of the harriers, if so be that he or his deputy be at the\nhunting, and blow three motes and else not, in which case the Master\nof the Game can give it to whom he wishes save what the King slayeth\nwith his bow or the Queen or my lord the prince, or that which they\nbid with their own mouth to let run to. And all shall be judged folly\nof red deer which is beneath the hart, and of fallow deer which is\nbeneath the buck, nevertheless if the harrier would challenge the deer\nfor folly, and it is not folly, if there be a strife with him who\nasketh the fee, the Master of the Game shall judge it, and right so\nshall he do of all these strifes for fees between bow and bow, and\nfewterer and fewterer, and of all other strifes and discords that\nbelong to hunting. And when all the deer be delivered, and the hunters\nand the fewterers of the kennel be assigned to undo the deer that be\ndelivered for the king's larder, then should the grooms chacechiens of\nthe hart-hounds gather the paunches and small guts together and do\nwith them as is advised in the chapter of the hart hunting with\nstrength, and get them a skin to lie thereover, and do as in the same\nchapter described with the greatest and best head_ (antlers) _that\nthey can find in all the cur\u00e9e. Save the blowing of the prise and the\nstroking and the menee, the bay should wait till the cur\u00e9es be done,\nand the flesh taken away, and there should the Master of the Game be,\nand the sergeant and all the yeomen and grooms of the office. And if\nthe greyhounds[246] shall be rewarded it should be done right as is\ndevised in the aforesaid chapter, except that the blowings above\ndescribed shall be left out. And also whosoever slew the deer the\nyeomen of the office should have the skin that lyeth upon the deer\nwhen the hounds are rewarded. And also it is to know that the harriers\nwhen they have run shall be rewarded with the paunches and guts, but\nthere is no need to make a long bay with the hart's head to them, for\nthey are made to run and chase all game that one wishes, and that is\nthe cause why the master of them has the fees of all deer save the\nhart and the buck, unless it be in the certain case before mentioned.\nAnd when the cur\u00e9e is done, and the bay made, then is the time for\nevery man to draw homeward to his supper and to make himself as merry\nas he can. And when the yeomen berners and grooms have led home the\nhounds and set them well up and supplied them with water and straw\naccording to what they need, then should they go to their supper and\ndrink well and make merry. And of the fees it is to be known that the\nman whoever he be, who has smitten a deer while posted at his tree\nwith a death-stroke so that the deer be got before the sun goes down,\nhe shall have the skin. And if he be not posted or has gone from his\ntree, or has done otherwise than is said, he shall have none. And as\nof the fewterers, if they be posted, the first teaser and\nreceiver[247] that draweth the deer down shall divide the skin.[248]\nNevertheless in other lord's hunting whoso pincheth first and goeth\ntherewith to the death he shall have the skin. And all the deer's\nnecks are the hunters, and one shoulder and the chine is his that\nundoeth the deer, and the other shoulder is the forester's or the\nparker's fee that keepeth the bailie that is hunted. And all the skins\nof harts slain with strength of the hart-hounds, belong to the master\nof the hart-hounds as his fee, that is to say he that hath the wages\nof twelve pence a day for the office. It is to be known that when the\nking hunteth in the park or in the forest with bows and greyhounds,\nand it happens that any hart be slain with strength of hart-hounds,\nall the hart hunters after the King or the Master of his Game have\nblown a mote and stroked, all day they should stroke the assise that\nbelongeth to the hart slain with strength, but not with eight long\nmotes, but with four short and four long motes, as is in the aforesaid\nchapter plainly devised. And all the other hunters should stroke the\ncommon stroking as is above described and said._\n[239] Men and hounds stationed at different places, usually on the\nboundaries of the district in which the game was to be roused and\nhunted, or at convenient passes from whence the hounds could be\nslipped at the game.\n[240] Teasers, a small hound to tease forth or put up the game.\n[241] A difficult sentence to unravel. In the Shirley MS. it runs:\n\"and yif hit have eseyne nought to ye stagge, but yif he were\navaunced.\"\n[242] \"Within the set\" means within that quarter of the forest or park\naround which are set or stationed the men and hounds, called the\nstable.\n[243] To tie the couples of hounds together.\n[244] Made the smaller deer clear out of the forest.\n[245] The beginning of this sentence relating to the \"server of the\nhall\" is not in our MS. but in the Shirley MS.\n[246] Shirley MS., \"harthounds.\"\n[247] Shirley MS. has \"resteynour.\"\n[248] This means that the men in whose charge the teasers and\nreceivers were placed were given the skin or fee.\n[Illustration: THE \"UNDOING\" OR GRALLOCHING OF THE HART THE MASTER\nINSTRUCTING HIS HUNTERS HOW IT IS DONE (From MS. f. fr. 616, _Bib.\nNat._, Paris)]\n[Illustration: HART-HUNTING WITH GREYHOUNDS AND RACHES (From MS. f.\nfr. 616, _Bib. Nat._, Paris)]\n[Illustration: THE \"CUREE\" OR REWARDING OF THE HOUNDS (From MS. f. fr.\n616, _Bib. Nat._, Paris)]\n    END OF THE BRITISH MUSEUM MS.\n    VESPASIAN B. XII.\nTHE FOLLOWING IS THE CONCLUDING PASSAGE OF THE SHIRLEY MANUSCRIPT\n(Add. MS. 16, 165) IN THE BRITISH MUSEUM:--\n_Now I pray unto every creature that hath heard or read this little\ntreatise of whatever estate or condition he be that there where there\nis too little of good language that of their benignity and grace they\nwill add more, and there where there is too much superfluity that they\nwill also abridge it as may seem best by their good and wise\ndiscretion. Not presuming that I had over much knowledge and ability\nto put into writing this royal disportful and noble game of hunting so\neffectually that it might not be submitted to the correction of all\ngentle hunters. And in my simple manner as best I could and as might\nbe learned of old and many diverse gentle hunters, I did my business\nin this rude manner to put the craft and the terms and the exercise of\nthis said game more in remembrance and openly to the knowledge of all\nlords, ladies, gentlemen and women, according to the customs and\nmanners used in the high noble court of this Realm of England._\nFINIS\nAPPENDIX\nACQUILLEZ, Fr., to take, to hold at bay, to gather. \"Et s'il voit que\nles chiens heussent acueili le change\" (G. de F., p. 156)--\"if he sees\nthat the hounds have taken the change.\" It also denotes: \"owning to\nthe scent\" (Senechal, p. 8; Roy Modus, xxix. v).\nTwici says: \"Les chevereaus ne sunt mie enchacez ne aquyllees,\" which\nDryden translates, \"the roebuck is not chased nor hunted up,\" from\n_enquiller_ or _aquiller_, O. Fr. a form of _accuellir_, to push, put\nin motion, excite. \"The word in English which is nearest to it is 'to\nimprime,' which was afterwards used for the unharbouring of the hart\"\n(Twici, p. 26).\nIn the old English translation of Twici (Vesp. B. XII.) _aquylees_ is\nconstrued \"gadered,\" which is certainly one sense, but not the one\nhere required (Twici, p. 53).\nThe \"Master of Game\" translates _ils accueillent_ in G. de. F., p.\n112, by \"they run to them\" (p. 111. _See also_ Godefroy).\nAFFETED, Mid. Eng., _affaiten_; O. Fr. _affaitier_, to trim, to\nfashion. A well-affaited or affeted head, a well-fashioned or\ngood-shaped head. In speaking of stags' antlers, means regularly tined\nand well grown.\n_Affeted_ also meant trained or tamed, reclaimed, made gentle,\nthoroughly manned. _Affaiter_ is still in use in M. Fr., as a term of\nfalconry.\nWe find this word employed in this sense in the Vision of Piers\nPlowman (1362): \"And go affayte the Fawcons, wilde fowles to kill.\"\nAnd in O. Fr. sporting literature one constantly reads of \"Chiens\nbien, affaities\" (well-broken dogs); \"oiseaux bien affaities\"\n(well-trained hawks). Roy Modus, lxxix.; Bormans, p. 52; _La Chace dou\nALAUNTES, _Allaunts_, _Canis Alanus_; Fr. _alans_. Also spelt\n_alande_, _alaunt_, _allaundes_, _Aloundys_ (MS. Brit. Mus., Egerton,\n1995). _See also_ Twici, p. 56.\nA strong, ferocious dog, supposed to have been brought to Western\nEurope by a Caucasian tribe called Alains or Alani. This tribe invaded\nGaul in the fourth century, settling there awhile, and then continued\ntheir wanderings and overran Spain. It is from this country that the\nbest _alans_ were obtained during the Middle Ages, and dogs that are\nused for bull-or bear-baiting there are still called _Alanos_. Gaston\nde Foix, living on the borders of this country, was in the best\nposition to obtain such dogs, and to know all about them. His\ndescription, which we have here, tallies exactly with that written in\na Spanish book, _Libro de la Monteria_, on hunting of the fourteenth\ncentury, written by Alphonso XI.\nAlauntes were used as war dogs, and it was said that when once they\nseized their prey they would not loose their hold.\nCotgrave (Sherwood's App.) says that the mastiff resembles an Alan,\nand also Wynn in his book on the \"British Mastiff\" (p. 45) says that\nhe is inclined to think that the Alan is the ancient name for mastiff,\nand thinks it possible that the Ph[oe]nicians brought this breed to\nthe British Isles. He cannot have known the description given us of\nthe Alan by the \"Master of Game,\" nor can he have been acquainted with\nthe work of Gaston Ph[oe]bus, for he says that the Alan is not\nmentioned among any of the earlier dogs of France and Germany. There\nis ample evidence that they existed in France from very early days.\nProbably they were relics left there by the Alani in their wanderings\nthrough Gaul. About the same period as our MS. we find Alans mentioned\nby Chaucer, who in the \"Knight's Tale\" describes Lycurgus seated on\nhis throne, around which stand white _Alaunts_ as big as bulls wearing\nmuzzles and golden collars.\nThe ancient Gallo-Latin name of _veltrahus_, or _veltris_, which in\nthe first instance denoted a large greyhound used for the chase of the\nbear and wild boar, passed later to a different kind of dog used for\nthe same purpose. These _veltres_, _viautres_, or _vautres_ were also\nknown under the name of Alan, and resembled the Great Dane or the\nGerman Boarhound (De Noir., vol. ii. p. 295-7).\nANTLER, O. Fr. _auntilor_, _antoiller_, or _andoiller_, derived from a\nTeutonic root; Anglo-Saxon _andwlit_; Frank. _antlutt_ or _antluzze_;\nGoth. _andawleiz_; O. Ger. _antliz_; face. Gaston Ph[oe]bus and Roy\nModus and other old French authors almost invariably use _teste_, or\nhead, when referring to a hart's antlers, but English writers did not\nobserve time-hallowed terms of venery so rigorously, and our author\nfrequently uses the jarring and, from every point of view, incorrect\nterm \"horns\" when speaking of the hart's attire or head. The substance\nof deers' antlers is true bone, the proportion of their constituents\ndiffering but very slightly from ordinary bones. The latter, when in a\nhealthy condition, consist of about one-third of animal matter or\ngelatine, and two-thirds of earthy matter, about six-sevenths of which\nis phosphate of lime and one-seventh carbonate of lime, with an\nappreciable trace of magnesia. The antlers of deer consist of about\nthirty-nine parts of animal matter and sixty-one parts of earthy\nmatter of the same kind and proportion as is found in common bone.\nLater on, a more sportsmanlike regard for terms of venery is\nobservable, and Turbervile in one of his few original passages\nimpresses upon his fellow-sportsmen: \"Note that when you speake of a\nharts hornes, you must terme them the Head and not the Hornes of a\nhart. And likewise of a bucke; but a Rowes hornes and a Gotes hornes\nare tollerable termes in Venery\" (1611, p. 239).\nUp to the end of the seventeenth century it was customary when\nspeaking of a stag's head to refer only to the tines \"on top,\" or the\n\"croches\" or \"troches,\" leaving unconsidered the brow, bez and trez\ntines, which were called the stag's \"rights,\" and which every\nwarrantable hart was supposed as a matter of course to possess. When\nreferring to the number of tines a head bore, it was invariably the\nrule to use only even numbers, and to double the number of tines borne\nby the antler which had most. Thus, a stag with three on each top was\na head of \"twelve of the less\" (or \"lasse\"); \"twelve of the greater\"\nwhen he had three and four on top, or, counting the rights, six and\nseven tines, or, as a modern Scotch stalker would call it, a\nthirteen-pointer. The extreme number of tines a hart was supposed to\nbear was thirty-two.\nBERCELET, barcelette, bercelette, is a corruption of the O. Fr.\n_berseret_, a hunting dog, dim. of _bersier_, a huntsman; in Latin,\n_bersarius_, French, _berser_, _bercer_, to hunt especially with the\nbow. _Bercel_, _biercel_, meant a butt or target. Italian,\n_bersaglio_, an archer's butt, whence _bersagliere_, archer or\nsharpshooter (Oxford, and Godefroy Dict.).\nGiven the above derivation, it may be fairly accepted that _bercelet_\nwas a dog fitted to accompany a hunter who was going to shoot his\ngame--a shooting dog. The \"Master of Game's\" allusion also points to\nthis. He says some mastiffs (_see_ Mastiff) become \"_berslettis_, and\nalso to bring well and fast a wanlace about.\" We might translate this\nsentence: \"There are nevertheless some (mastiffs) that become shooting\ndogs, and retrieve well and put up the game quickly\" (_see_ Appendix:\nWanlace).\nJesse conceives _bracelettas_ and _bercelettus_ to come from\n_brache_, but that can scarcely be so, as we see the two words used\ntogether, as the following quotations will show:\n    \"Parler m'orez d'un buen brachet.\n    Qens ne rois n'ont tel berseret.\"\nWhen the fair Ysolt is parting from her lover Tristan she asks him to\nleave her this same brachet, and says that no huntsman's shooting dog\nwill be kept with more honour:\n    \"Husdent me lesse, ton brachet.\n    Ainz berseret \u00e0 v\u00e9n\u00e9or\n    N'ert garde\u00e9 \u00e0 tel honor\n    Comme cist sera.\"\nJesse quotes Blount's \"Antient Tenures\": \"In the 6th of John, Joan,\nlate wife of John King, held a serjeantry in Stanhow, in the county of\nNorfolk, by the service of keeping 'Bracelettum deymerettum of our\nLord the King,'\" and Jesse thinks these might have been a bitch pack\nof deerhounds, overlooking the fact that it was only in later days\nthat the words _brache_ and _rache_ were used for bitch hounds. As\n_deymerettum_ meant fallow deer, the _bracelettum_ or _bercelettum\ndeymerettum_ may be taken, I think, to mean those hounds that were\nused for buck-shooting (Jesse, ii. 21).\nBERNER, bernar; O. Fr. _bernier_, _brenier_, a man who has the charge\nof hounds, a huntsman, or, perhaps, would be more accurately described\nas a kennelman. The word seems to have been derived from the French\n_brenier_ or _bernier_, one who paid his dues to his feudal lord in\nbran of which bread was made for the lord's hounds. _Brenage_,\n_brennage_, or _bernage_ was the tenure on which land was held by the\npayment of bran, and the refuse of all grains, for the feeding of\nhounds. Berner in its first sense meant finder of bran, then feeder\nof hounds. This word seems to have remained in use in England long\nafter it had disappeared from the language of French venery. Gaston no\nlonger uses the word _berner_, but has _valet de chiens_.\nBISSHUNTERS, furhunters. Our MS. (p. 74) declares that no one would\nhunt conies unless they were bisshunters, that is to say rabbits would\nnot be hunted for the sake of sport, but only for the sake of their\nskins. Bisse, bys, byse was a fur much in vogue at the period of our\nMS., as its frequent mention in contemporaneous records testifies.\nBLENCHES, trick, deceit; O. N. _blekkja_ (Strat.). Blanch, or blench,\nto head back the deer in its flight. Blancher or blencher, a person or\nthing placed to turn the deer in a particular direction.\nBOCE, from the French _bosse_, O. Fr. _boce_, boss, hump or swelling.\nCotgrave says: \"Boss, the first putting out of a Deere's head,\nformerly cast, which our woodmen call, if it bee a red Deere's, the\nburle, or seale, and, if a fallow Deeres, the button.\"\nBOUGHS, bowes (_bris\u00e9es_). When the huntsman went to harbour the deer\nhe broke little branches or twigs to mark the place where he noticed\nany signs of a stag. Also, at times during the chase he was instructed\nto do the same, placing the twigs pointing towards the direction the\nstag had gone, so that if the hounds lost the scent he could bring\nthem back to his last markings, and put them on the line again. In\nharbouring the stag a twig was broken off and placed in front of the\nslot with the end pointing in the direction in which the stag was\ngoing; each time the harbourer turned in another direction a twig was\nto be broken and placed so as to show which way he took; sometimes the\ntwig was merely bent and left hanging on the tree, sometimes broken\noff and put into the ground (in French this was called making _bris\u00e9es\nhautes_ or _bris\u00e9es basses_). When making his ring-walks round the\ncovert the harbourer was told to put a mark to every slot he came\nacross; the slot of a stag was to be marked by scraping a line behind\nthe heel, of a hind by making a line in front of the toe. If it was a\nfresh footing a branch or twig should be placed as well as the\nmarking, for a hind one twig, for a stag two. If it be a stale trace\nno twig must be placed. Thus, if he returned later, the hunter would\nknow if any beast had broken from or taken to covert since he\nharboured his stag in the morning. When the harbourer went to \"move\"\nthe stag with his limer he was to make marks with boughs and branches\nso that the berners with their hounds should know which way to go\nshould they be some distance from the limer (Roy Modus, x. v; xii. r;\nxiii. r; Du Fouilloux, 32 r). Blemish is the word used by Turbervile\nfor _bris\u00e9es_ (Turbervile, 1611, p. 95, 104, 114).\nCHANGE. The change, in the language of stag hunting, was the\nsubstitution of one deer for another in the chase. After the hounds\nhave started chasing a stag, the hunted animal will often find another\nstag or a hind, and pushing it up with its horns or feet will oblige\nit to get up and take his place, lying down himself in the spot where\nhe found the other, and keeping quiet, with his antlers close over his\nback, so that the hounds will, if care is not taken, go off in chase\nof the substitute. Sometimes a stag will go into a herd of deer and\ntry to keep with them, trying to shake off his pursuers, and thus give\nthem the change.\nA hound that sticks to the first stag hunted, and refuses to be\nsatisfied with the scent of another deer, is called a staunch hound,\none who will not take the change, which was considered one of the most\ndesirable qualities in a staghound. G. de F., in speaking of the\ndifferent kinds of running hounds, says that there were some that,\nwhen they came to the change, they would leave off speaking to the\nscent, and would run silently until they found the scent of their stag\nagain (G. de F., p. 109).\nCUR\u00c9E, Kyrre, Quyrreye, or Quarry. The ceremony of giving the hounds\ntheir reward was thus called because it was originally given to the\nhounds on the hide or _cuir_ of the stag.\nTwici, the huntsman of Edward II., says that after the stag is taken\nthe hounds should be rewarded with the neck and bowels and the liver.\n(\"Et il se serra mange sur le quir. E pur ceo est il apelee\nquyrreye.\") When the hounds receive their reward after a hare-hunt he\ncalls it the hallow. In the \"Boke of St. Albans\" we find the quarry\ngiven on the skin, and it is only in the \"Master of Game\" that it is\nexpressly stated that a nice piece of grass was to be found on which\nthe hounds' mess was to be put, and the hide placed over it, hair-side\nupwards, the head being left on it and held up by the antlers, and\nthus drawn away as the hounds rush up to get their share. According to\nTurbervile, in his day the reward was placed _on_ the hide; at least\nhe does not in his original chapter on the breaking up of the deer\nnotice any such difference between the French and English customs. In\nFrance, it is as well to expressly state, the _cur\u00e9e_ was always given\non the hide until the seventeenth century, but after that it seems the\nhide was placed over it just as described in our text (De Noirmont,\nvol. ii., p. 458). Preceding the quarry came the ceremonial breaking\nup of the deer. The stag was laid on its back with feet in the air,\nslit open, and skinned by one of the chief huntsmen, who took a pride\nin doing it according to laws of woodmanscraft. They took a pride in\nnot turning up their sleeves and performing everything so daintily\nthat their garments should show no bloodstains; nobles, and princes\nthemselves, made it a point of honour to be well versed in this art.\nAfter the skinning was done, it was customary to give the huntsman who\nwas \"undoing\" the deer a drink of wine; \"and he must drinke a good\nharty draught: for if he should break up the dear before he drinke the\nVenison would stink and putrifie\" (Turb., 1611, p. 128).\nIn the \"Master of Game\" the limers were rewarded after the other\nhounds, but they were never allowed to take their share with the pack.\nThe bowels or guts were often reserved, and put on a large wooden\nfork, and the hounds were allowed to have this as a sort of dessert\nafter they had finished their portion. They were halloaed to by the\nhuntsman whilst he held the fork high in the air with cries of _Tally\nho!_ or _Tiel haut!_ or _Lau, lau!_ This tit-bit was then thrown to\nthem. This was called giving them the _forhu_, from the word\n_forthuer_, to whoop or holloa loudly. Probably our term of giving the\nhounds the holloa was derived from this. It was done to accustom the\nhounds to rally round the huntsman when excited by a similar halloaing\nwhen they were hunting, and had lost the line of the hunted beast.\nIn some instances the daintiest morsels were reserved for the King or\nchief personage, and for this purpose placed on a large wooden fork as\nthey were taken from the deer. The vein of the heart and the small\nfillets attached to the loins (Turbervile says also the haunches, part\nof the nombles and sides) should also be kept for the lord, but these\nwere generally recognised as the perquisites of the huntsmen,\nkennelmen, foresters, or parkers.\nEXCREMENTS, fumes, fewmets, obs. term for the droppings of deer. From\nthe Fr. _fum\u00e9es_. G. de F. says that the droppings of all deer,\nincluding fallow and roe deer, are to be called _fum\u00e9es_. The \"Master\nof Game,\" no doubt following the custom then prevalent in England,\nsays the droppings of the hart only are to be called fumes, and of\nthe buck and the roebuck croties. The following names are given to\ndroppings by--\n        GASTON DE FOIX            AND            MASTER OF GAME\n    Of the hart    }                  Of the hart--Fumes.\n       \"   wild boar } Laisses.          \"   black beasts } Lesses.\n       \"   hare and conies--Crotes.      \"   hare and Conies--Croties.\n       \"   fox, badger, and }            \"   fox--The wagging.\n            stinking beasts } Fiantes.   \"   grey or badger--The Wardrobe.\n       \"   otter--Spraintes.             \"   stinking beasts--The Drit.\nOther forms of this term are: fewmets, fewmishing, crotels,\ncrotisings, freyn, fuants, billetings, and spraits.\nFENCE MONTH. The month so called began, according to Manwood, fifteen\ndays before and ended fifteen days after midsummer. During this time\ngreat care was taken that no men or stray dogs should be allowed to\nwander in the forest, and no swine or cattle were allowed to feed\nwithin the precincts, so that the deer should be absolutely\nundisturbed during three or four weeks after the fawning season. He\ntells us that because in this month there must be watch and ward kept\nwith men and weapons for the fence and defence of wild beasts, for\nthat reason the same is called fence or defence month (Man., p. 76,\nFEWTE, fuite, fute (M. E.), O. Fr. fuite (_voie de cerf qui fuit_),\ntrack, trace, foot. Gawaine: feute. Will of Palerne (90): foute. Some\nbeasts were called of the sweet _fute_, and some of the stinking\n_fute_. The lists of the beasts which should come under either heading\nvary somewhat; some that are placed by the \"Boke of St. Albans\" under\n\"Swete fewte\" coming under the other category in the MS. Harl., 2340.