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arrian on iSTourfiiing^
THE CYNEGETICUS
THE YOUNGER XENOPHON,
TRANSLATED FROM THE GREEK,
WITH
CLASSICAL AND PRACTICAL ANNOTATIONS,
AND A BRIEF SKETCH OF THE LIFE AND WRITINGS OF
THE AUTHOR.
TO WHICH IS ADDED
AN APPENDIX,
CONTAINING
SOME ACCOUNT OF THE CANES VENATICI OF
CLASSICAL ANTIQUITY.
BY A GRADUATE OF MEDICINE.
?18itttfi ISmtfnisfjtiirnls from tlfte Antique.
LONDON :
J. BOHN, 17, HENRIETTA STREET, COVENT GARDEN.
MDCCCXXXI.
CTtoo l^unlireli ants Jfitivi CToptcs of tl&ts SliBoi-fe arc l^rintetr.
EX iEDIBUS VALPIANIS.
iurrarj) .^matrur.^ oxm Ica^r-b^
The fonioT^^fmi'i? W(Dir]k
V
/ yyy
Dat milii prrt-'teroA , lanqtiani se. pacvA, d-edissct
Uona , <iineiin imufttis. qiieiu- cum. stLa, traderct illi
CynUiiA, currervdo superabit dixerat oinii.es
Dill sim-ul et jaeulun); majiibiis qvLod (ccrms) haieTnus
Ovui Mel<vrn L W
HIOKi'UL ANEUM
PREFACE.
Nee desiuat unquam
Tecum Graia loqui teciun Romana vetustas. — Claudian,
The following version does not aim at pleasing the mere
literary man. It was not undertaken with the ambitious
expectation of being generally acceptable. It is addressed to
the coursing public alone — to the amateurs of the leash ; for
whom the original was written, seventeen centuries ago, by
their representative of old, a courser of Nicomedia in Asia
Minor; and for whose amusement and instruction the same
now assumes an English garb.
The general reader will find little in it to interest him. He
will perhaps consider it altogether unworthy of his notice.
The sportsman, fond of
the inasical confusion
Of hounds and echo in conjunction,
will read it with indifference, as treating of a branch of rural
sport, not congenial to his taste ; and wonder that an attempt
should be made to bring under public notice so ancient a
treatise on a subject of such partial interest. But the courser,
A
PREFACE.
it is humbly conceived, the active patron of the xvvsg KeKrixa),
proud of his greyhounds, that
are as swift
As breathed stags, aye fleeter than the roe,
will peruse it con amore, and find in its pages much that
is entertaining and practically useful, and that utility enhanced
in the department of annotation.
The literary courser, whose attention it more particularly
solicits, will reap the additional benefit of the light which
is thrown on Arrian's text by the ancient authors of Greece
and Rome ; and be ready to yield to the translator the humble
merit of having collected in one point of view the classical
elucidations of the Cynegeticus,' and the pertinent observations
of writers of a later period.
Pro captu lectoris habent sua fata libelli !
The original manual is conversant with coursing, as practised
in the age of Hadrian and the Antonini, at which period the
Celtic hound was well known, and highly prized : but the
annotations of the translator have a more extensive range,
being selected from various Cynegetica in print and manuscript,
from the first institution of coursing to the present time."
1. The editors of the Greek libellus confine their remarks almost exclusively to
critical annotations on the text. Indeed Holstein's edition has no notes ; Blancard's,
only a few marginal emendations; and Zeune's and Schneider's, very few parallel
passages. Such classical citations, therefore, as are adduced by the translator, are
for the most part of novel application.
2. The quotations from the Cynegeticus of Xenophon the elder refer to the chase-
practices and kennel-discipline of Greece, antecedent to the institution of coursing.
V H I-. I' A V V. . '■>
The imperfect poem of Gratius, the Faliscian, on hunting, Gratii Falisci
Cyncg. VS.203.
and the often-cited simile of his contemporary Ovid, afford Ovid, ftictam.
L. I. vs. 5:{3. ft
the earhest notice of the canis GaUicus — for he was unknown L. vu. vs.78i,
to ancient Greece.^ The description of a single-handed course
by the poet of the Metamorphoses, as it is the first attempt of
the kind by any classic author, so is it unrivalled in the
accuracy of its technical phraseology, and the beauty of its
poetry. Intermediate in point of time between the vivid
Ovidian sketch, and the full and perfect picture of Arrian,
are the faint outlines of the epigrammatist Martial : and Martial. L. m.
Epig. 47. et
subsequent to the Bithynian's, the somewhat doubtful por- L- xiv. Epig.
200.
trait of the philologist Julius Pollux, presented to the Emperor Poiiuc. Ono-
. mast. L.v.Prffif.
Commodus ; and yet later, that of Oppian, the Greek poet Oppian. Cyneg.
L. I. vs. 401.
of Anazarbus, of the reigns of Severus and Caracalla. —
1. This statement is limited to classical authors alone ; the Biblical scholar might
possibly arraign its accuracy, if made more general ; though it scarce needs qualifi-
cation to suit the doubtful interpretation of the Hebrew test of Proverbs ch. xxx. ver.
31 . No allusion occurring elsewhere in the sacred volume to dogs of the chase, though
many to the earlier varieties of Venation with predatory instruments, it is improbable
that the words of Agur to his pupils Ithiel and Ucal should refer to the most uncom-
mon of the canine tribe, the canis Leporarius, Gallicus, or Vertragus. The Hebrew-
expression, however, for " accinctus lumbis," "girt in the loins," as explained in Bocnarti Hie-
the margin of the English version, is understood by Jewish lexicographers to desig-
nate the greyhound, and is so rendered in the English text. But with the learned
Bochart (Prjefat. ad Lectorem — wherein he corrects a few errors of the body of his
work, and gives his latest and most mature opinions on certain Scriptural difficulties
— a part of his writings apparently overlooked by modern annotators, to the farther
propagation of error) I should rather understand the horse to be the animal alluded
to — " equura intelligi malim, qui non solum expedite, sed et superbe, et cum porap^ Ejusdeni Prse-
quadam incedit: et lumbos habet cingula vel zonk vere succinctos. Quod an de '^t.adLectorem.
cane dici possit valde arabigo." After all, perhaps, no particular animal may have
been intended by the son of Jakeh. The term may have a general reference to any
animal of the frame alluded to — " substricta gerens — ilia — " The chapter containing Ovid. Metam.
the passage in question is not found in the Sepluagiiit; indeed the Greek version of "'•
the LXX. terminates with the 29th chapter.
PREFACE.
In these authors alone do we find any allusion to the courser's
hound, till towards the close of the third century, when he
Nemesidii. Cy- again appears in the Cynegeticon of Nemesian ; who has
neg. vs. lOG. ^ ^^ "^ ^
cleverly struck out in a few lines the elegant symmetry of his
shape, and added thereto some peculiar remarks on the selec-
tion, feeding, and entrance of puppies. With the scanty por-
traiture of the Carthaginian poet we are brought down to the
l':jusd. vs. 64. reigns of Carus, his sons, *^ Divi fortissima pignora Cari," and
Diocletian : at which epoch, memorable alike in the annals of
the world and its literature, the classical history of the leash
may be said to terminate, and therewith all notice of the Celtic
hound. ^
We have no ancient records of the chase- to succeed the
1. In the 27th oration of Themistius, the eclectic philosopher of Paphlagonia, a
passage occurs, which, as far as merely mentioning Celtic dogs by name, may be said
to prolong the notice to the fourth century. The whole passage, as illustrative of
the author's subject, " non loca attendenda sed homines," is curious and worthy of
Themibtii Orat. citation — '6<ttis 5e ayana Kvvas, tovtco TrpocrdxAes fxlv Krrifia, Kcd KeXrai, koI AaKaivai
''^^'"" aKvXuKfS' SdKvei 5e avrhv Ka\ rh KaffTopiSuv <f)i\ov, Kol rh 'ApKaSiKhv avrh, Kal rh KpTj-
TiKhv, cus <pv(TLS Tuv 6r]pl<i>v eA.e^x^"' "^^^ iiivas Karh rijv oSbv eiriffTrofievaiS' ov irapdyf/e-
rat Be ou5e ras olnoi (rKv\aKev6ii<Tas, et firjTe KaWovs iKeivwv iJ.y}Ti wkvttjtos \tl-
■KOLi'To. In favour of the greyhound being here cited, it may be remarked that the
Bithynian courser calls the Celtic dog fieya KTrifia (cap. xxxii.) and his shape Ka\6u
Ti XPWS ^"d derives his name airh rrjs wKvrriTos, as the characteristic distinction of
the race. See some remarks on the " Canes Scolici " of Symniachus hereafter.
2. The Cynosophiura alone, a Greek work " de Cur& Canura," breaks the silence of
many centuries. It is supposed to have been compiled, about the year 1270, by
Demetrius of Constantinople, author of the first treatise " de Re Accipitraria," and
physician to the Emperor Michael PalcEologas. To what is borrowed from the two
Xenophons, nothing is added of novelty or interest, save in the department of canine
pathology; indeed it is almost entirely confined to kennel-management and thera-
peutics. No notice is taken of any variety of dog by name. The reader, who may
wish to consult its medical nostrums, will find the treatise attached to the " Rei Acci-
pitraria; Scriptores" of Rigaltius (Lutctia; jidcxii.) and to the " Poeta: \'enatici "
of Johnson (Londini MDcxcix.).
PREFACE.
Gloss.
Greek and Latin Cynegetica ; for tliough it be true that the
barbarian codes of hivv, the Salic, Burg-undian, and German, Spelman.G
' ' o ' ' pp. 113. et
extended their protection to our variety of Canis Venaticus, ^^lojs^in voclf ^
about the year 500, under the title of Veltris and its synonyms ;
and some of the Cynegetical writers appear to have been well
known in the dark ages, and so highly valued in the eighth
century, as to be read among the higher Greek and Roman
classics, in the time of Charlemagne ; and we believe coursing
and other sports were as attractive in the field, as the writers
upon such subjects were in the schools, (for the court of this
pnnce had its Veltrani, oincers oi the greyhound-kennel, qui voce.
veltres custodiebant,") still, instead of any formal treatise of
this date upon the pastime of the leash, we find for several
centuries, only incidental allusions to the greyhound, and his
high repute, principally as distinctive of the gentiUty of his
possessor, until the publication of *' The Booke of Hawkyng,
Huntyng, 8cc." by Dame Juliana Berners, in the fifteenth
century.
The didactic discourse of hunting, contained in this volume,
Haslewood's
commonly known by its territorial appellation of " The Book Prolegomena to
•^ -^ ^^ BookofSt. Al-
of St. Albans," may be an amplified versification of the prosaic ^^^^s.
*' Venery of Mayster John GyfFord and Will™ Twety, that
were with Kyng Edward the Secunde ;" or possibly a compila-
tion and translation by the sister of Lord Berners, or the " one
sumtyme schole mayster of Seynt Albons " from earlier Latin Warton's Hist.
of Engl. Poetry,
and French writers : but such authorities are as yet, I believe, ^'''- "• P- ^'^^■
unknown to Antiquaries. Excepting, therefore, the few lines,
before alluded to, in the latest of the Latin Cynegetica, and
the earlier portrait of Oppian, which I consider referable to the
6 PREFACE.
hound in question, it may be said that we do not possess in
Bookof St. Al- pj,jj^t aj^y full description of '' the propritees of a good Gre-
hounde" Ix twv ttoSwv I5 t^v xefaA^v, from the time of the
learned Courser of Nicomedia, till that of the sporting prioress
of Sopewell.
Not that I am ignorant of the curious early treatise of
Gaston Phcebus, the celebrated Comte de Foix, written in the
middle of the fourteenth century, entitled " Des Deduitz de la
Ms. Cotton. Chasse de Bestes Sauvaiges et des Oyseaux de Proye ; " nor
Vesp. B. XII.
Brit. Mus. of a more rare work in manuscript, CJje ,|Etap^ter Of OBame,
Henry VI. pt. composed by Edmund Duke of York, ** Edmund Langley,
II. act II.
Edward the Third's fifth son," in the latter part of the four-
teenth century ; and therefore, in point of date, claiming a
priority to the book of St. Albans, as do, of course, the lucu-
brations of the Second Edward's attendants before mentioned.
But these enchiridia of field sports preceded the Sopewell col-
lection only a few years ; and in the Count de Foix's manual,
as given by Fouilloux under the title of " La Chasse du Roy
Phebus," there is nothing on our subject worth noticing.
Ms. ut supra. In ^\)Z Ccaf te of ](^ontpng ^ by Gyfford and Twety, the grey-
hound is mentioned only once ; and hare-coursing is not re-
corded at all.
Hardyng's The unpublished labours of the Duke of York, - " Ed-
Chronicle.
monde, hyght of Langley," contain much original and valuable
1. The CTraftC of IHjOntgng is supposed to be a version by Gyfford from a more
ancient work by Twety or Twici — " Le art de Venerie le quel Maistre Guillaiue Twici
Venour le Roy d'Angleterre fist en son temps per aprandre autres." The greyhound
^jj. , P J is mentioned fol. 4. of hlototnj. " Whaii aman hath setuparcherysand greylioundes,
Poeirv V. II. and the beesl be founde and passe out the boundys, and myne houndes aftir," &c.
221. 2. These instructions were written for Henry Prince of Wales, afterwards Henry V.
PRRKACE.
information : and it is to be regretted that it is not rendered
more available to coursers by being committed to the press.
With copious general descriptions of our ancient field-sports,
and animals obnoxious to the chase, Cf)e JltilayjiitCC Of &m\t
unites specific dehneations of the shape of each variety of
canis venaticus, employed by British sportsmen of past days,
with occasional references to the chace practices of foreign
countries " by yonde the see." The chapter of grcpi^OUnDCjS
anti of \)tU nature, as cited hereafter in illustration of Arrian,
will be read with pleasure. Indeed the Duke's portrait of the
Celtic hound is even more minutely accurate and precise than
its Grecian prototype, and l^er manncrjjS as they are quaintly
termed, and briefly sketched in the royal Cynegeticus, establish
many of the remarks of the younger Xenophonwspj r^g yvwarig
TWV KVVUiV.
Still Dame Julyan's compilation being, at least, the first of
the kind that issued from the English press, and the type of our
modern works of Venery, may be viewed as the earliest attempt,
since the revival of letters, to certify by intelligible canons, the
corporeal characteristics of a good greyhound. With the tra-
ditionary dogmata of Sir Tristrem de Liones,^ who was the re-
puted '^ begynner of all the termes of huntynge and hawkynge,"
it incorporates the accumulated knowledge of many centuries.
1. The " Morte Arthur"' tells us, that " Tristrem laboured ever in bunting and Scott's Sir
hawking, so that we never read of no gentleman more that so used himself therein," Instrem.
&c. and in the rich poetry of Spenser, the kniglit informs Sir Calldore,
my most delight hath always been
To hunt the salvage chace, amongst my peers,
Of all that rangeth in the forest green.
Of which none is to me unknown, that ever yet was seen.
8 PREFACE.
Script, iiiiist. And the Dame ^ being: no ordinary personage — ** Illustris foe-
M. B. auct. I. ^ J r =.
BaieoCent.8. niina, corporis et animi dotibus abundans, ac formse elegantia
oidys in Bio- gpectabilis — heroica mulier, in2;eniosa virago" — " a second
graph. Britan- ^ > & o
nica, in voce Minerva in her studies, and another Diana in her diversions" —
Caxton, note. '
her contemporaries would doubtless receive a cynegetical trea-
tise from her cloister at Sopewell, with gratitude and admi-
ration.
After the publication of the book of St. Albans, other cyne-
getica poetical arid prosaic, in various languages, followed in
rapid succession ; of which the earliest in my possession are
from the presses of Aldus and Feyerabendi ; but collectively
they afford very scanty instruction on the history and practice
of the leash.
Venaf. Hercu- The Epicedium of the Florentine poet, Hercules Stroza, ad-
lis Strozje, &c.
Francofoit. dresscd to the Duchess of Ferrara ; the hendecasyllables of
1582.
Adrian. Cardi- Adrian Castellesi, and the quatrains of John Adam Lonicer,
nal. Venat. Al- ^
dus, 1534. with their accompanvina; *' icones artificiosissimae ad vivum
Venat. et Au- r J &
cup. per J. A. expressae," add nothing; to our stock of information. And the
Lonicer. iran- °
p"^ L^d^ii Se ^^'^^ ™^y b^ ^^^^ of the chaste cynegetical eclogues, *' Sarnis
emit' Poem!'"' ^^ Viburnus," of Pctrus Lotichius Secundus,
omnia. Burman-
mAmstel.1754.
Qui cithara primus, qui primus carminis arte
Inter erat vates, Teutonisora, tuos.
1. The Biographia Britannica is amusingly severe in its strictures on the renowned
Mrs. Barnes, and her incongruous occupations in the field and cloister. " There
Biograph. Brit, appears such a motley masquerade — such an indistinctness of petticoat and breeches,
note, Caxton, — such a problem and concorporation of sexes, according to the image that arises out
"' * of the several representations of this 'religious sportswoman or virago, that one can
scarcely consider it, without thinking Sir Tristram, the old monkish forester, and
Juliana, the matron of the nuns, had united to confirm John Cleveland's ' Canonical
Hermaphrodite.' "
I'RKl- ACE.
I have in vain examined the four books of " Natalis Comes Natal. Comosdc
Venatioiie Akli
de Venatione" for more than the name of the canis Celticus— fii.Venet. i55i.
probably to be interpreted of the war-dog of Gaul, rather than
the Vertragus.
The Cvneireticon of Peter Angelio, commonly called, from Petri Angelii
•' ° ^ liarga-i Poenia-
his Tuscan birth-place, Bar^seus, is said to have been the ta omnia. Flo-
r ' o ' rent. 15G8.
labour of twenty years. It is a splendid specimen of modern
Latinity, in beautiful Virgilian hexameters, to which the lite-
rary courser will award their merited meed of praise. The
most approved shape of the ** canis cursor " is correctly por-
trayed, with a reference to the fabulous tale of the Ovidian
Lselaps. Nor has the poet disdained to enter on the minute
and necessary details of breeding, and kenneling the pack.
Indeed the whole of his fifth book is devoted to the " blanda
canum soboles ; " and the reader will find incorporated in the
instructions therein given, nearly all the arcana of the Greek
and Latin Cynegetica, excepting these of Arrian's Manual,
which do not appear to have been known to the poet of Barga.
He employs the greyhound in coursing the fox, wolf, deer, and
goat ; but gives no description of hare-coursing in any of the
six books of his Cynegeticon ; nor in the eclogues entitled
" Venatoria," forming part of the fifth book of his " Carmina."
Had the manuscript of Arrian's Cynegeticus been known to
him, he would, doubtless, have entered as fully into hare-
coursing, as he has into every other variety of chase.
Of Conrad Heresbach's compendium of fishing, fowlino-, C. HeresUndiii
Compendium
and hunting, ^ attached to his larger work '' de Re Rustica," I Thercmic-.i' uni-
versae.
1. Should the reader meet with any extracts from the Compendium in the suhse-
quent annotation.s, they are to be received on ilie auiliority of Conrad Gesner, from
wliose " Historia QiiadrupeJum " they are selected. The same learned wurk lias
J5
10 PREFACE.
have in vain endeavoured to procure a copy. It is a prosaic
work, treating more of animal history, as I am informed, than of
venation : still as this abbreviator of the labours of his prede-
cessors was a man of various acquirements, and extensive erudi-
tion, it would have been satisfactory to me to have examined
his " Compendium Thereuticaj Universse ; " or at least the first
part of it, devoted to the hunting of terrestrial animals.
H. Fracastorii Xhe Alcou of Fracastor is in every one's hands ; being
Alcon, seu de ^ / o
Cura Caiium. annexed to the editions of the Poeta Venatici by Johnson and
Kempher, It contains nothing on the subject of coursing.
M. A. BlonHi To Michael Angelo Blondus or Biondi, we are indebted for
de Canibus et
Venat. libellus, the first hint on clothino; o-i'eyhounds in the field, and for other
matters connected with the discipline of the kennel and its
Joan. Darcii inmates ; and to Joannes Darcius, a truly classic poet of
Venusini Canes
Francof. 1582. Venusium, not unworthy the natal town of Horace, for an
elegant sketch of a hare-course, cited in the subsequent
annotations.
It is singular that the greyhound, indigenous as we suppose
him of Gallia Celtica, should have been so little noticed by his
countrymen — that a variety of chase heretofore peculiar to Gaul
should have been omitted in almost all the cynegetical works
of Frenchmen of the olden time ; and that the same omission
should be chargeable on the moderns, — on the " Venerie
Normande" of M. Le Verrier de la Conterie, the " Traite de
Venerie" of M. D'Yauville, and even, to a great extent, on the
volume of the Encyclopedic Methodique, which professes to be
a "■ Dictionnaire de toutes les especes de Chasses."
afforded the few parallel passages adduced from Albertus Magnus, Belisarius, and
Tardif. For all others tlie translator is himself answerable, having culled them from
the original sources, and generally from the most approved editions.
I'KF, lACK. 11
Savary of Caen published a Latin poem on hare-hunting Album Diana;,
in seven books, ' entitled '* Album Dianai Leporicidoe, sive 1G55.
Venationis Leporinee leges," of some rarity, but of little merit.
He appears to have had an especial dislike to the canis
Gallicus, anathematizing the ancient Celtic recreation in the
very style of our own Somerville, who in many parts of
" The Chase" seemingly had his eye on the poet of Caen :
Nam neque defisi canis irretita coturnix Alb. Diana; &c.
Indicio, non iusidiis oppressa Laconura ■ • H-
Heu leporum virtus, bievis ilia et avara voluptas,
Et quorum iiuuquam cor est satiabile caedis
Nobile venandi nomen meruere !
The courser will scarce recognize his favourite dog in the
slanderous abstract misnomer of '' LacedaBmonii pernix violentia
monstri."
The celebrated works of Jaques du Fouilloux, and his con- La Chasse du
± T 1 /->(i 1 n 1 /> , Loup. J. de CI.
temporary Jean de Glamorgan, do not treat oi the use of the
greyhound, except merely " in setting back-sets, or receytes
for deare, wolfe, foxe, or such like :" but in " the noble art of Turberviie's B.
of H. p. 246.
Venerie" by Turbervile and Gascoigne, in " the Jewell for
Gentrie," and the compilations of Gervase Markham, we find Countiey Con-
'■ ' tentments.
much illustration of the science and history of the leash in CountrejFarme
•^ &c. &c.
Great Britain.^
1. Innuba, qui pariter coelebs, duo numina cultu . ,, ^.
. ,. . ., . . Alb. Diana &c.
Assiduo colit, Artemidem junxitque Minervas, L_ iv, p^ 52
Carus utrique Dese Savary, quern sedula semper
Investigandi leporis tenet ultima cura.
2. The date of the greyhound's introduction into these islands is with difficulty Symmachi E-
ascertained. If the " septem Scoticorum canum oblatio " of Flavian, wherewith he pist. L. ii.
graced the Quaestor's spectacle of his brother Symraachus at Rome, be really coarse '^
varieties of the Celtic type, as supposed by Christopher Wase, this hound must have
12
PR El' ACE.
Turbervile, or whoever be the translator of Fouilloux, has
appended an admirable breviary of coursing to " the booke of
\v*.^e'siiiustra- hunting:" and Wase notifies of Gervase Markham, that ''he
tioiis of Gratius
r- 74.
J. Vanierii
Pijed. Rustic.
Lib. IV.
hath reported the fruits of his own experience, as in the whole
cycle of husbandry accurately; so in Cynegetiques excellently."
His chapter on coursing with greyhounds ^ is well worthy
perusal; as is also the description of the " Leporarius" by
Dr. Caius in his " Libellus de canibus Britannicis."— Need I
stop to remark the doubtful features of the " canis alter preepete
cursu" of Vaniere's Praedium Rusticum? — Some few points
belong apparently to the Celtic hound,
Pes illi gracilis, loiiga iuternoclia crurum,
ArgutuiB caput, et levibus vis ig^ea plantis;
Demissumque brevi pectus se colligil alvo.
but his latrancy {" insequitur claris lepores latratibus") would
rather assign him to a different kennel. Works of a later date
are too well known to need particular notice.
Very few are the improvements, either in the discipline of
the courser's kennel, or his practice in the field, transmitted to
us by these collective cynegetica ; and modern ingenuity has
See the Appen-
dix Class III.
Cotton. Mss.
Tiber. B. v.
been found here as early as the reign of Theodosius. Indeed Hector Boethius and
Holinshed place him amongst us at an earlier period : nor is it improbable that he
originally accompanied the Scoto-Celts from the continent of Europe at their primary
irruption into Ireland and Scotland. We have evidence of his being an inmate of the
Anglo-Saxon kennels in the days of Elfric, Duke of Mercia ; and manuscriptal
paintings have descended to us of a Saxon chieftain and his huntsman, attended by a
brace of greyhounds, of the date of the 9th century — the earliest representation which
I have seen of this hound as connected with British field-sports.
1. Contained in his work entitled " Countrey Contentments." In addition to
which, " The Countrey Farme," by the same author, a compilation from the French,
will be read with amusement.
P HE I" ACE. 13
added little to our knowledge in any department of coursing,
as the reader of the Nicomedian's Manual will readily acknow-
ledge. His remarks on the physical indications of excellence
in greyhounds, and of speed and good blood, — derived from
external shape and character generally, — on the unimportance
of colour, — on the indications afforded by temper, tractability
in the field, mode of feeding. Sec. are perfect as far as they go.
Nor can we improve on his kennel management, in feeding, Arriani de \'e-
nalione
bedding, (evv^ ixaXQctxr] xoti ocKssivyj), rubbing down, (rgl^ig too c. ix.
a-do[j,aTo; iravTos,) exercising, alternated with confinement, Slc. <=• ^^
&c. As to slipping-law, and the number of hounds to be c. xv.
slipped at once, his injunctions |x»)Te eyyuQsv IttjAusiv tw Xuycio,
fUYiTs TrXsioug SuoTv, are strictly complied with at present by all
fair sportsmen.
The Celts, it appears, had four different ways of coursing,
all of which are practised by modern amateurs, according to
their several tastes, and the nature of the countries in which
they follow their sport.
The superior class of Celtic gentlemen, o<toi ^h TrXovToZa-iv av- c. xix.
Twv x«t rpo^coo-jv, employed persons to look out for hares in their
forms, early in the morning, and to inform them by a messen-
ger what success they had met with, before they left home
themselves.
A second class, probably less opulent, and not able to afford c. xx.
the expense of hare-finders, mustered all their brother-ama-
teurs, and beat the ground in regular array, abreast of each
other. Both these parties were mounted on horseback ; but a
third class sallied forth on foot, and these, Arrian says, were
really workmen at the sport, auTovpyo) xuvyjyeo-jwv : if any person
14 PREFACE.
accompanied the latter on horseback, he was ordered to keep
up with the greyhounds. A fourth mode of coursing, some-
times adopted by them, was that of first loosing dogs of scent
c. XXI. to find, and start the game, and then slipping the greyhounds,
as soon as it came within sight.
Upon all of these different practices the father of the leash
has entered most fully in his classical Manual : and if to these
points we add his sensible remarks on the entering of puppies,
on breeding, management after whelping, feeding and naming
of young dogs, comparison of sexes, &c. ; his merit will be
allowed to be commensurate with his antiquity, and his enchi-
ridion not only the earliest in the annals of the leash, but
altogether the most abundant in valuable information.
It is foreign to my purpose and inclination to enter into a
prolix defence of the courser's pursuit, against the objections of
Countrcy Con- its adversaries in the field or closet. " I would not goe about,"
tentments,
in the words of Gervase Markham, " to elect and prescribe
what recreation the husbandman should use, binding all men to
one pleasure — God forbid ! my purpose is merely contrary :
for I know in men's recreations, that nature taketh to herselfe
an especiall prerogative, and what to one is most pleasant, to
another is most offensive ; some seeking to satisfie the mind,
some the body, and some both in a joynt motion."
We of the coursing fraternity prefer the " canis Gallicus,"
and "arvum vacuum" of Ovid, as instrumental to our choicest
diversion ;
•M • camposque patentes
C vneg. vs. 48. Scrutamur, totisque citi discurriraus arvis ;
Et ' cupimus facili cane suniere praedas ;
Nos timidos lepores
B. I. c. I.
PREFACE. I'J
but we do not forbid others
imbelles figere damas,
' Audacesve lupos, vulpem aut captaie dolosaii).