\n    IN \"BOKE OF ST. ALBANS.\"              IN HARL. MS. 2340, FOL. 50B.\n    The Buck, the Doo, the Beere, the     The Buke, the Doo, the Ber,\n    Reynd, the Elke, the Spycard, the     the Reyne der, the Elke,\n    Otre, and the Martwn.                 the Spycard.\n                       _Beasts of the \"Stinking fewte.\"_\n    The Roobucke, the Roo, the            The Fulmard, the Fechewe,\n    Fulmard, the Fyches, the Bauw,        the Catt, the Gray, the\n    the Gray, the Fox, the Squirrel,      Fox, the Wesyll, the\n    the Whitecat, the Otyr, the Stot,     Marteron, the Squirrel, the\n    the Pulcatt.                          Whyterache, the Otyr, the\nIn Roy Modus the beasts are also divided into _bestes doulces_ and\n_bestes puans_. The reasons for doing so are also given (fol. lxii.):\n\"_Les bestes doulces sont: le cerf, la biche, le dain, le chevreul et\nle li\u00e8vre. Et sont appel\u00e9es doulces pour trois causes: La premi\u00e8re si\nest que d'elles ne vient nulle mauvais senteur; la seconde, elles ont\npoil de couleur aimable, lequel est blond ou fauve; la tierce cause,\nce ne sont mie bestes mordans comme les autres cincq, car elles n'ont\nnulz dens dessus; et pour ces raisons puent bien estre nomm\u00e9es bestes\ndoulces._\" Under the _bestes puans_ are classed the wild boar, the\nwild sow, the wolf, the fox, and the otter.\nFEWTERER, the man that lets loose the greyhounds (Blome, p. 27); from\n_veltraria_, a dog leader or courser; originally one who led the dogs\ncalled _veltres_, _viautres_ (_see_ Veltres). In Gallo-Latin,\nVeltrahus. It has been asserted that the word fewterer is a\ncorruption of _vautre_ or _viautre_, a boarhound, but although both\nevidently owe their origin to the same parent-word, fewterer can\nscarcely be derived from _vautre_, a boarhound. It was only in the\nMiddle Ages in France that the word _vautre_, from originally meaning\na powerful greyhound, was applied to a large boarhound. Fewterers in\nEngland appear invariably as attendants on greyhounds, not boarhounds.\nAnother derivation has been also given from fewte, foot or track, a\nfewterer being, according to this, a huntsman who followed the track\nof the beast. But _venator_ was the contemporary designation for a\nhuntsman, and as far as we can ascertain the fewterer was always\nmerely a dog-leader.\nFORLONGE, forloyng, forlogne, from the Fr. _fort loin_. G. de F. says,\n\"flies far from the hounds,\" _i.e._ having well distanced them (\"_Fuit\nde fort longe aux chiens, c'est a dire que il les ait bien\nesloinhes_\"). Hounds are said to be hunting the forlonge when the deer\nis some way in front of them, or when some of the hounds have got away\nwith the deer and have outpaced the rest. As our MS. (p. 173) says,\nthe forlogne should be blown if the stag has run out of hearing of\nhound and horn, but it should not be blown in a park. In old French\nhunting literature it is an expression one constantly comes across.\nTwici, writing almost a hundred years earlier than the Duke of York,\nsays: \"The hart is moved and I do not know where the hart is gone, nor\nthe gentlefolk, and for this I blow in that manner. What chase do we\ncall this? We call that chase The chase of the forloyng.\"\nForloyneth: \"When a hound meeteth a chase and goeth away with it far\nbefore the rest then we say he forloyneth\" (Turber., ed 1611, p. 245).\nFOX. According to the laws of Canute the fox was neither reckoned as a\nbeast of venery nor of the forest. In Manwood's Forest Laws he is\nclassed as the third beast of chase (p. 161), as he is also in Twety\nand Gyfford, and the \"Boke of St. Albans.\"\nAlthough early records show that the English Kings kept their\nfoxhounds, we hear nothing of their having participated in this sport,\nbut they seem to have sent their hounds and huntsmen about the country\nto kill foxes, probably as much for the value of the pelt as for\nrelieving the inhabitants of a thievish neighbour.\nIn Edward's I.'s Wardrobe Accounts, 1299-1300, appear some interesting\nitems of payments made to the huntsman for his wages and the keep of\nthe hounds and his _one horse_ for carrying the nets. These allusions\nto nets throw an interesting light on the fox-hunting of those days.\nWilliam de Blatherwyke, or, as he is also called, _William de\nFoxhunte_, and _William Fox-dog-keeper_, had besides their wages an\nallowance made to them for clothes and winter and summer shoes (_see_\nAppendix: Hunt Officials). As only one horse was provided, and that to\ncarry the nets, the huntsman, we must presume, had to hunt on foot,\nnot such an arduous undertaking when we remember that the country was\nso much more thickly wooded than at present, and that every possible\nprecaution was taken to prevent Reynard's breaking covert.\nWe see by our text (p. 65) that it was usual to course foxes with\ngreyhounds, and although the passages referring to this are translated\nfrom G. de F. we know from many old records that this fox-coursing was\nas usual in England at this time as in France.\nIn the earlier days hounds used for the chase of the fox one day,\nprobably hunted hare, or even buck or stag, on another--such as the\nharriers, which, if we can believe Dr. Caius, were entered to any\nanimal from stag to stoat (_see_ Appendix: Harriers). The first real\npack of foxhounds is said to be the one established by Thomas Fownes,\nEsq., of Stepleton, in Dorsetshire (1730). They were purchased at an\nimmense price by Mr. Bowes, of Yorkshire. A very amusing description\nis given in \"Cranbourne Chase\" of the first day's hunting with them\nin their new country. There must have been several packs entered to\nfox only about the end of the eighteenth century, for an erstwhile\nMaster of the Cheshire Foxhounds had in his possession a horn with the\nfollowing inscription: \"Thomas Boothby Esqre. Tooley Park Leicester.\nWith this horn he hunted the first pack of foxhounds then in England 5\nyears: born in 1677 died 1752.\" This pack, which was purchased by \"the\ngreat Mr. Meynell\" in 1782, had been hunted both in Hampshire and in\nWiltshire previously by the ancestors of Lord Arundel (Bad. Lib.,\n\"Hunting,\" p. 29).\nFRAYING-POST, the tree a stag has rubbed his antlers or frayed\nagainst.\nBy the fraying-post the huntsman used to be able to judge if the stag\nhe wished to harbour was a warrantable stag or not. The greater the\n_fraying-post_ the larger the deer (Stuart, vol. ii. p. 551).\nFUES, \"not find his fues,\" not to find his line of flight, his scent;\nGaston says: \"Ne puissent deffaire ses esteurses\": literally, \"cannot\nunravel his turnings.\"\n_Fues_, flight, fuite, track. Gaston calls these sometimes _voyes_.\n_Voyes_ was written later _Foyes_ (Fouilloux).\nFUE. \"Se mettre a la fue\" (var. _fuie_), (to take flight) (Borman, p.\nGLADNESS, glade. The original sense is a smooth, bare place, or\nperhaps a bright, clear place in a wood.\nGREASE. One of the important technical terms of venery, related to the\nfat of game; for in the Middle Ages, when game was hunted to replenish\nthe larder as much as for sport, it entered largely into the economy\nof even the highest households. The fat of the red deer and fallow\ndeer was called _suet_, occasionally _tallow_. That of the roebuck was\nbevy-grease. Between that of the hare, boar, wolf, fox, marten,\notter, badger, and coney no difference was made--it was called grease;\nand in one sense this general term was also used for deer: \"a deer of\nhigh grease,\" or \"a hart in the pride of grease,\" were phrases used\nfor the season of the year when the stag and the buck were fattest\n(_see_ Appendix: Seasons of Hunting).\nGREASE TIME, not _Grace Time_ or _Grass Time_, as Strutt and others\nhave it. It did not include the whole season when the hart or buck\ncould be killed, but meant to indicate the time when they were fat and\nfittest for killing. As pointed out already by Dryden (p. 25), the\n_Excerpta Historica_ (Lond. 1831) contains an interesting example of\nthe use of this word. This is a letter written (p. 356) about 1480 by\nThomas Stonor, Steward of the Manor of Thame. He was in Fleet Prison\nat the time he writes to his brother in the country concerning some\nproperty of his own in his brother's neighbourhood. \"No more to you^e\nat thys tyme but ... more ov^r I entende to kepe my gresse tyme in yat\ncountre, where fore I woll^e yat no man^e huntte tyll^e I have bene\nther.\"\nIn the privy-purse expenses of Henry VIII. (1532) is an entry of a\npayment for attendance on the king during the last _grece-time_.\nCavendish in his Life of Wolsey says: \"My lord continued at Southwell\nuntil the latter end of _grease time_.\" Both these passages refer to\nthe month of June. In the laws of Howel the Good, King of Wales, a\nfine of 12 kine was imposed on whoever kills a hart in grease time\n(_kylleic_) of the kings.\nConfusion arose occasionally owing to the similarity of the words as\nformerly spelt, grass being sometimes spelt \"grysse\" (Dryden, p. 25).\nManwood, also, misinterprets Grease time. In the agreement between the\nEarl of Winchester and the Baron of Dudley of 1247, in which their\nrespective rights of hunting in Charnwood Forest and Bradgate Park,\nLeicestershire, were defined, and which agreement Shirley has given\n(in a translation) in his \"English Deer Parks,\" the time of the fallow\nbuck season (_tempus pinguedinis_) or grease time or the fat season,\nis fixed between the Feast of St. Peter ad Vincula (August 1) and the\nExaltation of Holy Cross (September 6, 14), while the time of the doe\nseason (_tempus firmationis_) was fixed between the Feast of St.\nMartin (November 11) and the Purification of the Blessed Virgin\n(February 2).\nGREYHOUND, Fr. _levrier_, Lat. _leporarius_. Under this name a whole\ngroup of dogs were included, that were used for the chase of big and\nsmall game. They were swift hounds, hunting chiefly and in most cases\nby sight only. For in the Middle Ages the name greyhound, or\n_levrier_, denoted such seemingly different dogs as the immense Irish\nwolfhound, the Scotch deerhound, and the smaller, smooth-coated,\nelegant Italian greyhound. The powerful greyhound used for the chase\nof stag, wolf, and wild boar were known in France as _levrier\nd'attache_, and the smaller, nervous harehound as _petit levrier pour\nlievre_. In our illustrations we can see what are intended to be\nportraits of both the larger and the smaller kinds, some being\nsmooth- and some rough-coated. The bigger hounds were considered\ncapable of defending their masters against their armed enemies, as is\nshown by numerous legends of the Middle Ages, which, although they may\nnot be strictly historical facts, showed the reputation these dogs\nenjoyed in those days (Jesse, p. 19).\nGreyhounds were the constant companions of their masters during\njourneys and wars, and at home. In the houses they were allowed the\ngreatest liberty, and seem to have ranged at will in both living- and\nbed-rooms; one sees them at the board when their owners are at meals,\nat the fireside, and they even accompanied their masters as good\nChristians to mass.\nNo hound seems to belong so peculiarly to the epoch of chivalry as the\ngreyhound, and indeed one can scarcely picture a knight without one. A\nWelsh proverb declared that a gentleman might be known \"by his hawk,\nhis horse, and his greyhound.\" By a law of Canute, a greyhound was\nnot to be kept by any person inferior to a gentleman (\"Greyhounds,\" by\na Sportsman, p. 28; and Dalziel, vol. i. p. 25).\n_Canis Gallicus_ was the name used by the Gauls for their coursing\ndogs, which were most probably greyhounds, and Arian says they were\ncalled _Vertragia_, from a Celtic word denoting swiftness. In\nGallo-Latin the name for a large greyhound was _Veltrahus_ or\n_veltris_ (De Noir., ii. 295). They were also called _Veltres\nleporarii_ (Blane, p. 46). There is some difference of opinion as to\nthe derivation of our word greyhound. In the early Anglo-Norman days\nthey retained their French name of _levrier_, or Latin _leporarius_.\nWhen our MS. was penned the English word _grei_, _gre_, or _grewhound_\nwas in general use; it is thought by some to be derived from Grew\nhound or Greek hound, as they were supposed to have been originally\nbrought from Greece. Others, again, consider that the name was simply\ntaken from the prevalent colour of the common greyhound. Jesse gives\nthe most likely origin of the name. \"Originally it was most likely\n_grehund_, and meant the noble, great, choice, or prize hound\" (Jesse,\nii. 71; and Dalziel, i. 23). Probably the Celtic denomination for a\ndog, _grech_ or _greg_, stands in close connection with our word\ngreyhound (Cupples, p. 230). White seems to have been the favourite\ncolour, and to say one had _i levrier plus blanc que flors de lis_\n(_Heruis de Mes_, 107a, 44; Bangert, p. 172) would be the greatest\ntribute to the beauty of one's hound. _Co si sunt deus leveres nurit\nen ma meisun, cume cisne sunt blauns_ (Horn, 613 f.).\nWhen Froissart went home from Scotland he is depicted as riding a grey\nhorse and leading _un blanc levrier_, perhaps one of the four he took\nfrom these isles and presented to the Comte de Foix at Orth\u00e9z, whose\nnames have been preserved to us as Tristan, Hector, Brun, and Rolland\n(La Curne de la Palaye).\nGreyhounds were used, as has already been mentioned, for all kind of\nhunting and every kind of game, in conjunction with limers who\nstarted the game for them. They were let slip as relays to a pack of\nrunning or scenting hounds, and they were used by themselves for\ncoursing game in an open country, or were placed at the passes where\ngame was likely to run and were slipped to turn the game back to the\narcher or to chase and pull down the wounded deer (_see_ Appendix:\nStables). In our illustrations we see them in the pictures of stag-,\nhare-, roe- and boar-hunting, to say nothing of badger-hunting, for\nwhich one would have thought any other dog more suitable.\nThey seem always to have been held in couples except when following\ntheir master and he not bent upon the chase. The collars to which\nthese couplings were attached were often wonderful gems of the\ngoldsmith's and silversmith's art. Such an item appears in the Q. R.\nWardrobe Acc. for 1400 (Wylie, iv. p. 196): \"2 collars for greyhounds\n(_leverer_) le tissue white and green with letters and silver\nturrets.\" Another one of \"soy chekerey vert et noir avec le tret (?\nturret) letters and bells of silver gilt.\"\nThe ancient doggerel in the Book of St. Albans, \"Heded like a snake,\nand necked like a drake. Foted like a cat. Tayled like a Rat, Syded\nlyke a Teme. Chyned like a Beme\" (\"Boke of St. Albans,\" f. iv.), was\npreceded by a very similar one written some time previously by Gace de\nla Buigne. Of these verses G. de F. gives, twenty-eight years later, a\nprose version, which our Master of Game has rendered into English.\nHARDEL, hardeyl, to tie couples of hounds together. From the French\nword _harder_, which has the same meaning: _Harder les chiens_, and\n_harde_, the rope with which they are tied. It is derived from _hart_,\n_hard_, _art_, a binder of willow or other pliable wood used for\nfastening fagots together (Lit. and God.). The primitive way of tying\nhounds together was by passing such a small flexible branch through\nthe couplings which bent back on itself, both ends being held. \"_Les\nchiens ... seront enhardez par les couples \u00e0 genoivres ou \u00e0 autre\njosne bois tors_\" (Roy Modus, f. xlvii. recto). In France there used\nto be two hardes to each relay and not more than eight hounds in every\nharde (D'Yauville). In England there used to be about the same number.\nThe term was still used in Blome's time (1686), for he writes in his\n\"Gentleman's Recreation\": \"The huntsman on foot that hath the charge\nof the coupled hounds, and before that must have _hardled_ them, that\nis, with a slip, for the purpose ready secured three or four couple\ntogether, that they may not break in from him, to run into the cry of\nthe Finders\" (p. 88).\n_Harling_ was a word used in Devonshire, and as it meant tying the\nhound together by means of a rope passed through the rings of the\ncouples, it is undoubtedly a corruption of the word _hardeling_.\n\"Until comparatively recent times the hounds in Devonshire were taken\nto the meet and held in this manner until the time came to lay the\npack on\" (Collyns).\n_Hardel_, the technical O. E. term for binding together the four legs\nof the roebuck, the head having been placed between the two forelegs,\nin order to carry him whole into the kitchen.\nHARE. Pliny records the fable that hares \"are of many and various\nsexes.\" Topsell remarks that \"the Hebrews call the hare 'arnebet,' in\nthe feminine gender,\" which word gave occasion to an opinion that all\nhares were females (pp. 264, 266).\n\"In the Gwentian code of Welch laws supposed to be of the eleventh\ncentury, the hare is said not to be capable of any legal valuation,\nbeing in one month male and in another female\" (Twici, p. 22).\nCertainly in many of the older writings on hares the pronouns \"her\"\nand \"him\" are used indiscriminately in the same sentence. Sir Thomas\nBrowne in his treatise on vulgar errors asserts from his own\nobservation that the sex of the hare is changeable, and that the buck\nhare will sometimes give birth to young. Up to the end of the\neighteenth century there was a widespread and firm belief in this\nfable (Brehm, ii. p. 626). Buffon describes it as one of the animal's\npeculiar properties, and from the structure of their parts of\ngeneration he argues that the notion has arisen of hermaphrodite\nhares, that the males sometimes bring forth young, and that some are\nalternately males and females and perform the functions of either sex.\n\"Master of Game\" (copying G. de F.) states that the hare carries her\nyoung for a period of two months, but in reality the period of\ngestation is only thirty days. Harting says that the adult hare will\nbreed twice or thrice in the year, but Brehm declares they breed as\nmany as four times, and but seldom five times (Encyclop. of Sport,\nG. de F. (p. 43) says of a hare, \"_Elle o\u00eft bien, mais elle voit\nmal._\" \"Master of Game\" translates this simply as _She hath evil\nsight_; but does not say she hears well. The sense of hearing is most\nhighly developed in the hare, and every lightly breaking twig or\nfalling leaf will disturb her. It is said that of old when warreners\nwished to prepare hares for the market they filled their ears with\nwax, so that, not being continually disturbed by noises, they did not\nmove about much, and grew sleek and fat (Blome, p. 95). G. de F.'s\nassertion that the hare \"has evil sight\" is also confirmed by Brehm,\nwho, however, says that they are endowed with a keen sense of smell,\nwhereas G. de F. says _elle sent pou_.\nAttention has already been called to the Duke of York's statement that\n\"the hare hath great fear to run.\" This arose probably from the\nsimilarity of the words _peur_ and _pouvoir_ in the MSS., for it\nshould read \"hath great power to run,\" the principal MSS. which we\nhave examined showing _pouvoir_. Verard in his first edition of G. de\nF. also has the same rendering as the Duke of York, to which Lavall\u00e9e\ndraws attention as being one of the many ludicrous mistakes in this\nedition (G. de F., xli.).\n[Illustration: SHOOTING HARES WITH BLUNT BOLTS (From MS. f. fr. 616,\n_Bib. Nat._, Paris)]\nOur text calls the hare the most marvellous beast (p. 181), the\nreasons given being because she \"fumeth or croteth and rowngeth and\nbeareth tallow and grease.\" By \"rowngeth\" (Fr. _ronger_) it was meant\nthat the hare chewed the cud, as by the ancients it was generally\nsupposed that the hare was a ruminant. Although this is not the case,\nand the hare has not a compound stomach, nevertheless this belief\nshowed a close observation of nature, for when a hare is seated she\ncan bring up parts of her food and give it a second mastication.\nThe hare and rabbit have little or no fat, but what they do possess is\ncalled grease. Twici says: _Il porte gresce_ (pp. 1 and 21).\n\"She has teeth above in the same wise as beneath\" (p. 181) is another\nof the peculiarities noticed in our text, which shows that the\ndifference in dentition that distinguishes the hare from all other\nrodents had been remarked. Instead of two incisors in the upper jaw,\nthe hare has four, having two small rudimentary incisor teeth behind\nthe two large front ones, and five or six molars in the upper jaw,\nwith two incisors and five molars in the lower jaw (Brehm, ii. p. 627;\nCornish, \"Shooting,\" ii. p. 153).\nIt is difficult to know why the hare was considered a \"melancholy\"\nbeast, and how this curious reputation was kept up during the whole of\nthe Middle Ages. It was thought that eating the flesh of the hare\nrendered one also subject to melancholy. G. de F. does not mention\nthis, and altogether his book is comparatively free of such\nsuperstitions, but he says the flesh of the hare should not be given\nto the hounds after a day's hunting, as it is indigestible: _quar elle\nest fastieuse viande et les fet vomir_ (p. 210). Therefore, when\nrewarding the hounds, they should only have the tongue and the\nkidneys, with some bread soaked in the blood of the hare.\nIn our MS., at the end of the chapter on the nature of the hare (p.\n22), the Duke of York says that he \"trows no good hunter would slee\nthem so,\" alluding to pockets, pursenets, and other poaching devices;\nand although G. de F. gives six ways of taking the hare, he does not\napprove of such methods for the true sportsman, but enters an amusing\nprotest: \"I would that they who take hares thus should have them [the\ncords] round their own necks\" (p. 171). Snaring hares was never\nconsidered legitimate sport. In hare-hunting proper, the hounds were\ntaken into the fields to find the hare, as at present; or hare-finders\nwere sent out early in the morning, and the tufts of grass or plants\nwhere the hare was likely to be seated were beaten, and the hounds\nuncoupled only when the hare was started. One of the chief differences\nin the sport between then and now was that often, when the hare was\nonce on foot, greyhounds were also uncoupled, and our Plate, p. 182,\nshows greyhounds and running-hounds hunting seemingly happily\ntogether. It must have been rather discouraging for the old-fashioned,\nslow scenting-hound to have the hare he has been diligently hunting\nsuddenly \"bitten\" in front of him by the swifter greyhound.\nTrencher-fed packs also existed as early as the fourteenth century,\nand we read in Gace de la Buigne that the small farmers would assemble\ntogether, bringing all told some forty hounds of different breeds and\nsizes, immensely enjoying their sport, and accounting for many hares.\nHARNESS means in our text \"paraphernalia where-with animals can be\ncaught or taken.\" It is frequently used in this sense by\nGaston--_Hayes et autres Harnoys_ (p. 126). In Julien's note to this\nsame sentence occurring in _Le bon Varlet_, he says, _autres harnois,\nautres engins, instruments, proc\u00e9d\u00e9s_.\nHARRIER, spelt in early documents with many variations--_eirere_,\n_heyreres_, _heyrer_, _hayrers_. A hound which is described in modern\ndictionaries as \"resembling a foxhound but smaller, used for\nhare-hunting\" (Murray). This explanation would not have been a correct\none for our harriers of the fourteenth century, for as far as we can\ngather they were used to hunt all kinds of game and by no means only\nthe hare. They were evidently a smaller kind of running hound, for as\nour MS. says, there are some small and some large running hounds, \"and\nthe small are called Kenettis (or small dogs--_see_ Kenet), and these\nhounds run well to all manner of game and they that serve for all game\nmen call them heirers\" (p. III). And in chapter 36 we see that\n_heyrers_ were used to hunt up the deer in the forest, the herthounds\nand greyhounds meanwhile being held in leash till a warrantable deer\nwas on foot, or till \"the heyrer have well run and well made the\nrascal void\" (made the smaller deer clear out of that part of the\nforest) (p. 191). Then the herthounds were to be uncoupled where the\nmost likely \"ligging is for an hert, and seek.