For the refined diversion of coursing may be as disagreeable to
tlie fox-hunter, whose only joy is when
The hounds shall make the welkin answer them, Taming of the
And fetch shrill echoes from the hollow earth, '
as it is delightful to the general amateur, on account of its j,jj.^,^ Histor.
chaste, and temperate, and contemplative quiet. King James, rie"voLni. p.
in his Bao-jXixov Jwgov, (himself, according to Sir Theodore a kinge'sXtiau
Mayerne, " violentissimis ohm venationis exercitiis deditus,") God, B. m,
praises " the hunting with running houndes, as the most
honourable and noblest sort thereof," and is supported by the
high authority of Edmund de Laugley, JDayj^ter Of OBame ; ^- "^ ®- ^°-
adding " it is a thievish forme of hunting to shoote with gunnes
and bowes, and greyhounde hunting is not so martiall a
game." But on the other hand. Sir Thomas Elyot, in "The B.i. c.i7.
Governour," speaking of " those exercises apte to the furni-
ture of a gentylman's personage," and " not utterly reproved of
noble autours, if they be used with oportunitie and in measure,"
calls " hunting of the hare with grehoundes a ryght good solace
for men that be studiouse, or theim to whom nature hathe not
geven personage, or courage apte for the warres ; and also for
gentilwomen, which feare nether sonne nor wynde for appayr-
yng their beautie. And peradventure they shall be therat
lesse idell, than they shold be at home in their chaumbers." —
And the author of " The Booke of Hunting," annexed to Tur-
bervile's Falconrie, concludes his treatise with the following
singular panegyric " concerning coursing with greyhoundes " —
''the which is doubtlesse a noble pastime, and as meet for
16 PREFACE.
nobility and gentleman, as any of the other kinds of Venerie
before declared : especially the course of the hare, which is a
sport continually in sight, and made without any great travaile :
so that recreation is therein to be found without unmeasurable
toyle and payne : ^ whereas in hunting with hounds, although
the pastime be great, yet many times the toyle and paine is
also exceeding great : and then it may well be called, eyther a
painfull pastime, or a pleasant payne."
Coursing, more than the other laborious diversions of rural
life, while it ministers to our moderate sensual enjoyment,
admits also during the intervals of the actual pursuit of hound
and hare, much rational reflection, opportunities of conversation
with our brethren of the leash, and mental improvement. It
tends, as Markham quaintly expresses himself, '' to satisfie the
mind and body in a joynt motion ;" for in the beautiful poetry
of a living patron of the Celtic dog, there is no interval of
idleness with the well-read courser ;
Marmion In- ^^^ ^^^^ between each merry cLase,
trod, to Canto II. Passes tlie intermitted space :
For we have fair resource in store,
In Classic and in Gothic lore.
Oooian Hali- ^* TepvoiXr] S' eirerai Bripri irXeov rieTrep ISpdis.
eut. I. vs. 28. Coursing has ever been held an honuurahle and gentlemanly amusement in Great
Britain, from its earliest annals to the present time. Nor can T discover any authority
for the truth of Vlitius's opinion, as given in his note on the Veltraha of Gratius.
Vlitii Venatio "^^ i'^^'J Vertragis suis sagaces posthabeat ille Xenophon: nam hodie in Angliii
Novantiqua. sagaces nobilissirai quique exercent ; Vertrago autem leporem conficere, indignum
bene nato parum abest quin habeatur." Such never was the opinion entertained of
" greyhound hunting," in King JaM)es's phrase : — indeed the farther we go back into
the history of the leash, the higher it lanked in the scale of British field-sports. See
the " Constitutiones Canuti Regis de foresta" — and Blount's Ancient Tenures pas-
sim, for instances of the high repute in which the courser's hound has ever been held
in Great Britain.
IMIEFACK. 17
But there are those who anathematize huntini:; and coursing,
and other rural recreation, either as sinful, * or indicative of
barbarism and mental degradation, in the ratio of the pursuit.
Like Cornelius Agrippa, they view venation in genere as the ^^ Incert. et
worst occupation of the worst of mankind ; and say with lxxvh,
Philip Stubbes, that ** Esau was a great hunter, but a re- The Anatomie
of Abuses.
probat J Ismael, a great hunter, but a miscreant ; Nemrode,
a great hunter, but yet a reprobat, and a vessell of wrath ; "
and bid us, in the poetic badinage of the poet of Cyrene, leave
off coursing :
fa ■Kp6Kas f)5« \wywovs Callimachus, H.
oi/pea ^SffKfffdai- t( S4 ksu irpdKes iiSe \ayo}o\ '" Dian. vs. 154.
lie^eiay ;
swearing, with the melancholy Jaques,
that we As You Like It.
Are mere usurpers, tyrants, and what's worse,
To fright the animals, and to kill them up,
In their assign'd and native dwelling-place.
But if " some habites and customes of delight" are allow-
able and indispensable to the " contentment" of the human
1. The reader will be amused with Simon Latham's epilogue to the third edition
of his " Faulconry," wherein he combats (for he wrote in ticklish times, 1G58) with
his usual quaintness of style and illustration, the notion of the sinfulness of rural
sports : inferring that they may " be lawfully and conscientiously used with modera-
tion by a magistrate or minister, or lawyer or student, or any other seriously em-
ployed, which in any function heat their brains, waste their bodies, weaken their
strength, weary their spirits ; that as a means (and blessing from God) by it their
decayed strength may be restored, their vital and animal s|)iiits quickened, refreshed,
and revived, their health preserved, and they better enabled (as a bow unbended for
shooting) to the discharging of their weighty charges imposed upon them."
18
PREFACE.
mind, and "men of exceeding strickt lives and severity of
profession " have indulged in rural diversions, why need we
regard the severe reflections of the sensitive Monsieur Paschal,
or his more modern plagiarists ? why think that wisdom loves
not the courser's sport ? or that man is degraded before the
tribunal of sound reason by estimating aright the instinct of
any of the creatures around him ? or made sinful in the eyes
of his Creator by availing himself of the adapted powers of the
lowliest of the brute race, for tlie subjugation of sucli wild
animals as were originally designed by a bountiful Creator for
Cicero de Nat. the Sustenance and recreation of man ? " Canum vero tam
Deor. L. ii. c.
incredibilis ad investigandum sagacitas nai'ium, tanta alacritas
in venando, quid significat aliud nisi se ad hominum commo-
ditates esse generatos ? "
The inference in regard to the chases and field sports gene-
rally is surely just, " that man, by co-operating with such
animals, employs both his and their faculties on the purposes
for which they were partially designed : tending thereby to
complete the bounteous scheme of Providence, the happiness
and well-being of all its creatures."
63
RIancliesler
Rlemoirs V. i.
Jul. Caesar. Sca-
liger. Epidorpi-
dum L. IV.
videtur
Natura parens hunc bomini dedisse ludum,
Sua obire manu retia, defigere varos,
Hos cum docuit: cum accipitrem redire jussum
Jucunda canes cum leporarios creabat :
Nunquum faciens frustra aliquid carensve fine.
Somerville,
Cbace. 13. iv.
The brute creation are man's properly,
Subservient to his will, and for him made.
As hurtful these he kills, as useful those
Preserves ; their sole and arbitrary king.
Should lie not kill, as erst the Samian sage
Taught unadvised, and Indian Brachiiians now
V U F. V ACE, I y
As \ainly preach ; tlie tocmiiig rav'nous brutes
Might fill tlie scanty space of this terrene,
Incumb'ring all the globe.
Mr. Warton, the talented historian of English Poetry, a
bookful Academic, and not a ju,a9«T«f xvvYiysa-lm, acquits the ^enophon de
' ' Venat. c. i.
hunter of the charge of barbarism, and acknowledges that
*' the pleasures of the chase seem to have been implanted bv ^^^**- °^ ^"s'*
^ ' -^ Poetry, V. ii.
nature ; and under due regulation, if pursued as a matter of
mere relaxation, and not of employment, are by no means
incompatible with the modes of polished life."
The difference of opinion on the subject of the chase has
arisen entirely from the different lights in which it has been
viewed ; the one exhibiting its rational use, the other its
intemperate abuse. " Elle a trouve autant de censeurs outres Encydop^Hie
JMethodique
que d'apologistes enthousiastes, parmi les anciens et les sur les chasses,
avertissenient.
modernes, parce qu'elle a ete envisagee sous le double rapport
de son utilite et de ses abus."
Amongst the ancient eulogists, in the Grecian language, will
be found Aristotle, Plato, Xenophon, Polybius, and Julius
Pollux ; in the Latin, Cicero, Horace, Virgil, Seneca, Pliny,
Justin, Symmachus, and others. To which numerous phalanx
of classic worthies there is no opponent authority, save that
of Sallust : and of more recent days, Petrarch, and Corne-
lius Agrippa. Not to swell this prefatory matter with too
many citations from obsolete languages, I have referred the
reader, who may wish to know more of the eloges alluded
to, severally to the passages in a note subjoined. ^ But
1. Aristot. de Polit. L. i. c. v. Plato de Legibus L. vii. Xenophon. Cyropad.
L. 1. c. V. L. VIII. c. XII. Respub. Lacedaem. c. in. Cyueget. c. i. xii. xni. Poly-
20 PREFACE.
touching the adverse party, a word or two may be here
admitted.
In appreciating the authority of Sallust's sentiments on the
subject of field-sports, as given in the studied preface of his
Bell. Catal.c.i. Catihnarian War, " Non fuit consilium socordia atque de-
sidia bonum otium conterere : neque vero, agrum colendo,
aut venando, servilibus officiis intentum, setatem agere ; " we
should remark the ambitious tone of pretended philosophy in
which the introduction is written : " Nostra omnis vis in
animo, et corpore sita est. Animi imperio, corporis servitio
magis utimur ; alteram nobis cum Diis, alteram cum belluis
commune est." And that this distinction between mental and
bius Hist. h. XXXI. Jul. Pollux Onomast. L. v. Preefat. Commodo. — Cicero de
Nat. D. L. II. de OflBciis L. i. Horat. L. i. Epist. xviii. Virgil. iEneid. L. vii. ix.
Seneca de Provid. c. ii. Plinii Panegyr. Traj. D. — Justin. Hist. Epit. L. xxxvii.
Symmach. Epist. L. v. Ep. 66.
It will be readily ceded that the amatory expostulation of Sulpitia to her dear
Clierinthus,
Tiliiilli Eleg. L. Sed procul abducit venandi devia cura
'^'* ^* O pereant sylvae, deficiantque canes!
Quis furor est, quae mens, densos indagine colles
Claudentera teneras ijedere velle nianus ?
Quidve juvat furtim latebras intrare ferarum,
Candidaque hamatis crura notare rubis?
and the epistle of Ausonius to the ruralist Theon,
Ausonii Epist. Sed tu parce feris venatibus, et fuge nota
'v- 39. Criraina sylvarum : ne sis CinyreVa proles,
Accedasque iterum Veneri plorandus Adonis;
are too jocular to place I'ibullus and the poet of Bourdeaux on the side of the Cati-
linariau historian.
PUKIACK. 21
corporeal qualities, their projier relation to each other, and the
subordinate character of the latter to that of the former,
ws oUt' i-ivoperis, odr' uSeos inXer' ovfiap Uj)pian. llali-
eut. L. V. vs.
TOcrcroPf offov Tpamowv, 04,
are kept up in the passage first adduced : in which he merely
means to say that he does not wish to spend his time in
slothful idleness ; and that the rural vocations of agriculture
and hunting, being of a secondary and inferior character, more
connected with the body than the mind, are not agreeable to
his taste, as the business and occupation of life, " setatem
agere." And we must allow that the entire and constant
dedication of time to practical agriculture, or rural sports, to
the care of flocks and herds, or the kenneling and coursing of
greyhounds, unvaried by such higher studies and pursuits as
are characteristic of well-educated men, must be deemed, in
polished life, rather lowly employment ; — approaching too near Arist. Polit. L.
to the class of occupations, which the Stagirite considers
sordid and servile, as being exercised by the corporeal powers
alone : — to avoid which, Sallust declares a decided preference
to speculative over bodily activity; to the "vita in literis" Historia Vita2 et
Mortis.
over the " vita rusticana : " " qu6 mihi rectius videtur, " says
he, " ingenii quam virium opibus gloriam quserere." Dis-
claiming that union of both, which we so much admire in the
Athenian philosopher of the Scilluntian retreat, and his coun-
terpart, the modern literary country gentleman ; a fair example
of an individual acting upon the twofold principle on which
Mr. Addison regulated his conduct. " As a compound of soul
and body, obliged to a double scheme of duties ; and thinking
that he has not fulfilled the business of the day, unless he has
22 PREFACE.
employed the one in labour and exercise, as well as the
other in study and contemplation."
Oppiaii. T^ Tjs afpylrjv Sv(TTepir4a TTjXe SiwKOi
TheGovernour, <' It is not onely Called Idelnes," says Sir Thomas Elyot,
B. I. c. XXVI.
" wherin the body or mynde cesseth from laboure, but specially
ydelnes is an omission of al honest exercise."
Passing over, for the present, the objections of Petrarch,
let us pause for a moment on the vituperations of Henricus
Sir T. Ei^'ot's Cornelius Agrippa. So confessedly crabbed a gentleman as
'I'lie Governour,
B. I. c. XI. this " noble clerke of Almayn," can add but little weight
to the scanty file of semi-classical oppositionists. Admitting
in his dedication to Furnatius his mental approximation to
the canine qualities of the metamorphosed Queen of Troy,
H. C. Agrippa " adeo ut cx ipsa indiffnatione ferme cum Troiana ilia Hecuba
la Uedicat. i).
Aug. Furnatio, yersus sum in canem, ac nullarum virium sim ad bene dicen-
dum, nil amplius memini nisi mordere, oblatrare, maledicere,
conviciari," &.C., his verdict cannot be received as that of a
candid and unprejudiced adversary. The general contempt
with which he visits all the arts and sciences, deprives his
De Vanit. et anti-cynegetical calumnies of much of their poignancy, and
Incert. &cc. c. . .
Lxxvii. renders his ** ars crudehs et tota tragica, cujus voluptas est ni
morte et in sanguine, quam ipsa deberet refugere humanitas,"^
8cc. scarce worthy of the courser's notice. "
1. Tlie plaiiiiive [)oel of "The Task," B. in. has seemingly borrowed from Agrip-
pa's page the lueniorable crimioation of the hunter's pursuit:
r. 'o Detested sport,
Lowper s ' '
Tlie Garden. That owes its pleasures to another's pain ;
Tliat feeds upon the sobs and dying slirieks
Of iiannlcss nature, &c.
2. I purposely omit all notice of the " V^enatio Amphitheatralis," or " V. in
V RE FACE. 23
Tlio inocloratc and occasional recourse to field-diversions,
with the same object that influenced PHny in their pursuit,
arena " of ancient Rome ; of which Tertullian, Augustin, Chrysostoni, and the Chris-
tian Cicero, Lactantius, have written with merited reprobation. "Cum viderent j , . .. ^
' ' J. Lipsii Sa-
pietatjs daiiino, addictum devinctumque populum his ludis ; passim invecti in eos, at turnal. Sermon.
libidinis, sffivitiajque fontes; et bene illi." Not a word can be advanced in palliation '-" '• •^* 7*
of these brutal outrages of liumanity,
^'1* Prudentius.
Ampbitheatralis spectacula tristia pompas !
wherein man was " butdier'd to make a Roman holiday " — " Homo occiditnr ad Childe Harold's
hominis voluplatem." With this monstrous variety ofVenatio, so called kut e|oxV> I'l'Sf'^^g^j *-"•
and recorded as such with horror, we have notliing to do ; with its abettors under any p^fian ad Do-
qualified form, the modern frequenters of the cock-pit or bear-garden, the heroes natum.
of a bull-bait, and patrons of mercenary pugilists, the rivals of the "municipalis
arens perpetui comites " of Juvenal's days, we have no sentiments in common. We
have hailed with exultation the victory already effectuated, or in course of gradual
achievement, over the ferocious barbarities of the amphitheatre, and the semi-pagan
cruelties of more modern spectacles — a victory that is attempering the pastimes of the
English people to the religion and morality of the age ; and we sincerely deplore tlie
existence of the Bedrpov KWifyiTiK.hu of Dio, under any modification, in any part of the
civilized world.
The Sabbath comes, a day of blessed rest ; Childe Harold's
What hallows it upon this Christian shore ? Pilgrimage, c.
Lo ! it is sacred to a solemn feast : ....
Hark ! heard you not the forest monarch's roar ?
Crashing the lance, he snuft's the spouting gore
Of man and steed, o'erthrown beneath his horn ;
The throng'd arena shakes with shouts for more ;
Yells the mad crowd o'er entrails freshly torn.
Nor shritiks the female eye, nor ev'n affects to mourn.
Let Christianity transfuse its lenient spirit into all our sports, and instead of the
amphitheatrical entertainments, and barbarian amusements of infidels, let us have
such as are congenial to the humanity of Christians. Let us be the champions of
rational recreation, not of brutal gratification ; — the friends of man, and not unneces-
sarily the enemies of inferior animals ; — spectators in our temperate and innocent
diversions of the dog's innate faculties and prowess for the seizure of the destined
animals of the chase — " to see how God in all his creatures works," and witnesses of K. Henry VI.
Pt. II. act II.
5C* 1.
24 PREFACE.
" ut animus agitatione motuque corporis excitetur, " is not
reprehensible, nor inconsistent with the due cultivation of the
mind, and the fulfilment of the higher duties of life.
Petr. Lolichii jpgg etiam citliarara Phoebus quandoque reponit :
2di Eclog. I. . , •
Sarnis vs 10 ^^ phareiras plectns, et mutat piectra pharetns.
But " there is an especiall need, " observes Christopher
Wase, in the preface of his translation of Gratius, after much
just praise of hunting, '' to hold a strict reine over our
affections, that this pleasure, which is allowable in its season,
may not entrench upon other domesticall affaires. We must
consider that it wastes much time, and although it have its
own praise, being an honest recreation and exercise, yet it is
not of the noblest parts of life. There is great danger lest wee
bee transported with this pastime, and so ourselves grow wild,
haunting the woods till wee resemble the beasts which are
citizens of them, ^ and, by continual conversation with dogs,
become altogether addicted to slaughter and carnage, which is
wholly dishonorable, being a servile employment. For as it
is the privilege of man, who is endued with reason, and
" the curious search or conquest of one beast over another, persued by a naturall
instinct of cnmitie ; — " how
Rokeby, c. iii. Tlie slow liound wakes the fox's lair,
1.
The grejhound pressis on tlie hare;
but not hostile instigators of cauine ferocity to the heartless maiming and slaying an
unnatural prey — a species of animal conflict never intended by creative wisdom ; and
wherein violence is done to natural instinct to minister to man's unhallowed sport.
II. C. Agrippa; 1. Cui dum nimium insistunt, ipsi abject.'^, hunianitate ferae efficiuntur, morumque
de \ anitate etc. prodigios^i pcrversitate, tanquara Acteeon mutautur in naturam belluarum.
c. I.XXVII.
PREFACE. 25
authorized in tlie law of his creation to subdue the beasts of
tlie field, so to tyrannize over them is plainly brutisli."
Ou Noah, and in him on all mankind Cowper's Task,
15. VI.
The charter was conferr'd, by wliicli we hold
The flesh of animals in fee, and claim
O'er all we feed on pow'r of life and death.
But read the instrument, and mark it well :
Th* oppression of a tyrannous controul
Can find no warrant there. Feed then, and yield
Tlianks for thy food. Carnivorous, through sin,
Feed on the slain, but spare the living brute.
When field amusements are allowed to engross the whole of
om' attention, and in their pursuit to enslave, as it were, the
mind to the body ; when they become the sgya of life instead of
the 'TTocpspya, its daily occupation, instead of the occasional
recreation of its leisure hours ; * they constitute, as Ritters-
husius has well observed, a culpable 5rjgOjtAav/a, and certainly
tend, by devoting the attention exclusively to inferior objects,
to abridge the intellect of that sustenance which it should
occasionally derive from more refined and important studies.
" Fateor insitam esse nobis corporis nostri caritatem : fateor Seneca; Epist.
XIV.
nos hujus gerere tutelam: non nego indulgendum illi, servi-
endum nego."
With such ultra-sportsmen the translator has no commu-
nity of sentiment : nor will they experience from common
sense less severity of reproof than '' Reason" bestows on
Petrarcha; Re-
them in the dialogue with " Joy" in Petrarch's ** Remedia med. Utriusque
Fortune, Lib.i.
^^^ Dial. 32.
1. " In using either of these games observe that moderation," says King James to haaiXiKhv AcD-
Prince Henry, " that ye slip not therewith the houres appointed for your affaires, P'"'i ^- '"•
which ye ought ever precisely to keepe ; remembering that these games are but or-
dained for you, in enabling you for your office, for the which ye are ordained," &c.
26 PREFACE.
Utriusque Fortunae. " ''Ad honestum nihil idonei," says
Ratio, " sylvas colunt, non vitam solitariam acturi, cui non
miniis quam politicae se ineptos sciunt, sed feris, ac canibus, et
volucribus convicturi, quod non facerent, nisi illis similitudine
aliqua juncti essent : qui, si ex hoc voluptatem quandam, seu
solam temporis fugam quserunt, utrinque stulti, voti compotes
forsan evaserint. Sin, nescio quam, seu ingenii, seu magnifi-
centise gloriam aucupantur, errant," &c. ^
The whole dialogue is an admirable rebuke of the licentious
sporting in the days of this extraordinary genius. ^ ** Hie
amor, haec felicitas, et hoc totum, quod Creatori Deo, quod
altrici patriae, quod parentibus, quod amicis redditis ? Quis
vos ferat, ad aliud natos, in his vivere, si modo vivitis, hoc
agentes?" says " Reason:" and I confess that I am unable
and unwilling to furnish ^' Joy" with a reply of defence ;
approving, as I do, of the joint worship of Minerva and Diana,
Piin. Epist. L. recommended by Tacitus to his correspondent Pliny, and of
IX. 10.
making the health of the body conducive to that of the mind :
1. According to the decisions of judicial astrology in casting nativities, Julius
J. Firiiiici As- Firmicus remarks that the following personages, " equorum nutritores, accipitrum,
tronomic. . v. f^ji^Q^mj,^ cseterarumque avium, quas ad aucupia pertinent, similiter et Molossorum,
Vertagrorum, et qui sunt ad venationes accomodati," being born when the planet
Venus is in Aquarius, are incapable of application to any more laudable pursuit than
hunting and hawking.
2. The chasseurs of Agrippa's days, laical and clerical, were equally reprehensible.
From the Thebans, this literary Tiraonist tells us, the worst of men, Venation passed
to the Trojans, not much better, tind thence to Greece and Rome, brutalizing the in-
De Incert. et habitants of the earth in its progress — " Tandem haec exercitia in se revera servilia et
Vanit. &c. c. mechanica eo usque evecta sunt, ut positis quibusque liberalibus studiis, hodie prima
nobilitaiis elementa atque progressus sint, illis dacibus ad summuin gradum perveni-
atur : hodieque ipsa regum et principum vita, ipsa etiam (proh dolor !) abbatum,
episcoporum, cffitcrorunique ccclesia; pra'fectorum religio, tola inquam venatio est," &.c.
PREFACE. 27
*' lit sua meiiti constet sanitas, " says Christopher Wase to
WiHiam Lord Herbert, " et justum corpori accedat robur."
It must ever be borne in mind that tlie iUustrious heroes of
Xenophon's classic file acquired not their renown by hunting
prowess alone, but by its union with moral and intellectual
endowments : ex tyi§ £7r</x=As/«j rijj twv xyv«Jv xa) xvvriys(rlctiv xcii Ik Xenophon. Cy-
neg. c. I.
T^j oiWrig 7ra«8sia; ttoXu ^tsvsyxovTsg xaroi t^v upiTrjv eSccu[jia.<rQrj(rav.
Chiron himself was invested with the privileges and science
of the chase on account of his moral worth, S«« 3«xajoT)jTa — for
he was 8ixa»oT«Vo5 KevruvpMv. And the numerous disciples of Orph. Argon.
V. 37T.
the craft, distinguished in the annals of the world as practical
sportsmen, from Cephalus and ^sculapius to iEneas and
Achilles, left other claims on the notice of posterity than those
attached to their characters as jOta9r,Tat xwriyearloov. ^ Xenophon. Cy-
neg. c. I.
know that such Sonierville, The
Transporting pleasures were by heav'n ordain'd *-/liace.
Wisdom's relief, and virtue's great reward.
But it is time to cease both praise and reprehension : of the
J. The disastrous casualties that have befallen divers of the worshipful but rash
disciples of Chiron and his compeers are recorded in terrorem by a Sicilian amateur of
falconry. Will the timid courser venture to mount his " smart hack or Zetland
shelty," after reading the following summary of these fatalities 1 " Meleager en La Fauconnerie
perdit la vie, pour la victoire rapportee sur le sanglier de Calidoine. Le bel Adonis , J^^^e^sire Ar-
thelouche de
fut lire par un sanglier. Acteon fut d6vor6 de ses propres chiens. Cephale y tua Aiagona.
sa chere Procris, et Acaste en fut interdict, ayant occis le fils du Roy qui luy avoit
este donne en charge, comme fut Brutus pour avoir tue son pere Sylvius par
mesgarde. Un Empereur fut occis par la beste qu'il poursuivoit. Un Roy en
courant a la chasse se cassa le col en tombant de cheval." The legitimacy of the
inference drawn by Le Conseiller et Chambellan du Roy de Sicile is doubtful —
" Que qui craindra ces dangereux effectz qu'il s'adonne a la vollerie, oii il trouvera
sans doubte plus grand plaisir." The superior pleasure of the latter is as equivocal
as its inferior danger; and pursued to excess, I should think, must share equality of
peril and of blame.
28 PREFACE.
latter I have been sparing ; of the former, perhaps, too hberal.
Symmachus, *' the wordy champion of expiring Paganism,"
checks his friend and correspondent Agorius in boasting too
Sjmmaciii much of his " nodosa retia vel pennarum formidines, et sagaces
Epist. L. I. E. '■ > o
^^- canes, omnemque rem venaticam, mehorum oblitus ; " and
suggests " quare cum scribis, memento facundiae tuae modum
ponere. Rustica sunt et inculta, quae loqueris, ut venator esse
credaris. " Wherefore, being myself addicted only to one
branch of the craft, viz. that of " greyhound-hunting," in the
phrase of our '* pedant king,"
Sir Thomas ^Q nourishe up and fede
More s poems.
" Wanhod." ■'"^ greynounde to the course —
I am fearful of falling into the error of Agorius, and becoming
obnoxious to the same rebuke. Enough, therefore : and now
for an example. — Will the bookful recluse, the sedentary and
learned oppositionist qualify the scorn with which he views our
varied course of occupation in the library and the field, if we
Symmarhi sliow him that our opinious and practice " liberalia studia
Epist. L. V. 6. r r
sylvestri voluptate distinguere" are supported by a renowned
example of antiquity ; and direct his attention to the latter and
sequestered part of the hfe " secretum iter, et fallentis semita
Xenophon. vitae" of the elder Xenophon, in contradiction of the refined
Anal). L. V. .
antipathies of Sallust ? — bid him contemplate the rival of Plato
and Thucydides in his delightful retreat at Scillus, " under the
protection of the temporal sovereignty of Lacedaemon, and the
spiritual tutelage of Diana ; diversifying the more refined
pleasures of his studious hours with the active amusements of
the field ; breaking his dogs, training his horses, and attending
to the breed of stock ; registering the observations of his
PUEl'ACE. 29
personal experience in these healthful pursuits with his own
immortal pen ; and affording an example to scholars in all ages,
that they should not disdain to refresh their vigour, and renew
their animation, by allowing the unharnessed faculties to
recreate themselves freely in country sports, and exercise
themselves agreeably in country business."
O would men stay aback frae courts, Burns, " The
* > 1 .1 1 ■' . t Twa Dogs."
An please themselves \vi counlra sports, °
It wad for every ane be better,
The laird, the tenant, an' the cotter !
I wish it were in our power to enrol the name of the accom-
plished Athenian among the first patrons of our particular
branch of field-sports ; but the greyhound was unknown to the
son of Gryllus. We may, however, place the honour of the
leash under the early patronage of his celebrated namesake :
whose talents, as a military chief, were distinguished in the
age in which he lived ; whose works, as a philosopher and
historian, have been transmitted with reputation to posterity,
and continue to attract sufiicient attention from the literary
world, to embolden us in directing the notice of such of
our opponents as consider the courser in a state of de-
graded existence, to the younger Xenophon, in his twofold
capacity of a man of literature, and a patron of the leash.