\" The herthounds then\nput up the wary old stag and hunted him till he came to the tryst\nwhere the King would be with his long bow or cross-bow, or till the\nhert was pulled down by them or the greyhounds which had been slipped\nat him.\nIn the chapter on hare-hunting in our MS. the word harrier does not\noccur; only hounds, greyhounds, and raches are mentioned. So when\nHenry IV. paid for \"_La garde de nos chiens appelez hayrers_\" (Privy\nSeal, 20 Aug. 9th Henry, 1408, No. 5874), or Henry V. for the\n\"_Custodiam Canum nostrum vocatorum hayreres_\" (Rot. Pat. I Henry V.\n1413), it was not because they were especially addicted to\nhare-hunting, but because they kept these useful hounds to \"harry\"\ngame.\nIn 1407 we find one Hugh Malgrave \"_servienti venatori' vocat' hayters\np' c'vo (cervo)_,\" which we may accept as another proof that their\noffice was to hunt the stag. The Duke of York also repeatedly says\nthat \"_heirers_\" run at all game (see pp. III, 196, 197). In 1423 Hugh\nMalgrave still held the \"office of the hayrers\" by grant from Henry\nIV. In the curious legal Latin of the thirteenth century, we find the\nword _canes heirettes_, and _heyrettor_ (Wardrobe Accounts, 34 Ed.\nThere are a great number of early records which show us that these\nhounds were used then for hunting red and fallow deer, sometimes in\nconjunction with greyhounds and sometimes without their aid.\nHarriers were sometimes taken with buckhounds on hunting expeditions\nas well as with greyhounds. In some of the documents harriers are\nsimply alluded to as _canes currentes_. As they were not a distinct\nbreed, but were included under the designation \"raches,\" or running\nhounds, a separate chapter is not given to them in our text, and\nneither Twici nor the Dame of St. Albans mentions these hounds.\nGradually we find the spelling, although presenting still countless\nvariations, bringing the _a_ more constantly than the _e_; the\n\"_heirers_\" become _hayrers_, _hareres_, _hariers_, and after the\nsixteenth century harriers. It is also probable that the word was\noriginally derived from the Anglo-Saxon _Hergian_, _herian_, to harry,\nto disturb, to worry; O. Fr. _harrier_, _herrier_, _herier_, to harry;\nF. _hare_ and _harer_, to set a dog on to attack. The harrier, in\nfact, was a dog to \"hare\" the game. Although now obsolete, we find\nthis word used late in the seventeenth century.\n\"Let the hounds kill the fox themselves and worry and _hare_ him as\nmuch as they please\" (Cox, \"Gent. Rec.,\" p. 110). It is also in the\nsixteenth century that one comes across the first allusions to their\nuse in hunting the hare.\nHART. It is not necessary to dwell here at length upon the great\nesteem in which the hart was held by all devotees to sport in Europe\nduring the Middle Ages. It was royal game, and belonged to the Prince\nor ruler of the country, and the chase was their prerogative. Few\nunconnected with the court were ever able to enjoy the chase of the\nstag unless in attendance on or by special licence granted by the\nsovereign. Those who had extensive property of their own and had\npermission to erect a fence could, of course, keep deer on it, but\nthis did not enable them to enjoy the sport of real wild deer hunting,\nor _La chasse Royale_ as the French called it.\nThe stag was one of the five beasts of venery, and was, according to\nthe ancient French regulations, a beast of the sweet foot, although in\nthe list of beasts of sweet and stinking foot given in the \"Boke of\nSt. Albans\" the hart is included in neither category (_see_ Appendix:\nFewte).\nOne of the first essentials for a huntsman in the Middle Ages was to\nlearn to know the different _signs_ of a stag (according to German\nvenery there were seventy-two signs), so as to be able to \"judge\nwell.\" These signs were those of the _slot_, the _gait_, the\n_fraying-post_, the _rack_ or _entry_ (_i.e._ the place where the stag\nentered covert), and the _fumes_. By recognising differences in these\nsigns made by a young stag, a hind, and a warrantable stag, he was\nenabled to find out where the latter was harbouring, and by the slot\nand gait he could recognise when the chased stag was approaching his\nend.\nThere were many things that the huntsman of old had to learn regarding\nthe stag before he could be considered as more than an apprentice--for\ninstance, how to speak of a hart in terms of venery. The terms used\nwere considered of the greatest importance, even to the manner in\nwhich the colour of the stag was spoken of, brown, yellow, or dun\nbeing the only permissible terms to distinguish the shade of colour.\nSpecial terms are given for every kind of head, or antlers, a stag\nmight bear.\nThe huntsman spoke of the stag's _blenches_ and _ruses_ when alluding\nto the tricks of a deer when trying to rid himself of the hounds, of\nhis _doubling_ and _rusing to and fro upon himself_ when he retraced\nhis steps, of his _beating up the river_ when he swam up-stream, and\nof _foiling down_, when he went down-stream, or of _going to soil_\nwhen he stood in water. When the deer lay down he was _quat_, when he\nstood still in covert he was _stalling_. When he was tired he \"_cast\nhis chaule\" i.e._ drooped his head, a well-known sign when the deer is\ndone, as was his closed mouth when dead beat.\nThe hart was _meved_ or moved, when he was started from his\nresting-place; he was _quested_ or hunted for, and _sued_ or chased;\nhis resting-place was called his _ligging_ or _lair_, his scent of\nline of flight, his _fues_. He was spoken of as _soule_ or _soile_ (F.\n_seule_) if unaccompanied by other deer, and in \"_herd with rascal and\nfolly_\" if keeping company with lesser deer.\nBesides many other quaint terms of venery the following were the\ndesignations given to the hart according to his age by:--\n      \"Master of Game.\"      Albans,\" Manwood,          \"Gentleman's\n    1st yr.  A calf.         A calf.                A hinde-calf or calf.\n    2nd  \"   A bullock.      A brocket.             A knobler or knobber.\n    3rd  \"   A brocket.      A spayer, spayard, or  A brocket or brocke.\n    4th  \"   A staggart.     A staggart or stag.    A staggard.\nUntil he was a hart of ten our text tells us he was not considered a\nchaseable or warrantable deer. By the above one will see that the\n\"Master of Game\" is exceptional in calling a deer of the second year a\nbullock, brocket being the usual term.\nIn old French literature we occasionally find the word _broches_ used\nfor the tines of a deer's antlers; brochet would be the diminutive,\n_i.e._ a small tine, and hence perhaps brocket, a young stag bearing\nsmall tines. Any stag of ten or over if hunted by the king became a\nHart Royal, and if hunted and not taken, but driven out of the forest,\na proclamation was made to warn every one that no person should chase\nor kill the said hart, and he was then a \"Hart Royal proclaimed\"\nAll stags not chaseable, such as young or lean stags and hinds, were\nclassed as folly or rascal.\nA young stag accompanying an old one was called his squire (F.\n_escuyer_).\nHinds also were called by different names from the first to the third\nyear, but the \"Master of Game\" does not give these, nor do any of the\nearliest works. Manwood, Blome, and Cox give the following terms:\nfirst year, a calf; second year, a Hearse or brocket's sister; third\nyear and ever after, a hind. A somewhat similar term was employed in\nFrance to denote a young stag between six months and a year old.\n_Haire_, also spelt _her_ (G. de Champgrand Baudrillard), and\n_Harpaille_, was the term for a herd of young stags and hinds.\n_Hart's Age._--The fable that a stag can live a hundred years which\nthe \"Master of Game\" repeats (p. 34) after G. de F. was not of the\nlatter's invention, but one that had been current for many centuries\nbefore their day.\nHORNS.--When the \"Master of Game\" was written hunting horns were the\ncurved primitive shape of those made from the horns of animals, and\nmost of them probably were still made of the horns of cattle, while\nthose used by the richer gentry and nobles were fashioned from some\nrarer animals' trophy, such as the ibex, or carved of ivory, and some\nwere made of precious metal. But whether of simple horn, ivory, or of\nwood, they were decorated with gold or silver ferrules, rings, and\nmouthpieces, and some being provided with a stopper, could be\nconverted into drinking horns. Unfortunately the \"Master of Game\" does\nnot tell us the material of which horns should be made. He simply says\nhow they should \"be dryve.\" They were to be two spans long (1 ft. 6\nin.), slightly curved so that both ends were raised from three to four\nfingers' breadth above the centre; the larger end or the bell was to\nbe as wide as possible, and the mouthpiece not too small. It was waxed\nthickly or thinly, whichever the huntsman thought produced the best\nsound. What effect the wax had can scarcely be judged, but it was\nevidently considered an improvement, as it is stated that for\nforesters \"mene hornes and unwexid\" are good enough for them. Besides\nthe hunter's horn five different kinds of horns are mentioned in our\nMS.--the bugle, great abbots, ruets, small foresters, and mean horns.\nThe bugle was not the trumpet we now understand by that name, but a\nsimple curved horn, most probably deriving its name from the bugle, as\nthe wild ox was called; although Dryden says from the German word\n_bugel_, a curve or bend. Ruets may have been the name for a much\ncurved or almost circular horn, from French _rouette_, small wheel.\nThe mean horns were probably the medium-sized, shrill-sounding horns\nmade out of wood or bark, known as _m\u00e9nuels_, _menuiaux_, _moienel_,\nA good length for a horn is mentioned as being \"_une paume et demie_\"\n(Perceval, 31,750). It is uncertain whether this length and that given\nby the \"Master of Game\" were measured round the inside of the bend or\nin a straight line between the two extremities. The famous Borstall\nhorn, also known as Nigel's horn, is 2 feet 4 inches long on the\nconvex and 23 inches on the concave bend; the inside measure of the\nbell end being 3 inches in diameter. The size of another noted horn,\n_i.e._ the Pusey horn, is 2 feet 1/2 inch long, the circumference at\nthe widest end being 12 inches. The general length of these horns\nseems to have been somewhere between 18 inches and 2 feet. The\nabove-mentioned specimens were horns of tenure, the first being a\nhunting-, the second a drinking-horn. The Borstall horn is said to\nhave been given by Edward the Confessor to one Nigel, in reward for\nhis killing an immense wild boar, and by this horn he and his\nsuccessors for generations held lands of the crown.\nThe curved horn remained in fashion in England till about the latter\nhalf of the seventeenth century, then a straight one came into use\nabout 1 ft. 6 in. to 2 ft. long, such as we see depicted in Blome. Of\nthis shape, but a few inches shorter, is the hunting-horn still in\nuse in England. The French hunting-horn was used in England in the\neighteenth century, but did not remain long in fashion.\nHUNTING CRIES. We can see that the hunting cries and the language used\nin speaking to the hounds when hunting in the days of the \"Master of\nGame\" were still those brought into Britain by the Normans, and in\nmost instances the words can actually still be recognised as French.\nThere are only a few examples given by him as to the manner a huntsman\nshould speak to his hounds in the stag-hunting chapters, such as:--\n_Ho moy, ho moy, hole, hole, hole_: To encourage the limer when\ndrawing for a stag (p. 166).\n_Cy va, cy va, cy va_: To call the hounds when any signs of the stag\nwere seen (p. 167).\n_Le douce mon amy, le douce_: \"Softly, my friend, softly.\" To the\nhounds when they were uncoupled near to where the stag was supposed to\nbe lying.\n_Sto arere, so howe, so howe_: \"Hark back,\" if the hounds were on a\nwrong scent.\n_Hoo sto, ho sto, mon amy, ho sto_: To harriers drawing for a stag.\n_Oyez, \u00e0 Beaumont, oyez, assemble \u00e0 Beaumont_: \"Hark to Beaumont,\nhark, get to him.\" To the hound of that name who picks up the right\nline, and to bring the other hounds to him.\nIt is in the hare-hunting chapter that we have more of the \"fayre\nwordis of venery,\" and here, if the \"Master of Game\" does not\nslavishly copy Twici, yet he employs the same cries, with a slight\ndifference only in orthography. The \"Boke of St. Albans\" has also most\nof the following:--\n_Hoo arere_: \"Back there.\" When the hounds come too hastily out of the\nkennel.\n_So moun amy atreyt_: Until they come into the field; these two are\nnot given by Twici, but the following are identical in both books:--\n_Hors de couple, avaunt sy avaunt_, and thrice _so howe_: When the\nhounds are uncoupled.\n_Sa sa cy avaunt, cy sa avaunt, sa cy avaunt (avaunt, sire, avaunt_,\nin Twici): Forward, sir, forward.\n_Here how, amy, how amy, and Swef, mon amy, swef_: \"Gently, my friend,\ngently\" (_swef_, from Latin _swavis_), when the hounds draw too fast\nfrom the huntsman.\n_Oyez, \u00e0 Beaumont_ (in Twici: _Oyez, a Beaumont le vaillaunt que il\nquide trover le coward od la courte cowe_): \"Hark to Beaumont the\nvaliant, who thinks to find the coward with the short tail.\"\n_La douce, la il ad este sohowe_: \"Softly, there--here he has been,\"\nif the place where the hare has pastured is seen.\n_Illoeques, illoeques_: \"Here, here,\" if the hounds hunt well on the\nline (_see_ Appendix: Illoeques).\n_Ha sy toutz, cy est il venuz arere, so howe. Sa cy a este so howe. Sa\ncy avaunt_: \"Here, he has gone back. Here he has been. Forward there.\"\nWhen the hare has doubled.\n_La douce amy, il est venuz illoeques, sohowe_: \"Softly, friend, he is\nhere.\" When the hounds hunt well in fields or arable land.\n_La douce, amy, la est il venuz (pur lue segere sohow)_: \"Softly,\nfriend, here he has come to seat himself\" (Mid. Eng., _sege_--a seat.\nLatin, _sedere_).\n_La douce, amy, la il est venuz (pur meyndir)_: \"Here he has been to\nfeed\" (_meyndir_, from Latin _manducare_, _mandere_).\nThe bracketed part of the last two cries are given in the MS. of Twety\nand Gyff., and the following are only in the \"Master of Game\":--\n_Le valliant oyez, oyez who bo bowe_, and then, _Avaunt, assemble,\nassemble, war war, a ha war_, for running riot. _How assamy assamy so\narere so howe bloues acoupler._\nOn seeing the pricking or footing of the hare: _Le voye, le voye_\n(\"The view, the view\").\nIn France, _Tallyho_, or a very similar sounding word, was employed in\nthe early days when the huntsman was sure that the right stag had gone\naway, whether he only knew it by his slot, &c., or whether he had\nviewed him.\nIt was also a call to bring up the hounds when the stag had gone away,\nand at the end of the _cur\u00e9e_, when the huntsman held part of the\nentrails of the deer on a large wooden fork, and the hounds bayed it\n(which was called the _forhu_), the huntsman called out _Tallyho_.\nWe only find _Tallyho_ in comparatively recent English hunting\nliterature and songs--never, so far as I am aware, before the late\nseventeenth century, and it does not occur at all constantly until the\neighteenth century. Neither Turbervile nor Blome nor Cox, in their\nbooks on the various chases, mention such a word, though we find\ninstruction to the huntsman to say \"Hark to him,\" \"Hark forward,\"\n\"Hark back,\" and \"To him, to him\"; besides the inevitable \"So how\nsohow.\" Neither in Twici, \"Master of Game,\" \"Boke of St. Albans,\"\nChaucer, or Shakespeare can we find an invigorating _Tallyho_. It\nwould almost appear as if it were a seventeenth century importation\nfrom across the Channel, which is quite possible, for Henry IV. of\nFrance sent in that century three of his best huntsmen, Desprez, de\nBeaumont, and de Saint-Ravy, to the Court of King James I. to teach\nthe royal huntsmen how to hunt the stag in the French way, English\nCourt hunting having degenerated into coursing of stags within the\npark palings.\n_Ta\u00efaut_ in France was used solely in the chase of red, fallow, or roe\ndeer.\nHUNTING MUSIC. In the \"Master of Game,\" as in all the earliest hunting\nliterature, much importance is placed on the huntsman's sounding his\nhorn in the proper manner in order, as Twici says, that \"Each man who\nis around you, who understands Hunting, can know in which point you\nare in your sport by your blowing.\" The author of \"Master of Game\" (p.\n170) says he will give us \"a chapter which is all of blowing,\" but he\nomitted to fulfil this promise, so that we have only such information\nas we can gather in his chapters on stag and hare-hunting. The\ndifferences in the signals were occasioned by the length of the sound\nor note, and the intervals between each. Twici expresses these notes\nin syllables, such as _trout_, _trout_, _trourourout_. The first of\nthese would be single notes, with an interval between them, blown\nprobably with a separate breath or wind for each; the latter would be\nthree notes blown without interval and with a single breath or wind.\nThe principal sounds on the hunting horn were named as follows:--\nA _Moot_ or _Mote_, a single note, which might be sounded long or\nshort.\nA _Recheat_. To recheat, Twici says, \"blow in this manner,\n_trourourourout, trourourourout, trourourourout_,\" therefore a\nfour-syllabled sound succeeded by an interval, blown three times. In\nthe \"Master of Game\" we find the recheat preceded or followed by a\nmoot, the most constantly recurring melody. When the limer has moved\nthe stag, and the huntsman sees him go away, he was to blow a moot and\nrecheat. If the stag is moved but not viewed, and the huntsman knows\nonly by the slot that it is his stag that has gone away, he is to\nrecheat without the moot, for that was only to be blown when the stag\nwas seen. When the hounds are at fault and any one finds the slot of\nthe deer, he should recheat \"in the rightes and blow a long moot for\nthe lymerer,\" or if he thinks he sees the hunted stag, he should blow\na moot and recheat, and after that blow two moots for the hounds.\nThe _Forlonge_. A signal that the stag had got away far ahead of the\nhounds or that these had distanced some or all of the huntsmen (_see_\nAppendix: Forlonge).\nThe _Perfect_ or _Parfit_. Twici says it began by \"a moot and then\n_trourourout, trout, trout, trourourout, trourourout, trourourout,\ntrout, trout, trourourourout_,\" \"and then to commence by another moot\nagain, and so you ought to blow three times. And to commence by a moot\nand to finish by a moot.\" This was only blown when the hounds were\nhunting the right line (_see_ Appendix: Parfet).\nThe _Prise_. Twici says, blow four moots for the taking of the deer.\nAccording to the \"Master of Game,\" \"the prise or coupling up\" was to\nbe blown by the chief personage of the hunt only, after the quarry. It\nwas only blown when the deer had been slain by strength, or hunted,\nand not when shot or coursed. He was to blow four moots, wait a short\ninterval (half an Ave Maria), and blow another four notes a little\nlonger than the first four.\nThe _Men\u00e9e_. Twici says the _Men\u00e9e_ should only be blown for the hart,\nthe boar, the wolf, and the male wolf, but he does not give us any\nanalysis of this melody. In the \"Master of Game\" we are told that the\n_Men\u00e9e_ was blown at the hall-door on the return of the huntsmen. The\nMaster first blew four moots alone, then at the end of the four moots\nthe others joined him in blowing, and they all continued keeping time\ntogether (_see_ Appendix: Men\u00e9e).\nThe _Mort_ or _Death_ was another sound of the horn, but we have no\ndescription of the notes. Perhaps it is synonymous with the _Prise_.\nThe _Stroke_ must have been another grouping of short and long notes,\nbut of this we have no record.\nHardouin de Fontaines Guerin wrote a poem on the chase chiefly\nconcerning the different manners of blowing such as obtained in his\nnative country the provinces of Anjou and Maine. The poem was\nillustrated with fourteen miniatures showing the notes to be blown on\nas many different occasions during stag-hunting.\nThe notes are written in little squares: [**white] denoting a long\nnote; [**black] a short note; [**white][**white] a note of two long\nsyllables; [**black][**black] a note of two short syllables;\n[**black][**white][**white] a note of one short and two long\nsyllables; and [**black][**white][**white][**black][**black] a note of\none short, two long, and two short syllables. Of these six notes\ncombinations were made for all the signals to be blown.\nILLOEQUES, \"here in this place,\" from the L. _illo loco_. Sometimes it\nis spelt _illecques_, _iluec_, _illosques_, &c. It is constantly met\nwith in Anglo-Norman, and the Provence dialects (Botman, pp. 90, 242;\nT. M., pp. 31, 93, 142; Roy Modus, lxix.; and in the will of the Duke\nof York, Nichols). It has been suggested that it is the origin of the\nfamiliar _yoicks_. In the \"Boke of St. Albans\" in the verses on\nhare-hunting it also occurs.\n[Illustration: FROM HARDOUIN DE FONTAINES GUERIN'S WORK, WRITTEN IN\nJOPEYE, synonymous with _jupper_, which, according to Cotgrave, is an\nold word signifying \"to whoot, showt, crie out alowd.\" The French word\n_juper_, _jupper_, also spelt _joppeir_, had the same meaning, and we\nfind it employed in the \"Chace dou cerf\" for a halloa in hunting in a\nsimilar way to _jopeye_ in our text:\n    \"_Et puis juppe ou corne i. lonc mot\n    Chaucuns en a joie qui l'ot._\"\nIn the sense it is used in our \"Master of Game\" (p. 185) it means to\nhalloa to the hounds, to encourage them with the voice.\nKENETTES, small hounds. Kenet is a diminutive form of the\nNorman-French _kenet_, and the O. F. _chen_, _cienetes_, _chenet_, a\ndog: _i veneour a ii cienetes, Ne mie grans mais petitetes, Et plus\nblans que n'est flors d'espine_ (Percival, 22,895). Derived from the\nLatin _canis_ (_see_ Appendix: Harriers).\nLIGGING, a bed, a resting-place, a lair. From O. Eng. _licgan_,\n_licgean_, Goth. _ligan_, lie, lie down. The ligging of the hart was\nwhat we now call his lair, spelt also layer. In our MS. it is used for\nthe dwelling of a wild cat (p. 71).\nThis old expression is not entirely obsolete, but can be heard still\namong the country people of the northern counties of England.\nLIMER, lymer; the name given to a scenting-hound which was held in a\nliam or leash whilst tracking the game. Limers never were any distinct\nbreed of hounds, but, of course, some breeds produced better limers\nthan others (De Noirmont, vol. ii. p. 350).\nA dog used as a limer had to be keen on the scent, staunch on the\nline, not too fast, and was taught to run mute, for if the exact\nwhereabouts of any game had to be discovered, it would have been\nimpossible, if the hound gave tongue or challenged while on the scent.\nA likely hound was chosen from the kennel at an early age, G. de F.\nsays at a year old (p. 157), and from that time accompanied his\nmaster, sleeping in his room, and being taught to obey him. He was\ncontinually taken out by his master with collar and liam and\nencouraged to follow the scent of hinds and of stags and other beasts,\nand punished should he venture to acknowledge the scent of any animal\nhe was not being entered to, or should he open on finding or following\nthe line.\nIn England as well as on the Continent the huntsman went out in the\nearly morning to track the game to be hunted to its lair, or den,\nbefore the pack and huntsmen came into the field. Deer, wild boar,\nbear and wolves were thus harboured by means of a limer. Twici makes\nthe apprentice huntsman ask: \"Now I wish to know how many of the\nbeasts are moved by the lymer, and how many of the beasts are found by\nbraches?--Sir, all those which are chased are moved by a lymer, and\nall those which are hunted up (_enquillez_) are found by the braches\"\n(Twici, p. 12; _see_ Appendix: Acquillez).\nLimers were not only employed when a warrantable stag was to be hunted\nby hounds, but a huntsman going out with his bow or cross-bow would\nhave his brachet on a liam and let him hunt up the quarry he wished to\nshoot (_see_ Appendix: Bercelet). Also, the day before one of the\nlarge battues for big game, the limers would be taken out to ascertain\nwhat game there was in the district to be driven.\nA liam, _lyome_, or _lyame_, was a rope made of silk or leather by\nwhich hounds were led, from O. F. _liamen_, a strap or line, Latin\n_ligamen_. This strap was fastened to the collar by a swivel, and both\ncollar and liams were often very gorgeous. We read of \"A lyame of\nwhite silk with collar of white vellat embrawdered with perles, the\nswivell of silver.\" \"Dog collors of crymson vellat with VI lyhams of\nwhite leather.\" \"A lieme of grene and white silke.\" \"Three lyames and\ncolors with tirrett of silver and quilt\" (Madden, \"Expenses of\nPrincess Mary\").\nA hound was said to carry his liam well when he just kept it at proper\ntension, not straining it, for that would show that he was of too\neager temperament, and likely to overshoot the line; if he trailed his\nliam on the ground, it showed that he was slack or unwilling\n(D'Yauville).\nAs soon as the stag was \"moved\" the limer's work was over, but only\nfor the time being; his master led him away, the other hounds were\nuncoupled, and the harbourer, mounting his horse and keeping his limer\nwith him, rode as close to the chase as he could, skirting below the\nwind and being careful not to cross the line, but managing to be at\nhand in case the stag should run in company or give the hounds the\nchange. In this case the huntsman had to check the hounds, and wait\nfor the harbourer and limer to come up and unravel the change, and put\nthe pack on the right scent once more.\nThe method of starting the stag with a limer was not done away with in\nFrance until the eighteenth century, although in Normandy a change had\nbeen made previously, and probably in England also. For our author\nsays that some sportsmen even in his time, when impatient, would\nuncouple a few of the hounds in the covert, before the stag had been\nproperly started by the limer, which practice he, however, was not in\nfavour of except under the conditions he mentions.\nThis uncoupling of a few older hounds in covert to start the deer,\ncoupling them again as soon as the deer was on foot, was later called\n_tufting_, and is still customary in Devon and Somerset.\nThe limer was not rewarded with the other hounds; he received his\nreward from the hands of his master before or after the other hounds,\nand after he had bayed the head of the stag.\nWhen not quoting or translating the old text the more modern spelling\nof _li_mer has been used.\nMADNESS. Old Eng. and Mid. Eng. _Woodness_, _wodnesse_, and _wodnyss_;\nmad, _wode_. The seven different sorts of madnesses spoken of by the\n\"Master of Game\" are also mentioned in nearly all subsequent works on\nold hunting dealing with \"sicknesses of hounds.\" They are the hot\nburning madness, running madness, dumb madness, lank madness,\nrheumatic madness or slavering madness, falling madness, sleeping\nmadness.\nThese are mentioned in Roy Modus, and the cure for rabies, of taking\nthe afflicted dog to the sea and letting nine waves wash over him, as\nwell as the cock cure mentioned in our English MS., were both taken by\nGaston from Roy Modus, or both derived them from some common source\n(Roy Modus, fol. xlv. r).\nThe water cure is mentioned also by Albertus Magnus (Alb. Mag., 215, a\nIt seems likely to have been to try the efficacy of this cure that\nKing Edward I. sent some of his hounds to Dover to bathe in the sea,\nthe following account for which is entered in his Wardrobe Accounts:\n\"To John le Berner, going to Dover to bathe six braches by the King's\norder and for staying there for 21 days for his expense 3. 6d\" (6\nEdward I. Quoted from MS. Philipps, 8676).\nThe means of recognising rabies by a cock is also mentioned in the\nrecipe of the eleventh century given by Avicenna (957-1037), and it\nappears again in Vincentius Bellovacensis and is also to be found in\nAlexander Neckham. Although the manner of using the cock for this\npurpose varies, we see by the fact of its being mentioned in different\nworks preceding our MS. that the cock enjoyed some legendary renown\nfor at least a couple of centuries before Gaston (Werth, p. 55).\nNowadays only two varieties of rabies are recognised: furious and dumb\nrabies. The numerous divisions of the old authors were based on\ndifferent stages of the disease and slight variations in the symptoms.\nWhen a dog is attacked with rabies its owner often supposes that the\ndog has a bone in its throat, so that a report of this condition is\nregarded by veterinary surgeons with suspicion. This corresponds with\nthe description in our text of dogs, with their mouths \"somewhat\ngaping, as if they were _enosed_ in their throat.\"\nMASTIFF, from F. _metif_, O. F. _mestif_, M. E. _mastyf_, _mestiv_,\nmixed breed, a mongrel dog (Cent. Dict., Murray). Some etymologists\nhave suggested that the word mastiff was derived from _masethieves_,\nas these dogs protected their master's houses and cattle from thieves\n(Manwood, p. 113). Others again give _mastinus_, i.e. _maison tenant_,\nhouse-dog, as the origin, but the first derivation given of _mestif_,\nmongrel, is the one now generally recognised.\nAlthough it will be quite evident to any one comparing the mastiff\ndepicted in our Plate, p. 122, with any picture of the British mastiff\nthat the two are very different types, we must not therefore conclude\nthat the artist was at fault, but that the French _matin_, which is\nwhat our MS. describes and depicts, was by no means identical with our\npresent English breed of mastiffs, nor even with the old British\nmastiff or bandog. The French _matins_ were generally big, hardy dogs,\nsomewhat light in the body, with long heads, pointed muzzles,\nflattened forehead, and semi-pendant ears; some were rough and others\nsmooth coated.\n_Matins_ were often used for tackling the wild boar when run by other\nhounds, so as to save the more valuable ones when the boar turned to\nbay.\nIn this chase, as well as when they were used to protect their\nmaster's flocks against wolves, huge iron spiked collars were fastened\nround the dog's neck. These spiked collars were very formidable\naffairs; one of very ancient make which I have measures inside nearly\neight inches in diameter, and the forty-eight spikes are an inch long,\nthe whole weighing without the padlock that fastened it together about\ntwo pounds.\nIn England the name Mastiff was not in general use till a much later\ndate, even as late as the end of the eighteenth century, Osbaldiston\nin his Dictionary ignoring the term mastiff, and using, like a true\nSaxon, the old term bandog (Wynn, p. 72). In the seventeenth and\neighteenth centuries the terms were generally synonymous, and it seems\nquite possible that the mastiff of the ancient forest laws was not our\nbandog, but denoted, as in France, any large house-dog capable of\ndefending his master and his master's goods, watching his cattle, and,\nas frequently necessary, powerful enough to attack the depredatory\nwolf or the wild boar. These would in all likelihood be a very mixed\nbreed, and thoroughly justify the name _mestif_ or mongrel.\nCotgrave in his French-English Dictionary gives the following:--\n\"_Mastin_, a mastiue or bandog; a great country curre; also a rude,\nfilthie, currish or cruell fellow.\"\nWe find the word _matin_ in France used as a term of opprobrium, or a\nname of contempt for any ugly or distorted body or a coarse person:\n\"_C'es un matin, un vilain matin._\" Many interesting facts about the\nmastiff have been collected by Jesse in his \"History of the British\nDog,\" but he also makes the mistake of considering that the \"Master of\nGame\" and Turbervile give us the description of the dogs then existing\nin England, whereas these descriptions really relate only to French\nbreeds, although the characteristics may in many cases have tallied\nsufficiently; but in others a dire confusion has resulted from blindly\ncopying from one another.\nMEN\u00c9E, from Latin _minare_, something which is led, a following. This\nword frequently occurs in the medi\u00e6val romances, and usually denoted\npursuit, either in battle or in the hunting field (Borman, p. 37).\nThere are various meanings attached to _men\u00e9e_:--\n1. The line of flight the stag or other game has taken, and _Chacier\nla men\u00e9e_ seems to have meant hunting with horn and hound by scent on\nthe line of flight, in contradiction to the chase with the bow or\ncrossbow, which was called _berser_ (_Le Roman des Loherains_, 106, c.\n30). In G. de F. (p. 157) it is used in the same sense. The meaning\nin which Gaston de Foix uses the word men\u00e9e is explained by him: _Et\npuis se metre apr\u00e8s, et chevauchier men\u00e9e: c'est \u00e0 dire par o\u00f9 les\nchiens et le cerf vont_ (G. de F., pp. 43, 44, 171, 179). See also\n_Chace dou Cerf_ and Hard. de Font. Guer. Edit. Pichon.\n2. The challenge of the hound when on the line. Page 171, we read that\na hunter should know whether the hounds have retrieved their stag by\nthe doubling of their men\u00e9e, _i.e._ the hounds would make more noise\nas soon as they found the scent or line of flight of the stag they\nwere chasing. _Men\u00e9e_ evidently meant the sound made by the hound when\nactually following the scent, not when baying the game. Later the\nsense seems to have been widened, and a musical hound was said to have\n_la men\u00e9e belle_ (Salnove, p. 246).\n3. A note sounded on a horn (_see_ Appendix: Hunting Music). It was\nthe signal that the deer was in full flight. It appears to be used in\nTwici to signify the horn-signal blown when the hounds are on the\nscent of hart, boar or wolf, to press the hounds onwards (Twici, p.\n23). This author says one cannot blow the men\u00e9e for the hare, because\nit is at one time female and another male, and to this Dryden in his\nnotes remarks that Twici is perfectly right in saying a man ought not\nto blow the men\u00e9e for a hare; for as every one knows, it is but a rare\noccurrence for a hare to go straight on end like a fox, for they\ncommonly double and run rings, in which case if the hounds were\npressed, they would over-run the scent and probably lose the hare. But\nhe does not explain why Twici says if it were always male the men\u00e9e\ncould be blown at it as at other beasts, such as the hart, the boar,\nand the wolf. Is it that a male hare will occasionally run a long,\nstraight course of several miles, but that the female runs smaller\nrings and more constantly retraces her steps, and therefore the men\u00e9e\ncould never be blown at her?\n4. Men\u00e9e was also used in the sense of a signal on a horn.\nThe \"Master of Game\" says the _men\u00e9es_ should be sounded on the return\nof the huntsman at the hall or cellar door (p. 179). There was a\ncurious old custom which occasioned the blowing of the horn in\nWestminster Abbey. Two _men\u00e9es_ were blown at the high altar of the\nAbbey on the delivery there of eight fallow deer which Henry III. had\nby charter granted as a yearly gift to the Abbot of Westminster and\nhis successors.\nMETYNGE, here evidently means meating or feeding. As the \"Master of\nGame\" says: \"or pasturing\" as if the two words were synonymous, as\n_metinge_ also was Mid. Eng. for _measure_, it might have been a deer\nof \"high measure and pasturing.\" But anyhow the two were practically\nidentical, for as Twici says: \"Harts which are of good pasture. For\nthe head grows according to the pasture; good or otherwise.\" See\nbelow: MEUTE.\nMEUTE had several meanings in Old French venery.\n1. The \"Master of Game\" translated G. de F.'s \"grant cerf\" as a hart\nof high feeding or pasture. But he omitted to render the following\npassage: \"_Et s'il est de bonne meute, allons le laisser courre._\" The\n\"_bonne meute_\" is not translated by \"high meating.\" It was an\nexpression in use to indicate whether the stag was in good company or\nnot. If a warrantable stag was accompanied by one or two large stags\nhe was termed \"_Un cerf de bonne mute_\" (or _meute_), but if hinds and\nyoung stags (rascal) were with him he was designated as a \"_cerf de\nmauvaise mute_.\" In Roy Modus we read: \"_La premi\u00e8re est de savoir\ns'il est de bonne mute._\"\nPerhaps _meute_ when used in this sense was derived from the old\nNorman word _moeta_, _m[=a][=e]ta_, from _m[=o]t_, meet, come\ntogether. There was also an Old Eng. word _metta_ or _gemetta,_\ncompanion.\n2. Meute was also used in another sense which is translated by the\n\"Master of Game\" as _haunts_, probably the place the deer usually\nmoves in. G. says: \"_Il prendra cong\u00e9 de sa meute_,\" and the \"Master\nof Game\" has: \"he leaves his haunts.\" If a deer was harboured in a\ngood country for hunting he was also called \"_En belle meute_\"\n(D'Yauville, voc. _Meute_).\nIt was in this sense that the \"S\u00e9n\u00e9schal de Normandye\" answers the\nquestion of his royal mistress about the stag he himself had harboured\nthat morning; he tells her the stag was _En belle meute et pays fort_.\n3. MEUTE, MUTE, a number of hounds, now called a pack or kennel of\nhounds or a cry of hounds.\nMEW, _Mue_, to shed, cast, or change. \"The hart mews his horns,\" the\ndeer casts his head, or sheds his antlers. From the French _muer_, and\nthe Latin _mutare_, to change, of hawks to moult.\nMOVE, MEU, Meue, mewe, meeve, old forms of move. To start a hart\nsignified to unharbour him, to start him from his lair.\nG. de F. says: _Allons le laisser courre_; but the word _meu_ or\n_meve_ was also used in Old French in the same way as in English.\nTwici says: _Ore vodroi ioe savoir quantez des betes sunt meuz de\nlymer, e quanz des bestes sunt trouez des brachez.... Sire, touz ceaus\nqe sunt enchaces; sunt meuz de lymer. E tous ceaus enquillez sunt\ntrovez de brachez._ (Now I would wish to know how many beasts are\nmoved by a lymer and how many beasts are found by the braches.--Sir,\nall those which are chased are moved by a lymer. And all those which\nare hunted up are found by braches.) (Line 18; Tristan., i. 4337;\nPartonopeus de Blois, 607.)\nMUSE, _Meuse_. An opening in a fence through which a hare or other\nanimal is accustomed to pass. An old proverb says: \"'Tis as hard to\nfind a hare without a muse, as a woman without scuse.\"\n\"A hare will pass by the same muses until her death or escape\" (Blome,\nNUMBLES. M. E. _nombles_, _noumbles_; O. F. _nombles_. The parts of a\ndeer between the thighs, that is to say, the liver and kidneys and\nentrails. Part, and sometimes the whole of the numbles were considered\nthe right of the huntsman; sometimes the huntsman only got the\nkidneys, and the rest was put aside with the tit-bits reserved for the\nKing or chief personage (Turb., pp. 128-129). Numbles by loss of the\ninitial letter became umbles (Harrison, vol. i. p. 309), and was\nsometimes written humbles, whence came \"humble pie,\" now only\nassociated with the word humble. Humble pie was a pie made of the\numbles or numbles of the deer, and formerly at hunting feasts was set\nbefore the huntsman and his followers.\nOTTER. The Duke of York does not tell us anything of the chase of the\nOtter, but merely refers one at the end of the chapter on \"The Nature\nof the Otter\" to Milbourne, the King's Otter-hunter, for more\ninformation and says, \"as of all other vermin I speak not\" (p. 73).\nThe Otter was evidently beneath his notice, as being neither regarded\nas a beast of venery nor of the chase (Twety and Gyfford, Brit. Mus.\nMS. Vesp. B. XII.). But the very fact that the King had an\nOtter-hunter shows that it was a beast not altogether despised,\nalthough probably hunted more for the value of its skin and for the\nprotection of the fish than for the sport.\nThe Milbourne referred to by the Duke of York can scarcely be any\nother than the William Melbourne we find mentioned in Henry IV.'s\nreign as \"Valet of our Otter-hounds\" (Privy Seal, 674/6456, Feb. 18,\nPARFET, _the perfect_. Twici says: _Une autre chasce il y ad qe homme\nappele le parfet. Dunkes covient il qe vous corneez en autre\nmaneree.... E isse chescun homme qest en tour vous, que siet de\nvenerie puet conustre en quel point vous estes en vostre dedut par\nvostre corneer_ (line 111).\nFrom comparing the various places where the word _parfait_ is employed\nin connection with hunting, it may be concluded that to hunt the\n\"_Parfet_\" was when the hounds were on the line of the right stag, to\nsound the \"_Parfet_\" was to blow the notes that indicated the hounds\nwere hunting the right line. Dryden in his notes to Twici suggests\nthat the chase of the _parfet_ was \"in opposition to the chase of the\n_Forloyng_,\" that is, when the pack run well together \"jostling in\nclose array\" (Twici, p. 43). But Perfect in the O. F. works seems to\nus to invariably be used, as already said, to indicate that the hounds\nhave not taken the change, but are staunch to the right scent. Jacques\nde Br\u00e9z\u00e9 says the stag he is hunting joins two great stags, but\nalthough some of the hounds ran silent for awhile, they still\ncontinued staunch to their line, and here he uses the word \"_parfait_\"\n(Sen. de Nor., p. 13).\nModus also uses it in this sense: _Les chiens qui viennent cha\u00e7ant\napr\u00e8s le parfait_ (fol. xix. v). And what is most conclusive is the\nsense given to it in our text: \"Should blow to him again the parfyt so\nthat he were in his rightes and ellys nought,\" _i.e._ the parfyt\nshould only be blown if the hound was on the right line (p. 174).\nPARFYTIERES, the name given in the \"Master of Game\" to the last relay\nof hounds uncoupled during the chase of the stag. First came the\n\"_vaunt chase_,\" and then the \"_midel_,\" and then the \"_parfytieres_.\"\nThey may have been so called from being the last hounds to be\nuncoupled, being those that completed or perfected the pack--_i.e._\nperfecters, or this relay may have derived its name from being\ncomposed of some of the staunchest hounds from the kennel, those not\nlikely to follow any but the right line or the _parfyt_. It was\ncustomary in the old days to keep some of the slower and staunchest\nhounds in the last relay, and to cast them only when a stag nearing\nits end rused and foiled, and sought by every means to shake off his\npersecutors (_see_ Appendix: Relays). G. de F. gives the names of the\nthree relays simply as _La premi\u00e8re bataille_, _la seconde_, and _la\ntierce_ (p. 175).\nPOMELED; spotted, from O. F. _pomel\u00e9_, spotted like an apple. The\nyoung of the roedeer are born with a reddish brown coat with white\nspots, which the \"Master of Game\" calls _pomeled_. This term was also\nfrequently used in Ang.-N., O. F., and in the dog-Latin of our ancient\nrecords to describe a flea-bitten or dappled horse. \"_His hakenei that\nwas all pomeli gris_\" (Strat.). \"_Pommeli liardus, gris pommele, Uno\nequo liardo pomele_\" (Obs. Ward. Acc. 28, Ed. I.). G. de F. does not\nuse this word in describing the young of the roedeer, but says they\nare born \"_eschaquettes_\" (p. 40).\nRACHES; _ratches_ or _racches_, a dog that hunts by scent. A.-S.\n_raecc_, a hound, and O. F. and Ang.-N. _brache_, _brachet_, _bracon_,\n_braquet_; Ger. _bracken_. Ang.-Lat., _brachetus_, _bracketus_.\nRaches were scenting hounds hunting in a pack, later called \"running\nhounds,\" and then simply hounds. Although raches or brachets are\nfrequently mentioned in the O. F. and Ang.-N. metrical romances, and\nin various early documents, we have never found any description of\nthem, but can only gather what they were from the uses they were put\nto. We find that the bracco was used by the early German tribes to\ntrack criminals, therefore they were scenting hounds. There is plenty\nof evidence that they were used for stag, wild boar, and buck hunting\nduring the Middle Ages. They were coupled together and led by a\n_berner_ or _bracennier_ or _braconnier. Braconnier_ now means\npoacher, but this is only the later meaning; originally braconnier was\nthe leader of the bracos, or huntsman (Daurel, p. 337; Bangert, p.\nWe gather that these brachets of the early Middle Ages were small\nhounds, sometimes entirely white, but generally white with black\nmarkings. Sometimes they were mottled (_bracet mautr\u00e9_). One\ndescription of a _braces corant_ says this hound was as white as a\nnut, with black ears, a black mark on the right flank, and flecked\nwith black (Blancadin, 1271; Perc. 17,555, 22,585; Tristan M., 1475,\nIn the early days in England we find that braches were used to hunt up\nsuch smaller game as was not unharboured or dislodged by the limer.\nTwici says: \"_Sire, touz ceaus qe sunt enchaces, sunt meuz de lymer. E\ntous ceaus enquillez sunt trovez de brachez_\" (_see_ Appendix:\nAcquillez), _i.e._ All beasts that are enchased are moved by a limer,\nand all those that are hunted up are found by braches (Twici, pp. 2,\n12). Raches are mentioned in the \"Boke of St. Albans\" among the\n\"_Dyvers manere of houndes_,\" and the apprentice to venery is told he\nshould speak of \"A mute of houndes, a kenell of rachys.\" He is also\ninformed that the hart, the buck, and the boar should be started by a\nlimer, and that all \"other bestes that huntyd shall be sought for and\nfound by Ratches so free.\" John Hardyng in his Chronicle, speaking of\nan inroad into Scotland by Edward IV., in whose reign he was yet\nliving, said, \"And take Kennetes and Ratches with you and seeke oute\nall the forest with houndes and hornes as Kynge Edwarde with the long\nshanks dide.\" In the \"Squyer of Low degree\" we read that the huntsman\ncame with his bugles \"and seven score raches at his rechase.\"\nRESEEYUOUR; the word the most approaching this to be found in any\ndictionary is under the head of receiver, M. E. _receyvour_, one who,\nor that which receives. The _reseeyuours_ were most likely those\ngreyhounds who received the game, _i.e._ pulled it down after it had\nbeen chased. We see in our text that _teasers_ and _reseeyuours_ are\nmentioned together (p. 198). The former were light, swift greyhounds;\nthese were probably slipped first; and the latter (Shirley MS. spells\n_resteynours_) were the heavy greyhounds slipped last, and capable of\npulling down a big stag. De Noirmont tells us: _Ces derniers \u00e9taient\nsurnomm\u00e9s receveours ou receveurs_ (ii. p. 426, and G. de F., p. 177).\nRELAYS. In the early days of venery the whole pack was not allowed to\nhunt at the commencement of the chase. After the stag had been started\nfrom his lair by a limer, some hounds were uncoupled and laid on, the\nrest being divided off into relays, which were posted in charge of one\nor more _berners_ along the probable line of the stag, and were\nuncoupled when the hunted stag and the hounds already chasing him had\npassed. There were usually three relays, and two to four couples the\nusual number in each relay, though the number of couples depended, of\ncourse, on the size of the hunting establishment and the number of\nhounds in the kennel. G. de F. calls these relays simply, premi\u00e8re,\nseconde, and tierce. The \"Master of Game\" calls the first lot of\nhounds uncoupled the \"finders\" (p. 165), though this seems rather a\nmisnomer, as the harbourer with his limer (_see_ Limer) found and\nstarted the deer. The _vauntchase_ for the first relay, and the\n_midel_ speak for themselves, but we have little clue to the origin of\n_parfitieres_ for the third relay. Were they so called because they\nperfected or completed the chase, or because they were some of the\nstaunchest hounds who could be depended upon to follow the _parfit,\ni.e._ the right line of the stag or animal hunted? (_see_ Appendix:\nParfet). Old authorities seem to have differed in opinion as to\nwhether the staunchest and slowest hounds should have been put in the\nfirst cry or in the last (Roy Modus, fol. xvi.; G. de F., p. 178;\nLav., Chasse \u00e0 Courre, pp. 297-8).\nIn the \"Boke of St. Albans\" we read of the _vauntlay_, _relay_, and\n_allay_. The first was the name given to hounds if they were uncoupled\nand thrown off between the pack and the beast pursued, the relay were\nthe hounds uncoupled after the hounds already hunting had passed by;\nthe _allay_ is held:\n    \"Till all the houndes that be behynd be cum therto\n    Than let thyn houndes all to geder goo\n    That is called an _allay_.