And we may conclude from the latter having been considered
worthy the illustration of his pen, that coursing was not then
classed with the " servilia officia" of rural life.
Before I proceed to the reasons which have induced me to
lay before the public the following translation, t cannot resist
availing myself of the opportunity, which a defence of the
30 PKEFACE.
courser's pursuit affords, of transcribing a spirited and highly
poetical production of the late Mr. Barnard, of Brantingham-
thorpe, 1 breathing the refined sentiments of a gifted scholar
1. Of Mr. Barnard, who was accustomed to enliven the sedentary pleasures of his
intellectual pursuits with the active and salutary recreation of coursing, and to shake
otF, in Horatian language, " inhumanee senium . . . Caracens," in the company of his
greyhounds, on the wolds of Yorkshire, the reader must pardon me, if I speak with
the deepest regret. He was indeed, like Maximus the friend and correspondent of
Symmachi Symmachus, " inter sodales ApoUinis ac Dianre, utriusque sectator," or in the appo-
Epist. Lib. IX. site words of Ercole Strozzl,
Ep. 28.
Cffisaris Borgia sylvse scius, et scius artis
Ducis Epice- Pieriae, Phoebo et Plioebas gratissimus aeque.
dium.
But alas ! gifted as he was, far beyond the ordinary worshippers of the sylvan goddess,
he hath " begun the travel of eternity,"
Sophoclis Tra- ^4^7]k^ t^v iravv(na.ry\v
chin. V. 887. ^g-^ 'a-Ka(Tu:v.
The periodical publications of the day have given to the world the mournful
tribute of a scholar to his memory : and when the voice of affection hath sung " the
deathless praise " of a departed sou, that of friendship may be silent. But let it not
be supposed that the learning and genius of this accomplished man were confined to
the inferior and perishable subjects of the courser's pursuit. The powers of his
talented mind were directed also to the high and heavenly callings of his profession ;
and among other subjects, to the commemoration in verse and prose, of the saints and
martyrs of the Protestant Church. In the words of the Nutricia of Politiano, he was
indeed
Carm. quinque Felix ingenio, felix cui pectore tantas
illustr. Poetar. t . • • r .
Instaurare vices, cui las tam magna capaci
p. l<b. . .
Alternare aniuio, et varias ita nectere curas !
His poetical version of the poems of the younger Flaminio, a celebrated Latinist of
the sixteenth century, on which he was engaged till his fatal illness, and the publica-
tion of which he fondly anticipated, will add, I trust, to his posthumous fame.
Pindar. Pyth. ivVhxiyui
VIII, 131. ^poTwv rh TipTTv'bv av^(Taf ovtu
5e KoX irnvii x«;"aJ) airoTpoirtf)
•yvdiiia aiff^KTix^vov.
(irdfifpoi. Tj 5e' Tis ; ti S' oy tis ;
CTKias uvap &vOpwiTOL.
PREFACE.
31
and ardent courser, fired at the idea of his favourite sport, his
greyhounds, and his mountain thoughts being Hghtly or dis-
dainfully received in the world's esteem !
MY CrvEYHOUNDS.
llemember'st tliou my greyhounds true ?
O'er holt or hill there never flew,
From leash or slip there never sprang.
More fleet of foot or sure of fang. — Introd. to Marmion C'ant. ii
Oh ! dear is the naked wold to nie,
Where I move alone in my majesty !
Thyme and cistus kiss my feet,
And spread around their incense sweet ;
As the originator of the Courser's Stud Book, and the indefatigable compiler of its
genealogical tables, (an attempt " multa deducere virg^," to derive " by trees
of pedigrees," as Dryden says, the speed and shape of each celebrated descendant, in
the greyhound kennel, from the recorded genealogies and performances of a far-
famed ancestry, — ayaOol 5e iyivovro dia rh (pvvai e'| ayaBwv,) the name of Mr. Barnard Platonis Mene-
must be recorded in the annals of coursing with lasting gratitude ; notwithstanding •^enus.
the prolegomena of a vicarious editor have occasioned the substitution of a second
name on the title-page of the work, after the unexpected death of the original
projector :
ov yap oIS' aveefyfjiivas irvKas Euripidis Hip-
"ASov, ^dos T6 Xoicrdiov fixiiroiv ro'Se. P°
But let us cease this querulous display of individual feeling. Many did not know him ;
and those who did — his relatives — his friends and con-espondents — have felt too
much already. And the preface to so trivial a work as a Courser's Vade-Mecuni is
not a fit occasion for descanting on the high merits of a Christian scholar ; nor is
lamentation over the dead a suitable prelude to the entertainment of the living.
s -> , \ V , a' J./1 \ s - Ejusdem vs.
KaX x«'P ' ^M"' 7"P o" Pf^'^ (pvLTovs opau, aa'^C
ovS" tjfifxa xp«^''ei»' Bavao-lixoiciv eK7rfoo7s.
145G.
32 PREFACE.
The laverock, springing from his bed,
Pours royal greeting o'er my head ;
My gallant guards, my greyhounds tried,
March in order by my side ;
And every thing that's earthly born,
Wealth and pride and pomp, I scorn ;
And chiefly thee
Who lift'st so high thy little horn.
Philosophy !
Wilt tbou say that life is short,
That wisdom loves not hunter's sport,
But virtue's golden fruitage rather
Hopes in cloister'd cells to gather ?
Gallant greyhounds, tell her, here
Trusty faith, and love sincere —
Here do grace and zeal abide.
And humbly keep their master's side.
Bid her send whate'er hath sold
Human hearts — lust, power, and gold —
A cursed train —
And blush to find, that on the wold
They bribe in vain.
Then let her preach I the muse and I
Will turn to Gracchus, Gaze, and Guy ;
And give to worth its proper place.
Though found in nature's lowliest race.
And when we would be great or wise,
Lo ! o'er our heads are smiling skies ;
And thence we'll draw instruction true,
That worldly wisdom never knew.
Then let her argue as she will !
I'll wander with my greyhounds still
(Halloo! Halloo!)
And hunt for health on the breeze-worn iiill
And wisdom too.
But enough —
Pindar. Pyth. f'V^ S' &(txo^os a-
VIII. vs. 40. vaOe/j-fv TrStrai' ixaKptxyopiav
Avpa re Kol cpBeyfxa
Tj na\daK(f, fjLi] Kopos i\6u>i'
Kvlffai)-
PRi'.iAcr.. 33
By my litcrarv IVionds of the leash, who will alone probably
condescend to open the following- little treatise, it will be
expected, after this too prolix defence of active field-amuse-
ments, and too selfish gratification of personal regret, that I
should particularly state the reasons which have induced me to
devote a few intervals of leisure to the version and illustration
of an ancient courser, dignified by Mr. Gibbon with the title of Decline and
' *= -^ Fall, Vol. VII.
'' the eloquent and philosophic Arrian." . c. 42.
A task so often thrown aside Marmion, In-
iiri 1 • J • J troduction to
When leisure sjraver cares denied. ^
^ Canto IV.
But an objection in limine must be first answered to a
modern reader giving up any of the "horse vacivae" of his
library even to the perusal of the cynegetical writers of anti-
quity, much less to their collation ; as treating forsooth of lowly
animals, in their nature irrational and ferine.
Should any one address me in the language of the old
nurse to Phsedra—
Ti Kvvrjyeaicoi' Koi aol /neXeVrjs ; Euripidis Hip-
polyt. V. 22C.
or of Menedemus to Chremes —
Tantumne est ab re tua otii tibi Terentii Heau-
Aliena ut cures, eaque nihil quaa ad te attiuenl ? ton. act. ii. sc.
I would reply, that I do not consider these authors as afford-
ing unsuitable mental recreation to any literary gentleman, be
his vocation what it may ; nor as rendering him amenable to
the charge of Dr. Young of being "a polite apostate."^ Love of Fame,
1. Many of the Greek and Latin classics having been edited by English Divines,
the latter fell under the lasii of Young in the memorable lines,
Wlien churchmen Scripture for the Classics (juit,
Polite apostates from God's grace to wit. Sec.
34 PREFACE.
Saint Chrysostom, the most eloquent of the Greek fathers of
the church, was so enamoured of Aristophanes, notwithstand-
ing the mahgnity of his satire, his occasional obscenities, and
licentious morals, as "to wake with him at his studies, and
to sleep with him under his pillow:" and it was never " ob-
jected either to his piety or his preaching, even in those times
of pure zeal and primitive religion." To close the ancient
cynegetica against the modern student, merely because the
lowly quadruped, that gives a name to such works, forms a
part of their subject-matter, pregnant in every page with innu-
merable other beauties, unconnected with the poor tyke, but
scattered around him, would be (in an expressive simile of the
Sir T. Eiyot's author of " the Govemour") like " prohibiting; a man to
IheOovemour, r s
I- c. XIII. come into a fayre gardein, lest in gadring good and holsome
herbes, he may happen to be stung with a netle " — " Semblaby
yf a man doe rede wanton matter, myxt with wysdom, he
putteth the worst under fote, and sorteth out the beste."
But the " Scriptores Rei VenaticsB " are, of all others on
the classic file, most chaste and pure of sentiment. The
character bestowed by Price on Gratius in particular, is
applicable to all collectively :
their style, their argu;iient
Is pleasant, rev'rend, candid, innocent.
Their eminent beauties in poetry and prose, their fine moral
reflections and religious aspirations, will bear comparison with
the brightest productions of Greek and Roman literature, and
can only be lightly esteemed, because they are little known.
If a candid and susceptible reader, competent to enjoy their
beauties, shall, after a perusal, deem his hours of recreative
PRK I- A( r,. 35
study misj)eiit, 1 will acknowledge that 1 have lost a lew days
of my life. But he, who pretends to decide their claims to
attention, must have a mind sensible of the beauties of nature,
and of didactic poetry and prose, devoted to the illustration
of objects in rural life : and so far, I think, from deeming it
beneath the notice of man to mark the hand of Providence
among the inferior beings of Creation, and to contemplate the
fixed regulations under which they support the economy of the
animal world, he will allow that it is rather the entertainment
of a correctly-constituted mind to admire the originals in the
natural world, and tlie descriptions of their habits, and the
modes of applying them to the service and amusement of
mankind in the works of learned men. With such sketches
of animal life the cynegetical writers abound : and Oppian,
more especially, with the poetic pen of a philosophic natu-
ralist, deduces from the habits of irrational creatures precepts
worthy of enrolment in the code of a moralist.
For leain we might, if not too proud to sloop Cowper's Task,
To quadruped instructors, many a good ^^*
And useful quality, and virtue too.
Rarely exemplified among ourselves.
With such instructions, too, for rendering animal powers sub-
servient to the recreation and support of mankind, the works
of Xenophon, Arrian, and others De Re Venatica are plen-
tifully stored.
Let us hear then no more of the unworthiness of these
authors or their subjects — Sio hi ju,^ lu^ryepatysiv TruidiKwg t^v Trep) Aristot. de
Part. Animal.
TMV aTif/,a)Tegcov ^ciwv l7r/(rxevl/iv. I know the study of them to be ^- '• '^' ^•
eminently entertaining, and beheve it to be equally innocent
and instructive. Our higher and more 2:rave studies are
36 PREFACE.
pleasantly' diversified by such intermixture, and the mind
returns from its lighter to its more serious avocations with
Lucian. Hist, renewed vigour. — rolg TrepJ Xoyovg sa-7rou^ciX.oariv r^youi^ui Trpoa-rjKsiv
fjiiTa. T^y TToXXrjv tu)V (rTiouduiOTsgwv uvuyvMcnv avuvon ts t;^i/ S*«voiav,
The amusement derived from the Cynegeticus of Arrian, its
terse, elegant language, and valuable information, has been
my principal inducement to present it to the patrons of the
leash in an English dress ; that those who might never have
read the original, and might be unwilling, or, like Miramont
Beaumont and in " the Elder Brother," (who could " speak no Greek," and
Fletcher's Ihe
Kider Brother, held '' the sound sufficient to confirm an honest man" without
act II. sc. I.
a knowledge of its sense) unable to peruse it, might have an
opportunity of becoming acquainted wth the first author who
had treated systematically of coursing. For " those, " says
Christopher Wase in his preface to Gratius, " which are
curious artisans, doe not content themselves that they have
attained to so great perfection in their art, but are extremely
pleased to look back and reflect upon the periods and steps
whereby that art hath made its graduall progresse ; if per-
chance by comparing the former with the latter, even the
present state of it may be advanced."
It was my wish that the copy should read like an original :
and if I have failed in this respect, as I fear and feel I have,
(for such an object is attended with far greater difficulties of
attainment than the inexperienced may suppose,) the failure
must be attributed to a fearfulness of assumine; too great a
licence of translation, and departing too far fiom the letter of
the original — a fear of paraphrasing instead of translating my
author ; whose lively and spirited language indicates a power of
I'ln: lACE. 37
description, and accurate knowledge ot" liis subject, to which
no transUition could do justice, but by as faithful an adherence
as the difterent idioms of different languages would allow.
Under this impression, I have spared no pains in rendering the
version with fidelity, deeming truth and perspicuity more
essential than embellishment of language. For it has been
well observed by Mr. Pope in his preface to the Iliad, that
" it is the first grand duty of an interpreter to give his author
entire and unmaimed," And again, " it is certain no literal
translation can be just to an excellent original in a superior
language : but it is a great mistake to imagine (as many have
done) that a rash paraphrase can make amends for this general
defect ; which is no less in danger to lose the spirit of an
ancient, by deviating into the modern manners of expression.
If there be sometimes a darkness, there is often a light in
antiquity, which nothing better preserves than a version
almost literal."
If however this translation should be deemed too close and
literal, and greater freedom of language desired in a little
coursing manual ; I am willing to plead guilty to the fault.
Still if its style and manner can neither be defended nor ex-
cused on the grounds stated, I trust they will be pardoned,
because they are acknowledged.
Sunt delicta tanien quibus ignovisse velimus. Horat. de Arte
Poetic^, vs.
347.
I am fully sensible that what I have done, might have been
done by others far better. For though an occasional wor-
shipper of the classic Minerva — " parens .... cultor et
infrequens. " I know that there are, under the tutelage of
Diana, many disciples who have been more richly endowed by
38 PREFACE.
the goddess of wisdom, and are better qualified for this under-
taking. If, however, I have the good fortune to direct the
attention of the more learned patrons of the leash to a manual
scarce known among them, and to excite the same degree of
interest in their minds, which its first perusal excited in my
own; I shall rest satisfied that the errors and deficiencies of
this attempt will induce them to devote superior knowledge of
the Greek language, and greater experience in coursing, to
decorating the Athenian Sportsman with an English dress,
more becoming the antiquity of his claim to distinction.
Ovid. Trist. i. -^^ veniam pro laude peto : laudatus abunde,
Eleg. VI. Non fastiditus si tibi, lector, ero.
Individuals possessed of great accuracy of knowledge in
Greek literature, or what Schneider calls '' ax^i'/Seia Graecae
doctrinae, " united to extensive experience in field-sports, must
necessarily be rare ; and till such shall undertake an improve-
ment on the present version, it may pass its ordeal of utility
with the public. Moderate love of the diversion, and moderate
experience in the field or on the plain, I conceive to be as
indispensable as an acquaintance with the language of the
original text to the translator of a courser's enchiridion, or he
Denietrii Con- will not work in it con amore, {irgo^tjXov yup el [trj tjj sgwg sttI tivi
stantinop. Hie-
racosophii i. 7:cxga.KoXov^<yst Trpay/AaTJ, uiJiri^avov tovto xctropQco^rivai,) nor acquit
himself to the satisfaction of his readers.
To classic coursers I would particularly recommend the
perusal and reperusal of the Greek original ; for I am confi-
dent that it is far more worthy of their attention than the
English version ; which " is submitted to the correction and
amendment of those worthy and well-knowing gentlemen,"
PRF.rACE. 39
under the liopc that it may escape the severity of acrimonious
criticism, as the work of a retired countryman, with no learned
resources at hand, beyond a library moderately furnished with
classic authorities, and writings illustrative of some depart-
ments of natural history. I wish I had been endowed with all
tlie qualities essential to a more perfect performance. But
such as it is, " I crave," with an old Chronicler, " that it may
be taken in good part. I wishe I had bene furnished with so
perfect instructions, and so many good gifts, that I might have
pleased all kindes of men, but that same being so rare a thing
in any one of the best, I beseech thee (gentle reader) not to
looke for it in me the meanest."
Difficulty has occurred in rendering the ancient technical
terms of a courser's manual, with any degree of elegance, in
a modem tongue — '' ornari res ipsa negat." This has partly
arisen —
Propter egestatem linguae, et rerum novitatem, Lucret. L. i. vs.
139.
and partly from the corresponding English terms being debased
into vulgarity by an usage too familiar to be pleasant to polite
ears. Expressions of this kind in Arrian ^re occasioned by the
accuracy which he affects in the most minute particulars con-
nected with the subject of coursing, the shape of Celtic dogs,
the discipline of the kennel and field, the breeding of whelps,
&c.
In relation to this and other defects, it is requested of all my
brethren of the leash, in behalf of the oldest courser who has
written on their manly diversion, that whatever may appear
inelegant, dull, or uninteresting in the following little work,
may be laid to the account of the translator: the errors of
40 PREFACE.
whose style and execution ought not to affect the intrinsic
merits of the Cynegeticus.
Many classical quotations have been introduced in the
notes to elucidate and enliven the text ; some in their original
language, others in the English tongue. Where the fomier
appeared more illustrative and expressive, it has been retained.
The latter has been occasionally substituted, where the passages
selected conveyed information acceptable to an English courser,
or a version of acknowledged merit faithfully conveyed the
sense of the original. And in a few instances the original and
translation have been introduced in juxta-position, to enable
the reader to judge of their respective excellencies. To this
too I have been '' moved," as Wase very nicely observes, by
a wish that the quotations from the dead languages " may be
understood with ease, and the delight of attending to the
elegancies in them rather doubled than intermitted, by adjoyn-
ing a translation in equal consort:" "wherein," as he adds,
*' I shall have pleased either those that have an affection to
see our language enriched with the wit of former ages ; or
on the other side, even those men whose inclinations do
rather move to look upon the native beauties of every
piece."
The references to antiquity, which have imperceptibly in-
Piinii Trajf. crcased to some extent, — " nee dubitamus multa esse, quae et
Vespas.
nos praeterierint, homines enim sumus, et occupati officiis," —
have not been introduced for the sake of ostentatious display
of knowledge of Greek and Latin literature, like those
Young's Love Wlio, for renown, on scraps of learning dote,
of lame, Sat. i. j^^^ ^^^^^^ ^j^^^ ^^.^^^ immortal as they quote.
pur.i- An:. 41
but tliat the classical courser might be induced ** antiques
exquirere fontes,"
T' examine all, and bring from all away "''' ^ * i"^-
Their various treasures as a lawful prey ;
to compare the beauties and defects of the several authors who
have treated on the same favourite subject ; and that the issue
of the comparison might be the illustration of the Nicomedian
courser.
To the classic reader (" cui nihil neque non lectum est, Ausomus Sym-
'■ macho. Gnphus.
neque non intellectum") no apology is necessary for the num-
ber of the extracts made from writers who must ever be prized,
while pure and correct taste prevails : and to the courser, who
with his academic gown has laid on the shelves of his library
the authors of Greece and Rome, to be no more disturbed,
hke " the rude forefathers" of the rustic cemetery.
Each in his narrow cell for ever laid ;
and who " wonders" with Sir John Daw in " The Silent Ben Jonson's
Epicoene, actii.
Woman," that " those fellows have such credit with gentle- ^c. 3.
men;" there is a summary power vested in himself, of re-
ducing the number to the measure of his own taste and
capacity. Such, however, not having been the fate of " the Churchill "The
Author."
crabbed authors" with myself, I confess that I have found it
difficult to check my pen in transcribing apposite and ex-
planatory quotations from these early friends. For in the
language of old Gervase, " the minde being preoccupied and
busied with a vertuous search, is ever ready to catch hold of
whatsoever can adorne or illustrate the excellencie of the thins:
in which it is imployed."
42 PREFACE.
This, I trust, will be received as an apology ; and that the
practical notes interspersed with the classical, will redeem my
character as a moderate amateur of the sport, and give
admission to this translation on the courser's table.
Oppian. Cy- alnap iywv ipiw to, t' i/jLo7s ISov o(pQaKfiol(Xi,
nee. L. iv. vs. „, , ,. , , ^ ,
, ^ 6i\p-r)v ayXaooaipov iincrreiXi^y ^vMxotcrtv
Sffffa t" an avdpdnrtev 45driv, rolaiv ra /ue'|U7jA€,
al6\a TravToiTjs iparris fxvcrTripia rex^V^-
With the exception of Somerville, " who has shown, " as
Dr. Johnson observes, " by the subjects which his poetry has
adorned, that it is practicable to be at once a skilful sportsman
and a man of letters," I have extracted very little from writers
of the last century : but the natural historians, poetic and
prosaic authors of the olden time, whose works are not of very
common occurrence in our libraries, have afforded much infor-
mation confirmatory of Arrian's opinions. These selections, as
well as those from ancient English authors, incorporated with
this preface, have been left in their original spelling, so hap-
Specimens of pily expressed by Mr. Ellis as " that fortuitous combination of
English Poets,
Vol. I. p. 11. letters, which the original transcribers or printers had assigned
to them."
A knowledge of what others have written on a subject on
which we ourselves are about to write appears indispensable.
'^ Although I were very much experienced," says the translator
of Gratius, " in any art, and were apt to conceive a good
opinion of my own ability therein, yet being to publish a
discourse concerning it, I was obliged to inform myself of
what others had formerly proposed in the same matter, as far
as may conveniently be attained. There are some who esteem
it glory to be thought to have declined any other heli)s but
PKEIACE, 43
their own wit, which I should charge upon myself as negli-
gence." Far be such self-sufficiency from me ! I am ever
glad to avail myself of the opinions and sentiments of others ;
and in so doing, to give the merit of originality to its rightful
owner, and not to a modern plagiarist. " Est enim benignum Piin. in Praefat.
V'espas.
ut arbitror, et plenum ingenui pudoris, fateri per quos pro-
feceris, non ut plerique ex iis, quos attigi, fecerunt. Scito
enim conferentem autores me deprehendisse a juratissimis et
proximis veteres transcriptos ad verbum, neque nominatos," &c.
Forout of the old fieldis, asmen saith, ^^^'^?^'^' ^t
sembl.oirowls.
Cometh all this new com from year to year ;
And out of olde bookis, in good faith,
Cometh all this new science that men lere.
Few will think me sparing of citation : but if there be such
a one, and well disposed to a brother courser, '' si bonus est, Ausonius Sym-
macho.Griphus.
quae omisi, non oblita mihi, sed prseterita existimet. Dehinc
qualiscunque est, cogitet secum, quam multa de his non
reperisset, si ipse qusesisset. Sciat enim me non omnibus
erutis usum ;" I hope he will not add with Ausonius, " et
quibusdam oblatis abusum."
Should curiosity induce any one to inquire who is the trans-
lator of this treatise, let it suffice, that he is an humble indi-
vidual of retired habits, too utterly unknown to the world to
expect that any additional interest will be imparted to his
labours by the publication of the name of their author : — that
he is in the enjoyment of the ease and freedom of a private
scene, where, in the felicitous language of Sir W. Temple,
" a man may go his own way and his own pace :" — that his ^^ Gardening
44 PREFACE.
pursuits at home and abroad are rationally diversified. " For
honest pleasures," like Brath wait's gentleman, " he is neither
so Stoicall as wholly to contemne them, nor so Epicureall as too
sensually to affect them." *' There is no delight on mountaine,
vale, coppice, or river, whereof he makes not an usefull and
contemplative pleasure ;"
Darcius Venu- At sylvse gelidique specus, cava lustra feravum,
^^^^^' Ruvaque, et arcan^ labentia fluraina valle
Sunt animo !
But his " hour-beguihng pastime," when not occupied in any
Piin. Panegjr. of the more important duties of life, '^ si quando cum influen-
Trajan. 81.
tibus negotiis paria fecit, instar refectionis," is that of a theo-
retical and practical courser — desirous of acquiring, in the
sedentary retirement of his library, the science of active
enjojmient in the field ; and of elucidating the mysteries of
the leash, and the pertinent anecdotes of animal biography, by
collecting in one point of view the scattered glimmerings of
classical antiquity, and the illustrations of more modern days,
relative to an elegant and manly diversion : — directing the whole
under the guidance of experience, and the name of the father
of the leash, to the advancement of human recreation.
Terent Andr Quod plerique omnes faciunt adolescentuli,
act. I. sc. I. 28. Ut animum ad aliquod studium adjungant, aut equos
Alere, aut canes ad venandum, aut ad pliilosophos :
Horum ille nihil egregie praeter csstera
Studebat, et tanien omnia haec mediocriter.
The translator has his hack, his greyhound, and his slipper,
{xvvuyaiyog,) participating of the unimportant character of their
master, and equally devoid of interest in the eyes of the public.
PREFACE. 45
All, therefore, are consigned to the same fate, and merged in
one common namelessness ; spite of the example of Ilippamon
of old, in the metrical commemoration of his sporting estabhsh-
ment :
'AvSpl /xiV 'iTTTrct^coi/ ovofi ^f, 'liriTai Se n6Sapyos, Apud Pollucis
. . , . , Onomasticoii.
Kol Kvvi Aijdapyos, km depairovTi BaPfjs.
With regard to the Appendix,
Si quis lamen hasc quoque, si quis
Captus amore Jeget,
I have only a few remarks to make. To many, though mere
sciolists in natural history, it must have appeared, during their
progress in classical reading, that much ignorance of the
varieties of the canine race is shown by annotators. With the
gentlemen ^ societate Jesu, and others who have favoured us
with their expositions of the ancients, there is too great an
inclination to generalize both as to the names and properties
of the canine tribe. The " veloces Spartse catuli" ^ are all
" levriers," though there was not, according to Arrian, (and
he is supported by Blumenbach,) a greyhound in the whole
of ancient Greece : and certainly as '' the babbling echo
1. These terms are also misapplied in the Cynegeticon of the poet of Barga, and in
the Album Diana; Leporicidae ofSavarj of Caen. The latter, speaking of Spain and
Italy, says —
Non alit in leporem catulos nisi forte Lacones Ljb, j. p, 5,
Hcsperia, &c.
and of the Italians and their chase he writes,
Et lepori indicunt solo Laceda^nione belium. ' Lib. i. p. 6.
46 PREFACE.
mocked them" in their quick-scented pursuit of the Laconian
quarry, they could be no more entitled to the appellation, than
any sharp-nosed mongrel, bred in modern days, between a
sagacious yelping hound, and a prick-eared shepherd's cur.
Upon the same principle of generalization, all truculent Mo-
lossi, C. Custodes, Pecuarii, &c. are by these worthies at once
dismissed as Galhce " dogues," Anglice " mastiffs," without
an attempt to particularize their respective attributes in war-
fare, or the chase, or the economy of rural life.
Macbeth, act Hounds, and greyhounds, mongrels, spaniels, curs,
III. sc. I.
Shoughs, water-rugs, and demi-wolves, are cleped
, All by the name of dogs ; the valued file
Distinguishes the swift, the slow, the subtle,
The housekeeper, the hunter, every one
According to the gift which bounteous nature
Hath in him closed ; whereby he does receive
Particular addition, from the bill
That writes them all alike.
This confusion of nomenclature might pass at school, but not
longer. Subsequent experience, and the reflection of maturer
years would direct the attention of many literary ruralists to
the occasional correction of errors in the canine vocabulary.
Such at least has been the case with the writer of these pages ;
and he conceives that errors, apparent to him, must have been
manifest to others. Nor is a misapprehension of some of the
names and qualities of the individuals of this multifarious genus
Gratii Cyneg. (Mille canum patriae, ductique ab origine mores
^*** Cuique su^)
to be wondered at in scholiasts and commentators ; when we
consider their monkish habits of indolent seclusion, and how
unfit and unwilhng they were to ascertain by actual expe-
PHEFACE. 47
riment, whether PUny was correct in affirming that Minerva
was as fond of traversing- the hills as Diana. " These bookish A New Dis-
course of a Stale
fellowes," in the words of Sir John Harrington, "could judge Subject,&c.
of no sports, but within the verge of the fair fields of Helicon,
Pindus, and Parnassus." Their practice in the field was not
commensurate with their scholastic knowledge. Very few
carried their note-books, like the learned and indefatigable
Vhtius to the covert side, and examined the difficulties of
rural poetry, and obscure allusions to canine instinct in the
field of experience. And unless they did so, they had little
chance of becoming acquainted with the sylvan goddess, who
tells us in her petition to her sire, that she rarely descends
from her mountain haunts into the cities of men ;
aTrapvhv yap '6T"'ApTefjiLS aarv Kdniffiv. Callimadi. H.
ovpecriu oiKijcru, m Uian.