\"\nInstructions concerning when relays should be given always warn the\n_berner_ not to let slip the couples till some of the surest hounds\nhave passed on the scent, and till he be sure that the stag they are\nhunting is the right one and not a substitute, _i.e._ one frightened\nand put up by the hunted stag. The \"Master of Game\" is careful also to\nsay: \"Take care that thou _vauntlay_ not\" (p. 169).\nThe discontinuing of relays seemed to have been begun first in\nNormandy and probably about the same time in England.\nIn France the three relays of greyhounds which were used were called\n_Levriers d'estric--i.e._ those which were first let slip; _levriers\nde flanc_, those that attacked from the side; and _levriers de t\u00eate_,\nthose that bar the passage in front of the game or head it, terms that\ncorrespond with our vauntlay, allay, and relay. In the \"Master of\nGame's\" chapter on the wolf these relays of greyhounds are indicated\nRIOT. The \"Master of Game's\" statement on p. 74 that no other wild\nbeast in England is called ryott save the coney only has called forth\nmany suggestions as to the origin of this name being applied to the\nrabbit, and the connection between riot, a noise or brawl, and the\nrabbit. The word riot is represented in M. E. and O. F. by _riote_, in\nProv. _riota_, Ital. _riotta_, and in all these languages it had the\nsame signification, _i.e._ a brawl, a dispute, an uproar, a quarrel\n(Skeat).\nDiez conjectures the F. _riote_ to stand for _rivote_, and refers to\nO. H. G. _riben_, G. _reiben_, to grate, to rub (orig. perhaps to\nrive, to rend). From German, _sich an einem reiben_, to mock, to\nattack, to provoke one; lit. to rub oneself against one.\nRabbit, which is in O. Dutch robbe, has probably the same origin from\n_reiben_.\nThe etymology and connection, if any, between the two words rabbit and\nriot is difficult to determine. It is very probable that the rabbit\nwas called _riot_ from producing a brawling when the hounds came\nacross one. The term \"running _riot_\" may well be derived from a\nhunting phrase.\nROE. The error regarding the October rut into which G. de F. and the\nDuke of York fell was one to which the naturalists of much later times\nsubscribed, for it was left to Dr. Ziegler and to Dr. Bischoff, the\nProfessor of Physiology at Heidelberg, to demonstrate in 1843 the true\nhistory of the gestation of the roe, which for more than a century had\nbeen a hotly disputed problem. On that occasion it was shown with\nscientific positiveness that the true rut of the roe takes place about\nthe end of July or first week in August, and that the ovum does not\nreach the uterus for several months, so that the first development of\nthe embryo does not commence before the middle of December.\nRUNNING HOUNDS AND RACHES (F. _chiens courants_). Under this heading\nwe include all such dogs as hunted by scent in packs, whatever the\ngame they pursued might be. They appear in the early records of our\nkings as _Canes de Mota_, _Canes currentes_, and as _Sousos_ (scenting\nhounds) (Close Rolls 7 John; Mag. Rot. 4, John Rot. 10; 4 Henry III.),\nand are mentioned specifically as _cervericiis_, _deimericiis_, as\n_Heyrectorum_ (harriers) or _canes heirettes_, and foxhounds as\n_gupillerettis_ or _wulpericiis_ (Close Rolls, 15 John).\nThe Anglo-Saxon word _Hundas_, hound, was a general name for any dog;\nthe dog for the chase in Anglo-Saxon times being distinguished by the\nprefix _Ren_, making _ren hund_.\nGradually the word dog superseded the word hound, and the latter was\nonly retained to designate a \"scenting\" dog. Dr. Caius, writing to Dr.\nGesner, remarks in his book: \"Thus much also understand, that as in\nyour language _Hunde_ is the common word, so in our naturall tounge\ndogge is the universall, but _Hunde_ is perticular and a speciall, for\nit signifieth such a dogge onely as serveth to hunt\" (Caius, p. 40).\n(_See_ Appendix: Raches.) Running hounds was a very literal\ntranslation of the French _chiens courants_, and as the descriptive\nchapter given in our text is as literal a rendering from G. de F.\nthere is no information that helps us to piece together the ancestry\nof the modern English hound. We do not know what breed were in the\nroyal kennels in the reign of Henry IV., but probably some descendants\nof those brought to this country by the Normans, about the origin of\nwhich breed nothing seems known.\n_Keep of Hounds._ The usual cost of the keep of a hound at the time of\nour MS. was a halfpenny a day, of a greyhound three farthings, and of\na limer or bloodhound one penny a day.\nHowever for the royal harthounds an allowance of three farthings a day\nwas made for each hound (Q. R. Acc. 1407), and we also find\noccasionally that only a halfpenny a day was made for the keep of a\ngreyhound. In Edward I.'s reign a halfpenny a day was the allowance\nmade for fox- and otter-hounds (14, 15, 31, 32, 34, Edward I. Ward.\nAcc.), and sometimes three farthings and sometimes a halfpenny a day\nfor a greyhound. The Master of Buckhounds was allowed a halfpenny a\nday each for his hounds and greyhounds.\nIn the reign of Richard III. the Master of Harthounds was allowed 3s.\n3d. a day \"for the mete of forty dogs and twelve greyhounds and\nthreepence a day for three limers\" (Rolls of Parl., vol. v. p. 16).\nThe \"Boke of Curtasye\" (fourteenth century, Percy Society, iv. p.\n26), gives us information which quite agrees with the payments entered\nin the Wardrobe and other accounts of the King's hunting\nestablishment. And under the head of _De Pistore_ we find the baker is\ntold to make loaves for the hounds:\n    \"Manchet and chet to make brom bred hard\n    ffor chaundeler and grehoundes and huntes reward.\"\nChet, a word not in use since the seventeenth century, meant wheaten\nbread of the second quality, made of flour more coarsely sifted than\nthat used for manchet, which was the finest quality.\nBrom bread was oaten bread, and probably was very much the same as a\nmodern dog biscuit.\nOne of the ancient feudal rights was that of obtaining bran from the\nvassals for the hounds' bread, known as the right of brennage, from\nbren, bran.\nAlthough bread was the staple food given to hounds, yet they were also\nprovided with meat. At the end of a day's hunting they received a\nportion of the game killed (_see_ Cur\u00e9e), and if this was not\nsufficient or it was not the hunting season game was expressly killed\nfor them. In a decree from King John to William Pratell and the\nBailiffs of Falke de Breaut of the Isle of Ely, the latter are\ncommanded to find bread and paste for the hounds as they may require,\n\"and to let them hunt sometimes in the Bishops chase for the flesh\nupon which they are fed\" (Close Roll, 17 John). In an extract from the\nWardrobe Accounts of 6 Edward I. we find a payment was made of 40s. by\nthe King to one Bernard King for his quarry for two years past on\nwhich the King's dogs had been fed (MS. Phillipps, 8676).\nWe find also that \"Pantryes, Chippinges and broken bread\" were given\nto the hounds, _Chippings_ being frequently mentioned in the royal\naccounts as well as meat for the hounds (Liber Niger Domus Ed. IV.;\nCollection of Ordinances of the Royal Households; Jesse, ii. 125;\nPrivy Purse Expenses Henry VIII. 1529-1532).\nThe cost of the keep of some of the King's hounds were paid for out of\nthe exchequer, others were paid from the revenues and outgoings of\nvarious counties, and an immense number were kept by subjects who held\nland from the crown _by serjeantry_ or _in capite_ of keeping a stated\nnumber of running hounds, greyhounds, and brachets, &c., for the\nKing's use (Blount's Ancient Tenures, Plac. Chron. 12, 13 Ed. I.;\nIssue Roll 25 Henry VI.; Domesday, tom. i. fol. 57 v).\nWe see by the early records of our kings that a pack of hounds did not\nalways remain stationary and hunt within easy reach of their kennels,\nbut were sent from one part of the kingdom to another to hunt where\ngame was most plentiful or where there was most vermin to be\ndestroyed. As early as Edward I.'s reign we find conveyances were\nsometimes provided for hounds when they went on long journeys. Thomas\nde Candore or Candovere and Robert le Sanser (also called Salsar),\nhuntsmen of the stag and buckhounds (Close Rolls 49 Henry III.; 6, 8\nEd. I.), were paid for a horse-litter for fifty-nine days for the use\nof their sixty-six hounds and five limers (Ward. Acc. 14, 15 Ed. I.).\nAnd as late as Henry VIII.'s time the hounds seemed to travel about\nconsiderable distances, as in the Privy Purse expenses of that King\nthe cart covered with canvas for the use of his hounds is a frequently\nrecurring item.\nSCANTILON, O. F. _eschantillon_, Mid. Eng. _Scantilon_, Mod. Eng.\nscantling, mason's rule, a measure; the huntsman is continually told\nto take a _scantilon_, that is, a measure, of the slot or footprint of\nthe deer, so as to be able to show it at the meet, that with this\nmeasure and the examination of the droppings which the huntsman was\nalso to bring with him the Master of the Game could judge if the man\nhad harboured a warrantable deer (_see_ Appendix: Slot and Trace).\nSEASONS OF HUNTING. In medi\u00e6val times the consideration for the\nlarder played a far more important part in fixing the seasons for\nhunting wild beasts than it did in later times, the object being to\nkill the game when in the primest condition. Beginning with the--\n_Red deer stag_: according to Dryden's Twici, p. 24 (source not\ngiven), the season began at the Nativity of St. John the Baptist (June\n24), and _ended_ Holyrood Day (September 14). Our text of the \"Master\nof Game\" nowhere expressly states when the stag-hunting begins or\nterminates, but as he speaks of how to judge a hart from its fumes in\nthe month of April and May (p. 30), and further says that harts run\nbest from the \"entry of May into St. John's tide\" (p. 35), we might\ninfer that they were hunted from May on. He also says that the season\nfor hind-hunting begins when the season of the hart ends and lasteth\ntill Lent. But as this part of the book was a mere translation from G.\nde F. it is no certain guide to the hunting seasons in England. The\nStag-hunting season in France, the _cervaison_, as it was called,\nbegan at the _Sainte Croix de Mai_ (May 3rd) and lasted to _la Sainte\nCroix de Septembre_ (Holyrood Day, Sept. 14), the old French saying\nbeing: \"_Mi Mai, mi teste, mi Juin, mi graisse; \u00e0 la Magdeleine\nvenaison pleine_\" (July 22) (Menagier de Paris, ii.). And although the\nstag was probably chiefly hunted in England between Midsummer and the\nmiddle of September, when they are in the best condition, and it was\nconsidered the best time to kill them, they were probably hunted from\nMay on in the early days in England as they were in France. Had this\nnot been customary we imagine the Duke of York would have inserted one\nof his little interpolations in the text he was translating, and\nstated that although the season began in May _beyond the sea_, it only\nbegan later in England.\nIn Twety and Gyfford we read that the \"tyme of grece, begynnyth alle\nway atte the fest of the Nativyte of Saynt Johan baptist.\" Later on,\naccording to Dryden, the season of the stag began two weeks after\nMidsummer (July 8).\n_Red deer hind_, Holyrood Day (Sept. 14) to Candlemas (Feb. 2) (Twici,\np. 24; Man., p. 181). According to others the hind and the doe season\nends on Twelfth-day or Epiphany (Jan. 6).\n_Fallow deer buck._ According to the Forest Laws the season began at\nthe Nativity of St. John (June 24) and ended on Holyrood Day (Sept.\n14). Dryden adds a second date, _i.e._ two weeks after Midsummer, to\nthe former, but does not quote the source.\n_Fallow doe_ was hunted from Holyrood Day (Sept. 14) to Candlemas\n_Roe deer buck_ was hunted from Easter to Michaelmas (Sept. 29).\n_Roe doe_, Michaelmas to Candlemas.\n_Hare._ According to the Forest Laws (Man., 176) the season commenced\nMichaelmas (Sept. 29) and ended at Midsummer (June 24); Dryden in his\nnotes in Twici states that it commenced at Michaelmas and ended at\nCandlemas (Feb. 2), while the \"Boke of St. Albans\" gives the same date\nas the first-named in Manwood. According to the \"Master of Game\" the\nhare seems to have enjoyed no close season, as G. de F.'s assertion\nthat the hunting of the hare \"lasteth all the year\" is also translated\nwithout comment (p. 14): _Et le peut chassier toute l'ann\u00e9e, en\nquelque temps que ce soit quar touzjours sa sayson dure_ (G de F., p.\nIn Twety and Gyfford we also find that \"The hare is alway in season to\nbe chasyd.\"\nIn the sixteenth century in France the hare-hunting season was from\nthe middle of September till the middle of April (Du Fouilloux, p. 51;\nDe Noir., ii. p. 476). In England the same season seems to have been\nobserved (Blome, p. 91).\n_Wild boar._ According to the Forest Laws (Manwood and Twici), the\nboar was hunted from Christmas Day to Candlemas (Feb. 2), but we have\nevidence that boar-hunting usually began earlier. The boar was in his\nprime condition when acorns, beechmast, and chestnuts were plentiful,\nand was considered in season from Michaelmas to St. Martin's Day (Roy\nModus, xxxi.), and by some even from Holyrood Day (Bornam, p. 100;\nPart, de Blois, 525).\nThe huntsmen of King John of England were sent to hunt in the forest\nof Cnappe in order to take two or three boars a day in November. King\nJohn's letter giving instructions on this point to one Rowland Bloet\nis dated 8th November 1215 (Jesse, ii. 32).\n_Wolf._ According to the Forest Laws, in the book already quoted, the\nseason during which the wolf was hunted began at Christmas and ended\nat the Annunciation (March 25), but considering the destruction\nwrought by this beast it is far more likely that it was hunted\nthroughout the year.\n_Fox._ According to the Forest Laws the season opened on Christmas Day\nand ended on March 25, but nevertheless the fox was hunted early in\nthe autumn, for we have it on Twety and Gyfford's authority that \"the\nsesoun of the fox begynneth at the natyvite of owre Lady, and durryth\ntil the Annunciacion\" (Sept. 8 to March 25).\nThe \"Boke of St. Albans\" gives the season of the fox and wolf from the\nNativity to the Annunciation of Our Lady and that of the boar from the\nNativity to the Purification of Our Lady. Manwood and other accepted\nauthorities quote the above as alluding to the Nativity of Christ,\nwhereas the Nativity of Our Lady, Sept. 8, was intended, thereby\ncreating some confusion.\nAccording to the Wardrobe Accounts of Edward I. the foxhunting season\nbegan on 1st September (Ward. Acc. Ed. I. 1299-1300).\nNo doubt one of the reasons why the fox was not hunted earlier in the\nyear was on account of the fur, which was of course of less use or\nvalue if obtained in summer.\n_Otter._ The Forest Laws give the season as from Shrove Tide (Feb. 22)\nto Midsummer (June 24), but we find that in King John's reign the\notter was hunted in July (Close Rolls 14 John I.).\n_Martin_, _badger_, _and rabbit_ were hunted at all seasons of the\nyear.\nSNARES. No work dealing with the chase of wild animals in medi\u00e6val\ntimes would be complete were it to omit all reference to snares,\ntraps, gins, pitfalls, and other devices to take game other than by\nhunting. The \"Master of Game\" mentions the subject but briefly,\nsaying, \"Truly I trow no good hunter would slay them so for no good,\"\nbut \"Gaston Ph[oe]bus\" contains seventeen short chapters in which the\nauthor as well as the miniaturist describe the various contrivances\nthen in use, although the same disdain of these unsportsmanlike\nmethods is expressed by G. de F. that marks the Duke of York's pages.\nIn the first edition of the present work will be found descriptions of\nthe principal snares used in the Middle Ages.\nSPANIEL. It is difficult to say at what date these dogs were first\nintroduced into our country; we only know that by the second half of\nthe sixteenth century spaniels were a common dog in England. In Dr.\nCaius's time the breed was \"in full being.\" He mentions land spaniels,\nsetters, and water spaniels, besides the small spaniels which were\nkept as pet and lap dogs. That the breed was not then a recent\nimportation we may infer from the fact that, when speaking of the\nwater spaniel and giving the derivation of the name, Dr. Caius says:\n\"Not that England wanted suche kinde of dogges (for they are naturally\nbred and ingendered in this country). But because they beare the\ngeneral and common name of these dogs synce the time when they were\nfirst brought over out of Spaine.\"\nThe chapter in the \"Master of Game\" on this dog, being translated\nfrom G. de F., unfortunately throws no light on the history of the\nspaniel in England, although we imagine that, had there been no such\nhounds in our island at the time, the Duke would have made some such\nremark as he has in other parts of his book of their being a \"manner\nof\" hound as \"men have beyond the sea, but not as we have here in\nEngland.\"\nIn his time the spaniel had enjoyed popularity in France for some two\ncenturies, and there was such continual communication between France\nand England in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries that it would\nhave been indeed strange if this most useful dog for the then\nfavourite and universal sport of hawking had not been brought to\nEngland long before his time. We may conclude that the \"gentle hounds\nfor the hawk\" of which he speaks in his Prologue were not spaniels.\nSPAY. The usual meaning of this word (castrating females) given in all\ndictionaries is clearly inapplicable on this occasion (p. 174), where\nit undoubtedly means killing a stag with a sword, probably derived\nfrom the Italian _spada_. When the velvet was once off the antlers the\nstag at bay was usually despatched with the bow, for it was then\ndangerous to approach him close enough to do so with the sword. When\nachieved by bold hunters, as it occasionally was, it was accounted a\nfeat of skill and courage.\nSTABLES. O. F. _establie_, a garrison, a station. Huntsmen and\nkennelmen with hounds in leash, whose duty it was to take up a post or\nstand assigned to them during the chase, were called stables. We have\n_Stabilitiones venationis_ that are mentioned in Domesday (i. fol. 56b\nand fol. 252). In Ellis's introduction to Domesday he says:\n\"_Stabilitio_ meant stalling the deer. To drive the Deer and other\nGame from all quarters to the centre of a gradually contracted circle\nwhere they were compelled to stand, was _stabilitio_.\" Malmesbury,\nScriptores, post Bedam, edit. 1596, p. 44, speaking of the mildness of\nEdward the Confessor's temper, says, \"_Dum quadam vice venatum isset,\net agrestis quidam Stabulata illa, quibus in casses cervi urgentur,\nconfudisset, ille sua nobili percitus ira, per Deum, inquit, et matrem\nejus tantundem tibi nocebo, si potero_\" (Ellis, i. 112).\nWe see, however, at a later date from Twici and the \"Master of Game\"\nthat the watchers or stables they allude to were stationary--and did\nnot drive the game as described in above.\nThese stations of huntsmen and hounds were placed at intervals round\nthe quarter of the forest to be driven or hunted in with hounds to\nmove the game, so that the hounds could be slipped at any game\nescaping; sometimes they were to make a noise, and thus blench or head\nthe game back. In French such a chase was called a _Chasse \u00e0 t\u00eetre_\n(Lav. xxviii.), the word _t\u00eetre_ meaning net or tape, but in this case\nused figuratively. Our \"Master of Game\" evidently placed these\nstations to keep the game within the boundaries so as to force it to\npass the stand of the King. Twici describes these stations of\nhuntsmen, using the word _establie_. \"The bounds are those which are\nset up of archers, and of greyhounds (_lefrers et de establie_) and\nwatchers, and on that account I have blown one moot and recheated on\nthe hounds. You hunter, do you wish to follow the chase? Yes, if that\nbeast should be one that is hunted up (_enquillee_), or chased I will\nfollow it. If so it should happen that the hounds should be gone out\nof bounds then I wish to blow a moot and stroke after my hounds to\nhave them back\" (Twici, p. 6).\nIt was the duty of certain tenants to attend the King's hunts and act\nas part of the stable. In Hereford one person went from each house to\nthe stand or station in the wood at the time of the survey (Gen.\nIntroduction Domesday, Ellis, i. 195). From Shrewsbury the principal\nburgesses who had horses attended the King when he went hunting, and\nthe sheriff sent thirty-six men on foot to the deer-stand while the\nKing remained there.\n_Stable-stand_ was the place where these _stables_ were posted or\n\"set,\" and the word was also used to denote the place where archers\nwere posted to shoot at driven game. Such stands were raised platforms\nin some drive or on some boundary of the forest, sometimes erected\nbetween the branches of a tree, so that the sportsman could be well\nhidden. A good woodcut of what was probably intended to represent a\n\"stand\" is in the first edition of Turbervile's \"Arte of Venerie,\"\nrepresenting Queen Elizabeth receiving her huntsman's report.\nThere is no mention made of raised stands in our text, but with or\nwithout such erections the position taken up by the shooters to await\nthe game was called his _standing_ or _tryste_, and a bower of\nbranches was made, to shelter the occupant from sun and rain, as well\nas to hide him from the game. Such arbours were called _Berceau_ or\n_Berceil_ in Old French, from the word _berser_, to shoot with a bow\nand arrow; they were also called _ramiers_ and _folies_, from rames or\nbranches, and folia, leaves, with which they were made or disguised\nManwood tells us that _Stable-stand_ was one of four \"manners in which\nif a man were found, in the forest, he could be arrested as a poacher\nor trespasser,\" and says: \"Stable-stand is where one is found at his\nstanding ready to shoot at any Deer, or standing close by a tree with\nGreyhounds in his leash ready to let slip\" (Man., p. 193).\nSTANKES, or layes; tanks or pools, large meers. Gaston says: _Estancs\net autres mares ou marrh\u00e9s_ (G. de F., p. 21). Stank house was a\nmoated house. A ditch or moat filled with water was called a tank.\nTACHE, or tecche, Mid. Eng. for a habit, especially a bad habit, vice,\nfreak, caprice, behaviour, from the O. F. _tache_, a spot, a stain, or\nblemish; also a disgrace, a blot on a man's good name. In the older\nuse it was applied both to good as well as bad qualities, as in our\ntext.\nTAW, to makes hides into leather; tawer, the maker of white leather.\nIn the fourteenth and early fifteenth centuries, in the days of the\nstrict guilds, a sharp line was drawn between tawers and tanners, and\na tawer was not allowed to tan nor a tanner to taw (Wylie, vol. iii.\np. 195). No tawers were allowed to live in the Forest according to the\nancient forest laws.\n\"If any white Tawer live in a Forest, he shall be removed and pay a\nFine, for they are the common dressers of skins of stolen deer\" (Itin.\nLanc. fol. 7, quoted by Manwood, p. 161).\nTEAZER, or _teaser_. \"A kind of mongrel greyhound whose business is to\ndrive away the deer before the Greyhounds are slipt,\" is the\ndefinition given by Blome (p. 96). These dogs were used to hunt up the\ngame also when the deer was to be shot with the bow. The sportsmen\nwould be standing at their trysts or stable-stand in some alley or\nglade of the wood, and the hounds be put into the covert or park \"_to\ntease them forth_.\"\nTRACE, slot, or footprint of deer. In O. F. and Ang.-N. literature the\nword trace seems to have been used indifferently for the track of the\nstag, wild boar, or any game (Borman, notes 147, 236, 237). G. de F.\nexpressly says that the footprint of the deer should not be called\n_trace_ but _voyes_ or _pi\u00e9s_ (view or foot), yet the \"Master of Game\"\nin his rendering says: \"Of the hart ye shall say 'trace,'\" so\nevidently that was the proper sporting term in England at the time.\nWhen slot entirely superseded the word trace amongst sportsmen it is\ndifficult to determine. Turbervile uses slot, and in the beginning of\nthe seventeenth century it seems the general term for the footprint of\ndeer (Man., p. 180; Stuart Glossary, vol. ii.; Blome, p. 76). Slot, it\nmay be contended, is as old a word as trace, but in Mid. Eng. it was\nemployed as a general term for a foot-track or marking of any animal.\nThe trace or slot was one of the signs of a stag, that is the mark by\nwhich an experienced huntsman could recognise the age, size, and sex\nof the deer.\nThe old stag leaves a blunter print with a wider heel than a hind, but\nit is difficult to distinguish the slot of a hind from that of a young\nstag. Although the latter has invariably a bigger heel and makes\ndeeper marks with his dewclaws, yet his toes are narrow and pointed,\ntheir edges are sharp, and the distance between his steps is somewhat\nunequal, all of which may lead his slotting to be mistaken for the\ntracks of a hind. \"He has found what he wanted,\" says Dr. Collyns,\nwhen speaking of the harbourer, \"the rounded track, the blunted toe\npoint, the widespread mark, the fresh slot, in short, of a stag\"\n(\"Chase of the Red Deer\").\nThe huntsman of old used to consider that any slot into which four\nfingers could be placed with ease belonged to a warrantable stag (some\ndeclared a stag of ten). That would mean that the slot would be about\nthree inches wide, if not more. I believe two and a half inches is\nconsidered a fair measurement for mark of the heel by Devonshire\nstag-hunters, who alone in England concern themselves with the\ndifferences in the slot, as they only chase the wild deer. No such\nwoodcraft is necessary for the chase of the carted deer, and as long\nas the master and huntsman can distinguish the footprint of a deer\nfrom that of any other animal, that is all that is required of them in\nthis matter. The stepping or gait of a stag is also a sign that was\ntaken into consideration. The old stag walks more equally, and\ngenerally places the point of his hind feet in the heel of his fore\nfeet. The gait of a hind is more uncertain; it is said she misprints,\nthat is sometimes the hind foot will be placed beside the fore foot,\nsometimes inside or in front of it. She is not even so regular in her\ngait as a young stag, unless she is with fawn, when she will place\nher hind feet constantly outside her fore feet. A hind walks with\nwide-spreading claws, so does a young stag with his fore feet, but\nthose of his hind feet will be closed. The larger the print of the\nfore feet are in comparison to the hind feet the older the stag.\nThe underneath edge of the claws round the hollow of the sole was\ncalled the _esponde_ (sponde, edge or border). In older stags they\nwere blunter and more worn, and in hinds and younger deer sharper,\nunless indeed the stag inhabited a damp and mossy country, where the\n_esponde_ would not be so much worn down as if he lived on a rocky or\nFortescue, p. 133). And thus did the woodmen of old study the book of\nnature, which told them all they wished to know, and found for them\nbetter illustrations than any art could give.\nTRYST, in the language of sport, was the place or stand where the\nhunter took up his position to await the game he wished to shoot. The\ngame might be driven to him by hounds, or he might so place himself as\nto shoot as the game went to and from their lair to their pasturing\n(_see_ Appendix: Stables and Stable-stand). In French it was called\nshooting _\u00e0 l'affut_, from _ad fustem_, near the wood, because the\nshooter leant his back to, or hid behind a tree, so that the game\nshould not see him.\nIn our MS. we are told that Alaunts are good for hunting the wild boar\nwhether it be with greyhounds, at the \"tryst,\" or with running hounds\nat bay within the covert. The tryst here would be the place where a\nman would be stationed to slip the dogs at the wild boar as soon as he\nbroke covert, or after the huntsman had wounded the boar with a shot\nfrom his long or cross-bow (p. 118).\nVELTRES, _velteres_, _veltrai_. A dog used for the chase, a hound.\nProbably derived from the Gaelic words _ver_, large or long, and\n_traith_, a step or course, _vertragus_ being the name by which\naccording to Arian, the Gauls designated a swift hound (Blanc, 52).\nWANLACE. Winding in the chase (Halliwell). In the sentence in which\nthis word is used in the chapter on the Mastiff (p. 122) we are told\nthat some of these dogs \"fallen to be berslettis and also to bring\nwell and fast a wanlace about.\" Which probably means that some of\nthese dogs become shooting dogs, and could hunt up the game to the\nshooter well and fast by ranging or circling. _Wanlasour_ is an\nobsolete name for one who drives game (Strat.).\nIn Brit. Mus. MS. Lansdowne 285 there is an interesting reference to\nsetting the forest \"with archers or with Greyhounds or with\nWanlassours.\"\nWILD BOAR. These animals were denizens of the British forests from the\nmost remote ages, and probably were still numerous there at the time\nour MS. was penned. For although the Duke of York has only translated\none of the eleven chapters relating to the natural history, chase, or\ncapture by traps of the wild boar, and does not give us any original\nremarks upon the hunting of them, as he has of the stag and the hare,\nstill it was most likely because he considered these two the royal\nsport _par excellence_, and not because there were none to hunt in\nEngland in his day. If the latter had been the case, he would in all\nprobability have omitted even the chapter he does give us, as he has\ndone with those written by Gaston de Foix on the deer, the reindeer,\nand the ibex and chamois (p. 160).\nIn some doggerel verses which are prefixed to \"Le venery de Twety and\nGyfford\" (in Vesp. B. XII.), the wild boar is classed as a beast of\nvenery. In the a \"Boke of St. Albans\" the wild boar is also mentioned\nas a beast of venery.\nWhen Fitzstephen wrote his description of London in 1174, he says\nwild boars as well as other animals frequented the forests surrounding\nLondon, and it would certainly be a long time after this before these\nanimals could have been extirpated from the wild forests in more\nremote parts of the country.\n_Sounder_ is the technical term for a herd of wild swine. \"How many\nherdes be there of bestes of venery? Sire of hertis, or bisses, of\nbukkes and of doos. A soundre of wylde swyne. A bevy of Roos\" (Twety\nand Gyfford). In the French Twici we have also _Soundre dez porcs_.\n_Farrow_ (Sub.) was a term for a young pig, in Mid. Eng. _farh_,\n_far_, Old Eng. _fearh_ (Strat.). Farrow (verb) was the term used when\nsows gave birth to young.\nG. de F. says that wild boars can wind acorns as far as a bear can (p.\n58), and turning to his chapter on bears, we find that he says that\nbears will wind a feeding of acorns six leagues off!\n_Routing_ or rooting. A wild boar is said to root when he is feeding\non ferns or roots (Turb., pp. 153, 154).\n_Argus_, as our MS. calls the dew-claws of the boar, were in the later\nlanguage of venery called the _gards_ (Blome, p. 102). Twety and\nGyfford named the dew-claws of the stag _os_ and of the boar _ergos_.\n\"How many bestis bere _os_, and how many _ergos?_ The hert berith _os_\nabove, the boor and the buk berith _ergos_.\"\n_Grease_, as the fat of the boar or sow was called, was supposed to\nbear medicinal qualities. \"And fayre put the grece whan it is take\naway, In the bledder of the boore my chylde I yow pray, For it is a\nmedecine: for mony maner pyne\" (\"Boke of St. Albans\").\nWILD CAT (_Felis Catus_), which at one time was extremely common in\nEngland, was included among the beasts of the chase. It is frequently\nmentioned in royal grants giving liberty to enclose forest-land and\nlicence to hunt therein.\nIt was probably more for its skin than for diversion that the wild cat\nwas hunted, as its fur was much used for trimming dresses at one time.\nThe wild cat is believed to be now extinct, not only in England and\nWales, but in a great part of the South of Scotland. A writer in the\nnew edition of the _Encyclop\u00e6dia Britannica_ (art. \"Cat\") expresses\nthe opinion that the wild cat still exists in Wales and in the North\nof England, but gives no proof of its recent occurrence there.\nHarvie-Brown in his \"Vertebrate Fauna of Argyll\" (1892) defines the\nlimit of the range of the wild cat by a line drawn from Oban to\nInverness; northward and westward of this line, he states, the animal\nstill existed. But there is no doubt that of late years the cessation\nof vermin trapping in many parts of Scotland, which has caused a\nmarked increase in the golden eagle, has had the same effect upon the\nwild cat.\nThe natural history chapter of the wild cat is taken by the Duke of\nYork from G. de F.; did we not know this, some confusion might have\narisen through the fact being mentioned that there are several kinds\nof wild cat, whereas only one was known to the British Isles. G. de F.\nsays there were wild cats as large as leopards which went by the name\nof _loups-serviers_ or _cat wolves_, both of which names he declares\nto be misnomers. He evidently refers to the _Felis Lynx_ or _Lynx\nvulgaris_, which he properly classes as a \"manner of wild cat,\"\nalthough some of the ancient writers have classed them as wolves\n(Pliny, Lib. viii. cap. 34).\nWOLF. For a long time it was a popular delusion that wolves had been\nentirely exterminated in England and Wales in the reign of the Saxon\nKing Edgar (956-957), but Mr. J. E. Harting has by his researches\nproved beyond doubt that they existed some centuries later, and did\nnot entirely disappear until the reign of Henry VII. (1485-1509).\nWORMING A DOG. This was supposed to be a preventive to the power of a\nmad dog's bite. It was a superstition promulgated in very early times,\nand seems to have been believed in until comparatively recent times.\nWe find it repeated in one book of venery after another, French,\nEnglish, and German: in England by our author, Turbervile, Markham,\nand others.\nPliny suggests this operation, and he quotes Columna as to the\nefficacy of cutting off a dog's tail when he is very young (Pliny,\nchap. xli.).\nG. de F. and the Duke of York are careful to say that they only give\nthe remedy for what it is worth, the latter saying: \"Thereof make I no\naffirmation,\" and further on: \"Notwithstanding that men call it a worm\nit is but a great vein that hounds have underneath their tongue\" (p.\nLIST OF SOME BOOKS CONSULTED AND ABBREVIATIONS USED IN TEXT\n    Albertus Magnus. _De Animalibus._ Ed. 1788.\n    ---- _The Secrets of._ London, 1617.\n    _Ancient Laws and Institutes of Wales._ 1841.\n    _---- of Cambria._ E. Williams. 1823.\n    _Anc. Ten._, for _Ancient Tenures of Land_. By Thomas Blount. London,\n    Andre\u00e6, E. C. A. _Die Geschichte der Jagd._ Frankfurt, 1894.\n    _Arch\u00e6ologia._ Pub. by Soc. of Antiq. Beginning 1770.\n    Arcussia, Ch. d'. _La Conference des Fauconniers_ (_Cab. de Venerie_,\n    Arkwright, for _The Pointer and his Predecessor_. By William A.\n    London, 1902. 4to. See Bibliog. in 1st edit.\n    _Arrow Release, The._ By Ed. S. Morse. 1885.\n    Aymon, for _Le Roman des quatres fils Aymon_. Edit. P. Tarb\u00e9. 1861.\n    _Bad. Lib. Hunt._, for \"Badminton Library.\" Volume on Hunting by the\n    Duke of Beaufort and Mowbray Morris. Ed. 7. London, 1901. Errors in,\n    see Bibliog. in 1st edit.\n    ---- vol. on _The Poetry of Sport_. London, 1896. Errors in, see\n    Bibliog. in 1st edit.\n    Bangert, for _Die Tiere des Altfranz. Epos_. Von Fried. Bangert.\n    Barri\u00e8re-Flavy, C. _Censier du pays de Foix._ Toulouse, 1898.\n    Barthold, F. W. _Georg von Frundsberg._ 1833.\n    Bastard, A. de. _Libraire du duc de Berry._ Paris, 1834.\n    Baudrillart, for _Traite des Eaux et For\u00eats, Chasse et P\u00eaches._ Par M.\n    Beckford, for _Thoughts upon Hare and Fox Hunting._ By Peter B.\n    Beltz, G. F. _Memorials of the Garter._ 1841.\n    Berg, L. F. Freiherr. _Gesch. der deutschen W\u00e4lder._ Dresden, 1871.\n    Bertheleti, T., _General Collections of Statutes, 1225-1546_. London,\n    _Bib. Accip._, for _Bibliotheca Accipitraria_. By James Edm. Harting.\n    Blancandin, ed. _H. V. Michelant._ 1867.\n    Blane, for _Cynegetica, or Observations on Hare Hunting_. By W. B.\n    Blaze, Elezear. _Catalogue d'une Collection._ Paris, 1852.\n    ---- _Le Livre du Roy Modus._ Paris, 1839.\n    Blome, for _The Gentleman's Recreation_. By Richard Blome. London,\n    Blount, T. _A Law Dictionary and Glossary._ 1717.\n    _Bodl. MS. 546_, for the MS. of the \"Master of Game\" in the Bodleian\n    Library at Oxford. See \"Existing MSS. of the 'Master of Game'\"; see\n    Bibliog. in 1st edit.\n    Borman, for _Die Jagd in den Altfranz. Artus und Abenteuer Romanen_.\n    _Von_ Ernst Borman. Marburg, 1887.\n    _Boldon Book_, for _Chronicles and Memorials of Great Britain and\n    Ireland_ (vol. iii.). By Sir Th. Duffus-Hardy. London, 1875.\n    _B. of St. Albans_, for _The Boke of St. Albans_. Edit. by William\n    Blades. London, 1881. See Bibliog. in 1st edit.\n    \"_B. of C._\" for _Boke of Curtasye_. 14th cent. poem. Pub. by I. O.\n    Halliwell. Percy Soc. vol. iv.\n    Bonney, for _Historic Notices on Fotheringhay_. By Rev. H. K. B.\n    Borel, P., _Dictionnaire des termes du vieux Fran\u00e7ois_. 2 vols. 1882.\n    Bouton, Victor. _L'Auteur du Roy Modus._ Paris, 1888.\n    Brachet, Ang. _An Etymological Dictionary of the French Language_\n    (Clarendon Press). 1866.\n    Brehm, for B.'s _Tierleben_. 3. ed. Von Dr. Pechuel-Loesche. Leipzig\n    Br\u00e8z\u00e9, Jacque de. _La Chasse du grand S\u00e9n\u00e9schal de Normandye._ Paris,\n    Bri\u00e8re, L. de la. _Livre de Pri\u00e8res par Gaston Ph\u00e9bus_ (1835). Paris,\n     Broebel, P. _Die F\u00e4hrte des Hirsches._ Halle, 1854.\n    Browne, for _Pseudoxia Epidemica_. By Sir Ths. B. 1650.\n    _Brut._, for _Le Roman de Brut_. By Wace. Ed. by Le Roux de Lincy.\n    Bud\u00e9. _Traitte de la Venerie._ Par B. Ed. H. Chevreul (Paris). 1861.\n    Burrows, Montagu, Prof. _The Family of Brocas._ 1886.\n    Caius, for _Englishe Dogges_. By Johannes Caius. Reprint of ed. of\n    Camden, W. _Britannia._ 1586.\n    _Canterbury Tales_, Chaucer's. Ed. Furnivall. 1868.\n    Castellamonte, A. di. _La Venaria reale._ Torino, 1674.\n    _Catalogue of the Duke of Marlborough's Library at White Knight._\n    \"Cecil,\" for _Records of the Chase_. By \"Cecil,\" edit. London, 1877.\n    See Bibliog. in 1st edit.\n    Chaffourt, Jacques de. _Instructions._ Paris, 1609. (2nd ed.)\n    Champgrand, for _Trait\u00e9 de Venerie et Chasse_. Par Goury de C. Paris,\n    Champollion-Figeac, Aimi. _Louis et Charles, ducs d'Orleans._ Paris,\n    Charles d'Orleans, for Charles de Valois. _Les po\u00e9sies du duc Charles\n    d'Orleans._ Edit. Champollion-Figeac. Paris, 1842.\n    ---- _Charles of Orleans' Poems._ Roxburgh Club. Ed. G. W. Taylor.\n    ---- Edit. by Charles d'H\u00e9ricault. Paris, 1874.\n    Chassant, Alphonse. _L'Auteur du Livre du Roy Modus._ 1869. See\n    Bibliog. in 1st edit.\n    Chaucer, _Minor Poems_. Ed. Furnivall. 1871.\n    Ch\u00e9zelles, H. de. _Vieille V\u00e9nerie._ Paris, 1894.\n    _Chronique de la tra\u00efson de Richard II._ Eng. Hist. Soc. 1846.\n    Cla., for _Li Romans de Claris et Laris_. Ed. by Dr. Alton. 1884.\n    Clam. _La Chasse du Loup._ Par Jean de Clamorgan. Paris, 1566.\n    _Close Rolls_, for _Calendars of the Close Rolls preserved in the Pub.\n    Rec. Office_.\n    Codorniu, J. _Etude historique sur Gaston Ph[oe]bus._ Floraux, 1895.\n    Cogho. _Des Erstlings Geweih._ Leipzig, 1886.\n    Collyns, C. P. _The Chase of the Wild Red Deer._ London, 1862.\n    _Compleat Angler._ _See_ Walton.\n    _Com. Sports._, for _The Complete Sportsman_. By T. Fairfax. London.\n    Corneli, R. _Die Jagd._ Amsterdam, 1884.\n    Cornish, Ch. J. _Shooting._ Ed. by Horace G. Hutchinson. 2 vols.\n    (Newnes). London, 1903.\n    Cotgrave. _Dictionary._ 1679.\n    Cotgrave and Sherwood's _Dictionary_. 1632.\n    Cox, Nich. _The Gentleman's Recreation._ London, 1674.\n    _Cran. Ch._, for _Anecdotes and History of Cranbourne Chase_. By Wm.\n    Chafin. London, 1818.\n    Culemann, L. _Delineatio Venatus._ Hanover, 1564.\n    Cupples, George. _Scotch Deerhounds and their Masters._ London, 1894.\n    Curmer, L. _Verure de J. Foncquet._ Paris, 1866.\n    _Curtasye, Boke of._ Ed. by Halliwell. Percy Soc. Pub. Vol. iv.\n    _Cynegetica._ London, 1788.\n    Dalton, Michael. _The Country Justice._ 1666.\n    Daniel, W. B. _Rural Sports._ London, 1801.\n    _D. et B._, for _Daurel et Beton_. Ed. by Paul Meyer. Paris, 1880.\n    Dalziel, for _British Dogs_. By Hugh Dalziel. 3 vols. London, 1887-96.\n    _Daurel et Beton._ Ed. Paul Meyer. Paris, 1880.\n    Duc d'Aumale, for _Recueil de la Philobiblion Society_. Vol. ii.\n    Delacourt, for _Le Chasse \u00e0 la Haie_. Par Peigne Delacourt. P\u00e9ronne,\n    Delisle, L. _Inventaire des MSS. de la Biblioth. Nationale._ Paris,\n    De Noir., for _Histoire de la Chasse_. Par le Baron Dunoyer de\n    Noirmont. Paris, 1876. 3 vols.\n    Dillon, Viscount. _Fairholt's Costumes in England._ London, 1885.\n    Ditschfield, R. H. _Old English Sport._ London, 1891.\n    Doebel, H. W. _Neuer\u00f6ffnete J\u00e4ger Practica._ Leipzig, 1783.\n    Dolopathos, for _Li Romans de D._ Ed. by Brunet et Montaiglon. 1856.\n    Dombrowski, E. von. _Die Lehre von dem Zeichen._ 1836.\n    Dombrowski, R. von. _Allgemeine Encyklopadie der gesammter Forst und\n    Jagdwissenschaft._ Wien, 1886.\n    _Domesday Book._ By Henry Ellis (2 vols.). London, 1833.\n    Drake, Francis. _Eboracum._ London, 1736.\n    Dryden, Alice. _Memorials of Northamptonshire._ 1903.\n    Dryden, Sir Henry. _Twici's Art of Hunting._ Middle Hill Press. 1840.\n    See Bibliog. in 1st edit.\n    ---- _Gaston III. Le livre de la Chasse._ Daventry, 1844.\n    Dudik. _Kaiser Maximilian's II. Jagdordnung._ Wien, 1867.\n    Du Fouil., for _La Venerie_. Par Jacques du Fouilloux. Niort, 1864.\n    Dugdale Bar., for _The Baronage of England_. 1675.\n    Eglamoure, for _The Romance of E. of Artoys_. Camden Soc. 1844.\n    Ellis. See _Domesday Book_.\n    Elyot, Sir Thomas. _The Boke named the Governour._ Ed. H. H. S. Croft.\n    Emmanuel John, Infant of Spain. _El libro de la Caza._ Edit. by G.\n    Baist. Halle, 1880.\n    _Ency. of Sport_, for _Encyclop\u00e6dia of Sport_. London, 1897.\n    Enslin, Th. Ch. Fr. _Bibliotheck der Forst and Jagdwissenschaft._\n    Essenwein, Augst. _Quellen zur Geschichte der Feuerwaffen._ 1872.\n    Estlander, T., for _Pi\u00e8ces inedites du Roman de Tristan._ Ed. by C. G.\n    E. Helsingfors. 1867.\n    Evans, D. S. _An English and Welsh Dict._ 1852-58.\n    _Ex. Brit. An._, for _Extinct British Animals_. By J. E. Harting.\n     _Excerpta Historica._ London, 1831.\n    Fleming, H. F. von. _Der Volkommene Teutsche J\u00e4ger._ Leipzig, 1719.\n    Fortescue, Hon. J. W. _Records of the Stag-hunting on Exmoor._ London,\n    Foudras, Marquis de. _Recits de Chasseurs._ Bruxelles, 1858.\n    Fourtier, A. _Les grands Louvetiers de France._ Paris.\n    Frederic II. _Reliqu\u00e6 liborum Frederici II._ August. Vindob. 1596.\n    Frunsberg, G. v. _Schlacht bei Pavia._ 1525.\n    Gace de la Buigne. _Bulletin du Bibliophile_, 13th series, by the Duc\n    d'Aumale; also in Philobiblion Society, vol. ii. London. See Bibliog.\n    in 1st edit.\n    _Garin de Loh._ _Die Geste der Loherains._ A. Feist. 1884.\n    Garnier, P. _Chasse du Sanglier._ 1876.\n    Gaucheraud, H. _Histoire de C. de Foix._ 1834.\n    _Gawaine, A Collection of Ancient Romance Poems._ Edit. by Sir Fred.\n    G. de F. stands for Joseph Lavall\u00e9e's edition of Gaston de Foix's _La\n    Chasse de Gaston Ph[oe]bus_. Paris, 1854.\n    G. de P., for _Roman de Guillaume de Palerne_. Ed. H. Michelant.\n    _G. de St._, for _Gottfried von Strassburg_. Ed. by P. A. Lehmann.\n    _Gentleman's Magazine._ 1752.\n    _Gent. Recreation_, for _Gentleman's Recreation_. By Nicholas Cox.\n    _God. de Bouill._, for _Godefroi de Bouillon_. C. Hippeau. Paris,\n    Goechhausen, H. F. von. _Notabilia Venatoris._ Weimar, 1751.\n    Goury de Champgrand. _Trait\u00e9 de Venerie._ Paris, 1769.\n    Graesse, J. G. T. _J\u00e4gerbrevier._ Wien, 1869.\n    ---- _Literaturgeschichte._ Dresden, 1845.\n    _Greyhounds._ By a Sportsman. London, 1819.\n    Halliwell, for J. O. H.'s _A Selection from the Minor Poems of\n    Lydgate_. Pub. by the Percy Society. Vol. ii. 1842.\n    ---- _Carols._ Pub. by the Percy Society. Vol. iv. 1842.\n    ---- _Dictionary of Provincial and Archaic Words._ 1850.\n    Hammer-Purgstall, Jos. von. _Falkner Klee._ Wien und Pest, 1840.\n    Hard, de Font.-G. _Le Tr\u00e9sor de la Venerie._ Par Hardouin de\n    Fontaines-Gu\u00e9rin. Ed. by Baron J. Pichon. Paris, 1855.\n    ---- Ed. by Michelant. Metz, 1856.\n    Hardyng, for _The Chronicles of John Hardyng_. Ed. 1543. London.\n    Harewood, H. _A Dictionary of Sport._ London, 1835.\n    Harrison, for _Harrison's Description of England_ (Holinshed). Edit.\n    by F. J. Furnivall. London, 1877.\n    Hartig, G. L. _Lehrbuch fin J\u00e4ger._ T\u00fcbingen, 1810.\n    Harting, James Ed. See _Bib. Accip._ and _Ex. Brit. An._\n    _H. de B._, for _Huon de Bordeaux_. Ed. by F. Guessard and C.\n    Grandmaison. Paris, 1866.\n    Hartopp, E. C. C. _Sport in England._ London, 1894.\n    Hearne, T. _Liber Niger Scaccarii._ 1728.\n    Heresbach, Conrad. _Rei rustic\u00e6 libri quatuor ... Item de\n    _Historical Review._ Jan. 1903.\n    Hollinshed, R. (Harrison). Ed. F. G. Furnivall. London, 1877.\n    Hore, J. P. _History of the Buckhounds._ 1893.\n    _Horn._, for _Das Anglonormannische Lied vom Ritter Horn_. Ed. by E.\n    Stengel. Marburg, 1883.\n    Houdedot, C. F. A. d'. _Les Femmes Chasseresses._ Paris, 1859.\n    Jesse, for _Researches into the History of the British Dog_. By G. R.\n    Jesse. 2 vols. London, 1866.\n    _Journal des Chasseurs._ Vols. 27, 28, 29, and 30. Paris.\n    Jubinal, Michel. _Nouveau Recueil de Conte_, &c. 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Melton Mowbray,\n    D'Yauville. _Trait\u00e9 de Venerie._ Paris, 1688.\nGLOSSARY\nOF OBSOLETE ENGLISH TERMS AND WORDS OCCURRING IN THE ANCIENT TEXTS OF\n\"THE MASTER OF GAME\" AND IN APPENDIX.\n    ABAI, ABAY, being at bay, 29, 118\n    ACHARNETH, ACHARNE, to set on, to eat flesh, 59, 60, 62\n    ACHAUF, heat, 38, 98\n    ACQUILLER, ENQUILLER, to rouse animals of the chase with hounds, App.\n    AFERAUNT, the haunch, 38\n    AFFETED, fashioned, trained, 27, 141\n    AFORCE, _par force_, by force, App.\n    AIGUILLOUNCE, thorny\n    AKELID, cooled, 186\n    AKIRE, AKKERNE, acorns, 144\n    ALAUNTIS, ALAUNTZ, ALOND, allans or allauntes, a large hound, 3, 116-8\n    ALVELUE, covered with fleece, fat or woolly substance, App.\n    ANALED, for _avaled_, hanging down, 114\n    ANCEPS, HAUSSEPIED, a snare which caught the game by the foot and\n    lifted it into the air, 61\n    ANCHES, rosemary\n    APEL, French hunting-note, App.\n    APERYNG, stoned, the roughness of antlers, 143\n    APPARAILLE, dressed venison\n    ARBITTEN, bitten, devoured\n    ARBLAST, cross-bow, 27\n    ARECHE, reach, 60\n    ARERE, _arri\u00e8re_, behind, back there, 182, App.\n    AREYN, spider, 137\n    AREYN, rain, 157\n    ARRACHER, to tear out; a term used for skinning certain animals, App.\n    ASAUTE, SAUTE, in heat, 64, 66\n    ASCRIETHE, ASCRIE, to rate, shout at, to scold, 63, 74, 170\n    ASSAIEN, try or test, 88\n    ASSAYE, ESSAY, to try; taking assay, to see by a cut the thickness of\n    the fat, App.\n    ASSISE, note on hunting-horn blown at death of stag which has been\n    hunted by stag-hounds, App.\n    ASTERTE, escape\n    ASTIFLED, inflammation in the stifle-joint, 103\n    ASTRIED, rated, shouted at, 170\n    ATHREST, thrust or push, 106\n    ATTE FULLE, when the stag's antlers show a certain number of tines,\n    ATTIRE, the stag's antlers, App.\n    AUALED, AVAILED, hanging down, 106, 114\n    AUERILLE, _Avrille_, April, 30\n    AUNTELERE, AUNTILLER, AUNCULER, antler, 130, 140\n    AUNTRED, ventured, 28\n    AVAUNT, AUAUNT, a hunting cry, \"Forward,\" 182\n    AVAUNTELLAY, relay of hounds\n    AVAYL, avail, profit, 13, 31\n    AVENAUD, approachable\n    AVENERY, oats\n    AVISED, aware of, warned, informed, advised, cautious\n    AVOY, a hunting cry, probably from \"Away,\" App.