Wherever the different sporting dogs of antiquity are alluded
to, or mentioned by name in the Cynegeticus of Arrian, or the
classical works to which I have had occasion to refer in
illustration of it, I have endeavoured to clear up some of the
obscurity, in which they were enveloped ; by classifying
varieties, and in a few cases even individuals, and comparing
ancient types with modern representatives. This I have at-
tempted more especially in relation to the ancient British doos,
and the Celtic greyhound (the subject of Arrian's Treatise), as
being of paramount interest to the British courser.
S> irSiToi, oXov TovTo 6(01 Troir](Tav &vaKTes ineocnU Inyll
, , XXV. vs. 78.
6T]piou avdptinroicri fieTe/xfj-evai' ws iniixTjOes.
The observations and extracts on these points, more trite
48
PREFACE.
probably tlian recondite, have been thrown together in an
appendix, which I hope may be found amusing to any literary
sportsman who may condescend to peruse them.
Ii.\ CHA'JSSE
BEGER.
BIBLIOGRAPHICAL
BIOGRAPHICAL
NOTICES.
LA-CHAUSSE
BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTICE
CYNEGETICUS,
WORK ON COURSING.
The Cynegeticus was originally written by Arrian, in imita-
tion of Xenophon's Treatise de Venatione, to supply the
lacunae of that work in the particular department of Coursing.
The manuscript seems to have been neglected in the Vatican
library for several years after it had been first discovered, in
consequence of its bearing the name of Xenophon : for the
persons who accidentally met with it, not being aware of
Arrian's assumption of that title, took no pains to examine it,
under an impression that it was the edited Cynegeticus of the
elder Xenophon, and not a new and unknown treatise on a
different branch of the same subject, by an author of the same
assumed name, a pseudo-Xenophon.
We are told by Mausacus that Rigaltius intended to have
edited it with the Scriptores de Re Accipitraria et de Cura
Canum, (the first edition of which he published in 1612, with
a forged epistle in Castilian and Latin from Aquila Sym-
machus and Theodotion to a Ptolemy, King of Egypt,) but the
52 BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTICE
printers refused tlieir consent, unless he added a Latin trans-
lation; a desideratum which was afterwards supplied by
Holstein in the first edition. Henry Stephens, however, had
previously perused the unpublished treatise, and given to the
world, in his Schediasmata, some observations on different
passages.
Holstein, the first editor, was a celebrated scholar of his
day, and is commemorated in the Sept. Illustr, Vir. Poemata
as —
Poem. Ferdin. Graia3 Latiffique Minervas
Lib. Baron de Artibus, Eois notus et Hesperiis.
Furstenberg.
His edition issued from the Paris press of Sebastian and Ga-
briel Cramoisy in the year 1644. The Greek text, and version
attached to it, were amended by Blancard in his Amsterdam
edition of 1 683 ; which contains also the minor works of Ar-
rian, and the pertinent schediasmata of Henry Stephens above
mentioned. My library affords no editions but the above two,
and the accurate reprint of Schneider by the University of
Oxford in 1817. The last is certainly the best edition of the
Cynegeticus of Arrian which I have seen. The Clarendon
press also published in the same volume the Cynegeticus of
the elder Xenophon, and his Opuscula Politica; the same
collection of the minor works as Zeune comprehended in one
volume, printed at Leipsic, 1778.
M. Gail is reported to have published a French translation
of the work, with critical notes and dissertations, at Paris,
in 1801 : but, notwithstanding repeated applications to the
Parisian booksellers, I have not been able to procure a copy.
Equally unsuccessful have been my endeavours to obtain from
the same source Defermat's version, published by Hortemels
of Paris, in 1690. The latter, however, in consequence of the
literary character given of its author by Belin de Ballu, in his
prolegomena to Oppian, I do not much regret. It accompa-
( ) 1' i- 111', c V N 1 , c; F, T I c y s . 53
nied a French version of the two last books of the Cynegctics
of the Cilician poet, which are stated to abound in errors of
translation, and to be performed in a tedious and barbarous
style by Defermat, eminent as a mathematician, but of mode-
rate attainment in Greek literature.
The present version was completed before I was aware of
any prior attempt to translate the Cynegeticus into English :
the first notice of which, in the partial labours of Mr. Blane,
was derived from Schneider's annotations. I do not believe
any other to exist in the English language, with the exception
of such fragments of the treatise as may have been occasionally
made to speak English, on the emergency of a periodical publi-
cation needing an article on Coursing ; or a literary sportsman
wishing to enliven his communications by a reference to the
manual, and quoting it in his vernacular tongue.
Mr. Blane's attempt did not extend apparently to the whole
treatise. It is in parts inaccurately executed, and omits nu-
merous sentences, where he professes to translate ; and whole
chapters in sequence, where we can see no reason for omission.
The fourth, and ten following chapters to the fourteenth inclu-
sive, and the twenty-third and twelve following chapters to the
thirty-fifth inclusive, are entirely omitted by this capricious
translator. Since, then, in a work consisting of only thirty-five
chapters, he has, without assigning any cause, passed over
twenty-four unnoticed, nearly all of them important to practical
coursers, some evincing the kindly feelings of their author, (as
for instance, the one containing the affectionate history of his
beloved dog Horme,) and others most honourable to his huma-
nity, and confirmative of the purity of his religious faith, opera-
tive in a heathen breast, (as the two closing chapters, showing,
amidst much fabulous allusion, his unreseiTed acknowledsfment
of human dependence on divine aid, and the certainty of evil
and misfortune being consequent on irreligion and moral trans-
gression,) I hope a complete translation of this ancient courser's
enchiridion will not be considered an useless undertaking.
BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICE OF ARRIAN.
Luciani Alex-
ander seuPseu-
domantis.
'Aj'7//j 'Vw^aiuv iv to7s irpurots, Kol iraiSeia irap o\ov rhv fiiov (xvyyfpdfievos.
Mr. Addison has remarked, that " a reader seldom peruses
a book with pleasure till he knows whether the writer of it be
a black or a fair man, of a mild or a choleric disposition,
married, or a bachelor, with other particulars of the like
nature, that conduce very much to the right understanding of
an author." If, however, the satisfaction of perusing the Cy-
negeticus of Arrian be dependent on a previous acquaintance
with these personal particulars of their author, I fear the
modern reader will regret the insufficiency of the following
biographical notice. Scanty as it is, it contains all the infor-
mation I have been able to collect relative to the younger
Xenophon. ^
Flavins Arrianus " was a citizen both of Athens and Rome,
of Grecian extraction, and born probably in the reign of
Domitian, at Nicomedia, a celebrated city of Bithynia ; where,
according to Photius on the authority of our author's " Bithy-
Arriani Cyne-
getic. passim.
1. Arrian invariably calls himself Xenophon ; and his predecessor of the same
name he designates, for distinction's sake, rhv vd\ai, rhv irpeafivrepov. In tlie
Cynegeticus he refers to him as rtfi TpvWov, rcf ifiavrou d/j.wvvfxw, eKeivep t^
s,evo<puvri,
2. With the citizenship of Rome, bestowed upon him by the Emperor, when iu
Greece, as it is supposed, A. D. 124, he assumed the Roman name of Flavins; and
subsequent to his return from the prefecture of Cappadocia, he was probably raised
to the consulate.
BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICE OF AllUIAN. bb
nica," a lost work on the subject of his native country, he was
priest of Ceres and Proserpine, to whom the city of Nicomedia
was sacred. His fondness for pohte literature, and celebrity
for philosophical knowledge, acquired him the honour of the
twofold citizensliip. But, though a friend and disciple of Aniani Bithy-
nica et Paithica
Epictetus, and the first recorder of his Stoical Apophthegms — apud Photii Ec-
, ^, , ~ ^ , - ym ' 1 logas.
(pt\ocro(pog ju.ev sTTKrTri^Yjv, eij toov ofJuXYjTwv jEttjxti^tou, he appears,
like the elder Xenophon, to have been much engaged in
military affairs ; and as Roman prefect of Cappadocia, in the
reign of Hadrian, to have taken an active part in the war
against the Alani and Massagetse, a people bred to eternal
warfare —
duros atemi Martis Alanos. Lucan. Pharsal.
L. VIII.
It is related by Dion Cassius, and the epitomizer Xiphilin,
that the Scythian barbarians under Pharasmanes having com-
mitted great havock and spoil in Media, (A.D. 136.) had
begun to threaten Armenia and Cappadocia ; but finding Fla- Dion. Cassii
. . , r n T 1 • 1 Uist. Roman.
vms Arrianus, the prelect ot the latter provmce, better pre- l. lxix.
pared for their reception than they had anticipated, they were
induced, partly by the bribes of Vologsesus, and partly through
fear of the governor, to retire from the territory under his
jurisdiction.
Suidas, on the authority of Heliconius, states that Arrian
was advanced to the senatorial and consular dignities, and that
he was denominated " the second Xenophon" from the sweet-
ness of his literary style. And Photius also, in his " Eclogae,"
speaking of our author's " Parthica" observes, kirmofiai^ov uvtov
Sevoi^wvTct vsor Sia 8= to Ttaihlug STrtariixov, aXXa; re itoXnutas
o-pX^i e7r»a"Tsu5>], xai slg to twv (jiruToiv avs^ri Ts\og : and again he
adds, 8^Xov Is wg ouSe pvjTopjx^j <ro<^iaj re xa» Suva/xscoj utcsKzIttsto.
Like his namesake, as I have remarked, he united the
character of a man of letters with that of a warrior, dedicating
56
BIOGEAPHICAL NOTICE
a great portion of his time to philosophical and historical re-
search. But it is not my intention to enlarge on his literary
character in general, nor to enter in detail into the merits of
his several compositions.
His principal historical work, '* The Anabasis of Alexander,
though composed," says Dr. Robertson, " long after Greece had
lost its liberty, and in an age when genius and taste were on
the decline, is not unworthy the purest times of Attic lite-
rature." And his " Indian history is one of the most curious
treatises transmitted to us from antiquity." The latter may be
considered an episode to the former. It is partly historical
and partly geographical, and will be found to contain a fund
of entertainment.
On the model of the Socratic Xenophon, he committed to
writing the dictates of Epictetus, during the philosopher's life-
time, and published them as his dissertations : — ^ subsequently
compiling his Enchiridion or manual — a brief compendium of
all the principles of his master, and acknowledged to be one
of the most valuable and beautiful pieces of morality extant.
His Periplus of the Euxine, in the form of a letter from its
author to the Emperor, contains an accurate topographical
survey of the coast of that sea,
Oppian. Hall- iraaris yXvKepumpos afjL(piTpirr]s
eut. I. vs. 600. ,
KOAirOS,
from the commencement of his voyage at Trapezus, within his
own prefecture of Cappadocia, to its completion at Byzantium ;
and was written probably while he held his office of command
in the province, a short time before the breaking out of the
1. Aulus Gellius particularly authenticates his literary connexion with Epictetus,
where he alludes (Noct. Attic. L. xix. c. i.) to the latter's SfoAe^ejs " ab Aniano
digestas,'' &:c.
OF A RR I AN. , 57
war against the Alani. Many learned men, as Ramusius,
Ortelius, and others, have doubted whether lie wrote the Peri-
plus of the Erythrean Sea, which sometimes passes under his
name ; indeed the late Dean of Westminster says positively
" it is not the work of Arrian of Nicomedia :" but his claim to
the Circumnavigation of the Euxine has never been disputed.
It was compiled expressly for the Emperor ; who, according to
Spartian and Dion Cassius, was particularly attached to geo-
graphical research, and had visited in person a large portion of
his extensive dominions — " orbem Romanorum circumivit." Eutropii L.
VIII.
The elder Xenophon is spoken of, sub initio, by our scientific
geographer, in the same relative terms, as in the Cynegeticus,
wg Aeyej 6 Ssvo(pcuv Ixslvoj, and it is fair to infer that the Periplus
and Cynegeticus are the works of the same individual.
In his Tactics, written, as he states himself, in the 20th year of Arnam Tacuca.
' ^ ' -J Sub fine.
the reign of Hadrian, there is a brief account of former writers on
this subject, and a description of the order and arrangement of
an army in general : but in the " Acies contra Alanos," a short
and imperfect fragment annexed thereto, the particular instruc-
tions,^ which were delivered by him as general, for the march
of the Roman army against the northern barbarians, are mi-
nutely given.
Fragments of other historical works, supposed to have been
written by him, are preserved by the learned and indefatigable
patriarch of Constantinople — " The History of Events subse-
quent to Alexander's Death, in 10 books," " The Parthica, in
17 books," and " Bithynica, in 8 books." Under the review
of the first of which works, the Byzantine has left us his opi-
1. These instructions are written, as military orders, in tlie imperative mood. 'O
5e riyeiJ-iiv rrjs vdaris arpartas 'aevo<pup, rh iroXh fieu irph tccv arifieluv twv irf^iKuv
TiydaBu, iirKpoirdTCi) 6e iro(rjj ry rd^et, K. t. A. Such were some of tlie duties which
he enjoined on himself as commaader-in-cliief.
H
58 BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICE
Photii Eciogae ^ion of Ariian as an historiographer, and of the style of his
de Rebus post
Alexandr. ges- compositions : otv^g ovhvos Twv api(TTa (TUVTU^UfJievcov i<rTOgias Ssure-
tis.
gog, X. T. X.
Of the Libellus de Venatione, the treatise on Coursing, I
have ah'eady made mention ; and shall merely add, what is in
some degree pertinent to the subject, that there seems to have
been a strong similarity of taste between Hadrian and our
author. The Emperor, like his prefect, was not only inti-
Eutrcpii mately conversant with Greek and Latin hterature, " facundis-
simus Latino sermone, Grgeco eruditissimus," but also pas-
sionately fond of the chase. While living in his native town
of Italica in Spain, Spartian tells us, he bore the title of Grge-
culus, and was, at the same time, " venandi usque ad reprehen-
sionem studiosus — equos et canes sic amavit, ut eis sepulchra
constitueret. " To such a height did he carry this regard, that,
according to Xiphilin, he graced a monument to the memory of
his beloved hunter Borysthenes, with an inscription written by
his own pen :
Borysthenes Alanus
Caesareus Veredus, &c.
For all which unbounded affection for the brute creation, the
De Remediis reader may remember, he incurs the severity of Petrarch's
xixii. ' * satire in the dialogue " de Venatu et Aucupio."
Whether the similarity of Arrian's rural diversions to those
of Hadrian in early life, co-operated with other causes to his
elevation by so capricious and eccentric a patron, must ever
remain doubtful. He is not mentioned by name in the bio-
graphy of Hadrian by Spartian : where it is stated, in general
terms only, of this singular Emperor, that he was on terms of
familiar intimacy with Epictetus, Heliodorus, and all gramma-
rians, rhetoricians, &c. Of his acquaintance with the eminent
men of his capital there can be no doubt, and his roving dispo-
OK AKKIAN. 59
sition must Ivave introduced such to his notice in the colonies
and more distant parts of the empire. One, therefore, who
had been following the same pursuits with himself from his
youth upwards, a sportsman, a military tactician, and a joint
friend of Epictetus, was not likely to escape him. Besides, we
are assured that he was, on all occasions, sociable in his field
amusements, " venationem semper cum amicis participavit ;"
and therefore we may suppose that the literary founder of
Adrianotherae would gladly avail himself of the earliest oppor-
tunity of adding to his personal friends and sporting associates
the most accomplished writer and courser of his day. We
know how much the pleasure of mtercourse is enhanced by
identity of pursuit ; and how strong the hold which innocent
amusements, shared with congenial friends, have on our affec-
tions ! .
ov yelp Tis KiVTpuicri. ^afiiis ayprr! epaTitvrjs Oppian. Cyneg.
avns iKwv Xei^eiev, e^^ei 54 fxiv acnriTO. Seaixd,
II. vs. 32.
As to the period of his life at which Arrian may be supposed
to have written the Cynegeticus, the inference to be drawn
from the meagre paragraph of autobiography in the first
chapter, wherein he states his fitness to supply the deficiencies
of the elder Xenophon's work, from having been u[A(p) toivtoc utto De Venat. c.
viov sa-TTOV^aKcog, xvvi^ys<ria xa) (TTpaTrjylav xa) (yoplav, although it
establishes the fact of his early predilection for field sports, yet
it rather militates against the idea of the Cynegeticus havino-
been written at a very early period of the author's life. How-
ever, be this as it may, his patronage of '* the long dogs " con-
tinued at the time of his writing this Ubellus ; and his beloved
'OpiiYj, uiKVTaTY}, xa» (TO'pMTOLTYi, xu) UgoTuTrj, was then in his Ejusdem c. V.
possession, living seemingly in the closest intimacy with his
attached and philosophic master, and sharing with Megillus his
society at home and abroad, the well-earned recompense in
60 BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICE
declining years of the excellence he had manifested in the
vigour of his youthful days on the coursing plain ; where, in
Arrian's own words of eulogy, TSTrapa-iv ^'S>j "ttots AaywoTj lip' ■^Xt^
xi»5 avTYjpxYicev.^
Antiquity is almost silent relative to the personal history of
the younger Xenophon ; " and as an autobiographer, he seems
to have been desirous that nothing should be known of himself
or family ; but rather that his personal history should be
darkened under the doubtful celebrity of anonymous author-
ship, or merged in the somewhat arrogant assumption of a
fictitious and equivocal title. In the conclusion of the 12th
chapter of the 1st book of his History of Alexander's Anabasis,
he says that the number and magnitude of the exploits of the
son of Philip, were his inducement to record them, not deeming
himself altogether unworthy to transmit them to posterity.
Arrian. de Ex- '* But who I am," he continues, " that thus characterise my-
ped. Alexand. i r- i i ^ ^ r r
L. I. c. XII. sell, and what my name, (though lar from obscure,) it concerns
annotat. m loc. the reader but little to know. Neither would an account of my
family, my city, nor such offices as I have there borne, be of
any use to him. Be it sufficient for him to know, that an
ardent love of literature, in which I have constantly indulged
myself from youth, has been with me instead of family con-
nexion, and civic and magisterial honours. Wherefore I may
perhaps be little less worthy of a place among the most cele-
brated authors of Greece, than Alexander among her most
illustrious heroes."
1. The practical courser will not deny to Honn6 the merit, which on his lord's
voucher, he is entitled to ; few greyhounds, even in their prime, in modern days,
could vie with their redoubted prototype and master four hares per diem.
2. In addition to the authors already cited, or referred to, he is also mentioned by
Arnobius, towards the close of his second book.
It is a truth worth recording, that, from Photius to Saint-Croix and Chaussard,
the last translator of Alexander's Anabasis, no writer has impugned his veracity and
honesty as au historian, nor his literary style as a scholar.
OF ARRIAK. , 61
After the brief sketch which I have given of the writings of
the younger Xenophon, it must strike every one that he was
influenced in the choice of his subjects as an author, by a
recollection of what had engaged the literary attention of his
celebrated namesake ; and that while writing under the same
personal appellative, he probably proposed to imitate the mat-
ter and style of composition of his prototype — Io-p(^vof t^v fgaaiv, Phot. Eclog.
xa) /x.i/*r]T^j cug uKr^^ws Ssvo^aovTog. ca.
Under this view of his works we have the dissertations of
Epictetus from the pen of his most renowned follower, the
Bithynian Xenophon, and the Memorabilia of Socrates from
that of the son of Gryllus, the most eminent disciple of the
Socratic school : the Anabasis of Alexander for that of Cyrus,
with the same distribution of the work into seven books, and
the same title. The Hellenica of Xenophon gave birth to the
Parthica and Bithynica of Arrian : and in imitation of the
Essay on Hunting, our pseudo-Xenophon has left us his
Observations on Coursing.
Upon their general similarity of character in active life I
have already remarked, and shall only observe farther, that,
as far as we can judge from the scanty personal anecdotes
which have survived of the younger, for comparison with those
of the elder philosopher, this similarity appears to have extended
to the frame and composition of their minds. Many of the
same excellencies, and respectable weaknesses of character,
co-existed in both ; the same patient and unerring virtue — the
same kind and generous feeling — the same credulous and
enthusiastic regard to celestial admonitions — 9re*9oj*eyouj repixea-a-i
Qioov' — with a proportionate degree of the purest heathen piety.
If it be stigmatised with the title of superstitious credulity
in the priest of Ceres, that he supposed himself led by divine
inspiration to write the history of a man, ovhv) uXXco avfipwTrcov De Expedit.
, , . .....*. Alexandri L.
eojxwf, I would plead his enthusiastic admiration of his hero in vn. c. xxx.
62 BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICE
palliation of the fond supposition, qualified as it is, with equal
good sense and piety, in the concluding sentences of the
Anabasis ; where he states that as so extraordinary a person
as Alexander could not have risen up in the world without
divine interference — ovS' s^m tow Si-lov ; so, with admiration of
his good qualities, and reprobation of his bad ones, Avith a
strict regard to truth, and public utility, he professes himself
his historian, writing, as he verily believes, under the same
divine influence that first gave being to the subject of his
memoir.
Surely such a belief in heavenly interference, exciting its
professor to what is just and honourable, and deterring him
from every breach of propriety, as an historian of truth, must
be applauded by every fair and impartial judge of human
character ; and more particularly so, when in the person of a
Stoic, unenlightened by any philosophy but that of Epictetus,
it could have no other foundation than innate rectitude of
mind.
Under the conviction that Arrian's expectation of posthu-
mous fame has been realized in general, and that my brethren
of the leash will award him particular honour as the first writer
of a Courser's Manual, I conclude this brief sketch of his life
and literary labours ; which might have been more full, if liis
biography by Dion Cassius had come down to us.
As the compiler of the Stoical philosophy of " the Phrygian
Slave," the historian of the son of Phihp,^ the hydrographer
of the Euxine, a military tactician, a warrior-prefect, and a
Jueement sur ^* "^^'^ vanity which La Mothe Le Vayer discovers, so glaring in his history, and
les Anciens more particularly in what he says of liimself in the 12th chapter of the first book of the
, . f^"* „ ^" Anabasis of Alexander, before quoted, and from which Gronovius and Raphelius
toriens, «xc. p. .
84. satisfactorily exculpate him, I confess I do not see. The pride of the historian is
not beyond the dignity of his subject.
OF ARRIAN.
63
classic courser, he lias left works behind him which will en-
dure as long as literature itself; — he has done all in his power
to benefit and instruct mankind in various departments of
human learning ; — has contributed his mite to the advance-
ment of rational science and healthful recreation, and proved
himself worthy of the immortality he so fondly anticipated.
I, A -CHAIT S SB
ARRIAN ON COURSING.
oil ydp roi ov5' laos 6 ayiiv Xayiai^ koI kvv'l' aAX' o fikv, 'Sttol PovKerai, 6e7, 7] Se
^AAqi) ei^o/iapre?' Kol 6 fikv i^eKi^as "rhv 5p6fj,ov Kol Sia^pl^as tV Kvva terai rov irpdcru,
7] 5e, et Sta^^i(pdeiri, irXd^erai' koi avajKri (pBdcravTa ad /ueroflea' koI avaXa^e7v, '6(tov
f^rjVexOT} rod Spufiov. — Arrian. de Venat. c. xvii.
Canis in vacuo leporem cum Gallicus arvo
Vidit ; et hie priedam pedibus petit, ille salutem :
Alter inliJESuro similis, jam jamque tenere
Sperat, et extento stringit vestigia rostro ;
Alter in ambiguo est, an sit deprensus, et ipsis
Morsibus eripitur ; tangentiaque ora relinquit.
Ovid. Metam. L. i. 533.
If for sjlvan sports thy bosom glow.
Let thy fleet greyhound urge his flying foe.
With what delight the rapid course I view !
How does my eye the circling race pursue !
He snaps deceitful air with empty jaws,
The subtle hare darts swift beneath his paws :
She flies, he stretches : now with nimble bound
Eager he preSses on, but overshoots his ground :
She turns, he winds, and soon regains the way,
Then tears with gory mouth the screaming prey.
Gay's Rural Sports, Canto ii. 289.
___ Tihi. -veloces ratulo,^ reparare memento
Semper, el. iTL paxTos iteribri protend-ei^e ciiras.
JiKFTISM MUSEVW
WetnMU(.n CyM-g' F. 20(7-
OOR L/F, U S.
ARRIAN ON COURSING.
The advantages that accrue to mankind from limiting, and
the regard of the Gods for those instructed in it by Chiron, ^
and their honourable distinction throughout Greece, have been
related by Xenophon, the son of Gryllus.
He has pointed out the simihtude between Cynegetical and
Military science ; ^ and the age, constitution, and frame of mind,^
Chap. I.
Preface.
Summary
of Xenophon's
Cynegeticus.
1. Chiron, the son of Saturn and the nymph Philyra, is fabled to have received his
knowledge of hunting from Apollo and Diana ; and to have instructed the numerous
disciples, recorded by Xenophon in the first chapter of his Cynegeticus, in the science
and practice of the chase.
Quis primus tuiit ista viris ? hominumne Deumne
Ingeniis inventa ? dedit quis conimoda tanta ?
Delia Phillyridem primum Chirona fugaces
In sparsos per rura greges, sylvaque vagantes
Armavit, fecitque vias in commoda tanta.
Natalis Comes
de V^enatione
L. IV.
2. For the connexion of the Chase with Military Tactics, see Xenophon de Vena-
tione c. xii., the latter part of c. xiii. Cyropaedia L. i. c. v. 5i^ tovto SrjfjLOffla tov
6r\pav eirtfieKovTai' '6ti aXriQeffTaTT) SoKeT ai/rrj r/ fieKtrTj rSiv nphs rhv ■7r6\efx.ov ilvai.
L. VIII. c. XII. De Republic^, Lacedajmon. c. iv.
3. See Xenophon de Venat. c. ii. whence the Greek poet of the chase has derived
the manners, dress, and weapons of his hunter : Oppian. Cyneget. i. 81. The
curious reader will be amused with the illustration of Xenophon's second chapter; of
Gratius's Cynegeticon, v. 332. and Oppian loc. cit. (all treating on the subject of the
hunter's character, &c.) in Edmund deLangley'sfHagstcr O((!5am0 ; wherein (c. xix.
68
AERIAN
Chap. I.
Omissions
therein.
that essentially qualify for entering on the chase ; — has given
a description of purse-nets, hayes, and road-nets, * such as are
necessary to be prepared — the mode of fixing snares for ani-
mals that may be entrapped ^ — the natural history of hares,
their food, haunts, forms, and the method of searching for
them — what dogs are clever at scenting, and what faulty —
and how, by their shape and work, each may be ascertained.
Some few remarks are also left by him on the boar-hunt, the
stag, bear, and lion chases — how these animals may be taken
by cunning and stratagem.
The omissions of his work (which do not appear to me to
have arisen from negligence, but from ignorance of the Celtic
breed of dogs, ^ and the Scythian and African horses,) I shall
Xenopbon
de Venat. c. ii.
Jul. Pollucis
Ononiast. L. v.
c. IV. 26. 27.
Minshjei Emen-
datio in voce
Grei-liound.
p. 70.) he tutors the hunter from the age of seven or eight (" for oo craft requireth al
a niannys lif or he be parfite therof, &c.") in all the arcana of kennel management;
and particularly enjoins that he be " wel avised of his speche, and of his termys, and
ever glad to lerne, and that he be no booster ne jangelere," &c.; and so Xenophon,
iirtdvfiovvTa rod epyov Koi ttJv ^wv^i'''E\\rii'a, Trjv 5e riXiKiav k. t. \.
4. Three varieties of nets were employed by Grecian sportsmen, apKies, SiKria, and
ivoSia, corresponding to the Roman casses, retia, and plaga. See Xenophon de V.
c. II. The first were conical, tunnel-shaped, purse-nets ; KeKpv<pd\cj> 5e eoj/cotri Karh rh
aXOt^"-! f'S olu KaraXiiyovaai : the second, nets or hayes for open places, for encircling
coverts, &c. to tV rots hixaKols, koI IcroireSois tffrdfxeva : the third, road-nets, for being
placed across roads, and tracKs frequented by animals of chase, to eV toTj 68o7s of
Julius Pollux.
5. Xenophon treats of entrapping deer, &c. de Venat. c. ix. ; of hares, &c. c. v.
and VI.; of dogs, &c. c. in. iv. and vii.; of stag-hunting, &c. c. ix. ; of the boar-
chase, c. X. ; of the bear and lion chases, &c. c. xi. ; and many of the same subjects
are beautifully described in the Cynegetics of the poet of Anazarbus, and delineated
in Montfaucon, Tom. in., and in the rare plates of Joannes Stradanus and P. Galle,
under the title of " Venationes Ferarum."