\n    BACE, for Luce, a pike\n    BAFFERS, barkers, 120\n    BAKE, back\n    BALISTA, BALESTA, cross-bow, haronsblast, 27\n    BALOWE, bellow, roaring of a stag\n    BANDRIKE, BALDRIC, belt to which horn was fastened, 128, 140\n    BARATEUR, quarreller\n    BARBOURIS, barbers\n    BAREYN, barren, 35\n    BASCO, Basque, Biscay, 106\n    BATYD, bruised, sore, 98\n    BATYNG, bating\n    BAUDES, baubles, trifles, 83\n    BEAM, the main part of the stag's antlers, 142\n    BEENDYNG, bending\n    BEERNERS, BERNERS, attendant on hounds, 148, 165\n    BEESTALE, BESTAILE, beasts, cattle, 36, 61\n    BEESTIS, beasts, App.\n    BELLEN, BELOWYN, BELERVE, BELOWEN, bellow or roar, 160\n    BELUEZ, velvet, 26\n    BEME, beam; also trumpet\n    BENES, beans, 26\n    BERCEL, a mark to shoot at, App.\n    BERCELET, BERSLETTIS, BARCELETTE, a shooting-dog used by archers, 122\n    BERIES, burrows, earth of fox and badger, 67, 68\n    BERYED, buried\n    BERYING, bearing, breaking, 136\n    BESTIS OF THE CHACE, beasts of the chase, usually fallow deer,\n    roe-deer, fox, martin, 3\n    BESTIS OF VENERIE, beasts of venery, usually the hart, hare, boar, and\n    BEVY, a number of roe-deer together, App.\n    BEVYGREASE, the fat of the roe-deer, App.\n    BEWELLIS, BAWAYLLES, BAWELLIS, bowels\n    BILLETINGS, the excrements of the fox, App.\n    BISSES, BISES, BISCHES, red-deer hinds\n    BISSHUNTERS, fur-hunters, 74\n    BITTE, bitten, taken, 17, 186\n    BLENCHES, marks, tricks, deceits, 159\n    BOCHERIE, butchery, 116\n    BOKEYING, the rut of the roe-deer, 41\n    BOLN, BOLK, BOLNE, bellow or bark, 39, 162\n    BOOCHERS HOUNDIS, butchers' dogs, 118\n    BOOLE, bull, 118\n    BOONES, bones, stag's foot\n    BOONYS, bones, 131\n    BOORDCLOTH, table-cloth, 164\n    BOORDES, boards\n    BOORIS, boars, 143\n    BOOST, boast\n    BOTCHES, BOOCHES, sores, 63\n    BOTIRFLIES, butterflies, 66\n    BOUNTE, bounty, goodness, 79\n    BOUYES, boughs, App.\n    BOWIS, BOWES, boughs, 137, 153\n    BRACH, BRACHE, a scenting-hound; later on it meant bitches\n    BRACHETUS, a hound for hunting, 22\n    BRACONIER, the man who held the hounds\n    BRAYNE, BREYN, brain, 176\n    BREDE, breadth\n    BREDE, broad, 138\n    BREKE, brook, break; also applied to dress a deer\n    BREMED, burnt, 112\n    BRENT, burnt, 79\n    BRERES, briars, 93\n    BRIGILLA, mildew, 96\n    BRIMMING, BREMYNG, be in heat, said of boar; the word _breme_,\n    _bryme_, or _brim_, valiant-spirited, 47\n    BROACHER, a red-deer stag of second year, App.\n    BROCARD, a roebuck of the third year and upwards, App.\n    BROCK, badger, App.\n    BROKES, BROOCHES, BROACHES, the first head of a red-deer stag, and of\n    roebuck, 45\n    BROKET, brocket, young stag, 29\n    BROKET'S SISTER, hind in the second year, App.\n    BROND, proud, 46\n    BUCHE, BYCHES, bitch\n    BUGLE, buffalo; also horn for sounding hunting signals, App.\n    BUKKES, BUKES, BUCKES, bucks\n    BUKMAST, beechmast, App.\n    BULLOKE, young stag in second year, 29\n    BURNYSSHEN, burnish, to rub the antlers when the velvet is off, 134\n    BURR, the lowest part of the stag's antlers\n    CABOCHE, to cut off the hart's head near the antlers, 176\n    CALF, CALFE, the young stag in his first year\n    CAMAMYLE, camomile, 95\n    CAMPESTRIS, beast of the field or chase--_i.e._ buck, doe, fox,\n    martin, and roe-deer\n    CANDLEMAS, February 2\n    CARAYNES, CARREYNS, KARIN, carrion, carcase, 62, 77\n    CARDIAC, CARDRYACLE, a disease of the heart, 34\n    CARRES, marshes, 45\n    CASE TO, stripping or skinning the hare, App.\n    CATAPUCIA, spurge (_Euphorbia resinifera_), 101\n    CATT, CATTE, CATTYS, cat, App.\n    CAUTELOUS, CAUTELS, cautious, crafty, 45\n    CETE, a number of badgers\n    CHACEABLE, chaseable, a hert chaseable, which is now called a\n    warrantable stag, one fit to be hunted\n    CHACECHIENS, grooms in attendance on hounds, 148, 177\n    CHALAUNGE, challenge\n    CHASE, forest; also used to designate a method of hunting, and also a\n    hunting-party\n    CHASSE, a French hunting-note\n    CHASTISED, trained, 189\n    CHATER, CHACER (RECHATER, RECHEAT), a horn signal; also to chastise\n    hounds\n    CHAUFED, ACHAUFED, heated, in heat, 49, 98\n    CHAULE, CHAULIS, CHAVEL, jaw, 170\n    CHEERE, CHERE, cherish, welcome, 85\n    CHEVERAUS, roe-deer\n    CHIBOLLIS, chives, 90\n    CHILDERMAS, Innocents' Day (December 28)\n    CHIS, dainty, 83\n    CHIVAUCHER, CHEVAUCHER, to ride\n    CHYMER, riding-cloak\n    CHYMNEYIS, chimney, 98, 126\n    CLEES, clawes, the \"toes\" of a deer's foot, 77, 80, 131\n    CLEEVES, _sur_ or dew cleeves at the back of a deer's fetlock\n    CLEPED, CLEPYD, called, 59, 140\n    CLERE SPERES, clear spires, woods, App.\n    CLICQUETING, vixen fox when in heat, App.\n    CLISTRE, enema, 100\n    CODDES, testicles of the hart\n    COITING STONE, a quoit\n    COLERS, COLIERS PLACES, collier or charcoal pits, 26\n    CONCILIDA MAIOR, comfrey (_Symphytum officinale_), 98\n    CONCILIDA MINOR, prunella, selfheal (_Prunella vulgaris_), 98\n    CONINGER, CONIGREE, rabbit warren, App.\n    CONTRE, counter, back, heel\n    CONTRE, country, 36\n    CONTROUGLE, CONTREONGLE, hunt counter, hunt heel, 150\n    CONYNGE, rabbit, 18\n    COOLWORT, cabbage, 100\n    COPEIS, COPIS, coppice, 155\n    CORNER, CORNEER, horn blower\n    COTES, quoits, 178\n    COUCH, the resting-place of game; also hound's bed\n    COUCHERS, setters, 120\n    COUERTTS, covert, shelter\n    COUNTERFEET, COUNTFEIT, abnormal, 28, 142\n    COURSER, CURSAR, CURSER, swift horse\n    COUTHEN, CONTHEN, COUTH, knew, to be able, ob. could, 2\n    COWE, cow, also tail, from _queue_\n    CRIE, cry (of hounds), 65\n    CROCHES, the upper tines of a deer's horns; called also _troches_\n    CROISE, cross, 150\n    CROKES, stomach (of red-deer)\n    CROKYNG, crooked, curved, 128\n    CROMMES, crumbs\n    CRONEN, groan, the roar of the stag\n    CROSS TO, to dislodge roe-deer by hounds\n    CROTETHE, voiding excrements, 29\n    CROTEY, CROTILS, CROTISEN, CROTISINGS, excrements, 16, 29, 30, 133\n    CUER, COER, heart\n    CUIR, QUIR, leather, hide\n    CUR\u00c9E, CURE, rewarding the hounds (also KYRRE and GUYRRE), 7, 29, 52,\n    CURRES, CURRYS, curs\n    CURTAISE, courteous, 115\n    DAUNGERE, danger, 161\n    DEDIS, deeds, 49\n    DEDUT, DEUDIZ, DEDUIZ, _d\u00e9duit_, pleasure, pursuit, sport\n    DEFAUTE, DEFAUNT, lack, default, 84, 140\n    DEFET, DEFFETEN, opening or undoing the boar and removing the entrails\n    DEFOILE, track, 150\n    DELYUERE, deliver, active, 124\n    DEPILED, stripped of hair\n    DESFAIRE, undoing (brittling) of deer or boar, App.\n    DESPITOUS, DESPYTOUS, despiteful, furious, 49\n    DESTERERE, DESTRIER, horse\n    DETOURNER (LE CERF), to harbour the hart, App.\n    DEYENG, doing\n    DEYM, DEYME, DAINE, DINE, fallow-deer\n    DISLAUE, wild, 159\n    DISSESE, disease\n    DOO, doe\n    DOWN, OR HUSKE, a number of hares, App.\n    DRAGMES, drachms\n    DREYNT, drowned\n    DRIT, DRITT, excrements of animals called \"stinking beasts,\" also mud,\n    DRYEN, dry, 102\n    DRYUE, driven, 128\n    DRYVE, made\n    DUNE, donn, dun\n    DURE, to last, endure, 43\n    DYETTE, diet\n    EARTH, a fox and badger's lodging-place, App.\n    EDIGHT, done, set in order\n    EELDE, old age, 123\n    EENDIS, ends\n    EEREN, hairs, 44\n    EERYS, ERES, ears\n    EGRE, eager, 115\n    EIRERES, harriers, 190\n    ELLIS, else, 90\n    EMELLE, EMEL, female, 41\n    EMPAUMURE, the croches or top tines of a stag's antlers, App.\n    ENBROWED, brewed, soaked, 177\n    ENCHACE, to hunt, 108\n    ENCHARNYNG, blooding, feeding on flesh, 113\n    ENCHASEZ, moving deer, &c., with a limer, App.\n    ENCORNE, to place a dead stag on his back, the antlers on the ground\n    underneath the shoulders, 174\n    ENFOURMED, informed\n    ENGLEYMED, glutinous, 29\n    ENOSED, a bone in the throat, 87\n    ENPESHED, prevented, 11\n    ENQUEST, hunt, 182\n    ENQUILLER, rousing a buck with hounds, App.\n    ENQUYRID, ENQUEYRREIDE blooding hounds after death of deer; also\n    rewarding of hounds, 173\n    ENSAUMPLE, example, 79\n    ENTENTE, intent\n    ENTRYING, entering, beginning of\n    ENTRYNGIS, entering, beginning of, 35\n    ENVOISE, ENVOYSE, O.F. _envoisse_, to leave the line, or overshoot the\n    line of the animal hunted, 31, 108, 170\n    ERBIS, herbs\n    ERES OF ROEBUCK, \"target,\" 44\n    ERGOTS, ARGUS, claws of boar, buck and doe; those of the boar were\n    sometimes called _gardes_, 130, 144\n    ERIS, ERES, ARS, anus, hinder parts; ears, occasionally thus spelt,\n    ERTHE, earth\n    ESCORCHER, ESTORCHER, flaying deer, and other beasts of venery, App.\n    ESPAULES, shoulders\n    ESPAYARD, SPAYARD, SPAYER, stag of the third year, App.\n    ESSEMBLE, assembly, 150\n    ESTABLIE, stand occupied by sportsmen; also beaters\n    ESTORACIS CALAMITA, storax, resin, 96\n    ESYE, easy\n    ETAWED, tanned\n    ETYN, ITVN, eat\n    EUENYNGIS, evening, 11\n    EUERYCHONE, EVERICHON, each one, every one, 163\n    EUILLE, EUELL, evil, wicked, bad, 6\n    EVOISED, at fault, or off the line\n    EXPEDITE, to maim dogs by cutting off some of their claws\n    EYNE, EYGH, EYNEN, eye, 116\n    EYRE, air\n    FACON, FAUCON, falcon, 121\n    FADIR, FADERE, father, 105\n    FADMYS, FADOMS, fathoms, 125\n    FAROWE, FAREWYN, PHAROWYN, farrow, bringing forth young pig, 47, 48,\n    FARSYN, FARSINE, farcy, 69, 92\n    FASSON, FASSION, fashion\n    FAUND, fawned\n    FAUS, false\n    FAUSMANCHE, false sleeve\n    FAUT, fault\n    FECHEWE, fitchew, polecat\n    FEELDES, fields, 158\n    FEERNE, fern\n    FELAUES, fellows\n    FELE, many; also sensible, feeling\n    FELLE, fierce, cruel, treacherous\n    FELLE, FELE, wise, sensible, feeling; also cunning, 30, 115\n    FELNESSE, cruelty, fierceness, 71\n    FEMELLIS, females\n    FENCEMONTH, the month when deer had their young and were left\n    undisturbed, App.\n    FERMYD, firm, 162\n    FERRE, far, 16\n    FERRETTIS, ferrets, 72\n    FERRTEST, farthest\n    FERS, fierce, 47\n    FERSLICHE, fiercely, 86\n    FESAWNT, pheasant\n    FEUERYERE, February\n    FEWES, FEWTE, track, trace, foot. Some animals were called of the\n    sweet foot, others of the stinking foot, 10. _See_ Appendix.\n    FEWTERER, FEUTRERES, DEWTREES, man who leads greyhounds, 129\n    FIANTS, also LESSES, excrements of the wild boar, App.\n    FISTOLES, fistula, 92\n    FIXEN, vixen, O.G. _fuchsen_, 64\n    FLAY, FLEAN, FLENE, to skin deer and certain other game, 174\n    FLAYSSH, flesh, 5\n    FLUX, dysentery\n    FOILLYNG, stag going downstream when hunted, 32, 173\n    FOLIES, FOLY, FOLLY, lesser deer, not hart or buck, 196\n    FOLTISCH, foolish, 45\n    FOORME, FORME, FOURME, form of the hare, 14, 17\n    FORAGLE, strangle, straggle\n    FORCHE, FOURCHED, forked, said of stag's antlers, 140, 177\n    FORLOYNE, FORLOGNE, FORLONGE, a note sounded on the horn, to denote\n    that the quarry or hounds or both had distanced the hunters, 173\n    FORSTERS, foresters, 148\n    FORSWONG, M.E. _Forswinger_, bruised, beaten (tucked up), 88\n    FORT, the thick part of woods\n    FORUN, forewarn, 148\n    FOTYDE, footed\n    FOUAILL, the reward given to the hounds after a boar hunt, consisting\n    of the bowels cooked over a fire, App.\n    FOUMART, FAULMART, FOLMERT, polecat\n    FOWTRERES, FEWTERERS, huntsmen who led greyhounds, slippers\n    FOXEN, FFIXEN, A.S. _fixen_--_vixen_, a bitch fox, 64\n    FOYNE, weasel\n    FRAIED, rubbed, 135\n    FRAY, frighten, scare, 149\n    FRAY, to rub off the velvet on stag's antlers, 26, 135\n    FRAYING-POST, the tree against which it was done\n    FREYN, excrements of the wild boar, App.\n    FUANTS, excrements of the fox, martin, badger, and wolf, App.\n    FUES, track, line, 18, 31\n    FUMES, FUMEE, FUMAGEN, FIMESHEN, FEWMETS, FEMEGEN, FEWMISHINGS,\n    excrements, droppings, particularly of deer, 9, 16, 38, 39, 133\n    FURKIE, pieces of venison hung on a fork-shaped stick\n    FURROUR, fur, Fr. _fourrure_, 63\n    FUTAIE, FUTELAIE, forest, wood of old trees, also plantation of\n    beech-trees, App.\n    FYNDERS, finders, hounds to start or find deer, 161, 165\n    GADERYNGE, GADERYNG, gathering, meet, 156, 163\n    GADIRE, gather, 43\n    GAR, to force, to compel, 39\n    GARDES, the dew-claws of the wild boar\n    GARSED, cupped, 90\n    GIN, GYNNE, trap, snare\n    GIRLE, the roebuck in the second year, App.\n    GISE, guise, manner of\n    GLADNESSE, a glade, a clear space, 137\n    GLAUNDRES, glanders, 96\n    GLEMYNG, GLEYMING, slime, stickiness, 133\n    GLOTENY, gluttony\n    GNAPPE, snap, 92\n    GOBETTES, small pieces, 81, 177\n    GOOT, goat\n    GORGEAUNT, wild boar in his second year\n    GOTERS, GOOTERE, GOUTIERES, gutters, the small grooves in the antlers\n    GRAUNT SOUR, stag of fifth year\n    GRAUYLL, gravel, 143\n    GREASE, GRECE, the fat of certain animals, 25, 27, 49\n    GREASE-TIME, the season of hart and buck when they were fattest, 160\n    GREATER, OF THE, term used in counting the tines of a stag's antlers,\n    GREDE, seek, hunt, 183\n    GRES, upper tusks of wild boar, grinders, 50\n    GRESSOPPES, grasshoppers, 66\n    GRETE, greet, great, 13\n    GREUE, grieve, harass, injure, 45\n    GREY, badger, 68\n    GROVYS, grooves\n    GUSTUMES, customs, 4\n    GUTTES, guts\n    GUYEN, GUEYNE, Guienne\n    GUYRREIS, quarry (_cur\u00e9e_), 105\n    GYNNES, GYNES, gins, traps, ruses, wiles, tricks, 35, 73\n    GYNNOUSLY, by stratagem or ingenuity, 15, 39, 43, 59\n    HAIES, HAYES, nets, hedges, 74\n    HALLOW, the reward given to the hounds at the death\n    HALOWE, halloa, App.\n    HAMYLONS, the wiles of a fox\n    HARBOUR, HERBOROWE, HARBOURE, HARBOROW, to track a hart to his lair,\n    HARBOURER, man who harbours the deer, 130, 148\n    HARDIETHE, herds with\n    HARDLE, HERDLE, HERDEL, HARLING, HARDEL, fasten or couple hounds\n    together, also to fasten the four legs of a roebuck together, 45, 190\n    HARDY, bold, courageous\n    HARIS, hares, 17\n    HARNAYS, HERNEIS, harness, appurtenances, arms, &c., 60\n    HARONSBLAST, a crossbow, from O.F. _Arcbaleste_, 27\n    HAROWDE, herald, 139\n    HARTHOUND, HERTHOUND, hound used to chase the stag\n    HAST, haste\n    HASTILETTIZ, the dividing of the wild boar into thirty-two pieces\n    HATT, hath\n    HATTE, thicket, 118\n    HAUKES, hawks, 120\n    HAUKYNG, hawking\n    HAUNTELERS, antlers, App.\n    HAUSPEE, HAUSSEPEE, a trap; also a siege engine, 61\n    HAYTER, harrier, App.\n    HEARSE, also BROKET'S SISTER, a red-deer hind in her second year, App.\n    HEDDYD, headed\n    HEERE, hair, 27\n    HEGHES, hocks\n    HEIRERS, harriers, 111\n    HELE, HELTHE, health\n    HELYN, heal, 127\n    HEMULE, HEMUSE, HEYMUSE, roebuck in the third year\n    HENDIS, red-deer hind, 130\n    HER, hear\n    HERBIS, herbs, 14\n    HERBOROWE. See HARBOUR\n    HERDLE, to dress a roebuck\n    HERNEIS, harness. See HARNAYS, also Appendix\n    HEROUN, heron, 1\n    HERT, heart; also stag, 23, 34\n    HERTIS, harts, stags, 130\n    HIDRE, hinder\n    HIGHTEN, called, named, 148, 182\n    HIRE, her, 19\n    HOGGASTER, wild boar in his third year, App.\n    HOKKES, HOGHES, HOUGHS, hocks, 99, 114\n    HOOKES, hooks, first teeth of wolf and dog, 56, 83\n    HOOT (BE), promised, 79\n    HOOTE, hot, 32\n    HOPELAND, HOPOLAND, HOUPPELAND, a long surcoat or gownlike garment\n    HOPPYN, hoping\n    HORRED, hairy, 106\n    HOS, hoarse, 66\n    HOUE, hoof\n    HOUGH, HOWFF, HOUFF, a haunt, a resort, used especially for the holt,\n    or dwelling-place of an otter, App.\n    HOUNDIS, HUNDES, hounds; also hands, 1\n    HOUNGER, hunger\n    HOUNTER, hunter\n    HOWLYN, howl\n    HOXTIDE, feast fifteen days after Easter, App.\n    HUSKE, a number of hares, App.\n    IBOYLED, boiled\n    ICLEPID, called, 105, 144\n    ILEYN, lain, 136\n    ILLOEQUES, ILLEOQS, here in this place, 183, 234\n    ILOST, lost\n    IMAKYD, made, 137\n    IMEYNGID, mingled, 102\n    IMPRIME, unharbouring a hart\n    INGWERE, INQUERE, inquire or seek, 151\n    IPRESSID, pressed, 136\n    IREEYNED, rained, 157\n    IREN, iron, 90\n    IRENGED, arranged, 142\n    IRONGED, ranged\n    IROOS, iris, 93\n    ISPAIDE, spayed, castrated; also to kill with a sword. See Spay\n    ISTAMPED, stamped, crushed, 93\n    ISTERED, stirred, 91\n    ITAWED, tawed, tanned, 126\n    ITHREST, thrust, pushe, 136\n    ITRED, trodden\n    ITYNDED, tined, 142\n    IWERYD, worn, 147\n    IWETED, wetted, moistened, 97\n    IWRETHEDE, wreathed, 133\n    JANGELERE, jangler, 124\n    JANNERE, January\n    JAWLE, jaw, 50\n    JENGELETH, jangeleth, said of a noisy hound, 110\n    JOLLY, a bitch in heat, 54, 58\n    JOPEY, JUPPEY, to holloa, to cry out, to call, 171, 234\n    JUGE, JUGGE, judge\n    JUGGEMENTZ, judgments, 130\n    JUILL, July\n    JUIN, June\n    JUS, juice\n    JWERYD, worn\n    KAREYNES, carrion, 48, 58, 68\n    KELE, cool, 91\n    KEMBE, comb, 127\n    KENNETTIS, KENET, a small hunting hound, 111\n    KEPYN, keeping\n    KERRE, KIRRE, KYRRE, CURE, CUR\u00c9E, QUARRY, reward of hounds. _See_\n    CUR\u00c9E\n    KEUERE, cover, 65\n    KEUERED, covered, 80\n    KITTE, to cut, sharp, 95\n    KITTYNG, cutting, 50\n    KNOBBER, stag in second year or broket, App.\n    KNYFF, knife, 90\n    KOUNYNGLY, cunningly; also wisely\n    KUNNE, KEN, to know, to be able, 15\n    KYDE, roebuck in first year\n    KYEN, kine, cattle, 120\n    KYLLEIC, Welsh for grease time\n    KYNDELETH, bring forth (said of the hare), 181\n    KYNDELS, young hare, 19\n    KYNDELY, naturally, M.E. kindely, kendeliche, cundeliche\n    KYNNINGLY, cunningly\n    KYTONS, KYTTONS, kittens, 71\n    LABELLES, small flaps, 174\n    LADDE, led\n    LADIL, ladle\n    LAIES, pools, lakes\n    LAIR, the resting-place of the various kinds of deer, 10\n    LAMMAS, LAMMASSE, August 1, 2\n    LAMMASSE OF PETER APOSTULL, June 29\n    LAPPE, lap, 158\n    LASSE, less, smaller\n    LAUNCET, lancet\n    LAUNDES, LONDES, wild uncultivated land, 36\n    LAVEY, unrestrained, wild, 111\n    LEATHER, the skin of deer and of the wild boar, App.\n    LECHES, leeches, doctor or surgeon, 12\n    LEDER, leather, 126\n    LEFRER, levrier, greyhound\n    LEFT, last, or live\n    LEGGES, legs\n    LEIE, lair\n    LEIRE, river Loire in France, 77\n    LEIRES, lair, bed of a stag, 136\n    LEITH, layeth\n    LEKES, leeks, 90\n    LERNYD, learned, taught\n    LESE, leash, 59\n    LESETH, loseth, 52\n    LESS, OF THE, term used in counting the tines, App.\n    LESSES, Fr. _laiss\u00e9es_, excrements of boar and wolves, 139, 146\n    LESSHE, LESSE, LESCHE, leash, 140\n    LESSHES, lesses, inferiors, 189\n    LESYNG, loosing, 119\n    LETTE, hindered, 51, 163\n    LEUERE, leaver, rather, sooner\n    LEURETTIS, leverets, 19\n    LEUVE, leave, 31\n    LEUYS, LEUES, leaves, 138\n    LEVIR, leaver, rather\n    LEVRIER, a hare hound\n    LIAM, LYAM, rope by which the limer was held\n    LIBARD, leopard, 70\n    LIFF, life, 31\n    LIFLODE, LYVELODE, livelihood, 59\n    LIGGING, LYGGING, lair, resting-place, 24, 71, 149, 191\n    LIPPIS, lips\n    LITERE, litter\n    LOGGES, lodges, 190\n    LONDE, land, 75\n    LOUEN, love\n    LOUPES CORRYNERS (_loup cerviers_), lynx; occasionally it was probably\n    applied to the wolverine, 70\n    LOWRE, laugh, 81\n    LUCE, pike, 113\n    LYFF, life\n    LYMMES, limbs\n    LYMNER, LYMERER, LIMERER, man who leads hounds on a leash, 148, 166,\n    LYMNERE, used both for man and hound, App.\n    LYNSED, linseed, 104\n    LYOUN, lion\n    LYTHIS, LIGHTIS, lungs\n    LYVEN, LYUEN, live\n    MAISTIVES, mastif, mastiff\n    MAISTRIS, masters\n    MALEMORT, glanders, 96\n    MALENCOLIOUS, melancholy\n    MALICE, cunning, 34\n    MAMEWE, MAMUNESRE, MAMEUE, MAUEWE, mange, 90, 91\n    MANESSETH, threatening, 51\n    MANNYS, man's, 151\n    MARCHES, district, 19\n    MARIE, marrow\n    MARRUBIUM ALBUM, white horehound (_Marrubium vulgare_), 101\n    MARTRYN, martin, 73\n    MARY MAGDALENE DAY, July 22nd, 26\n    MASCLE, MASCHE, male, 67\n    MASTIN, a hound used for boar-hunting, a mongrel\n    MATERE, matter\n    MAYNED, maimed, bitten\n    MAYNTYN, maintain\n    MAYSTIF, MASTIF, MESTIFIS, MASTOWE, mastiff, 118, 122, App.\n    MAYSTRE, MAISTRIE, MAISTRICE, MAYSTRY, mastery, skill, 71, 107\n    MECHE, big, 113\n    MEDE, meadow, 163\n    MEDLE, MEDEL, mix, 91\n    MENE, lesser, small, 128\n    MENEE, MENNEE, note sounded on a horn; also the baying of a hound\n    MENG, MENGE, mingle, 102\n    MERREIN, the main beam of a stag's antlers, App.\n    MERVAILE, marvel\n    MERVEILIOST, most marvellous, 181\n    MERVEILLOUS, MERUEYLOUS, marvellous\n    MESTIFIS, mastifs, 118, 122\n    METIS, meats\n    METYNG, METYNGIS, meet, meeting, 148\n    METYNGE, METYNG, feeding or pasture of deer, 9, 25, 34, 152\n    MEUE, MEW, MEVE, move, start, shed, 26, 42, 166\n    MEULE, MULE, burr, part of the antler, App.\n    MEUTE, pack of hounds\n    MEVETHE, meweth, to mew, casts or sheds. _See_ MEUE\n    MEWS, house for hawks\n    MODIR, mother, 105\n    MODIRWORT, motherwort (_Leonurus cardiaca_), 101\n    MONYTHE, MONETH, MONETHENYS, month, 27\n    MOOTE, MOTE, a note or horn signal, App.\n    MORFOUND, MORFOND, to catch cold, glanders, 124\n    MORNYNGIS, morning, 7\n    MORSUS GALLINE, chickweed, 101\n    MORT, a note sounded on the horn at the death of the hart\n    MOSEL, MOSELLE, muzzle, 77\n    MOTE, MOOTE, a note sounded on the horn, 168, 185\n    MOTYING, MOVING, 150\n    MOUNTENANCE, MOUNTANCE, extent of, as far as, 21, 101\n    MOUSTENESSE, moisture, 124\n    MOW, MOWE, MOWEN, to have power, to be able, 97, 178\n    MOWSE, burr of an antler\n    MUE, mew, shed antlers, or feathers, molt. _See_ MEUE\n    MULE, MEULE, burr of a stag's antler, 141\n    MUTE, MEUTE, a pack of hounds\n    MYCHE, the assibulated form of _mukel_, _mikl_, great, much, 41\n    MYDDES, midst\n    MYDDIL, middle\n    MYNDE, memory, 2\n    MYSIUGEN, misjudge, 29\n    NAIL, name given to a disease in dogs' eyes, now called Pterygium, 94\n    NARTHELESS, NATHELESS, nevertheless, 149\n    NATYUITE, nativity\n    NEDEL, needle, 61\n    NEKYS, NEKE, NECKYD, neck, necked, App.\n    NEMETH, taketh, 75\n    NEMPE, name, 165\n    NERES, kidneys\n    NESCHE, NEYSSH, NESSH, soft, tender, moist, 52, 130, 131\n    NETHIR, nether, lower\n    NETTELIS, nettles, 89, 101\n    NEWLICH, newly, freshly\n    NOMBLES, NOMBLIS, part of the stag's intestines, App.\n    NOONE, no more\n    NOORCHE, NORSHE, NORSSH, nourish, to bring up, to educate, 56, 58, 80\n    NOOSETHERLIS, NOSETHRELLES, nostrils, 96, 105\n    NORTURE, bringing up, 30\n    NOTIS, nuts, 91\n    NOUGH, nigh\n    NOYAUNCE, annoyance, 163\n    NYME, to take, to hold\n    OKIS, oaks, 144\n    OLYFF, olive, 90, 102\n    ONYS, once, 156\n    OO, OON, one, 17\n    OPENE, OPYN, open (of hounds to give tongue), 108, 155\n    OR, ERE, before, 17\n    ORDEYNE, ordain\n    ORPED, brave, valiant, 107\n    OS, the dew-claws of the stag and hind, App.\n    OSCORBIN (OS CORBIN), a small bone in the stag's body given to the\n    crows, App.\n    OSTORACES CALAMYNT, storax or resin, 96\n    OTYR, OTERE, otter, 72-4\n    OUERJAWES, upper jaws, 176\n    OUERSETTE, overcome, 60, 66\n    OUERWHERTE, athwart, 87\n    OURSHETTE, overshoot, 159\n    OUYR, over\n    OWETH, OWEN, ought\n    OWRERS, harriers\n    PAAS, PIZ, chest, 114\n    PAAS, pace, to walk slowly\n    PACE, slot, track of stag, 132\n    PAMED, palmated\n    PARASCEVE, PARASSEUE, Good Friday\n    PARFITERS, PARFITORS, PARFITOURS, PARFYTEIROS, the third or last relay\n    of hounds 7, 10\n    PARTEL, a part of portion\n    PARTEYNETH, appertaineth\n    PARTIE, part\n    PASE, pace, to step slowly, 130\n    PEARLS, the excrescences on the stag's antlers, App.\n    PECE, piece\n    PEECHTRE, PEOCHETRE, peach-tree, 102\n    PEL, Fr. _peau_, skin\n    PERCEL, parsley, 101\n    PERCHE, the main beam of the stag's antler, App.\n    PERFITE, PERFEET, PERFIT, perfect; also note sounded on the horn, 174\n    PERITORIE, wall pellitory (_Parietaria_), 101\n    PESEN, peas, 26\n    PESETH, paceth, 149\n    PEYN, pain\n    PIERRURES, \"pearls\" or excrescences on the stag's antlers\n    PILCHES, pelisse, a coat of skin or fur, 63\n    PLAYN CONTRE, clear open country, 19, 65\n    PLAYNES, plains\n    PLAYSTIRE, plaster\n    PLECKE, PLEK, PLECK, PLECCA, piece of ground, place, 183\n    PLEYN, PLEYNETH, complain, lament, 51\n    PLEYN, PLAYNETH, PLEIGNEN, Fr. _pleigner_, complain, lament\n    POINTYNG, pointing, track of hare\n    POLCATTES, polecats, 73\n    POMELED, mottled, dappled, spotted, 45\n    POONDE, POON, pond\n    POORT, parts, behaviour, manners, 4\n    POPY, puppy\n    PORCHE. _See_ PERCHE\n    POUERE, POUER, power, 164\n    POUTURE, keep, food, used in connection with hounds\n    POYNTED, painted\n    PREEF, proof, 88\n    PREES, press, crowd, 118\n    PREUYD, proved, 90\n    PREUYLI, PRIUYLI, privily, 149\n    PRICE, PRISE, PRIEE, take, capture\n    PRICKET, PRIKET, the fallow buck in his second year, App.