6. ToD yevovs tuv kvvuiv tov KeXriKov — the greyhounds of modern days. Coursing
having been first practised by the inhabitants of Gallia Celtica, the greyhound was
called Kviiv KiKriKhs, canis Gallicus, (quibus Galli maxime utuntur, and not Grei-
hound, q. Grecian hound, quod primiim fuerit in usu inter Gracos). A splendid
representation of this most elegant of the canine race is engraven by Pere Montfau-
con, Tom. in. pi. 50. f. 5. from the Arch of Constantino, from whose work it has
been again copied on stone to illustrate this treatise. For an account of the Scythian
and African horses, see notes on chap. xxni. and xxiv.
ON COURSING.
69
endeavour to fill up : being his namesake and fellow-citizen, ^
of similar pursuits with himself, as a sportsman, a general,
and a philosopher — writing under the same feeling that ac-
tuated him, when he thought fit to amend the imperfections
of Simon's work on horsemanship ; ^ not out of rivalry with
its author, but from a conviction that his labours would be
useful to mankind.
Chap. I.
In my opinion no proof is required that Xenophon was Chap. II.
io;norant of the Celtic breed of doo:s, beyond this : ^ that the . Proofs
» & ' J of Xenophon s
nations inhabiting; that district of Europe were unknown, " ignorance of
° ^ Celtic Dogs.
7. See Biographical Notice of Arrian in tlie prefatory matter.
8. Xenophon de Re Equestri, c. i. gives his reason for uniting his own opinions to
those of Simon, and filling up the omissions of his predecessor's work : " because his
friends would esteem his own opinions more deserving of confidence from agreeing
with those of so able an equestrian ;" and moreover he undertakes to supply from his
own resources, whatever the dedicator of the brazen horse of the Eleusinium at Athens
had omitted to notice.
1. The two reasons in proof of the elder Xenophon's ignorance of the Celtic breed
of swift-footed hounds are quite satisfactory : the one derived from the limited geo-
graphical knowledge of the Greeks, the other from the comparative speed of the hare
and hound, as described in his manual ; which statement is just the converse of what
it would have been, had he been acquainted with the genuine greyhound.
2. "AyvuffTU yap ^v ri tQvi] t5)s Eupciirrjs. The Greeks, in the elder Xenophon's
days, appear to have known very little of the western countries of Europe, and scarce
any thing even of Italy itself. It is true that there were, at that time, many Grecian
colonies westward, and through them a knowledge of the productions of the more
north-western interior might have reached tlie mother-country. But there was no
particular inducement for the Greek merchants to penetrate far inland : and th« Celts
had not as yet crossed the Alps, nor even arrived at any part of the coast of the
Mediterranean — any well-known country. The very distance at which the father of
history places the Celts, viz. as " the most remote people in Europe, after the Cy-
netes," is an indication of this fact. It is the opinion of Niebuhr that the navigators
of Greece rarely visited the unexplored coasts of the occidental seas. Indeed, the
interior of Gaul was unknown even to the Romans before the time of Julius Cassar.
Although they were masters of Romana Provincia, a tract on the sea-coast conti-
guous to Italy, they knew nothing of the multitudinous tribes spread over the country
between the Rhine and the Ocean ; which latter were not thoroughly known, nor
their manners and natural productions ascertained, till the visit of Augustus Caesar j
■KipX 'Iririicfis,
Geography of
Herodotus.
70 ARRIAN
Chap. II. except the parts of Italy occupied by the Greeks, ^ and those
with whom they had commercial intercourse by sea. And
when probably' the Romans first became acquainted with the native hound of the
interior.
It is impossible to speak with any degree of certainty of the origin and distribution
of the ancient Celtje, or Galatas, or Galli, as they were variously called by the
Greeks and Romans. Whether derived from Ashkenez, the grandson of Noah ; or
from Celtus, Gallus, and Illyricus, sons of Polyphemus; or from Celtes, a king of
Gaul, — matters not. Leaving these knotty points of genealogy to others, let it suffice
that the Celts, at an early period, occupied a large portion of Western Europe.
Herodotus mentions them in Melpomene s. 49. ot iax''-'''^'^ '"'P^^ ri\iov Suc/ueW juerct
KufrjTas olKeovtTi rSiv h rfi Evpiiirri : and our author stales that Celtic legates came
Expedit. Alex- to Alexander from the shores of the Ionian sea, irapa KeKruv tuv inl r^ 'loviep kSKkcj)
' ' ' <fKi(Tfiivwv fjKov. Extensive as the name must have been at that time, it was subse-
quently confined to fewer tribes ; and, in the days of Julius Caesar, was appropriated
to the inhabitants of Gallia Celtica, a territory between the Loire and Seine, which
at a later period borrowed a new denomination from the celebrated colony of Lugdu-
Cffisar. de Bell, iium, or Lyons. "Gallia est omnis divisa in partes tres ; quarum unam incolunt Belgae j
Gall. L. I. c. I. aliam Aquitani ; tertiam, qui ipsorum lingua Celta;, nostrS. Galli appellantur." But
I think it probable that Arrian did not intend to use the term Celtic in its limited
sense, as having reference exclusively to the district of Gaul so denominated by
Cffisar, but as comprehending also the more southern parts of the country. So also
Silius Italicus, L. in.
Pyrene celsa nirabosi verticis arce
Divisos Celtis alte prospectat Iberos.
And Oppian, in the conclusion of his third Halieutic :
'PoSofoTo iraph (nS/xa Orjprfrjjpfs
> KeATol—
Indeed Strabo, L. i., Plutarch, in Csesare, in Crasso ; Appian, Bell. Civil. 2., and
others, call the Gauls in general by the name of Celtae; and the ancient Greek geo-
graphers knew of only two nations in Europe besides themselves, the Celtae and the
Scythae, the former in the West, the latter in the North.
3. The specific name of Grains, or Graecus, by which Linnteus, Ray, and others,
have designated the greyhound, is unfortunate, as it has led to the erroneous opinion
that he was known to ancient Greece ; whereas it is satisfactorily proved by the
younger Xenophon, that his Athenian namesake was not only not acquainted with
the Celtic breed of dogs, but that no dogs of similar qualities were known to his
predecessor, when he wrote his celebrated treatise on Hunting. Skinner doubts the
ON rOURSlNG,
71
that ho was unacquainted with any other breed of dogs, re-
sembhng the Celtic in point of swiftness, is evident from these
words : — " whatever hares," he says, " are caught by dogs,
become their prey, contrary to the natural shape of the animal,
or accidentally." * Now, if he had been acquainted with the
Celtic breed, I think he would have made the very same re-
mark on the dogs ; " whatever hares the dogs do not catch at
speed, they fail of catching in contradiction of their shape, or
from some accidental circumstance." For assuredly when
greyhounds are in good condition, and of high courage, no
Chai>. II.
truth of Minshew's assertion, already cited, of the Greeks having first employed the Skinner, Ety-
greyhound in the chase; "quod facile crediderim," says the former etymologist, mo ogicon.
" si authorem laudasset." I know of no authority for such an assertion, and discredit
the fact. Indeed, the belief of the existence of the courser's hound in ancient Greece
may be traced to the misconceptions of the gentlemen " e Societate Jesu," and
others, who have favoured us with their expositions of antiquity ; and who have
understood every keen-nosed, latrant Spartan to be a genuine greyhound. Scholars,
ignorant of natural history, and naturahsts ignorant of classical learning, have alike
given currency to the opinion, in opposition to the contrary statement of the text.
Against which the assumption of Savary of Caen,
Graecia pemiciem leporum Lacedsemona pridera
Emisit, &c.
Album DiansB
LeporiciJae,
p. 5.
and the quaint tale of Holinshed can have no weight. For with all due regard to the Historic of Ire-
laborious Raphael, and his coadjutors in historical research, I think it far more con- lande, p. 8.
sistent with probability that his " peerlesse hounde " was a Celtic greyhound, (to
whom " pleasantnesse of mouth " is incorrectly granted by historic licence,) the
associate of a Celtic Scot, proximately from Ireland, remotely from Celtic Gaul, than
as " fetched so far as out of Graecia from a citie called Molosse, whence the breed of
him first came."
4. Contrary to what you would suppose would be the result of a contest of speed
between them, on comparing the respective shapes of the two animals. The hare
being made for speed, and not so the dog, the former, if caught by the latter, is
caught irapa. ipiffiv ffw^iaTos : thence the inference of Arrian that Xenophon was un-
acquainted with greyhounds, who are made for speed, is a fair deduction. The words
of the latter are : kotol Tro'Sas Se oh itoWaKis virh tup kvvZv 5ia jh t^xos KparetTai' De Venatione
'iaoL 5e aKiffKovrai, irapa, <pvaiv rod awfiaros, tvxV ^* XP'^M**'"** ov^ev yap rwv ovrwv *'* ^'
IffOfieyedes TovT<f> '6(10161/ iffri irphs 5p6nov avyKUTai yap iK TOtoirwv, k, t. A,
72 ARRIAN
Chap. II. hare can escape them ; unless the country present some ob-
stacles, either a covert to conceal her, or a hollow deep pit to
break off the course, or a ditch to favour her escape while out
of sight of the dogs.
To this ignorance, in my opinion, is to be attributed the
length of his instructions on driving the hare into nets, ^ and
if she pass them, ^ pursuing and recovering her by scent, till
she be taken, at last, completely tired out. But he has no
where said either that fleet dogs altogether supersede the
necessity of a sportsman having nets, '^ or of his hunting by
scent after the hare has escaped them. Indeed he has de-
scribed only the mode of hunting which is practised by the
Carians and Cretans. ^
5. See Xenophon de Venat. c. vi.
6. El irapa^pdixot toss &pKvs — if she pass by the tunnel or purse -nets without enter-
ing their mouths. The &pKves or casses were placed, here and there, in the line of
the main hayes, S'lKTva or retia ; and as the hare passed along exploring a place of
escape, terrified by the formido above, and the meshes below, (continuous except
where the purse-nets with the running noose, PpSxos or laqueus, were introduced,)
she attempted to pass at the supposed opening, and became by her struggles en-
tangled in the purse, which immediately closed at its slip-knot entrance. Arrian,
perhaps, uses the term &pKvs generically for every variety of net, and not specifically
for tlie tunnel. See the Venationes Ferarum of Johannes Stradensis and Philippus
Galle, tab. xviii. " Sic leporem in laqueos agitant," &c.
7. In the 21st chapter Arrian remarks that greyhounds answer every purpose, and
supersede the use of nets altogether: he there writes tus ayaBas as synonymous to
Tas uKeias ; and the latter epithet being more distinctive of the hounds intended to
be designated, I have so translated the former epithet in the present instance. Any
dog may be good of his kind, but a greyhound alone fleet.
8. Diana having been particularly worshipped in Crete, on the authority of Ovid's
Ovid. Fast. Pallada Cecropia;, Minoia Creta Dianam
L. III.
Vulcanum tellus Hypsipilita colit.
we expect to find the inhabitants addicted to hunting ; and such was their character
DeNatura Ani- according to ^lian : Kiiuv Kprjcraa Koixpi), koI aKjiKi], koI opeifiacriats a{jVTpo<pos' koI
nial. L, III. (xivToi Kol ahroi Kpi)7es ToiovTovs avTovs irapaSeiKvvcrtVj koI aSet t) 4"1M'?' But it is
*"■''■ worthy of notice that although Arrian attributes to Xenophon a description of the
bunting practices alone of the Cretans and Carians, there is no mention, in the Cyne-
ON couRsiNf;. 73
But such of the Celts as hunt for the beauty of the sport, Chai-. ill.
and not as a means of Hvehhood, never make use of nets. Celtic Saga-
cious Ilounus.
And yet they have a variety of dog not less clever at hunting
on scent than the Carian and Cretan/ but in shape sorry
brutes. ^ In pursuit these give tongue with a clanging howl
like the yelping Carians, but are more eager, when they catch
the scent. ^ Sometimes, indeed, they gladden so outrageously,
even on a stale trail, that I have rated them for their excessive
barking, — alike on every scent, whether it be of the hare going Their Qualities.
to form, or at speed. * In pursuing and recovering her, when
geticus of the latter, of these ardent spertsmen or their hounds, save that in his
chapter on boar-hunting lie orders Indians, Cretans, Locrians, and Spartans to be
taken to the field, as a fit pack to contend with such ferocious game, fi}) ras eVtru- Xenophon. de
Xoiffas (picked dogs) 'Iva eroifwi Zcri woXfUiiv r^ S-rtpitf.
Arrian's meaning therefore must be that Xenophon's description, such as it is, (in
hare-hunting confined to the Cnstorian and Foxite hounds,) is applicable to the Ca-
rian and Cretan sporting alone, and can have no reference whatever to the peculiar
practices of the Celtic coursers. However, I do not believe the difference between
the Spartan and Cretan or Carian hounds to have been very marked, and Xenophon, Ejusdem c. m.
possibly, may have included the two latter with the former in his general classifica-
tion of Kaa-rSpiai and aXccneKiSfS.
1. Tb KapiKhv koI KprjrtKSu. The Cretan and Carian hounds were amongst the
most celebrated of antiquity — powerful, quick-scented, and nimble. For a full
account of them see the Appendix.
2. The Celtic beagle, or Segusian hound, is well known to modern sportsmen,
answering exactly to the description here given of him. See the Apjjendix.
3. AvToi Ixvevovffai (txiv K\ayyfj Koi vKayfxw. So Oppian,
ttAX' oiroV !fx>'6os o^pe SiTjeploio Tvxr)ffri, Oppian. Cyn. i.
Kayxa\a,a, kvv^h re KexapM**'*'^-
4. TijJ Spoiiaitf) oh fiuou ^ Tij! evvai(c. Holsten has here misapjirehended his author
in the version of the 1st edition. Xenophon, with his usual accuracy, ex(>lains the
difference of the two scents : to iikv ivvata 6 \ayu)s iropeverai i(pt(TTdfifvos, ri 5e 5po- i-v yp,,,. ^ „
fjLoia rdxv. The former is of course a stronger scent than the latter ; for the hare 7.
goes slowly to her form, often stopping, and saturating the ground with her trail ; but
her pace, when pursued, is quickened, and leaves less impregnation. Wase thinks
K
74
ARRIAN
Chap. III.
Name.
Shape, &c.
Celtic Swift-
footed Hounds.
Vertragi.
started, they are not inferior to the Carians or Cretans, save in
the one point of speed.
It is good sport, if they kill but a single hare in the winter
season, so much resting-time do they give her in the chase ;
unless, indeed, by being frightened out of her wits at the
tumultuous uproar of the pack, she become an easy prey.
These dogs are called Segusians, ^ deriving their name from
a Celtic people, amongst whom, I suppose, they were first
bred, and held in repute. But^ all that can be said about
them has been anticipated by the elder Xenophon. For they
manifest nothing different from others in their mode of finding,
or hunting their game ; — having no peculiarity, unless one
were inclined to speak of their shape, which I scarce think
worth while, except merely to say, that they are shaggy and
ugly ; and such as are most high-bred are most unsightly.
So that the comparison of them to mendicants on the high-
ways is popular with the Celts. For their voice is dolorous
and pitiful ; and they do not bark on scent of their game, as if
eager and savage, but as if plaintively whining after it.
About these, then, I do not think any thing memorable can be
written. But the swift-footed Celtic hounds are called in the
Celtic tongue ousgrpuyoi ; i — not deriving their name from any
particular nation, like the Cretan, Carian, or Spartan dogs :
Wase's Preface the " accessusque abitusque ferarura " of Gratius (Cyneg. v. 242.) has the same
to his Transla- n^eaning as these terms of Xenophon. Blane's translation is here, as in almost every
tion of Gratius.
passage of the least dimculty, erroneous.
Cffisar.DeB.G.
L. I. 5. 10.
5. 'E^ouo-tai. The Segusiani were inhabitants of Gallia Celtica on the western
side of the Rhone. " Hi sunt extra provinciam trans Rhodanum prirai." By Cicero
they are called Sebusiani (pro P. Quintio). See C. Venatici Class II. in the
Appendix.
6. Xenophon's observations on the mode of hunting of the dogs he has described,
(viz. the Casiorian and Foxite hounds of Sparta,) have anticipated all that can be
said about these Segusian beagles. See Xenoph. de Venat. c. iii. c. iv. and c. vi.
The latter hounds are not mentioned in the Cynegeticus of the elder Xenophon.
7. Oviprpayoi — Vertragi, Veltrachaj. See the etymology of this Celtic term ex-
plained in the Appendix, C. Venatici Class III. Our author is mistaken in deriving
the term airh ttjs ojkuttjtos. Its roots are velt campus, and racha canis.
ON CODRSING. 75
but, as some of the Cretans are named ^kxttovoi^ from working Chap. III.
hard, iTajU,aj'' from tlieir keenness, and mongrels from their being
compounded of both ; so these Celts are named from their
swiftness. In figure, the most high-bred are a prodigy of Their Beauty,
beauty ; ^'^ — their eyes, their hair, their colour, and bodily
shape throughout. Such brilliancy of gloss is there about the
spottiness of the parti-coloured, and in those of uniform colour
such glistening over the sameness of tint, as to afford a most
delightful spectacle to an amateur of coursing.
I will specify the indications of speed and good breeding in Chap. IV. *
greyhounds, ^ and by attention to what points ill-bred and and^goodBW.
slow ones may be distinguished from them.
In the first place, let them be lengthy from head to tail ; " Derived from
Shape.
8. Aidwovoi, So named, according to Pollux, because they not only kept up the Ononiast. L. v.
contest through the day, but slept near their antagonists, and went to work again in ^' '* '*
the morning. " Perdita nee seree meminit decedere nocti." Varius. Apud Macrob.
9. The iTafial are probably the Trdpiinrot of Pollux. SaturnaJ.
10. TV Se (Seac, Ka.\6v ti xPW* f'""'' ^'^' How characteristic of the avr^p Orjpeuri-
Khs of the text is this burst of admiration of the Vertragus, the fleetest and most
beautiful of hounds ! " Of all dogs whatsoever the most noble and princely, strong, The Countrey
nimble, swift, and valient." Farme. c. xxii.
* Blane omits this and ten succeeding chapters.
1. Ae'|co 5e Kol avrhs, &c. " I too," says Arrian, " will relate the indications,"
&c. ; for Xenopbon had also written on the external character of dogs, and it was
Arrian's iutention not to recapitulate what his predecessor had already discussed, but
to fill up the lacunas of his treatise. The variety of hound, however, described by
the elder Xenophon being different, and the indications of excellence equally so, it
was necessary for the younger Athenian also to enter on the subject of external
character.
2. MuKpal effTwaav airh Kf(pa\ris eV oiipdu. So Xenophon of the Spartans, XPV De Venatione,
elj/oi /jLcydkas, &c. Length of body is insisted on by the ancients as an essential <;• '^''
characteristic of 7ei/i'ai(jT7js in the horse, cow, and dog. Giatius notes the " longum 070
latus" of the latter, emd Oppian his fiTjiceSai/hv Kpanphv Sfixas, as necessary to per- Oppian. Cyneg.
fection of form. Such a structure is generally indicative of speed : and as an example '*
the writer may specify a high-bred greyliound in his own possession, 5 feet 2 inches
long:
Ocyor cervis, et agente ninibos Horat. h. i.
Ocyor Euro. Od. xvi.
76
ARKIAN
Chap. IV.
External
Character
generally.
for in every variety of dog, you will find, on reflection, no one
point so indicative of speed and good breeding as length ; and
on the other hand, no such mark of slowness and degeneracy
as shortness. So that I have even seen dogs with numerous
other faults, that have been, on account of their length, both
swift and high-couraged. And farther, the larger dogs, ^
when in other respects equal, show higher breeding than small
ones on the very score of size. But those large dogs are bad,
whose limbs are unknit, and destitute of symmetry ; "* being
indeed, when so fotmed, worse than small dogs, with an equal
share of other faults attached to them.
Your greyhounds should have light and well-articulated
heads ; ^ whether hooked ^ or flat nosed is not of much con-
Sir Walter
Scott,
Rhetoric. L, i.
c. V.
Polluc. Onom.
L. V. c. X. .57.
Xenoplion. de
Venal, c. iii.
iMagster at
(ffiamp, c. XV.
fol. 6(j.
Vlitius, the learned editor of the Poetas Venatici, mentions that greyhounds were
called in his day, kot' e|oxV> " '^^ iong dogs," as by modern coursers.
3. Kal ^))v Kol at fiei^ovis — eixpviarepai roov (rfiiKpuu.
Our most distinguished modern greyhounds, as Millar, " facilis cui plurima
palma," Snowball, and others, have been large dogs, lengthy, muscular, and low on
the legs :
Who knows not Snowball ? he whose race renown'd
Is still victorious on each coursing ground ?
SwatFham, Newmarket, and the Roman Camp,
Have seen them victors o'er each meaner stamp.
If we qualify the size by the conditions laid down by Aristotle in the apfral aiiiixa-
Tos, we shall probably hit the mark as to ^eyidos, whose apir^ is defined rh inrepexeiv
KOTO. tJ) fxrjKOS, Kol ^ddos, Kol TrXdros, tuv ■koKKwv, rocrovrcf /jiei^ovt, SxTre nrj fipaSv-
Tfpas iroielv ras Kivrjaets Sia rijv vTrep^oKi\v .
4. Pollux has well observed aperal 5e Kvfwv, anh fikv aifiaTos, fxeyaKat, /uijSe affvfi-
(lerpol, /U7j5e avdpixoo'Tui.
The Vertragi, like Xenophon's Spartan Foxites, should not be high on the legs,
nor loose-made — at inpr)\al (J,ev koI ao-u^/xerpot, acrvvraKTa exovaai Tb, auijxara, ^apiws
SiatpoiTUKTiv — they labour in their course.
" The good greyhounde," says Edmund de Langley, " sliuld be of middel asise,
neither to moche neither to lifel, and then is he good for alle beestis," &c.
5. The head of the greyhound is a remarkable feature in his external character :
Oppian.Cyneg.
1.401.
&pKlOV 7j5e Kap7]vov,
Kuv(pov, fvykrivov, Kva.va\ aTiXfionv onanrai'
Kapxapuf, (KTaStov Ti\i0ui crrSfJ-a.
ON COURSING. 77
sequence : nor does it greatly matter whether the parts beneatli Chai-. iv.
the forehead be protuberant with muscle. ^ They are alone
bad which are heavy-headed, having thick nostrils, with a
blunt instead of a pointed termination. Such then are well-
headed hounds. Their eyes should be large, up-raised, clear,
strikingly bright. The best look fiery, and flash like lightning,
resembling those of leopards, lions, or lynxes. ^ Next to these
G. Xenophon reprobates hook-nosed hounds, at Se ypviral darofjioi, koI Sia tovto ov De Venat.
KOTe'xoycrt T^;' Aa7a). Pollux would have the iieads light and airy, Kov(pat koI ev<bo- c. in. also c. i v.
I I 1 ■ , . • , > , . Onomastic. L.
poi : and wlieu speaking on human anatomy, explains the terms ypviral and aifial, v c S7
eVi Se rov ffifiov, (pa'njs hv i)S icTTW ri fits e'w fieffuv Ko'iKt]' Sxrirfp iirl rou ypvTrov, pis Onomastic. L,
KaiiTTvKT]. ]\Iany of the features of Pollux's portrait of the C. Venaticus are appro- "* *^' '^''
priate to the Celtic hound. See Onomast. L. v. c. 37.
The more modern Cynegetica agree, in all important points, with the structure
approved by Arrian : " A greihounde shuld have a longe liede and somdele greet jMawStcr of
ymakyd in the manere of a luce, a good large mouthe and good sesours the on agein ©aiWC, c. xv.
the other, so that the nether jawes passe not hem above, ne that thei above passe not
hem by nether."
fol. 60.
A grehounde sholde be Book of
Heeded lyke a snake. ^^^"iri-' ^''*
14bo.
" Capite et collo oblongis," says Belisarius : " longo et piano capite," Alhertus. Markham's
" He should have a fine, long, lean head, with a sharp nose rush-grown, from the ^°""'^^y Con-
' tent. B.I. p. 48.
eyes downwards.
7. 'IvcoStj — sinewy. Xenophon says, iVwSt) to. KarwO^v laiv fUTdlnrwv : but his
namesake is indiiferent on this point.
8. Oppiau describes tiie eyes of lions as
"Onixara S" alyXrievTa : Cyneg. lu.
v. 20.
and again,
Ka\ irvphs affrpdirToucriv air' ofQaXixSiv afiapvyai : v. 32.
of the leopard or panther,
ofifia (paeivht^, v. 09.
y\avKi6ucri Kupai 0\e(pdpois virh fj.apnaipovat,
yXavKwuaiv o/uoD re, Ka\ ivhoQi (poiviaauvTat '
aiOo/Mei'ais '/kcAoi, TrupiAOjUire'es :
78
ARRIAN
Chap. IV. are black eyes, provided they are wide-open and grim-looking ;
and last of all, grey : ^ nor are these to be considered bad, nor
indicative of bad dogs, provided they are clear, and have a
savage look.
Chap. V. For I havc myself bred up a homid whose eyes are the
Episode on greyest of the grey ; ^ a swift, hard-working, courageous,
Arrian's dog i-i- • i ■ n
Horme. sound-iootcd dog, and, m his prune, a match, at any tune, for
four hares. He " is, moreover, (for while I am writing, he is
Cyneg. iii.
V. 90.
ilHagster of
©ante, c. xv.
fol. CG.
of the lynx,
fi\€^dpoKTtv air' 6f6a\fiui' anapvyal
IfxepSiV ffTpdwrovcri,
9. Xenophon de Venat. c. in. condemns blink-eyed and grey-eyed hounds as bad
and unsightly, otVxpai SpaaBai : but Oppian particularly specifies blue eyes as pre-
ferable to all others ; and I have known many azure-eyed dogs of great merit. The
darker the eye, however, the better. " Her eynne shuld be," according to De
Langiey, " reed or blak as of a spbauke :" — " full and clear, with long eye-lids,"
according to Markham. The reader of Anacreon will understand the sort of eye
admired in the greyhound, from the
Anacreon. Od.
XXIX.
ix4\av ofi/xa yop'yhv earw
of the 29th Ode; and at the same time, perhaps, smile at the quotation.
1. The early part of tiiis chapter, devoted to the portraiture of the author's beloved
Horme, interrupts his general description of the greyhound's shape, which he again
resumes after gratifying his personal feelings in an affectionate interlude of canine
biography ; ostensibly introduced to prove that a blue-eyed hound (Kvva x^-po""^^)
o'Lav -xo-poiKDrarriv) may possess all the essential excellencies of his race.
2. 1 liave taken the liberty of changing the sex of this favourite dog, according to
the example of Holsten ; because I think it probable that Arrian may have used the
feminine gender here, and generally through the treatise, not from the animal spoken
Stephani Sche- of liaving been really of that sex, but from its being usual with Xenophun and other
classic authors to employ the feminine gender when speaking of the dogs of the chase.
Eustath. Indeed, it has been remarked by Eustathius and others, that such was the custom of
ad II. H, p. 092. |j,g ancient Greek writers, whenever they spoke of any kind of animals collectively.
But Arrian does not apply the feminine gender to dogs gregatitn only, but also indivi-
dually : and the same prevalence of this gender is also observable in the Latin poets.
ON rOURSING,
79
yet alive), most gentle, and kindly-affcctioncd ; "' and never
before had anv dog such regard for myself, and friend and
fellow-sportsman, Megillus. "* For when not actually engaged
in coursin*:;, he is never away from one or other of us.
But while I am at home he remains within, by my side, ac-
companies me on going abroad, ^ follows me to the gymnasium,
Cut
It must be confessed, however, that the name Horme (Angl. Rush) is more applica-
ble to a bitch than a dog.
3. It is generally believed that greyhounds have very weak attachments; and the Ciironique de
fickle companions of Charles de Blois and of Richard II. favour such an opinion, iroissait, and
. . , note to
But against these well-known examples of canine infidelity, we may place others of
Johnnes's
extraordinary attachment to their lords; at the head of which let Horme stand, Transl. V. iv.
irpaoTttTTj Kol (piXavOpcoTToraTri, the beloved and afiPectionate hound of the founder of
the leash :
657.
Possem multa canum variorum exempla referre,
Ni pigeat stadium parvarum noscere rerum.
Natalis Comes
de Venat. L. i.
To the tales of inviolable attachment recorded by the ro3'al pen of Edmund Duke of
York, of " the greiliounde boothe good and faire of Kyng Apollo of Lyonnys," and JIHagStrr Of
the " wel good and faire greihounde that was Aubries of Mondidert," the reader is ^ , ^' *"■ .^"
" " . fol. 47 — 49.
referred for farther examples ; nor should he forget the martyr Charles's dying eulogy
of the Celtic hound.
Vide J. C. Scaliger de Subtil, ad Card. Exerc. ccir. the last of the Historiee Duse
Nobilissimae, sect. 6.
4. " Amans dominorum adulatio."
nulla homini mage prodiga grati
Officii quadrupes, domiuisque fidelior ipsis !
Cicero de Na-
tur&. Ueor.
says the kind-hearted poet of Venusium : and again,
Usque sequetur ovans, tua nee vestigia quoquam
Deseret, at lateri semper comes ibit heriii.
Sistis iter ? sistit — properas ? velociils Euro
Scindit in obliquum campos, &c.
J. Darcii Ve-
nusini Canes.
5. The following lines from a canine epitaph, " De Mopso fidissirao cane," are
not inapposite :
Custos assiduus domi forisque
Nostri principis, et comes fidelis :
Septem Illust.
Vir. Poemata
Amst. 1C72.
80
ARRIAN
Chap. V. and, while I am taking exercise, sits down by me. On my
return he rmis before me, often looking back to see whether I
had turned any where out of the road ; ^ and as soon as he
catches sight of me, showing symptoms of joy, and again
trotting on before me. If I am going out on any government
business, he remains with my friend, and does exactly the
same towards him. He is the constant companion of which-
ever may be sick ; "^ and if he has not seen either of us for
only a short time, he jumps up repeatedly by way of saluta-
tion, and barks with joy, as a greeting to us. At meals he
pats us first with one foot and then with the other, ^ to put us
in mind that he is to have his share of food. 9 He has also
Equo seu fuit ire, sive curru,
Seu tritS, pedibus vik voluptas.
Hinc me carior baud erat ; nee alter
Posthac est aliis futurus annis
Me carus niagis, aut magis peritus
Blandiri domino, &c.
J. Darcii Venu-
sini Canes.
6. 'Evaviovros irpoetcri, Oafitva iiriaTpe(poii.4vr\, k. t. A.
■ si post terga relinquas,
(Nam dorainum crebio aspiciens ol)servat euntem)
Ills moram cursu pensat, viden' ecce repente
A tergo ut vultuque hilaris blanditur amico, &c.
Vanierii Praed.
Rustic. L. IV.
fidas ad limina custos
Excubias agit, et nutus observat heriles ;
Ut quo jussa vocant velocior advolet : idem
Nunc hilari congaudet liero, nunc tristior agro
Assidet.
Eclog. VI. 35.
8. So Calpumius of the pet stag :
sequiturque vocantem
Credulus, et raensa; non improba porrigit era.
9. The ancients cleansed their hands with the soft crumb of bread after meals, and
threw it to their dogs. These pieces of bread were called a.TToixayhaXiak : the jue»-
Xiyixara of the Homeric simile :
ON ( • O U U S 1 N G .
81
many tones of speech i"^ — more than I ever knew in any other
dog — pointing out, in his own language, whatever he wants.
Having been beaten, when a puppy, with a whip, if any
one, even at this day, does but mention a whip, he vnll come
up to the speaker cowering and begging, " applying his mouth
Chap. V.
craivaia, {alel yhp re (pepu fiei\'tyfj.ara dvf^ov).
Homer. Odyss.
X. 216.
Hence probably Juvenal's " sordes farris mordere canini."
10. Tlo\v<p6oYyos.
Hanc tu si queritur, loqui putabis.
Sentit tristitiamque gaudiunique.
Martial. Issa
Publii.
Did Honne's " verba canina" (Ovid, in Ibin) extend to the imitation of spoken lan-
guage, as in the memorable case of M. Leibnitz's dog, recorded by him (" temoin ocu-
laire") in the Hist, de I'Acad. Royale des Sciences, ann. 1715 ? or are we to under-
stand that this most musical of hounds, <pi\o<l)66yy(iiv (Lkutcittj (TKvXaKuv, only " gave Anyta
tongue," like bis congeners, with various intonations of bark ? Epidauria.
o|eip vXaKTj x^^Vioi Kvves i(p9eyyoino —
making up by intelligence, and significancy of action, for deficiency of speech
Apollon. Rhod.
L. III. 1216.
eiVl Koi eV <TKv\6.Kiff(xiv ix^'Ppof^^t oTcri Kpoviccv
avSpofiitiv (ppifa SwKe koI oh fipoririv irSpe (pwvijv.
Nonni Diony-
siac. L. XVI.
Nunc blande assiliebat hue et illuc
Ludens, atque avido appetebat ore.
Erectis modo cruribus, bipesque
Mense adstabat herili, heroque ab ipso
Latratu tenero cibum petebat.
Andreas Nau-
gerius, Carm, v.
Illustr. Poetar.
11. 'TTiroTTT'^laa'o Xiirapei —
The fawning hound
Salutes thee cow'ring.
The Chace.
B.I.
Plorantes fugiunt summisso corpore plagas.
Lucretius.
L. V. 1071.
82
ARRIAN
Chap. V.
Physical
indications
resumed.
to the man's as if to kiss him, and jmnping up, will hang on
his neck, and not let him go until he has appeased his angry
threats.^"
Now really I do not think that I should be ashamed to
write even the name of this dog ; that it may be left to pos-
terity, that Xenophon the Athenian had a greyhound called
Horme, of the greatest speed and inteUigence, ^^ and altogether
supremely excellent. ^*
Let the ears of your greyhounds be large and soft, ^^ so as
to appear, from their size and softness, as if broken. Such
are best : but it is no bad indication if they appear erect, pro-
vided they are not small and stiff. ^^ The neck should be long,
Buffon, H. N.
Le Chien.
12. " Plus sensible au souvenir des bienfaits qu'a. celiii des outrages, il ne se
rebute pas par les mauvais traitemens, il les subit, les oublie, ou ne s'en souvient que
pour s'attacher davantage ; loin de s'irriter ou de fuir, il leche cette main, instrument
de douleur, qui vient de le frapper ; il ne lui oppose que la plainte, at la desarme
enfin par la patience et la soumission."
13. 2o(/>ci)TctT7j. Plato also has kvuv ffo^ccTdTos.
14. 'lepoTciTTj — "holiest;" Encycl. INIetropol., article "Hunting." It is scarcely
possible to express this epithet in English. Zeune's Index GrEecitatis gives " pras-
stantissima." I do not like Mr. Smedley's translation, E. M. ; and yet I cannot
suggest a better in its place than that of the version. A coursing friend substitutes
" perfectly divine."
15. He now returns from his beautiful episode on Horra6 to the physical indica-
tions of excellence in greyhounds generally. The conque of the ear is semi-pen-
dulous, and yet the greyhound has the power of elevating it with as much ease as the
less reclaimed varieties of dog. This particular structure gives the appearance, no-
ticed in the text, of the ear being broken ; and also adds to its seeming magnitude.
16. The modern courser prefers the small ears of the Oppianic hound.
Oppian. Cyneg.
I. V. 403.
CTfiap. XV. fol.
66.
Nemesian.
Cyneget. 113.
jSatcb S* SirepBtv
oSara \evra\4oi(Ti irepiffTiWotvd^ v/xivecrffi :
and excludes the pricked ear, the " rectae aures " of Fracastor. Albertus recom-
mends " aures acutse retrorsum directae, et parvai :" the Mayster of Game, "the
eerys smal and hie in the maner of a serpent :" Gervase Markham, " a sharp ear,
short, and close-falling :" but the most correct notion of the ears of a perfect grey-
hound is imparted in the line
Cuique nirais moUes fluitent in cursibus aures —
of the Carthaginian poet.
ON rounsiNG.
83
round, unci flexible ; '^ ^q that it" you forcibly draw the dogs
backwards by their collars, it may seem to be broken, from its
flexibility and softness. Broad chests are better than narrow.
Let them have shoulders standing wide-apart, ^^ not tied toge-
Chap. V.
17.
Seipi) fiifKedav}), koI ffrfidea v4p6e Kparaiii,
ftipea.
Oa the necessity of a long neck all the Cynegetica, ancient and modern, are agreed ;
but there is a difference of opinion on the formation of the chest. " The neke,"
according to De Langley, should be " grete and longe, bowed as a swannes nek."
" Pectore acuto," says Belisarius, " costis inferiiis longis, et ad ima paululiim tra-
hentibus : pra;cordiis lateribusque ita amplis, ut sine difficultate canes spiritum
trahant. Nam quo facilior respiratio fuerit, tanto expeditiores ad cursum erunt."
Albertus agrees with him in all points of importance. Juliana's portrait is " neckyd
lyke a drake :" Markhara's, " a long neck, a little bending, with a loose hanging
wezand ; a broad breast, straight fore-legs, and side-hollow ribs."
Topsel translates from Albertus an invention " to make a greyhound have a long
neck," far too ridiculous to be extracted. Indeed, this worthy Bishop of Ratisbon
fully merits the character given of him by Sir Thos. Brown, " that he hath delivered
most conceits, with strict enquiry into few :" and the Rector of St, Botolph's, Alders-
gate, is a close copyist of all his absurdities.
18. The following lines complete the accurate portrait of the Cilician poet :
Oppian. Cyneg.
I. 405.
iMagstcr of
(JSame. c. xv.
fol. (56.
Belisar. Aquiv.
Aragoneus
de Venatione.
Booke of
Hawkyng, &c.
Hist, of Four-
footed Beasts,
&c. 1657.
Vulgar Errors.
B.I.
Tw TrpdffOev 54 t' oXi^oripoi irJSe effrwv,
6pOoTevf7s KdiKwv ravaol doKixnpees jVtoJ,
eupees wnoirXdrai, irXevpuv iiriKapaia rapah,
offcpvfs ivaapKoi, fir] irioves' avrap uTtiaOe
ffTpKpvij r' (KTaSiSs re ireKoi So\iX<i<TKios oiipr).
ToiQi fifv Tavaoiffiv i(poir\l^oivTo ZpSjioun
S6pK0is, T/5' i\dcpo 1.(7 IV, deW6-iroBi re A«7ai^.
Oppian. Cyneg
1.406.
Nemesian is brief, but highly illustrative :
Elige tunc cursu facilem, facilemque recursu,
Seu Lacedasmonio nataro, sen rure Molosso,
Non humili de gente canem. Sit cruribus altis,
Sit rigidis, multamque gerat sub pectore lato
Costarum, sub fine decenter prona, carinam.
Quae sensim sursijs sicca se colligat alvo,
Renibus anipla satis vadis, diductaque coxas,
Cuique nimis molles fluitent in cursibus aures.
Nemesian.
Cyneg. 106.
84
ARRIAN
Chap. V. ther, but as loose, and free from each other, as possible — legs
round, straight, and well-jointed — sides strong — loins broad,
firm, not fleshy, but sinewy — upper flanks loose and supple '^ —
hips wide asunder — lower flanks hollow — tails fine, long, rough
with hair, supple, flexible, and more haiiy towards the tip —
A Icon.
Onoraasticon.
L. V. c. X.
Belisarius
de Venatione.
Aristot. Phy-
siognom. c. vi.
Fiacastorius's canine portrait, " Sint armi lati, sint jeque pectora lata," &c. are of
doubtful application.
Pollux adds to the perfection of the fore-legs by saying they should be fj.^ irpoH-
Xovra KaTOL rovs ayKuuas — " not out at the elbows :" and Xenophon would have the
Spartan dog straight both in the leg and at the elbow.
" Ilia sint angusta et compressa : venter exilis, nam crassus currentem gravat.
Crura alta, brachia non aeque, ne leporis capturam impediant. Anteriores pedes, ut
in fele, rotundi potius quam longi."
19. The terms XaySpes and Keveuves are often confounded as synonymous. Arrian
and the elder Xenophon use the term Xaydvfs to designate (speaking anatomically)
that part of the lumbar region, behind the last or short ribs, where the kidneys are
situate, the upper and anterior part of the flanks : KeveCoves, the lower and posterior
part of the flanks.
Aristotle observes that the best Canes Venatici are well tucked-up in the flanks,
iSoi S' &v Tjy Ka\ ruv kvvwv tovs (piKoBripordrovs (v^wvovs ovras. Such was the Ovi-
dian Ladon,
Metara. L. in.
Substricta gerens Sicyonius ilia Ladon.
Ci&ap. XV.
fol. 66.
The Mayster of Game is here peculiarly illustrative of the text, fashioning the
greyhound to perfection : " her shuldres as a roobuk. The for legges streght and
greet ynow and nought to hie legges, the feet straught and rounde as a catte and
greet clees,— the boone and the joyntes of the chyne greet and hard as the chyne of
an hart. Eke be reson his chynne shuld be a litel hie, for it is better than it were
flatt, &c. &c. — the thyes grete and squarred as an hare, the houghes streight and not
crompyng as of an oxe, a cattes tayle makyng a ryng at eende and not to hie, the to
boonys of the chyne behynd brode of a large pame or more. Also ther byne many
greihoundes with longe tailles ryght swift," &c.
Book of Hawk-
yng,&c. 1486.
Fotyd lyke a catte :
Tayllyd lyke a ratte :
Syded lyke a teme.
And chynyd lyke a beme-
finishes the doggerel of the Sopcweli portrait.
ON CO 11 USING.
85
haunches sweeping, and firm to the touch : ™ — with regard to
their legs, if the hind ones are longer than the fore, the grey-
hound will run best up hill ; if the fore legs are longest, down
hill ; but if both are equal, he will run best on a flat. "^ Since,
however, it is more difficult to beat a hare on an acclivity,
because she runs best up hill, those are deemed the better
class of dogs, whose hind legs are longer than their fore ones. ^"
Round and strong feet are decidedly best. "^
CllAl
20. EuTTOTTj — well-filleted ? Fillet, " musculosior pars fetnoris sic dicta, quia eo
loci magni et validi tendines et nervi insigaes, qui propter iongitudinera, filorum
speciem exhibent, occurrunt."
So Markliam : " a straight square and flat back, short and strong fillets ; a broad
space between the hips ; a strong stern or tail, and a round foot, and good large
clefts." Elsewhere, lie sajs ; " a long, broad, and square beaine back, with high
round fillets" — " hee must be deepe swine sided, with hollow bended ribs, and a full
brest ; he roust have rush growne limbes before, and sickell houghs behind ; a fine,
round, full cat's foot, with strong cleyes and tough soles, and an even growne long
rat's tail, round turning at the lower end from the leash ward ; and hee must bee full
set on betweene the buttockes," &c.
21. The Cynosophium has the same remarks on the relative length of the fore and
hind legs ; see sect. iv. p. 262.
22.
Xpeiii) Se (T/coireAou fXiP avavreos f/Se irdyoio
(TeieffBai irpoQiovra nroSwKea (pv\a Xaycowv,
wphs Se Kdravra crocp'^cn irpofa-qOeirjcriv iXaivuv.
avrUa yap ffKv\aK<is re /col av4pas aOpricravTes
irphs \6<pov iQvovaiv, ewel ^ciAa yivdiaKovffiv
Htti irdpoSiV taffiv uKt^Srepoi irSSes avToTs.
ToUveKa prf'iStai. irTWKeffcn ireXovct KoKuvai,
pffiSiai -irTwKeffffi, SvadvTees l'7nre\dr'^(Ti.
Skinner
Etymolog.
Countrey
Contentments.
B. I. p. 48.
The Countrey
Farme. c. xxii.
Oppian. Cyneg.
IV. V. 425.
And ^lian, De Nature Animalium, states the advantage and disadvantage of this
shape to the hare : to Se avdvTrj /xev koI v^Xa ol \ay(fi apa9iOV(Ti paara' to yap roi Lib. xiii. c. 14.
kutSitiv KwXa fiaKpSrepa exoutrt tw;' e/jLirpocrdev, Kal KaraQeovffiv ovk dfioiws, Xinre? 7^^
avTovs Tuv ■rroSaiv rh ivavriov : — a circumstance well known to every courser, and not
forgotten in the " Questions" of Dame Juliana's poetical manual,
Tell me, maister, (quoth the man) what dooth it skill
Why the hare would so faine runne against the hil 1
Quoth the maister, for her leggs be shorter before,
And therfore she desireth to run that way evermore.
The Booke of
Hunting, &c.
Edmund Allde.
1586.
86
A R R I A N
Chap. VI. The colour of greyhounds is not of any importance; ^ nor
im°ortaace° ^^^^ ^^ matter if they are perfectly black, red, or white ; nor
De Venat.
C. HI.
23. Bad-footed hounds, however high-couraged, are uuable to bear work, accord-
ing to Xenophon, on account of the pain they endure in running, Stct rh &\yos t«»'
itoSwv. No cynegelicon omits the essential feature of a well-formed foot; which, in
Illustrations of Wase's words, should be " round, high-knuckled, and well-clawed, with a dry hard
Gratius. goal."
Gratii Cyneg.
27G.
Effuge qui lata pandit vestigia planta,
Mollis in officio, siccis ego dura lacertis
Crura velim, et solidos haec in certamina calces.
Fracastorius,
Alcon.
Iina pedum parva signent vestigia planta.
De Venatione, Tardif explains the cat-like foot, " pedes parvi, digitis duris, et apte conjunctis, ne
quid terrae aut luti in vi^ admittant :" and Savary of Caen,
Album Dianae
Leporicidae.
L. II.
brevemque pedes glomerentur in orbem
Parvaque compactis digitis vestigia ferment.
1. Compare Xenophon de V^enat. c. iv. Arrian very rationally combats the no-
tion of a greyhound's excellence being at all dependent on so variable a distinction
as colour. Oppian, more credulous on this point, reprobates white and black dogs,
as impatient of heat and cold, and gives a preference to such as are red, russet, or
fawn :
Oppian. Cyneg. Kfiuoi S^ eu irdvTfacriv aptarevovcri Kiveffan,
'• rots "iKeXoi nop^al fidXa drjpecriv wixi)(rrfj(ri,
IJ,7iKo<p6vouri KvKOis, i) riypecnv rivefiOiffcrais,
tj Koi aXuveKeeafft, Ooalal tc iropSaXieffaiv,
^ oTrSffoi S^jUTjTpt iravelKeKov elSos exoutrt
ffiT6xpooi' ixaXa ydp re Bool Kparepol re ireXovrui.
Sect. IV. p. 262. The Cynosophium recommends such as are ■itapair\T](noi Keovai, irdpZois, xIkois : and
adds to its Materia Medica (p. 275.) amongst other ridiculous nostrums, a formula by
which the colour of the hair may be changed from white to black — credat Judceus!
In accordance with the general prejudice which bestowed superior virtue on parti-
coloured, (for such was Xenophon's opinion,) Pan confers on the Goddess of the
Chase pie-bald and mottled hounds :
ON COURSING. 87
is a simple, uniform colour to be suspected as ferine. The Chap. VI.
colours, such as they are, should be bright and pure ; and the
hair, whether the dog be of the rough or smooth sort, should
rlv S' & yevfirjTiis Svo ixtv Kvvas t^jUktu ir7]yovs, H. in Dian.
- sv / , , / •' s. '/> VS. UO,
rpeis oe irop ovaTiovs, tva o aio\ov.
Pollux would mis; a little variety of colour, e/cacrTy ■jrapa^ue^iX^w ti kc^ kripas Onomast. L. v.
/ C. XI.
Xprfas.
The modern Cynegetica are as fickle and capricious as to colour as their ancient
models :
color est deterrimus albo, Nat. Conies de
Nee placeat niveis maculis signatus et atris ;
Aut longis niraium villls, fuscove colore —
Venat.
according to the canine canons of Natalia Comes : — whereas Savary gives the prefe-
rence to a white hound, " nunc est in pretio et reliquos supereminet albus ;" and is Album Dianre,
supported by Fouilloux and his copyist Turbervile, who praise those of one homo- ^'
geneous colour — white, fallow, dun, and black ; the latter being the valued breed of
St. Hubert, (les chiens courans,) " qui estoit veneur avec S. Eustache, dont est a l^ Venerie de
conjecturer, que les bons veneurs les ensuyvront en Paradis avec la grace de Dieu," Fouilloux. p. 4.
" Of alle manere of greihoundes there byn," says De Langley, " both good and jIHapStcr of
evel. Natheless the best hewe is rede falow with a blak moselle." ffisnic. c. xv.
After citing so many, and such conflicting opinions, I leave the reader to draw his
own conclusion on this most unimportant point ; bidding hira remember that Mark-
ham supports our author, that " colours have (as touching any particular goodnesse) Xhe Countrev
no preheminence one above the other, but are all equal — many good and famous Farme. c. xxn.
dogs having been of all the several colours ; onely the white is esteemed the most
beautifuU and best for the eie, the black and fallow hardest to endure labour, and the
dunne and branded best for the poachers and nightmen, who delight to have all their
pleasures performed in darknesse." Backed by the compiler of " The Countrey
Farme," let him give to Arrian the weight he is entitled to, as a practical courser.
My own conviction accords with that of Tardif, " ex colore nihil certi fere pronun-
ciatur : sajpius enim turpi colore canes, pulchrioribus praestant :" and with the poet
of Caen,
nuUus virtutibus obstat, Album Dians,
Aut prodest color : hunc habeas quicunque placebit ; &c.
1 object to no dog merely on account of his colour, though he may rival in variety of gjj Tristrem
tint the renowned Triamour's marvellous Peticrewe. Fytte in. 10.
00 ARRIAN
Chap. VI. be fine, close, and soft. " The best dogs are such as are
large and well put together, and resemble bitches in point of
suppleness ; and the best bitches are such as resemble dogs
in spirit, and muscularity of body. ^
Now if any one pays attention to these hints, as to the shape
of greyhounds, they will fully supply him, in my opinion, with
the indications of good blood for his kennel, and the opposite
of the reverse.
Chap. VII.
Indications
from Temper.
Nor will the temper of greyhounds afford fewer indications
of good and bad blood to a careful observer. ^ Such hounds,
in the first place, as are crabbed to all persons alike, are not of
a generous breed. But if you find any cross to strangers, and
Hist. Natur.
torn. v\ 241.
De Canibus
Britannicis
Libellus.
De Quad. Digit.
Vivip. L. in.
Sect. IV.
p. 262.
Aristotelis
Physiognom.
2. €iT€ oiv Tov Saffeos "yivovs, efre rod ^i\ov rvxoiev oi Kvvis. These two varieties
still exist ; but the rough, or wire-haired variety of greyhound is banished from the
kennel of modem coursers ; for though this ^aah yevos may show some fire and
speed in a short course in an enclosed country, it is always beaten by the y^iKhu yivos
over a champaign country, where the duration of the contest defies ignoble compe-
tition.
Buffon derives the wiry hair from commixture with the spaniel, " le poil long de
certains l^vriers vient du melange des espagneuls :" but if such be its origin, the
text proves it to have been of remote antiquity.
" Est strigosum genus," says Caius, " in quo alii majores sunt, alii rainores ; alii
pilo sessili, alii hirto." And Ulysses Aldrovandus has left us rude sketches of the
two varieties under the titles of " C. leporarius hirsutus albus," and " C. leporarius
alter ferruginei coloris." See also " The Countrey Farme," c. xxii. Schneider
quotes Synesius Laud. Calvit. p. G7. iKeivai ao<pwTaTai rwv kwwv, k. t. X. : see the
passage in his note on the Greek text. It does not appear to what variety of dog the
author alludes.
3. So also the Cynosophium of Demetrius of Constantinople, KoKhv e« rQ fieyiOei
TOV ffdofxaros rj 67]\i\ Trpocr^Keirot &^^ivi. But I do not remember to have seen these
remarks of Arrian on the dog partaking of the bitch's form, and the bitch of the
dog's, in any of the more ancient Cynegetica of Greece and Rome. The Byzantine
physician doubtless derived the hint from our author.
1. Aristotle admits the possibility of distinguishing by outward manifestations the
innate qualities and tempers of animals ; such discrimination is the result of parti-
cular experience : twv &\\uv ^coccv ol irepl eKaffTOf (■ni<nriixot'(s (k rrjs iSias Biadtaeus
Svvavrai Qiupuv, iwrriKoi re 'lirirovs, Kol Kwriyhai Kvvas.
ON COUUSING.
89
good-tempered to their feeder, it is rather a favourable sign
than otherwise. -
1 once knew a greyhound, who was dull and sullen at home,
and took no pleasure in any of the persons about him ; but,
when led out hunting, was beyond measure delighted, and
showed, by smiling and fawning at every body that came near
him, that he was vexed at staying at home. This may be
held a good sign.
The best dogs, however, are those of most attachment to
man, and to whom no human countenance is strange. ^ Such,
on the other hand, as are afraid of people, and astounded at
noise, * obstreperous, and often excited without cause, are
senseless brutes of no pluck. Like men that are timid and
frightened out of their wits, such dogs as these can never be
deemed of generous blood. Those, too, are bad, which,
when let loose from couples in a field, do not come back at
the call of their keeper, but gallop away. ^ If you call them in
Chap. VII.
From obedi-
ence in the
field.
2. T(f Se avaTp4<povTi ■irpo(T<j>i\us. Oppian would have hounds friendly to all men
alike :
"iriroKTi Kparepolcri 5' bixiiBees aypevrripes
f^eri VT)iriax<^v tcmtiv, fifpSweacri re iraaiv
ijOdStoi (piXioi re, nSvoicri Se dripecriv ixBpoi,
Oppian.
Cyneg. i
V. 445.
3. KpaTiarai Se oi (piXavdpwirSraTat — the best greyhounds are the most kindly-
affectioned. Martial's Lydia was gentle at home, but savage in the wood,
Venatrix sylvis aspera, blanda domi :
and De Langley's greyhound, " curtaise and nought to felle, wel folowyng his
maister and doyng whatever he hym commaundeth. He shuld be good and kyndly
and clene, glad and joyful and playeing wel willyng, and goodly to alle maner
folkes, save to wilde beestis, upon whom he shuld be felle spitous and egre."
4. 'Tirh ^6(pov iKirX-iynovTai.
Start at the starting prey or rustling wind.
5. All these particulars are, for the most part, matters of education and discipline ;
but are partially dependent on innate disposition. Education, however, is very iui-
M
Epigram.
L.ii.
iMagster of
©amc. c. XV.
fol. 66.
Tickell's
Fragment on
Hunting.
90
ARRIAN
Chap. VII. mildly, they pay no attention to you ; — if threateningly, they
keep aloof from fear.
For when a greyhound has had his gallop, and has run
about, he ought to come back to his keeper, even without a
call,^ — showing that he is under command at will ; but, if the
keeper does not choose to take him up, let him again bound
away, and again return. Such dogs are well broken in as, at
the voice of their keeper, crouch before him ; ''' not from fear,
but regard and respect for their feeder, cowering like the
worshippers ^ of the Great King. ^ It is no good sign for a
hound to stand still, when let out of couples on an open
Xenophon.
Memorabil.
L. IV. c. I.
De Mulabus
Gailicis.
portant, operating on a good subject. Twv kvvwv, says Socrates, ruv fiKpyea-TaTCDv,
^iXoirSpuv re ovcru'v, Kal iinOiTtKuiv to7s Br^piois, ras ixlv KaXws ax^ficras, apiaras
yCyveadat irphs tos 6i}pas, koI xpVO'^f^<>>^o-'''0'^' avaydyovs 5e yiyvojxivas, ixa/raioxis re
Koi (laviciidets Kal SvffireidecrTdTas.
6. The canes Gallic! should resemble the Gallic raules of Claudian's epigram,
Exuta; laqueis, sub ditione tamen.
7. TiroKaTaKXivovTai, jut; virh Seovs, aWa <^i,\o(ppovov(ievai, &c.
Paradise Lost.
B. VIII. 351.
Cowering low
With blandishment.
Spelmau's
Translation of
Xenophon's
Anabasis.
Note.
The greyhound's posture is peculiarly graceful, when fondly crouching before his
master or keeper ; and may be well likened to the Tairiiv6ry]s (Arr. Exped. Alex.