\n    PRIK, PRICK, to hunt, 116\n    PRIKHERID CURRIS, rough-coated curs, App.\n    PRIKKYNG, PRICKING, footprint of hare, App.\n    PRIME, noon (_hie prime_), midday\n    PRISE, PRIZE, PRYCE, a horn signal blown in France for the buck, in\n    England for the hart and buck after the kill, 175\n    PRIVE, tame\n    PROCATOURS, proctors, 195\n    PROFITENESS, perfectness, 2\n    PULEGRUN, pennyroyal (_Mentha pulegium_), 20\n    PULLETH, POILETH, take the hair off, Fr. _poiler_, 90\n    PURSNETTIS, purse-nets, 67\n    PURUEAUNCE, perseverance, 80\n    PUTTES, pits\n    PYCHE, pitch\n    PYLES, PILES, the skin of the boar, wolf, and smaller animals\n    PYNSOURS, pincers, 98\n    QUALES, quails, 119\n    QUARRY, the reward given to the hounds. _See_ CUR\u00c9E, App.\n    QUAT, couched, lying down, used for deer, 172\n    QUATTELL, to quat, to squat, to crouch, to lie down, App.\n    QUESTY, QUEST, to hunt, to give tongue, 110, 130, 155\n    QUYERE, QUYRRE, QUIR, QUARE, cur\u00e9e, quarry for hounds, reward, App.\n    QUYK, EUELIS, QUICKEVIL, a disease of hounds\n    QUYRRCIS, reward given to hounds. _See_ CUR\u00c9E, App.\n    RACCHES, hounds, 3, 74, 167\n    RAGE, madness\n    RAGERUNET, RAGEMUET, dumb madness, 86\n    RASCAILE, RASCAYLE, RASKAILE, lean deer; any deer under ten was\n    usually called rascal, 7, 25, 150, 193\n    RAVEYN, prey, rapine, 57, 60\n    REAL, REALL, a tine (in France, the bay) on the stag's antler\n    REAME, REAUME, realm, 78\n    REAR TO, to dislodge a wild boar, App.\n    REBELLY, rebellious, unruly, 191\n    RECHASE, recheat, sound a note on the horn, to call back the hounds by\n    sound of horn, also to put them on the right scent, 168, 178, 191-8,\n    RECHE, to reck, to care, 57, 131\n    RECHELESS, reckless\n    RECOPES, recoupling, 179\n    REFRAIED, REFREIDE, refrected, chilled, cooled, 47, 99\n    REIES, nets, App.\n    RELAIES, relays (of hounds), 165\n    RELEVED, Fr. _relever_, said of the hare rising from her form to go to\n    her pasture, 14, 183\n    RELIE, RELYE, rally, 167\n    REMEUYE, REMEYID, removed\n    RENNEN, rained, rains\n    RENNYNG, RENNETH, running\n    RENOUET, RENOVEL, Fr. _renouveler_, to renew, 48\n    RESCEYUED, received\n    RESEEYUOUR, receiver, a greyhound in front of deer, 198\n    RESEITYNG, reseating\n    RESOUNS, RESOUNS, RESONS, reasons, 6\n    RESTIF, quiet, restive, unwilling to go or to move forward, 109\n    RESTREYED, restrained, held back, 109\n    RETREYED, retrieved, 29\n    REUERE, REVERE, river\n    REWE, rue, 90\n    REWLE, rule, 55\n    REWME, Fr. _rhume_, a cold, 96\n    REYNE, rain, 21\n    REYNDERE, reindeer\n    REYSON, REYSE, raising, raise, 29\n    RIALLE, RIAL, royal, also tine of stag's antlers, 28, 140\n    RIDINGTIME, REDENGTIME, bucking time of the hare, 20\n    RIG, RAGGE, backbone, App.\n    ROCHES, ROKKES, rocks, 26\n    RODES, rods\n    ROTELYNG, rattling, 162\n    ROUNGETH, Fr. _ronger_, chews the cud, 181, App.\n    ROUSE TO, ROWZE, rouse, to dislodge buck or doe, App.\n    ROUT, a number of wolves, 62\n    ROUTES, synonymous with slot, line of deer, 132\n    ROYAL, a tine, sometimes the trez tine (_see_ RIALLE), 28, 140\n    RUETTIS, horn or trumpet, 128\n    RUTSOMTIME, RUTSON, RUTTE, rutting time of deer, 24, 109\n    RYGES, back, haunches, 17\n    RYGHTES, rights, a stag's rights, three lower tines of antlers; a\n    hound was in his \"rights\" when hunting line, 174\n    RYOT, noise, 121\n    RYUERE, REUERE, river, 77\n    SAYNOLFES, SPAYNELS, spaniels, 119\n    SCANTILONN, measure, 150, 165\n    SCOMBRE, SCOMBERE (stercoro in MS. Bod. 546), voiding excrements, 100,\n    SCOMFITED, discomfited, 82\n    SEAT, the form of a hare, 16\n    SECHE, seek\n    SECHYNG, SEKYNG, seeking, 110\n    SEEGH, SEGHE, saw, 13\n    SEELD, SEELDEN, seldom, 181\n    SELIDOYN, celandine, 94\n    SEMBLAUNT, SEMBLANCE, pretence, 16\n    SEMBLE, assembly or meet, 9\n    SEMOLY, seemly, 75\n    SENGLER, wild boar (_Sanglier_)\n    SENS, incense, 96\n    SENTYN, scent\n    SERCHYNG, searching, 6, 29\n    SERGEAUNTIS, sergeants, 165\n    SESOUNN, SESOUN, SESON, season, 29\n    SESOURS, seizers, 114, 117\n    SETTE, set, place, part of forest round which \"stables\" or stations of\n    men and hounds were placed, 149, 189\n    SEWE, SUE, Fr. _suir_, hunt, pursue, 150, 161\n    SEWET, suet, fat of deer\n    SEWRE, swear\n    SEYN, say, see\n    SHAP, shape\n    SHAPON, shaped\n    SHEELD, shield, shoulder of a boar, 49\n    SHEELLEN, shall\n    SHEERDE, cut, wound, 99\n    SHENT, shamed, disgraced, 79\n    SIKERLI, securely, 159\n    SINGULAR, the wild boar when he leaves the sounder, App.\n    SKIRTIS, SKYRTIS, the skin and tissue surrounding the stomach\n    SKULK, a number of foxes, App.\n    SLAWTHE, sloth, 5\n    SLOUGH, lower part of the heart\n    SLUG-HOUND, a sleuth-hound, a track hound, App.\n    SLYKE, slick, sleek or smooth, 44\n    SMET, SMYTTEN, smitten, 192\n    SNAWE, snow\n    SOAR, a buck in his fourth year\n    SOEPOL, wild thyme (_Thymus serpyllum_), 20\n    SOILE, SOULE, SOUILLE, wallowing pool, soil or mud; \"to soil\" means\n    when a deer or wild boar takes to water or wallows in it, 37, 50, 144\n    SOIOURNE, SOIOURN, SOIOURNYING, SOJORN, SOJOURN, to remain, 98\n    SOLERE, upper chamber, 126\n    SOMEDELE, somewhat\n    SOMERE, SOMER, summer, 45\n    SONE, soon\n    SONNE, SUNNE, sun, 9\n    SONNE, SOUNE, sound\n    SOPERE, SOPER, supper, 180\n    SOPPE, SOPPERS, herd of deer, 25\n    SORRELL, a buck in his third year\n    SOTELLY, subtlety, cleverly\n    SOTIL, SOTILLE, SOTILTE, subtle, clever, 67, 80, 95\n    SOULE, SOILE, alone, 168\n    SOUNDER, SOUNDRE, SUNDRE, a herd of wild boars, 53, 143\n    SOUR, stag of fourth year, the colour of a deer's hide; according to\n    Roquefort, a herd of swine, App.\n    SOUSSE, oxide of zinc, 95\n    SOUZ-REAL, SOUCH-REAL, SUR-RYAL, sur-antler, a tine of the stag's\n    SOWLE, soul, 12\n    SPAINEL, SPAYNELS, spaniel\n    SPARHAUKE, sparrowhawk, 114\n    SPATELL, spittle, 92\n    SPAY, to kill a deer with a sword 10, 174, 258; to castrate, 84, 258\n    SPAYARD, SPAYDE, SPAYER, SPYCARD, the stag in his third year, App.\n    SPAYNEL, spaniel, 119\n    SPEIES, spires, young wood, 157\n    SPIRES, SPOYES, stalks, young wood; thick spires means thick wood, 65,\n    SPITOUS, despiteful, 115\n    SPRAINTES, SPRAYTYNG, excrements of the otter, 73, 139\n    SPRINGOL, SPRINGALD, SPRINGOLD, SPRINGALL, siege engine to throw\n    stones or balks of timber, 23\n    STABLE, STABLYS, Fr. _establie_, a post or station of huntsmen and\n    hounds, 188\n    STAGGART, the stag in his fourth year, 29, 131\n    STALK, to go softly, creep, \"Stalk the deer full still\" (used by John\n    Lydgate, about 1430)\n    STALL, to corner, to bring to bay, to stand still, 153\n    STANC, STANK, STANGES, STANGKES, Fr. _estanc_, pool, tank, pond, 32,\n    STEPPIS, steps, footprint of deer, 73, 137\n    STERE, stir, 91\n    STERT, STIRT, start\n    STINTE, STYNTE, to stop, to blow a stint--_i.e._ to stop or check the\n    hounds, a false scent, check, 19, 165\n    STONE-BOW, Fr. _arc-\u00e0-pierre_, a kind of crossbow\n    STOONYS, stones, 143\n    STORDY, _estordic_, giddy, 116\n    STOUPEN, stoop\n    STRAKE, to blow, 178\n    STRANGLE, straggle, 188\n    STRANLING, STRANLYN, squirrel\n    STRATERE, straighter\n    STRAUGHT, straight, 128\n    STRENGE, STRENGTH, stronghold, thick woods, 16, 118, 156\n    STRENGESTE, strongest\n    STREPID, to strip\n    STREYNOUR, strainer\n    STREYNT, strain, progeny or breed\n    STRIPID, stripped, term to denote skinning of hare, wild boar, and\n    wolf, App.\n    STROKE, STRAKE, or STUKE, to sound a note on a hunting-horn, 52\n    STRONG, said of woods and coverts, thick, dense, 25\n    SUE, to seek, to hunt, 161\n    SUERS, followers\n    SUET, the fat of the red-deer and fallow-deer\n    SUETE, sweet, 19\n    SUGRE, sugar\n    SURANTLER, a tine, generally the _bay_\n    SUR-ROYAL, the surroyal tine, 28\n    SURE BATYD (of hounds' feet), battered, bruised from over running, 98\n    SUSRIAL, surroyal tine\n    STYNT, at fault; to stop\n    SUYTE, suite, following\n    SWEF, a hunting cry, meaning gently or softly, 182\n    SWERDE, sword, 11\n    SWOOR, swore\n    SWOOT, SWOTE, sweat\n    SYLVESTRES, beasts of venery--_i.e._ red-deer, hare, boar, and wolf,\n    SYNNES, sins, 7\n    SYNOWES, SYNEWES, sinews\n    SYTHES, times\n    TACCHES, habits, also spots, markings, 121\n    TALOUN, talon, heel, 130, 131\n    TAWED, a kind of tanning, preparation of white leathers, 63\n    TAWNE, tan, tawny, 105\n    TAYLYD, tailed\n    TEASER, TEAZER, TESOURS, a small hound that \"teases\" forth the game in\n    coverts, 189\n    TEG, the fallow doe in her second year\n    TENT, tended, cared for, 103\n    TERCELLE, TIERCEL, the male of any species of hawk, 119\n    TERER, TEERORS, terrier, 4\n    TERPSE, to poise an arrow for shooting\n    TERRYERS, terriers, 4\n    TESTE, head or antlers (_t\u00eate_)\n    TEYNTES, touches, 65\n    THENDERLEGGIS, hind legs\n    THENKYNGIS, thinking, 75\n    THENNES, thence\n    THIDERE, thither\n    TOCHES, teeth, 50, 56\n    TOGADERE, TOGIDRE, together\n    TOKENYS, tokens, 86\n    TOSSHES, tusks\n    TOUNGE, TOONG, tongue\n    TOURE, tower, 77\n    TOWAILLES, towels, 164\n    TOWNGE, TUNGE, tongue\n    TRACE, track or footprint of an animal, 9, 73, 130, 137\n    TRAUAILLE, TRAVAYLE, Fr. _travaille_, work, labour, 54, 93\n    TREDELES, excrements of otter, 73\n    TRENCHOUR, trencher, 174\n    TRESTES, tryst, trist, 190\n    TRESTETH, trusteth, 49\n    TREU, TREWE, true, faithful\n    TRIP, a herd of tame swine, 53\n    TROCHIS, TROCHES, the tines \"on top,\" 28, 135, 140\n    TRODES, trod\n    TROWETH, believes or knows\n    TRUSTRE, tryst, 118\n    TWIES, TWYES, twice, 82\n    TWIN, between\n    TWYGGES, twigs, 22\n    TYME, season\n    TYNDES, TYNYS, tines, 132, 142\n    TYSANE, a medicinal tea, 11\n    UMBICAST, to cast round, 151\n    UNDIRNETHE, underneath\n    UNDOING, dressing of a deer\n    UNDOON, undone, to cut up\n    UNNETH, scarcely, 80\n    UNSICKER, uncertain\n    UNTHENDE, unsuccessful\n    UNWAYSSH, unwashed\n    UNWEXID, unwaxed\n    UNYOYNE, unjoin, 97\n    UPREAR TO, finding of the hart buck, and boar with the limer\n    USYN, use\n    VANCHASOURS, VANCHASERS, the relay of hounds that comes first, 7, 10\n    VANNCHACE, the first in the chase, 7, 10\n    VAUNTELLAY, VAUNTLAY, VNLAY, part of the pack held in reserve, when\n    uncoupled on the line of the stag before the hounds already hunting\n    VEEL, calf, used sometimes for the stag in his first year, App.\n    VELINE, a horn signal, App.\n    VELTRAGA, VELTRARIUS, a hound, an alaunt, App.\n    VENT TO, said of an otter when it comes to surface of water for air;\n    also to empty, to cast excrements, App.\n    VENTRERS, ventreres, 116, 117\n    VENYIN, venom\n    VERFULL, a glassful, 101\n    VERREY, truly, true, 75, 105\n    VERTEGRECE, VERTEGRES, verdigris, 91\n    VESTEING, investigating, looking, 151\n    VEUTRERES, VEAUTRE, boarhound\n    VEYN, vein\n    VISHITETH, voiding excrements, 66\n    VMBLIS, umbles\n    VNDIRTAKYNG, undertaking\n    VNDYRSTONDYNG, understanding\n    VNGLES, bugles, 128\n    VNNANYS, onions, 102\n    VOIDE, VOYDE, leave, go away, empty, 51, 191\n    VOIDEN, to purge, 61\n    VOIS, VOYS, voice, 66\n    VOYNES, veins, 99\n    WAGGYNG, excrements of foxes, 139\n    WAIES, way, track\n    WALOUYNG, wallowing, 146\n    WALTRER, welter\n    WANLACE, put up game, 122\n    WARAUNT, warrant, save, 31\n    WARDEROBE, WERDROBE, excrement of badgers, 139\n    WARE, aware; also war, beware\n    WAREYN, WAREYNS, warren, 66\n    WARLY, warily\n    WAYSSH, wash\n    WEDIR, weather, 8\n    WEDIS, weeds\n    WELEX, grow, 163\n    WELLE, WOLLE, wool\n    WELSPEDDE, well sped\n    WENE, know, to think\n    WERED, worn\n    WERKIS, works, 5\n    WERVOLF, WERWOLFE, a man-eating wolf, 59\n    WERY, weary, 107\n    WETE, to wit, to know, 137\n    WEX, wax, to grow, 56, 85\n    WEXED, waxed, 128\n    WEXING, WEXYN, growth, 26\n    WEYTINGE, waiting\n    WHEDER, whether\n    WHITLY, whiter\n    WIF, wiff, wife, 75\n    WODE, wood\n    WODEMANNYS, woodman's, 129\n    WODMANLY, woodmanly, 176\n    WOLD, wish or would\n    WONES, dwellings\n    WONNED, WOUNED, wont, accustomed, 85\n    WOODE, wode, mad, 61, 85\n    WOODNESS, madness, 85\n    WOOTE, know, 43\n    WORTH UP, ON HORSE, mount on horseback, 175\n    WORTES, vegetables, roots, 11\n    WOXEN, part of verb _wax_, to grow\n    WREECH, WRECHE, wretched, 55\n    WRETHIS, wreaths, 133\n    WROOT, to root, 48, 144\n    WROOTH, wrath, 49\n    WRYTENG, writing, 200\n    WURTHYNES, worthiness\n    WYLELI, WILILICHE, wilily, 31\n    WYMMEN, women, 200\n    WYNDE, wind, scent, smell\n    WYNDETH, winds, scents, 17\n    YBREND, burnt, dry, 134\n    YEMAN, yeoman, 148, 165\n    YEUE, give, 110\n    YFETED, made, well or evil shaped\n    YFLANKED, a species of madness in hounds, \"lank madness,\" 88\n    YFORE, therefore\n    YFOUNDE, found, 164\n    YGOTE, begotten, bred\n    YHEWE, hewn, 152\n    YLAFT, left, 178\n    YMAKYD, made\n    YNOWE, YNOW, enough, 1\n    YONGIS, young\n    YOULE, howl\n    YPOCRAS, Hippocras, 11\n    YPOTICARIES, apothecary, 84, 101\n    YREST, rested, 136\n    YTHOWZT, thought of\n    Acquillez, 201\n    Agincourt, xi\n    Agrimony, 100\n    Aiguilles or needles, 61\n    Appollo, King of Lyonnys, 76\n    Aquitaine, xii\n    Auberey of Montdidier, 80\n    Aumarle, Duke of, xi\n    Badminton Library, xvi\n    Baillie-Grohman, xxvi, xxviii\n    Baiting, 118\n    Baldric, 128\n    Bellowing time, 160, 162\n    Bercelet, 204\n    Berners, or attendants on hounds, 165-9, 172, 174, 205\n    Bisshunters, furhunters, 74, 206\n    Blaine, xvi\n    Blenches, trick, deceit, 159, 206\n    Boar, wild--_see_ Wild boar\n    Boce, hump, 206\n    Bodleian Library, xvii\n    Boughs, 206\n    Brache, 22\n    Broches, 45\n    Brocket, 130\n    Burnish, 28\n    Burrows, 68\n    Butchers' hounds, 118\n    Caboche, 176\n    Camomile, 95\n    Canker, the cure for, 99\n    Cat, wild--_see_ Wild cat\n    Cecil's \"Records of the Chase,\" xvi\n    Celandine, 94\n    Chacechiens, 148\n    Chase, 3\n    Chase, beasts of the, 3\n    Chaucer, 2\n    Claudoneus, 76\n    _Consolida major_, 98\n    _Consolida minor_, 98\n    Contreongle, 150\n    Cotton MS., British Mus., xii\n    Couchers (setters), 120\n    Couples, 126\n    Dalziel, xvi\n    D'Aumale, Duc, xvii\n    Deer tithes, 195\n    Dryden, Sir Henry, xvii, Appendix\n    Encorne, 174\n    Envoiced, 170\n    Ergots of the hart, 130, 169\n    Excrements--_see_ Fumes\n    F. G. DE--_see_ Gaston de Foix\n    Farrow, giving birth to young pigs, 47, 48, 68\n    Fees of huntsmen, 198\n    Fence month, 210\n    Ferrets, 72\n    Fewte, track, 210\n    Foix, Gaston de--_see_ Gaston de Foix\n    Forlonge, a horn signal, 212\n    Fownes, Thomas, first pack of foxhounds established by, 213\n    Foxhounds, first pack of, 213\n    Fraying-post, 214\n    Froissart, xii\n    Fuite, track, 210\n    Fute, track, 210\n    Garlic, 89\n    Gaston de Foix, xii, 12, 20, 202, 203, and App.\n    Gathering--_see_ Assembly\n    Gladness or glade, 214\n    Grease time, 215\n    Grinders, 50\n    Guienne, xxi, 3\n    _Guyenne loup cerviers_, 70\n    Hare pipes, 22\n    Haronblast, 27\n    Harting, J. E., xvii\n    Hausse-piez, the, 61\n    Hayes or haia, 67, 74\n    Henry IV., King of England, xi, 1\n    Hippocras, 11\n    Holy Cross, Feast of, 29, 49\n    Holy Rood, 23\n    Idleness, the foundation of all evil, 5\n    _Illocques_, 234\n    Imagination, 5\n    Iris, the, 93\n    Jopeye, to holloa to the hounds, 171, 234\n    Kenettes, small hounds, 111, 235\n    Kindles of the hare, 20, 21\n    King, hunting of the, 188-199\n    Langley, Edmund of, xvi\n    Latimer, 167\n    Lesses, 52\n    Leverettes or kindles, 20, 21\n    Ligging, a bed, a lair, 24, 71, 235\n    Lilies, medicinal qualities of, 102\n    Limerer, 150\n    Loup cerviers, 70\n    Lymer--_see_ Limer\n    Madness in the hound, 85, 86, 237\n    Makary slays Auberey of Montdidier, 81\n    Mallows, 102\n    Mange in the hound, 90, 91\n    Marten, 73\n    Master of Herthounds, 198\n    Melbourne, William, 73\n    Metynge, or feeding, 242\n    Mew, to shed, 243\n    Milbourne, 73\n    Moot or mote, 179\n    _Mort_ or death, the, 197\n    Mortimers, the, xii\n    Motherwort, 101\n    Move, to start a hare, 243\n    Muse or meuse, 243\n    Needles, 61\n    Numbles, 243\n    Parker, 189\n    Partridge, 119\n    Pennyroyal, 20\n    Pevensey, xii\n    Ph[oe]bus, Gaston, Count de Foix--_see_ Gaston de Foix\n    Pomeled, spotted, 45, 246\n    Prise, the, 197\n    _Pterygium_, 94\n    Rabies--_see_ Madness\n    Raches, scenting-hounds, 3, 74, 246, 250-3\n    Relays, 7\n    Resceyuour or receiver, 198, 247\n    Roosevelt, Th., xviii, xix-xxix\n    Royals (antlers), 28\n    Running hounds--_see_ Raches\n    Ryding time, 20\n    Scantillon, a measure, 9, 253\n    Scotland, 120\n    Scombre, 127\n    Seasons of hunting, 253\n    Setters, 120\n    Seven deadly sins, 4\n    Shakespeare, xi\n    Shaw, Vero, xvi\n    Shirley MS., 200\n    Snares, 257\n    Sounder or herd of wild swine, 53\n    Spay, to castrate, 84, 258\n    Spraintes of otter, 73, 139\n    Springole, 23\n    Spurge, 48\n    Squire, a companion of the hart, 26\n    Stable-stand, 188, 258\n    Stankes, or pools, 33, 72, 260\n    \"Stinking foot,\" 211\n    Strutt's \"Sports and Pastimes,\" xvi\n    Sur-royal of the hart, 28\n    \"Sweet foot,\" 211\n    Tally Ho, etymology and use of, 209\n    Taw, to make hides into leather, 63, 261\n    Teazer, 198\n    Terrier, 4\n    Thyme, wild, 20\n    Trace, footprint of deer, 9, 137, 141\n    Troche, 140\n    Twety and Gifford, 201, App.\n    Twici, William, 201, App.\n    Tysane, 11\n    Valerian, 91\n    Vanchasers, 7, 10\n    Vauntlay, to cast off, 169, 172\n    Veltres, 263\n    Venery, beasts of, 3, 52, App.\n    Wagging, 139\n    Wall pellitory, 101\n    Wardrobe, 139\n    Wer-wolves, 59\n    Wild cat and its nature, 3, 70-71, 144, 265\n    Wilton, Lord, xvi\n    Woodman's craft, 176\n    Worming a dog, 87\n    Wright, xv\n    Wynn, xvi\n    Yeoman at horse, 165\n    Yeomen berners on foot, 165\n    York, Duke of, xi., xii\n    Printed by BALLANTYNE, HANSON & CO.\n    Edinburgh & London\n_ABRIDGED PROSPECTUS OF THE\nFIRST EDITION OF_\nTHE\nMASTER OF GAME\n_The Oldest English Book on Hunting_\nBY EDWARD, DUKE OF YORK\nEDITED BY\nW. A. AND F. BAILLIE-GROHMAN\nWITH A FOREWORD BY\nTHEODORE ROOSEVELT\nWith 44 Facsimile Photogravure Plates (4 with original text) and\nFrontispiece reproduced in Colours and Gold, from the Miniatures in\nthe famous MS. f. fr. 616 in the _Biblioth\u00e8que Nationale_, Paris.\nMonotint reproductions of the drawings in the Bodleian \"Master of\nGame\" (MS. Bodl. 546), and other reproductions, transcripts of\nhitherto unpublished MSS. and Documents, Literary and Historical\nNotes, a Bibliography of MSS. and Printed Books on Hunting in the\nprincipal Languages of Europe up to the end of the sixteenth century,\nOnly 600 COPIES (bound with these plates in \"Rough Deerskin\") will be\nsold, of which half are reserved for England, the rest for America and\nthe Continent. Each copy is numbered and signed, and under no\ncircumstances will any more be published. =Price \u00a36=. The first ten\ncopies are printed on Japanese Hand-made Vellum paper throughout and\nBound by Zaehnsdorf in White Vellum, price \u00a330 each.\nOnly 2 copies of the latter and 20 copies of the English Edition are\nleft.\n_HIS MAJESTY THE KING and H.R.H. THE PRINCE OF WALES have been pleased\nto subscribe for copies._\nPublished for the Editors by =BALLANTYNE & CO.=, 14 TAVISTOCK STREET,\nCOVENT GARDEN, W.C., LONDON, who will forward a Specimen Plate and\nfull particulars on application.\n_Extracts from Reviews in the English and American Press_\n_The Times._--\"'The Oldest English Book on Hunting' renews its youth\nin a superb and massive volume, elaborately illustrated with\nreproductions of the quaintest of medi\u00e6val drawings. The archaic text\nof the original English is happily modernised in parallel columns, so\nthat the book is pleasant and easy reading. The elaborate appendix is\na treasury of research ... and the bibliographical catalogue is\nexhaustive.\"\n_The Fortnightly Review._--\"A great classic has been rescued from\noblivion.\"\n_The Spectator._--\"There can be no hesitation in ascribing to the\nmagnificently produced volume the first place in the classics of\nhunting of an earlier date ever given to the public of our day. Some\nof the attractions of this splendid volume ... the illustrations which\nare as interesting as the text ... absolutely a masterpiece ... the\nendurance of a scholarly and rational enthusiasm in the history and\npursuit of sport has its monument in the fine work now presented.\"\n_The Field._--\"In many respects this is a remarkable book. It is the\noldest treatise on hunting in the English language. It was written\njust five centuries ago, and, strange to say, until the present time\nit has never been printed. As the treatise is from many points of view\nof considerable importance, one would have supposed that long ere this\nsome enthusiastic scholar with a love for the chase would have been\nfound both able and willing to undertake its publication. On the other\nhand, we have only to look at the text as now presented to us to see\nthat its preparation implies an enormous amount of labour, involving a\ncollation of the various MSS., a _verbatim et literatim_ transcription\nof the text, a modern English translation in parallel columns,\ncritical and explanatory notes, and a glossary of ancient hunting\nterms; in a word, a thorough mastery of the subject. All this Mr. and\nMrs. Baillie-Grohman have accomplished, and indeed much more, for they\nhave given an account of the existing MSS. of the work, a bibliography\nof the medi\u00e6val literature of the chase. It was a happy thought to\nillustrate the English text with facsimiles of the beautiful\nminiatures which adorn the French original.... In the way of\nreproduction nothing could be better ... the _tout ensemble_ is a\nmodel of good taste and fine printing.\"\n_Baily's Magazine._--\"This beautiful book ... in such sumptuous form\n... bears evidence of wide research and of care in preparation. The\nsumptuous production it is and the illuminations from old MSS. have\nbeen reproduced as well as it was possible to reproduce them.\"\n_Land and Water._--\"This is really an extremely interesting book, and\nif Mr. Baillie-Grohman is as painstaking and accurate with his rifle\nas he is with his pen, it is small wonder that he is in the front rank\nof contemporary sportsmen.\"\n_The Standard._--\"Singularly interesting and amusing ... sumptuous\nbook ... an immense amount of bibliographical information.... Mr.\nBaillie-Grohman is a hunter of world-wide experience, and his\nauthority will be generally recognised.\"\n_Morning Post._--\"Magnificent folio ... the editors' notes on the text\nare full of far-sought information, and, what is more, are\ndelightfully written.... Happy is the sportsman and scholar who has a\ncopy of it.\"\n_The Country Gentleman._--\"Mr. and Mrs. Baillie-Grohman have done\ntheir work as editors admirably ... nothing could be better than the\ngeneral 'get-up' of this charming volume.\"\n_New York Herald._--\"Magnificent edition of the 'Master of Game,'\nedited with a loving care that makes it a literary marvel. No labour,\nno expense has been too great for the editors of this truly splendid\nedition of a singularly interesting work.\"\n_Chicago Tribune._--\"Sumptuous folio of the first importance to\nstudents ... it must ever be considered a classic of its kind.\"\n_The Nation_ (New York).--\"One can hardly speak too highly of the\nloving and enthusiastic care which the editors have manifested in\npreparing the work for publication.\"\nEnd of Project Gutenberg's The Master of Game, by Second Duke of York, Edward", "source_dataset": "gutenberg", "source_dataset_detailed": "gutenberg -  The Master of Game"}
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