L. IV. c. XI.) of the Persian, performing his salaam to the King of kings.
8. Ot irpoffKvvovvTis. From what Callisthenes says to Alexander (Arrian. Exped.
Alexand. L. iv. c. xi.) it appears that Cyrus, the founder of the Persian empire, was
the first person to whom adoration was paid on earth by his fellow-men ; and it was
continued and enjoined to his successors, as a political homage. The ordinary com-
pliments of the modern Greeks are called vpoffKvvrifiaTa. See Arrian's account of
the irpo(TKvvr]cns, loco citato; and Xenophon, Cyropaedia, L. viii. for the first occasion
of it, irpdadiv 5e VlepcTwv ovSels Kvpov •KpoaiKvvei,
9. The king of Persia was called fieyas fiaatXevs, according to Suidas, Sia t5
■KXeiovi Swdfiet XP^<''^«' ''"§ nepcrjKT?" ro7s 5e ^AAois irpoffeTiBeffav kcu tSiv apxcfieyup
6v6ixaTa, oiov AaKESaijuociwi', MaKtScJj'on'. The title still exists in " Le Grand
Seigneur."
ON COURSING. 91
plain, unless he happen to be advanced in age, ^° for it shows Chap. VII.
sluggishness.
The most high-bred greyhounds have a prominent brow, From gait.
and look proud. ^^ Their tread is light, quick-stepping, on
their toes ; and they walk sideways, ^^ extending their necks
like horses curvetting. ^^
10. OuSe rh taraddai Se iv itiZitf \v8e7(Tav aya06y. Constant confinement with
cliiiin and collar, made the youthful Celtic hound start from couples with fire, when
taken into the field for sport or exercise ; not so, however, the aged, whose privi-
leged rest is beautifully touched by our classic poet of the chase, and readily yielded
by Arrian as no blemish to his character :
Now growTi stiff with age, Somervilie.
And many a painful chase, the wise old hound, ^' '■
Regardless of the frolic pack, attends
His master's side, &c.
11. 'EirtffKuwof — suj)ercilii ruga, frontis ruga: very prominent in our highland
breed :
irai' 5e t eiri(TKvviov Karu eA/cerat ocrffe KoKimrmv. Iliad, p , 130.
12. "AKpov. So the Paris and Amsterdam editions, quasi eV &Kpuv hvvxf^v,
Schneider reads afiphv, a delicate tread, a light tread ; hut the signification is nearly
the same. Linnceus's definition corresponds with Arrian's as to the dog's gait :
" oblique currit, incedit supra digitos," fieTaPaKkova-i tox iT\evpas, " tranversis Systenia
incedunt lateribus." Naturce. Canis.
13. Aafiirpweacnv. " De equo altius progrediente," Zeune. See Xen. de Re
Equestri, c. x.
Kv^wwv opQolmv €7r' ovaaiv au^eV aiipet. AppoIIon,
Rhod.
Xenophon uses the term yavpiaadai, perhaps, with the same meaning. I take Kafi-
Trpvvo) (magnifice me ostento) to signify the artificial posture in which the horse is
placed by a skilful rider, with the aid of rein, whip, spur, &c. as described by Xeno-
phon in the chapter referred to. To this graceful attitude of the well-disciplined
war-horse, we may suppose our author to liken that of the Celtic hound in the
strictest propriety :
Now I behold the steed curvet and bound, Gay's
And paw with restless hoof the smoking ground. Rural Sports.
92 ARRIAN
Chap. VIII. Some greyliouncls eat voraciously, others with delicacy. *
From their The latter mode of feeding indicates a dog of better blood than
feeding. the former. - Good dogs are not bad feeders, but fond of
bread or gruel. ^ This kind of farinaceous food is most
strengthening to them, and there is no fear of their gorging
themselves too much with it. I prefer, however, their liking
food quite dry ; * and yet, if it be moistened with water, and
they still relish it, it is no evil.
1. The watchful eye of the Veltrarius is required at the time of feeding: indeed it
is best for each hound to have his separate allotment of food ; so difficult is it to
check the voracious, and encourage the delicate, when placed at the same trough.
^lian, de Tpo4>^s Se riju Koivuvlav ^Kicrra tVSe'xorTot Kiifes' -n-oWaKis yovv Kol vwep ocrriov dW'^-
JNatura Animal, ^g^j crwapdrTOVcriv uxrirepovv 6 MeveKeais koI 6 Udpis inrep TrjS 'EXeVrjs.
L. VII. c. 19. „ . , , - , , X ■ ,. 1- ,
2. Td KOffiiiov yevvaidTfpov tov aKoa^ov, 1 never knew a very gross-feeding dog to
possess any excellence.
3. "ApTCf. Demetrius devotes a few sections to the subject of feeding, recom-
Cynosophium. mending " milk to be gradually added to bread (the dog's usual diet) when it is
p. 270. wished to raise him in flesh, until it becomes his only nutriment, morning and even-
ing. From this he is to be again weaned, by the gradual abstraction of the milk,
when we desire to reduce him. In the former case, he is not to have his liberty; in
the latter, he is to be daily exercised. A second kind of nutritious food consists of
oatmeal gruel with fat ; and a third, of bean flour, oil, and fat bacon." Wheaten
bread or biscuit, with gruel made from the farina of oats, is the best nutriment for all
hounds.
Markhani 's " When you have a perfect and well-shapt greyhound, your next rule is to apply
Lountrey Con- yourselfe to the dyetting and ordering of him, for the pleasure to which you keepe
tentments. B. I. . ... j f
p. 49. See also ^^"^» '^^^ bringing him to the uttermost height or strength of winde, you may know
pp. 50. 51. the uttermost goodnesse that is within him, which disorderly and foule keeping will
conceals, and you lose a jewell, for want of knowledge of the value. Dyetting then
of greyhounds consisteth in four especiall things, viz.^foode, exercise, ayring, and
kennelling ; the first nourishing the body, the second the limbes, the third the winde,
and the last the spirits."
4. "Ajiuvov Se et /col ^-qpa rp Tpo(p§ x*'/"""'' Hounds readily support themselves
with dry oat or wheat meal. Maza is variously interpreted — flour mixed with oil
and water, and flour beat up with milk :
Savary Alb. Hordea quotidiana illis sint pabula; avenam
Dianas
Leporicid. mediam addidens, sic spontc resolvitur alvus.
L. III. p. 31.
ON COURSING. 93
When a dog is sick, administer the broth of fat meat to Chap. VIII.
him, or having roasted a bullock's liver over some hot coals,
and rubbed it abroad, sprinkle it like flour into the broth. ^
This is good also for puppies to strengthen their limbs, when
they are first weaned from milk. ^ But milk is the best food
for the support of puppies till the ninth month, and even
longer ; and is serviceable to the sick and delicate, both as
drink and aliment. Fasting too is beneficial to a sick dog. ''
There is nothing Uke a soft and warm bed for greyhounds ; Chap. ix.
but it is best for them to sleep with men : — as they become t^^e^K^nd"
In panem coquit ille, cavo hie ia robore cald^
Digerit in pultem, lambendaque coena paratur.
Nee durum sit sajpe tibi, qu^ luee quietem
Artemidi debes, illos reereare calenti
Jure, minutatim scissis e vilibus extis :
Currentem, ilignisve bibant in vasibus undam.
5. Kanoiffri Se iiM^aWfiv ^ v5a>p, &c. Arrian says nothing on the treatment of
canine disease beyond this bint on diet.
6. The Cynosophium substitutes the lungs for the liver of a bullock, as nutriment
for puppies, when deprived of milk — et yd\a fii) exets. See Cynosoph. p. 271.
On the feeding of puppies Nemesian observes, that it should be regulated by the
season of the year, atmospherie temperature, &c,
Interdumque eibo Cererem eum iacte ministra, Cynegeticua
Fortibus ut suecis teneras eomplere medullas ^* 1"1*
Fossint, et validas jam tune promittere vires :
hut during the intense heat of summer the puppies are to be kept on lighter food,
and then again on meal and whey,
Tunc rursus miscere sero Cerealia dona Ejusdera
Conveniet, fortemque dari de frugibus escara. ''^' I "2.
7. 'AyaOhv Se /col t] aciTia Kanvovcrri. Arrian probably wrote rp aarLrla Kafivova-ri :
" prodest etiam lac quando cibi fastidio laborat canis." The remedy suggested by
Demetrius of Constantinople for anorexis, " bad feeding," I should consider more
likely to increase, than cure the disease ; iav avoptKr^ kvuv, Kdvptav avOpuiriav 5j5ou Cynosoph.
^ - ^ ' p. 267.
94
ARRIAN
CilAP. IX.
Bedding.
thereby affectionately attached — pleased with the contact of the
human body, and as fond of their bedfellow as of their feeder. ^
If any ailing affect the dog, the man will perceive it, and will
relieve him in the night, when thirsty, or urged by any call of
nature. He will also know how the dog has rested. For if
C^nosoph. 1. A short section of the Cynosophiuni is given to kennel management — icwas
p. JX)A. fibril, iivdpdyiraiv KOifxaffdai koXSv vpaus yap e/c tovtov yivovrai, Kol (piKapOpurrot, Koi
euKoAois KttKovvrai — a practical allurement of canine affection heretofore more com-
mon than at present. Modern refinement would ill bear the intimate association
recommended by Arrian and Demetrius, and practised by James V. of Scotland, with
his favourite Bagsche, who was wont
Sir D. Lynd-
say's Coraplaynt
of Bagsche.
To lap upon the king is bed.
With claith of gold thoch it were spred.
Indeed, we rarely see the high-bred and elegant Celtic hound within the vestibule of
a modem dwelling ; though heretofore, in the hall of banquet,
Lay of the Last
Minstrel.
The stag-hounds, weary of the chase,
Lay stretch'd upon the rushy floor.
And urged in dreams the forest race
From Teviot-stone to Eskdale-moor.
iMagstcr o(
©anir. c. xx.
fol. 71.
Whether the Duke of York's "cliilde" lay M;i</i the hounds, I know not ; but it
seems that he did, though not with the intention specified by our author : " alway hi
nyght and hi day I wil that some childe lye or be in the kenel with the houndes for
to kepe hem from fyghteng," &c.
1 no where find the close cutaneous contact of man and dog, enjoined in the text,
recommended in the ancient Cynegetica ; but Xenophon advises an intimate acquain-
tance between the parties in the kennel at the hours of feeding, &c. : if the hounds be
fed by the huntsman, they become attached to his person, rhv SiSovra <n4pyovffiv,
Encyc. Method. &c. (c. vi.) : and so if the Veltrarii (" les valets de levriers, qui exercent les levriers,
et qui les lachent a la courre ") superintend the feeding their charge, the attachment
thereby produced will render actual cohabitation unnecessary.
Les chasses.
p. 434.
Natalis Comes
de Venatione.
L.I.
Quod superest, celeris catuli cui credita cura,
Nutriat illecebris hunc, et sibi jungat amore.
Sic facile et noto domino parere jubenti
Disceret, acceptisque sequi vestigia signis.
ON COURSING. 95
he has passed a sleepless night, " or groaned frequently in his Chap. IX.
sleep, 3 or thrown up any of his food, * it will not be safe to
take him out coursing. All these things the dog's bedfellow
will be acquainted with.
Nothing can be worse than for dogs to sleep with each
other ; and more especially so, if they touch one another in
bed. For as all cutaneous irritation is removed by a man
sleeping with them, so, when they sleep together, they gene-
rate every sort of foulness of skin by warmth and close
contact, and are generally full of mange. ^ To which cause
2. Ei yap aypvwfi(T€iev, l^dyeiv evl dripav ovk aff<pa\4s. We find in the Hieraco-
sophiuni, undisturbed sleep is deemed necessary for the hawk the night preceding
a flight, arapaxov vwvov /x.€T6X€TW.
3. 'EirjCToleie — the common reading being probably corrupt, I have received the
emendation of Zeune in his Index Graecitatis, iiriffrevd^eie.
4. OuS' €t Ti airefj.i(Teie tuu airioou. Such rejection of food by vomiting is an indi-
cation of indigestion ; and the latter, of course, of unfitness for the chase.
Xenophou forbids hounds to be taken out hunting unless they feed heartily ; for
bad feeding is an indication of bad health. De Venat. c. vi. 2.
5. ^wpas iiiiriirXaffdai. Mange is a chronic inflammation of the skin, consti-
tutional in some dogs, in others infectious, and in a few cases I have known it
hereditary.
Ancient sportsmen had great dread of mange in their kennels. Gratius, the only
one who has entered much into canine pathology amongst the cynegetical writers,
recommends that the first dog affected with mange should he destroyed, to prevent
others from catching so loathsome a disease — a radical cure !
At si defornii lacerum dulcedine corpus Gratii Cyneg.
Persequitur scabies, longi via pessima lethi, '• '**'^'
In primo accessu triscis medicina ; sed una
Pemicies rediraenda anima, quas prima sequaci
Sparsa malo est, ne dira trahant contagia vulgi.
If, however, the disease be of a mild type and slow in its progress, it is curable, he
says, with an ointment wliich he prescribes, but which I do not introduce here, as
the cutaneous detergents of the scientific Delabere Blaine will be found by the reader
far more efficacious. "Venesection and purgation, as recommended by Savary, are
most important auxiliaries to inunction :
96
ARRIAN
Chap. IX. must be referred the very offensive and pungent stench on
entering a kennel where many hounds are confined together.
Chap. X. Rubbing the whole body is of great service to the grey-
ing own. i^Qyj^^i . I j^jj jggg ^i^g^jj ^Q ^|-^g horse. - For it is conducive to
the firmness and strength of his limbs — renders his hair soft,
and skin shining, ^ and cleanses it from all foulness.
Album Dianas
Leporicidse.
L. VI. p. 79.
ilHagstcr of
ffiame. c xix.
fol. 70.
c. xiiT. fol. 56.
Cyneget.
V. 294.
Altera latrantum pestis, commercia quee per
Vicina insinuans sese, diffunditur agmen
In totum, tenerosque brevi depascitur artus,
Deforrais scabies, hoc potu ventre soluto,
Victa fugit, si vena die sit aperta sequenti :
Atque malum bini post intervalla diei,
Toto, quod docuit FuUoxius, unguine cures.
De Langley's instructions to the kennel-man are excellent : " I wyll hym lerue
that onys in the day he voyde the kenel and make it al clene, and remeve her strawe,
and putt agayn ffressh new straw, a greet dele and ryght thikke ; and ther as he ieith
it the houudes shall lye, and the place there as thei shuld lye shuld be made of tree
a foot hie fro the erthe, and than the strawe should be leide upon, bi cause that the
moystnesse of the erthe shuld not make hem niorfound, ne engender other siknesse
bi the which thei myght be the wors for huntyng," &c. And before, he says :
" The skabbe cometh to hem whan thei abiden in her kenel to longe and gon not on
huntyng, or ellis her litter and couche is unclene kept, or ellis the strawe is not
remevid and hur water not fressh ; and shortly the hound is unclene, I hold, and evel
kept or long waterles, havyn comoniy this maraewe."
1. The courser will not fail to observe Arrian's intimate knowledge and experience
of his subject. The minute instructions communicated in this chapter on rubbing
and dressing the Celtic bound, " in cute curand^," prove the great care paid by
ancient coursers to the condition of the skin in running animals ; without which,
indeed, no greyhound can compete with an upland champaign hare.
2. The effect of friction with the hand, or hair-cloth, or flesh-brush, is farther
illustrated by Nemesian, on grooming the horse :
Pulvere quinetiam puras secernere fruges
Cura sit, atque toros manibus percurrere equorum,
Gaudeat ut plausu sonipes, laetumque relaxet
Corpus, et altores rapiat per viscera succos.
Id curent famuli, comitumque aniraosa juventus.
3. Ti)v Tpfx« jua^Oaf^" ipyd^fTai, &c. This is partially effected in modern days
ON (;Ol)USIN(J
97
The back and loins you sliould rub with your right hand, Chap. X.
placing your left under the belly ; lest the dog, being forcibly
pressed down upon his knees, should suffer injury. The sides
should be rubbed with both hands at once, and the haunches
quite domi to the feet, and the shoulders in the same way.
Wlien the dog seems to have had enough of it, lay hold of
his tail, and lift him up by it; and then having drawn it
through your hand, let him go. As soon as he is at liberty,
he will shake himself, and show that he is pleased with the
operation.
It is a point of equal importance with any other, that grey- Chap. XI.
hounds be confined during the day ; ^ otherwise they will KeHnellmg.
by body-clothes. The clothing of greyhounds, as at present practised by coursers,
is of more remote antiquity than the days of Michael Angelo Biondi ; having its pro-
bable origin in the aTihfioviai. of Xenophon, who describes, in the 6th chapter of his
Cynegeticus, all the accoutrements of his hunting pack. These consisted of collars,
Sepaia, soft and broad, so as not to rub off the dog's hair ; leading-thongs or straps,
tfidvTes, independent of the collar, with a handle attached to them ; and sur-cingles
or body-clothes, areXixoviai, with straps sufficiently broad not to gall the bellies of
the animals. Such was the Athenian's kvvwv k6(Thos : and it is probable that the
latter, though used for the protection of the hound from injury during the chase, and
not merely, as at present, against cold, may have been the type of the modern
application.
The Bocii Kvves were certainly clothed in parti-coloured habiliments in the age of H. in Dian.
Blondus, and their feet were also protected with shoes : " Canibus venaticis dorsum '^' l^^*
. ^ ^ ... , J J. ■ - 1 .. De Canibus et
integunt pannis diversorum colorum, adversus irigons mjuriam, praecipue leporams ; Venatione
et pedibus adhibent calceamenta, quo facilius illaesi cursum exerceant." Beckman Libellus.
states that the dogs of Kamschatka are furnished with shoes, so ingeniously made, Hist, of
that their claws project through small apertures — a plausible contrivance for heavy Inventions.
dogs of draught ; but how a greyhound is to exhibit his speed on the coursing plain
with such incumbrances, I know not.
1. Arrian recommends confinement for full-grown dogs ; but we must not suppose
that the same treatment is suited to puppies. They, on the contrary, should have
their entire liberty, as Nemesian remarks :
Sed neque conclusos teneas, neque vincula collo Cyneget.
Iropatiens circuradederis, noceasque futuris '• ^^^*
Cursibus imprudens.
N
98
ARRIAN
Chap. XT. unavoidably become intractable, and, whenever fastened with
a collar, will be impatient under the restraint, and whine, and
This freedom from restraint is to be continued until they are eight months old, when
they should be put into couples, and habituated to confinement :
Cyneget.
V. 184.
Petr. Angel.
Bargcei
Cyneget. L. v.
Blondus de
Canibus &c.
Libellus.
Libera tunc primum consuescant colla ligari,
Concordes et ferre giadus, ciausique teneri.
The whole of this department of kennel discipline is elegantly explained by the
classic poet of Barga :
Ergo age duro
Assuescant victu catuli, imperioque raagistri
Unius addiscant parere, atque unius omnes
Nutus observare, et jussa facessere Iseti,
Collaque prseduris uitro prasbere capistris.
Cum primum teneros artus duraverit tetas,
Et se jam sua per vestigia volverit annus.
Ante autera cave imprudens concluseris usquam
Aut loris vinctum, aut angusti pariete septi.
Namque urent tenerurn circumdata vincula collum,
Impatiensque morse sese conatibus anget :
Ostiaque arrodens denteis obtundet, et ungues.
" Dum non venatur, loris in stabulo vinciendus est ; et siccis potiiis eduliis alendus
quam pinguibus jusculentis : hiec enim graviorem reddunt. Educendus taraen non-
nunquara est e stabulo vinctus, in vicos tantum, ut excrementis se exoneret promp-
tius ; mox iteruni coercendus usque ad tempus venationis."
" Now for the kennelling of greyhounds," says Gervase Markham, " it is a right
necessary action and must ba performed with all diligence ; for it breeds in the dog
lust, spirit, and nimbleness, prevents divers mischances, and keeps the powers from
spending till time of necessity : and therefore you shall by no means suffer your dog
to be out of the kennel, but in the hours of feeding, walking, coursing, or when you
have other necessary business to do about him." But Arrian means more than mere
confinement within the walls of a kennel by the term SeSeVOat.
The greyhounds are to be actually fastened with a collar and strap or chain; and
such, I am informed, is the customary restraint of the boar-hound of continental
Europe. The dogs are chained along the walls of their kennel equidistant from
each other, a row on each side of the sleeping-room.
A celebrated modern courser adheres very strictly to the system of restraint alter-
nated with exercise, as recommended in this chapter, and appears to have found it
conducive to his success at public meetings. Vide Sport. Mag. Vol. 71. p. 256. —
ON COURSING.
99
gnaw the straps, go as even to require chains hke malefactors.
Besides, a hound that is at liberty must needs eat every thing
that falls in his way ; - and, from running about during the
day-time, lose the acme of his speed. But, though generally
at rest, they should still have their appointed times for walking
out.
Chap. XI.
Four times a day, at least, take your dogs out of kennel to Chap. Xll.
a level and open field, and there loose them from couples, to Exercising.
empty themselves, gallop, and run about. ^ But if they have
Hounds accustomed to such privation of liberty, are said to start from the slips
with great fire and speed :
Ita demiiin libera colla.
Cum res ipsa, ususque vocat, niajore feruntur
Impete.
iraVTT) Se TrActJofTOi, (Jtttj yews, evda /ceAeuet
yaar^p, Kal Xodiiapyos epws aKSpryros iSwSrjs.
Fracastorii
Alcon.
According to the old proverb, cited by Rittershusius in his Commentary on Oppian, p. 41.
DiflScile est canem vetulum assuescere loro.
2. 'EaOiiiv Se avdyati \e\vixev7]v kvvo. irav tJ> futrecrSv.
Oppian.
Halieut. i.
V. 250.
1. Compare Xenophon de Venations c. iv. 9. on exercising hounds.
" The child shuld lede the houndes to scombre twies in the day, in the raornyng /%1aj)Strr Of
and in the evenyng, so that the sonne be up, specially in wynter. Than shuld he lat *fSaiUf. c.^ xxi.
hem renne and play longe in a faire medew in the sonne, Jind than kerahe every
hounde after other, and wipe hem with a grette wispe of straw ; and thus slial he
do every momyng."
These simple instructions of Duke Edmund are ampUfied by old Gervase :
" Touching ayring or walking of greyhounds, which is a great nourisher and increaser Countrey Con-
ofwinde, it must be dewly done every morning before sun-rise, and every evening tent. B. i. p. 52.
before or after sunne-set in this manner ; as soone as you have opened your kennel
and rub'd your dogge over with a cleane haire cloath, you shall let him play a little
about you before the kennel dore, then take him up into your leashe, and walke him
forth into the fields, where for the most parte are no sliecpe or other smal cattell,
which they may out of wantonness indaunger, and there let him loose, and give him
100 ARRIAN
Chap. XII. quife ccased coursing, let it be done more frequently. Slip
them in pairs, a brace at a time, so that by contending and
playing with each other, they may enjoy their pleasure, and
take their exercise together. But on no account let many
loose at once, as they sometimes do great mischief by falling
on each other. - Never slip a strong and full-grown dog with
a puppy ; for the old dog is an overpowering and distressing
antagonist for the youngster, easily overtaking him in pursuit,
and as readily running away from him, and leaving him
behind ; whereby the pup must of course be cowed and dis-
spirited, having in either case the worst of the contest. And
farther, such as are spiteful towards each other, never give
these their liberty at one and the same time, lest they injure
one another. For there are dogs, as well as men, with
mutual antipathies, and others again with mutual attach-
ments. 3 Those of the same sex are particularly inimical to
each other, dogs to dogs, and bitches to bitches ; and this
leave to play and scope about you, so that he may skummer and emptie his body ;
which when lie hath done sufEciently, you shall then take him up in your leash
againe, and so walk him home and kennell him ; this you shall doe after the same
manner in the evening ; and also if your dogge bee stronge and lustie, at night after
sapper, and then bringing him home, bring him to the fire, and there let him stretch
and beake themselves, and with your hand grope and cleanse them from ticks and
other filth, which done leade thera to the kennell, and shut them up for all night."
2. 'EiJ.iriirTov<Tai yap a,\\-fi\ais tuTLV tfre jxeydKa KaKo. ipyd^ovrat.
Apollon.Rliod. dool Kives afKpieopSmes
L. III. 1372. 'AWiiKovs fipvxri^hv iSri'iop.
Somerville's For oft in sport
Chace. B. i. Begun, combat ensues ; growling they snarl.
Then on their haunches rear'd, rampant they seize
Each other's throats ; with teeth and claws in gore
Besmear'd, they wound, they tear, till on the ground
Panting, half dead the conquer'd champion lies, &c.
3. Blancard's reading of <piKat is adopted instead of that of the first edition of
Paris, &(pi\at.
ON COUUSlN(;
101
generally from spiteful jealousy. These matters are not to be Chat. xil.
made light of.
In the winter season feed your dogs only once a day, * a
little before evening ; for the days are short, and the grey-
hounds are to be so managed, that if you need their services
for coursing till a late hour, they may be able to bear the
necessary fasting. But in summer it is right to give them a
little bread in addition, " that they may not be exhausted by
the length of the day ; and if thirsty, they will drink with
less detriment after having eaten. To thrust down a dog's
throat a piece of salted suet is also found beneficial. ' But if
Chap. XIH.
Feeding
in winter and
summer.
1. Arrian has already spoken on tlie subject of feeding, as an indication of good
blood, in c. viii.
" Adulti siccis vescanlur edulibus : pane videlicet et osbibus, et hoc fiat digestis
Iioris, ut concoctio peragatur, et potius famescaut paululum, quara non exactis hods
pascantur."
It is occasionally necessary to administer food twice a day to delicate hounds : but
the more usual practice accords with the text. Gervase Markham, however, recom-
mends the courser to feed twice a day on his prescribed diet-bread, " to wit, halfe an
houre after sunne-rise, and halfe an houre before sun-set, when he comes from walk-
ing or ayring his dogge, and it will bring hiro to exceeding great strength of body
and purenesse of winde." — " Upon his coursing days you must by no means give him
any meat more than a white bread toast and butter, or a toast and oil," &c.
Tardif, a French writer cited by Conrad Gesner, agrees with Arrian on the ■utility
of a second meal in summer : " Canis eestate frequentius quam hyeme cibandus est,
ut aestivis diebus longis et calidis durare possit. Infringatur ei panis in aquam. Si
tamen saepius quam par est cihetur, ventriculus ei subvertitur, lac aut panis lacte
madidus optime aiunt."
2. &fpovs 5e ayadhv Koi &pTou 6\lyov Sovvai (/^(payelv — as a morning meal, a
breakfast.
3. 'Xreap Tapixfv6fievov — salted suet or fat. "Xriap appears from Pollux, L. ii.
c. V. 3. to be the same as irifieXr), white adipose substance adherent to the mem-
branes of the abdomen and viscera of men and animals : but if Hesychius be correct
in his explanation of airoixaySaXia as (rreap eV ^ ris x^'P^^ airfjidrTOVJO 4v to7s Seiirvois'
$a\6vTis Se Tors Kvalv avaXvovres anb rwv Sfiirvwv, it must have possessed sapo-
naceous qualities of detergency ; for if it were pure fat, with Bocliart we might well ask
" unde abstergantur, qui inde absterguntur ? " For the distinctive difference between
Blondi
Libellus, &c.
Countrey Con-
tent. B. i. p. 51.
p. 52.
Tardivus
de Venatione.
Hierozoicon
L. II. c. LV.
102
ARRIAN
Chap. XIII. the Weather be very hot, I would have you take an egg in
your hand, open your dog's mouth, and push it down, that he
may swallow it at one gulp. This will be nourishment enough
for him, will cherish his wind, and quench his thirst. *
Chap. XIV.
Seasons of
Coursing.
You may go out coursing frequently in spring and autumn, *
these seasons being attended with the least risk to your dogs —
ffj/ieX^ and ariap, see Aristot. Hist. Animal. L. in. c. xvii. The properties of each
are evidently distinct.
Columel. de 4. " Sa;pe etiara languor et nausea discutitur, si integrum gallinaceum ovum
K. li. VI. 4. 2. jejunis faucibus inferas," &c. So also Tardif, as cited by Gesner, " si canis inter
His oria venandum nimi^ siti laboret, duo aut tria ova confracta in gulam ei imraittes : sic
Quadruped. &c.
enim sitim extingues, et a periculo hecticae vel marasmi canem liberabis. '
1. Ancient sportsmen were accustomed to follow their field sports through the
whole year; and often prolonged the chase till midnight. Hor. L. i. Od. i.
Oppian.Cyneg.
I. 112.
iroTi 8' effirepiov, iroTe S' avre Kol op(t>VTi
6rjpas vv' aKTivecrffi ae\rtva'n)S iSdfxaaaav.
But the more humane of modern days have abridged this perpetuity of warfare with
the animals of the field and forest by legislative enactment.
Nemesian alone, of all the cynegetical writers of Greece and Rome, enjoins us to
commence coursing at the period usually adopted :
Cyneget.
V.321.
Hiemis sub tempus aquosee
Incipe veloces catulos imraittere pratis,
Incipe cornipedes latos agitare per agros.
Dame Juliana, seemingly careless of the " her-hounde's " impatience of heat, held
on till Midsummer;
Book of
St. Albans.
At myghelmas begynneth huntynge of the haare :
And lastyth tyll mydsomer there wyll no man it spare.
Natalis Comes allows us to sport during the whole spring, preferring that season for
the reasons stated in the text —
De Venat.
L. I.
Nam neque tunc horrent torpentia frigora brumae.
Nee uimio uruntur florentia prata calore.
ON COURSING. 103
but rarely in summer, « lying by, generally, 3 when the heat is Chap. XIV.
oppressive. For greyhounds are impatient of heat, and often,
when pursuing a hare with all their might, have been suftb-
cated from a stoppage of their wind. * To guard against
which, a courser should carry eggs with him, and administer
them entire, if his hound's breathing be exceedingly distressed.
For there is no better refrigerative, nothing that appeases
difficulty of breathing so much. It is not unattended with
danger for a dog, under these circumstances of distress, to
drink immoderately.
For the reasons given, then, be cautious of coursing in hot
weather. Never go out in winter when the cold is severe,
and, on no account, when the ground is frozen hard. For dogs
but the prudent and humane courser will not slip his greyhound later than the month
of February.
2. Qfpovs Si oKiyaKts. It is not customary with British sportsmen to course in
summer.
if 86 6fpei, xpe''"' <l>vy4uv (pXoySeffaav iviirijv Oppian. Cyneg.
&^av T f/6Afou. '• ^^^'
3. The Paris and Amsterdam editions read Siairviyourai, for which Schneider
substitutes 5ia\elirovTa (xp<5»'oi') — an emendation which I have adopted in the trans-
lation.
4. 'AireiTvlyricrav virh tov &(x9iJ.aTos. Such accidents usually happen from running
greyhounds when out of wind, and condition. The state of the muscular and
respiratory systems are always in fault —
r<j) fii] maXfoi 0^pr}s iirl fxwXov totev Oppian. Cyneg.
/UTjSe T€ \iTrTa\4oi. '• 8^'
But the safest plan is to leave the greyhounds in a cool and shady kennel during the
intense heat of a midsummer day — if exercised at all, the earlier they have their
airing, the belter.
I.YC. Ad fluvium due, Daphni, canes, (vocat aestus in umbram,) Petr. Lotich.
Nee catulos virides sine lascivire per herbas. Secund. Eel. ii.
Eja agedura, requiesce Lacon, requiesce Lycarba, Viburnus
Fervidus Hespehas dum sol declinet in undas.
104
ARRIAN
Chap. XIV. bruise themselves in frost, ^ lose their nails, ^ lacerate the
soles of their feet, and if very high-couraged, break even the
bones of their toes against the frozen ground from running
with excessive eagerness. Whereas the hare is light, with
woolly and soft feet, "^ and trips along without injury in
frost.
Savary
Album Dianae,
&c. L. III.
p. 33.
De Venat.
L.I.
5. 'AiroKualovrai, (radendo vulnerare anoKvaifiv,) — a preferable reading to the con-
jectural one of Schneider, airoKaiovrai — founded on Xenoph, de Venat. c. viii. 2. a
passage scarce applicable to the Celtic hound. No wise Veltrarius would think of
coursing his greyhounds during severe frost.
Cum fluidos gelida sisti torpedine rivos
Videris, extantesque pedi non cedere glebas,
Ne campis immitte canes : nam nulla laborura
Prsemia ; et avulsos vanis conatibus ungues
Saepe diii, melior para turmas clauda, dolebit.
G. Against this havock from frost, Natalia Comes suggests a guard in the use of
shoes, so formed according to Ruscellius (Schol. in Nat. Com. L. i.) as to let the
nails pass through tlie calceamenta coriacea :
Ast ubi jam Boreas invadit frigidus arva,
Et glacialis hyems currentia flumina sistit,
Arcendae a plantis concretae frigore crusts,
Atque armandus erit pes, ne mala frigora laedant,
Et tellus concreta gelu, spinicque rigentes.
But should this guard be insufficient, or inapplicable, and the loss of a nai! ensue, the
poetical physician of Verona supplies a simple restorative :
Fracastorii
Alcon.
Martini
Lexicon
Philologicum.
Quid ? taceam nimio cum decidit ungula cursu ?
Frangere namque juvat pallentis grana cumini
Dentibus, admotaque pedeni lenire saliv^ :
Incipientque novi subcrescere protlnus ungues."
The Cynosophium of Demetrius gives its earlier sanction to the efficacy of this
remedy ; and yet it is probable that any of the gum-resins dissolved in spirit of wine
will be found more curative.
7. Aaffus ex^i rovs ir6Sas Kal fut\6aKo{)S. So Oppian,
ovS* WTOis SfiXois XaffioKvrjfuncri \ayuois,
Lepus Saffiwovs vocatur, quod hirsutos habeat pedes.
ON COURSING.
lorj
Whoever courses with o-reyhomuls ' sliould neither slip Chap. XV'.*
tlieiu near llie Ir.irc, nor more thnn a l)race at a lime ; - for flipping law.
tliougli the hare be remarkably swift-footed, and have often
beaten many dogs, yet being just started from her form, she
cannot but be fluttered at heart, and terrified at the hallooing,
and the hounds pressing close upon her : — and in this way,
many a noble hare has often ignobly perished without an
effort, showing no diversion worth mentioning.
Let the hare, therefore, creep away from her form as if
unperceived, and recover her presence of mind. And then, if
she be a racer, "' she will prick up her ears, and bound away
Schediasm.
L. V. c. XVI.
* In the first and second editions of the Cynegeticus, a chapter is here introduced
On the Manner and Time of Coursing among the Celts ; but which is more correctly
placed by Schneider after the nineteenth chapter. Following his example, I liave
omitted it here, and shall introduce it into that part of the treatise to which it natu-
rally belongs.
1. "Ocrrts Kvyas a7a0as ex*' — whoever has good hounds: greyhounds; elsewhere Vide Stepliaui
called Kwas wKsias.
2. The laws of the leash in England, subscribed by Thomas Duke of Norfolk, in
the reign of Elizabeth, speak to these points :
" That not above one brace of greyh.ounds do course a hare at one instant.
" Tliat the fewterer shall give the hare twelve score law, ere he loose the grey-
hounds, except it he in danger of losing sight."
Turberville, however, gives a little more licence as to number of dogs : " If the The Booke of
greyhounds be but yong or slowe, you may course with a lease at one hare, but that Venerie, &c.
is seldorae seene, and a brase of dogges is ynow for such a poore beast." No fair
courser would slip more than a brace of tried and swift dogs (Sua) Kvve, eiSore Q^p-qs) Iliad. L. xx.
after a hare.
As to the distance at which the hounds are to be slipped to the hare, which in the
ancient English Cynegetica is called law, " it should be," says Turberville, " xii
score yardes or more, according to the ground and country where she sitteth." So
Ben Jonson, in the Sad Shepherd,
V. 360.
But you must give her law : and you shall see her
Make twenty leaps and doubles, &c.
Act II. sc. 8.
3. ApO/UiK^j— a racer. 'O dwdixefos ra ffKf\r) piirTelv Trciis, Kol ftuelf raxv, xal
'ipfxtl, 5pOHiK6i
to this chapter.
Aristot.
Tr({p5a), Spo/ii/tJs : a definition equally applicable to man and beast. See the final note "'^ Knetoric;'.
1^. I. c. V.
106
ARRIAN
Chap. XV. from her seat with long strides ; and the greyhounds, having
capered about as if they were dancing, ^ will stretch out at full
speed after her. And at this time is the spectacle worthy
indeed of the pains that must necessarily be bestowed on these
doe's. 5
Onomast. L. v,
c. X.61.
Hist. Aniiiial.
L. XIII. c. 14.
Metamorph.
L. vii. vs. 772.
4. Aia^pi^avTes to. /usAtj — having tossed about their limbs ; capered about. Arrian
means to express the anxiety and joy of the gi-eyhound wlieu the liare is just on the
start. With the same signification Xenophon uses Siap^ifxfia, the rh irri5r)na tov aijxa-
Tos &c. of Pollux. 2/cipTa jovv, says ^lian of the hare's start, to TrpaJra airh Ttjs
yris, Kal TTTjSa : and Pollux calls her aXTiKhu koI irriSriTiKhv rb fajoc.
5. The rush of the greyhound from slips is splendidly described in the Ovidian
Lffilaps :
jamdudum viiicula pugnat
Exuere ipse sibi, colloque morantia tendit.
Vix bene missus erat ; nee jam poteramus, ubi esset,
Scire ; pedum calidus vestigia pulvis habebat :
Ipse oculis ereptus erat. Non ocyor illo
Hasta, nee excussae contorto verbere glandes,
IVec Gortyniaco calamus levis exit ab arcu.
Many of the coursing terms employed in the present, the 19th, and 20lh chapters,
on the Celtic mode of following the sport, are illustrated by Michael Drayton's pro-
saic muse :
Polyolbion.
Song xxiii.
In the proper terms the Muse doth thus report —
The man whose vacant mind prepares him to the sport,
The finder sendeth out, to seek out nimble Wat,
Which crosseth in the field, each furlong, every flat.
Till he this pretty beast upon the form hath found ;
Then viewing for the course, which is the fairest ground,
The greyhounds forth are brought, for coursing then in case,
And choicely in the slip, one leading forth a brace ;
The finder puts her up, and gives her courser's law.
And whilst the eager dogs upon the start do draw,
She riseth from her seat, as though on earth she flew.
Forced by some yelping cute to give the greyhounds view.
Which are at length let slip, when gunning out they go,
As in respect of them the swiftest wind were slow ;
When each man runs his horse, with fixed eyes, and notes
Which dog first turns the hare, which first the other coats :
ON COLKSINO.
107
Tliose are tlie strongest hares which have their forms in Chap. XVI.
open and exposed places ; ^ for, IVoni boldness, they do not Hares.
Tliey wrench her once or twice, ere she a turn will take,
What's offer'd by tlie first, the other good doth make ;
And turn for turn again with equal speed they ply,
Bestirring their swift feet with strange agility :
A harden'd ridge or way, wlien if the hare do win.
Then as sliot from a bow she from the dogs doth spin,
That strive to put her off, but when he cannot reach her,
This giving him a coat, about again doth fetch her
To him that comes behind, which seems tlie hare to bear ;
But with a nimble turn she casts them both ariear :
Till oft for want of breath to fall to ground they make her,
The greyhounds both so spent that they want breath to take her.
For the indications of speed, and strength of course, in the hare, see L'Ecole de la
Chasse, c. iv. " Lievre vigoureux, bon a chasser," &c. " The hare that renneth,"
says Ue Langley, " w'. right stondyng eeres is but litel a ferd and is strong ; and
zit whan she iioldeth that oone eere upryght stondyng and that other y leyde lowe
upon her ryge, she fereth but litel the houndes. An hare that crompes hure tayle
upon hure rumpe whan she sterleth out of here forme, as a conyng, it is token she is
stronge and wele rennyng."
1. Xenophon enters most fully into the description of the hare, her habits, haunts,
&c. — iroSwKecrTaToi fiev ai/v ^lalv ol opeioi, oi ireSivol 5e t/ttoj', PpaSuTaroi 5e ol f\eioi.
And so also ^lian, with some difference as to the speed of the mountain and plain
hares — Aayca 8e opeioi ovk ovtoos rax^^s ixTirepovv ol rois ireSiois ivoiKovyres, el fxii Trore
&pa KaKUfoi TceSlou exoiev viroKelixepov, iv cp KariovTes SiaOeovai, See also Polluc.
Onomast. L. v. c. xii. and Varr. de 11. R. L. in. c. xii. Much of Xenophon's
description is versified by Oppian :
■nrwKas aeiSwuev, 6ripr\s iplSaipov unupriv
(TWfjLa ireAet rirrGhv, \d(nov' Bo\iX'iTaTov oZas'
0aihv virepdf Ktiprj, $aiol Tr({Ses, ovk taa. Kw\a, k. t. K.
iWagstrr of
(Same. c. III.
fol. 19.
De Venat.
De Natura.
Animal.
L. XIII. c. I4>
Cyneget.
L. III. vs. 504.
" Of hares soom goon faster and ben stronger than other, as of men and of other
beestis. And also the pasture and the contre wher thei abiden helpeth moche there-
to ; ffor whan an hare abideth and formeth in a playn contre ther as no busshes be,
suche hares ben comoniy strengest and wel rennyng. And also whan thei pasture of
too herbes, that oon is clepyd sorpol and that other pulegium, thei be stronge and fast
rennyng."
/Waystrr of
©amp. c. HI.
fol. 20.
108
A K R 1 A N
Chap. XVI. coiiceal themselves, but seem to me to challenge the dogs.
When coursed, they do not fly to the woods or groves, how-
ever near, for immediate liberation from danger, but stretch
away to the open country ; - and during the contest, if they are
pursued by slow hounds, they moderate their own speed
according as they are pressed ; but if their pursuers are fast,
they run with all their might. ^
Often when they have turned aside to the champaign
country, if they perceive a fleet dog following so close as to
overshadow them, they throw him otf by frequent ricks and
turns, and again make for the woods, or wherever they know
of a place of refuge ; and this should be deemed a proof that
the dog has beaten the hare. For coursers, such at least as
are true sportsmen, do not take their dogs out for the sake of
catching a hare, but for the contest and sport of coursing ; *
C. F. Paullini
f^agograpb.
Curios. S. IV.
Quadripartit.
Botanicum.
Book of
Veiierie p. 248,
iElian. de
Natur. Animal
Jj. XIII. c. 14.
This superioiily of the upland over the lowland hare continues, according to Paul-
lini, after death. The flavour of its flesh on the table is as superior in the former to
what it is in the latter, as the prowess of the one during life surpassed that of
the other — " Lumbi et clunes, seu coxse," says the credulous epicure of Eisenach,
" gratissiraura prajbent alimentum et pulmentum, imprimis niarium, qui femellis in
cibatu merito pra;feruntur, pra;sertini si montium fuerint incolse planorumque loco-
rum, serpyllo, pulegio, et sircilibus herbis vescentes. Qui enira in palustribus locis
degunt, vilioris condilionis sunt carnis et succi di'terioris." The cause of the infe-
riority of the latter is furnished by Simon Paulli, " quia illorum intercus et excre-
mentitia humiditas, quae carnem reddit manu conturaacem, non atteuuata et consumpta
est, uti horum, qui fugati sunt."
2. Turherville observes a hare will take to the open country, if the horsemen stand
on the covert-side, " then peradventure when shee ryseth, shee will take towards the
champayne ; " but I have often seen a hare voluntarily start directly away from the
covert, witiiout any such obstacle existing to her nearer escape.
3. Oi) juV avaXiiTKei ttjv eaurov Svpafiiv aTafinvTus, TTjpe? Se rod StwKovTos r^P
op/iiiv Kal iav fiiv rj voidris, ov iro.vv avriKe rh kavTov Tctxis" aWa. Kai ti koI avicrret\ev,
ws TTOOiKQuv fjikv Tov Kvvhs, OV /x?)i' aTTayopivcTai virh rod avvrSvov rov dp6nov avrSs.
Ol5e yap ayalvwy &>p, koI dpa els rh /tir; virepirovuaQai. ol rhv Kaiphv ovtu. 'Eav 8e Kal
6 Kvwv ^ &Ki<nos, Tt\viKavTa & \ayi)S (peperai dewv 77 ■koScov eKet, k. t. \.
4. Oil yap TOJ ewl t&? a.\iava.i rb Bripiov f^dyovffi tocs Kvvas, aWa. es aywua SpSfMOV
Ko). a/xiWav k. t. \. With the fine feelings of a genuine courser, the author considers
the pleasure of tlie sport as arising solely from the struggle for victory between the
ON COUKSlNt!.
lUI)
and are glad if the hare meet with au escape : if she fly to Chap. XVI
any thin brake for conceahnent, though they may see her
trembhng and in the utmost distress, they will call off their
dogs, ^ and more particularly so, when they have run well.^
Often, indeed, when following a course on horseback, have I
come up to the hare as soon as caught, and myself saved her
alive: and then, having taken away my dog, and- fastened
him up, allowed her to escape. "^ And if I have arrived too
late to save her, I have struck my head with sorrow, that the
dogs had killed so good an antagonist. ^
liare and dog ; — a trial of the former's speed, its distinctive excellence, (so elegantly
alluded to by Anacreon in his complimentary ode to the ladies.
^iffis Kepara ravpois,
oirKas S' iSdiKev 'Innois,
iroSaiKlriv Aayuols)
Anacreon. Od.
II. 1.
against that of the latter, whose shape marks its natural designation for such a com-
petition. Coursing does not seem to have been otherwise practised as an emulative
sport in the classic ages ; nor indeed till a very modern period of its annals.
5. Kal KaracpvySvTa is OLKoivOai ecrriv 8t€ oKiyas o'l5e Kal iBSvres eirrTJX^Ta K. t. A. —
A uohie paragraph ! conceived and penned in the true spirit of an enlightened
sportsman — Read it all ye who dare calumniate, wilh Savary and Somerville,
The mean, murderous, coursing crew, intent
On blood and spoil !
The Chace.
6. Zfune would read Siaywvhano, as referring to the hare, whose life is spared for
having run well. Such a reading, if tenable, (which, I fear, for the reasons given by
Sclmeider, it is not,) would add much to the beauty of the passage.
7. How different the sentiments of the Bithynian courser from those of the Sci-
luntian huntsman : like a modern thistle-whipper or pot-hunter, Xenophon bids us
search every hiding-place for the worn-out hare, that we may catch her at force, kutci,
irJSos, or drive her into the snares ! while Arrian rejoices in her safety and grieves
over her accidental capture and destruction.
8. "Enaiffa rijv Ke<pa\-fiv. Blane supposes Arrian to strike the greyhound's head as
a chastisement for having killed the hare : but this interpretation is too absurd to be
admitted. Many arc the exan)ples of the custom of striking the head with the hand.
De Venat.
C. VI,
110
A R R I A N
Chap. XVI. On this point alone I cannot agree with my namesake.
I allow indeed that a man may forget every other object of
which he is enamoured, when he sees a hare found, and pur-
sued at speed ; ^ but to see her taken is, I own, neither a
pleasant nor striking spectacle ; but disagreeable rather, and
not at all likely to make us forgetful of other objects of attach-
ment. ^" And yet we must not blame Xenophon, considering
in indication of sudden grief and vexation. Priam is fearfully apprehensive of
Hector's death, and strikes his head with sorrow :
Iliad. XXII.
Ki<pa\r]v 6' 076 K(5i|'aTo x^pcii'
v4'0(t' acacrxo'jUfos.
Herodot.
Thalia.
Psammetichus expresses his grief in the same way over the rich Egyptian monarch,
reduced to mendicancy in his old age, iirXTj^aTo riju K€^oAV — ^^^ Plutarch tells us
that Solon began iraUiv ri)P KecpaXrjv koI t' &\Xa woiuv koI \eyetv, & crvfj.fiaii'ei rdis
trepnradovffi, as soon as he heard of the death of his son.
9. The joys of the hare-chase have been celebrated, in prose and verse, by the
successors of the Athenian, in even higher strains than by himself :
Natalis Comes
de Venat.
L. 11.
Tantus amor lepores venandi, gaudia tanta !
HJc mens, hie animus, hic est et tota voluntas !
Prseponunt reliquis una haec solatia cunctis !
fHagstrr of
ifSanif.
fol. 17. 18.
" The hare is a good lityl beest and moch good sport and lyking is the huntyng of hur
more than in eny othere beest that eny man knoweth, &c." " the sechyns for the
hare is a wel faire thing, and the enchasyng of the hare is a wel faire thing, and the
sleyng of hym with strength is a faire thing," &c.
The latter, it is singular, are the very sentiments of Xenophon, reprobated by
Arrian ; and the passage affords one of many proofs of De Langley's acquaintance
with the Grecian Cyuegeticus. See Markhain C. C. B. i. p. 33. and Soraerville's
Chace. «
10. See Xenophon Cyneg. v. 33. Arrian has spoken throughout his treatise
with the greatest respect of his predecessor's opinions ; but ventures to differ from
him in this place, as to the feelings which the poor hare, when caught, should
excite —
Sophoclis
Ajax. 1011.
a\yiffToi', Siv irpoatihov 6cp6a\/ji.o7s iyu-
ON COUUSING.
11
he was ignorant of greyhounds, if even the capture of a hare Chap. XVI.
appeared to him a grand sight.
I ain aware, (even if my instructions were opposed to it),
how strong the inducement is to halloo, when following a
course, and that even a dumb man might break forth, as is
related of the son of Croesus. ^^
It is proper sometimes to speak to the greyhounds ; for
they are pleased at hearing their master's voice, ^ and have the greyhounds.
CriAp. XVII.
Clieering
and yet he almost immediately palliates Xenophon's contrary sentiments, and excuses
them on account of his ignorance of the Celtic greyhound.
11. See Herodot. L. i. sect. 85. 6 Se irots ovtos 6 &(p(iiuos, ws elSe eVioj'Ta Thv Tlep-
(Tr]v, inrh Seouy re koI kukov e^prj^e (pooi/rif elire 5e, "nvdpceTre, fii] KTt7vf Kpolffov. The
tale of the father of history is somewhat differently told by Solinus : — Atys, filius regis,
rautus ad id locorum, in vocera erupit vi timoris : exclamasse enini dicitur : " Parce
patri meo, Cyre, et hominem te esse, vel casihus disce nostris."
1. Xenophon de Venat. c. VI, 9. avaPoau edye, eSye S> Kvves, e-ire(T0e Si KvvfS. He
gives a different cheer at different parts of the chase. Pollux explains the whistling
halloo by the significant verb i-iruri^ai — jubilationibus solitis canes cohortari et feris
imraittere —
Clio.
C, J. Solini
Polyhistor.
c. I.
At comites rabidura solitis hortatibus agmen
Ignari instigant.
Ovid. Metam,
L. Ill,
So Venus in pursuit of her beloved Adonis,
Per juga, per silvas, dumosaque saxa vagatur
Nuda genu, vestem ritu succincta Dianas ;
Hortaiurque canes, &c.
Ovid. Metara.
L. X. 53.5.
Incipiam captare feras, et reddere pinu
Cornua, et audaces ipse raonere canes.
Nemesian approaches nearer to the text, in his probable allusion to the same variety
of sound ;
Propert. L. ii.
EI. XVIII. ad
Cynthiani.
Necnon consuetaj norint hortamina vocis,
Seu cursus revocent, jubeant seu tendere cursus.
Cyneget.
v. 196.
112
ARRIAN
Chap. XVII. consciousness of his presence, and of their brilliant running not
escaping his notice, as an encouragement and reward for their
exertions.
There is no objection to your cheering your hound as often
as you like in his first course ; but in his second or third,
when it is probable that he is fagged, I think it wrong to cheer
him very often by name, lest from his ardour, and desire of
pleasing his master, he exert himself beyond his strength, and
suffer some inward rupture ; an accident which has been fatal
to many a high-bred greyhound. But he should be allowed to
slacken his running as he chooses. For the contest is by no
means equal between the hare and greyhound : - the hare runs
But Arrian means more than is expressed in either of these passages : by ovo/xacrT]
4iTi\4yitv we are to understand speaking to, and cheering the hounds by name ; as in
the following cbaj)ter — evye Si Ktppa, eHye S> B6i/vu, koXus ye S> 'Op/xr] —
2. 6 a7aiv Xaywu) koX kvvI — accurately and beautifully described in the Ovidian
simile ;
Metamorph.
L. I. 533.
Ut canis in vacuo leporem cum Gallicus arvo
Vidit ; et hicjjrffidam pedibus petit, ille salutem
Alter inhaesuro similis, jam jamque tenere
Sperat, et extento stringit vestigia rostro ;
Alter in ambiguo est, an sit depretisus, et ipsis
Morsibus eripitur ; tangentiaque era relinquit.
and in the fable of Cephalus and Procris, the Teumesian fox being substituted for the
hare ;
Metamorph.
L. vn.781.
Tollor eo capioque novi spectacula cursus :
Qua modo deprendi, modo se subducere ab ipso
Vulnere visa fera est : nee limite callida recto,
In spatiumque fugit ; sed decipit ora sequentis,
Et redit in gyrum, ne sit suus impetus hosti.
Imminet hie sequiturque parem : similisque tenenti
Non tenet, et vacuos exercet in aiira morsus.
When reading these and other splendid fables of this poet, and his similes illustrative
of terror and rapidity of flight, and eagerness of pursuit, in the parties represented,
ON (OLHSINCi
11:3
where she hkes, and the clog pursues ; she shifts lier course,'' Chap. XVII.
throws iiini ofi", and darts forward ; and if thrown out, the dog-
is wide of the hare, and must again stretch away after her
a-head, and recover what he has lost of the course by over-
shoot inii himself.
it strikes us as probable that be was a practical courser, " Apollinis et Dianae utrius-
que sectator," and derived his imagery from experience in the field. To the tales of
" Cepbalus and his greyhound Lselups," and of " Daphne in Laurum " with its cited
accompaniment, we may add much of the poetical ornament of Arethusa's plaintive
and terrified flight from thelastfiil Aipheus,
Sic ego currebam ; sic me ferus ille premebat, ...ficc.
in which the classic courser will discover many allusions to his favourite sport ;
Metamorpli
L. V. 604.
Nee me velocior ille,
Sed tolerare diu cursus ego viribus irapar
Non poterani : longi patiens eiat ille laboris.
Per tamen et campos, per opertos arbore montes,
Saxa quoque et rupes, et quii via nulla, cucuni.
Sol erat a tergo: vidi prajcedere longam
Ante pedes uiubram : nisi si timer ilia videbat.
Sed certe sonituque pedum terrebar; et ingens
Crinales vittas afflabat anhelitus oris.
Ejiisdem
V. 609.
And when the afFriglited nymph is rescued by the interposition of a cloud from her
pursuer's grasp, and hears the cry " lo Aretiiusa, lo Arethusa," the poet compares
her to a hare in a brake under biii)ilar terror.
Lepori, qui vepre latens hostilia cernit
Ora canura, nullosque audetdare corpore raotus:
Ejusdem
V. (i27.
as if the chase of this little animal liad supplied him with the outline of his picture.
3. 'O /ifv i^fXi^as rhv SpSfiov &c. So yElian, Sp6fji.ov Se eva Koi l6vi> oh du, Sevpo
Se KOI e/C€?(Te irapaKXlvet, Koi e'leXiTrej t?7 koI t^, iKTrKi]TTWv tovs Kvvas koI wkotuv.
4. Apoilonius Rhodius has well expressed the Kvvis SeSarjixei/ot &yor]s straining
after the game with open jaws ;
De Naturii
Animal.
L. XIII. c. 14.
TviOhi/ 5e Tnai.v6ft.ivoi. /xiroiriffOtv
&icpT]^iv •yivvitrai ixa.Tr\v apd^Tjaav uSovras.
P
Argonaut.
L. H. 2W).
114
AKRIAN
Chap. XVIT. Moreover, the natural difficulties of the country are more in
favour of the hare, than the dog — such as rough and stony
ami Virgil in the simile of the " vividus Umber;" copjing, probably, the poet of the
Argonauts,
jEneid.
L. XII. 754.
Ilfcret hiaus, jam jamque tenet, similisque tenenti
Increpuit malis, morsuque elusus inani est.
The hare under pursuit has a peculiar sensibility of sounds behind her. To this
excellence she owes her preservation from the danger of her pursuers. By this
faculty she often outstrips the fleetest brace of greyhounds, attentive to the noise of
every stretch, and sound of every pant :
Statii Theb.
L. V. 168.
Praecipitat suspensa fugam ; jam jamque teneri
Credit, et elusos audit concurrere morsiis.
The Booke of
Venerie.
p. 248.
Bacon, of
Discourse,
Essay xxxii.
" It is a gallant sport," says Turberville, " to see how the hare will turne and
wind to save herselfe out of the dogges mouth. So that sometimes even when you
thinke that your greyhound doth (as it were) gape to take her, she will turne and
cast them a good way behind her : and so saveth herselfe by turning, wrenching, and
winding, until she reach some covert and so save her life." And a far greater than
this translator of Fouilloux has remarked : "We see in beasts, that those that are
weakest in the course, are yet nimblest in the turne ; as it is betwixt the greyhound
and the liare."
Scarce inferior to his poetical predecessor of Venusium, the classic Darcius slips
liis swift-footed Ptereias after the started hare, in a sketch which places the course
before the reader's eyes :
Darcii Ve-
nusini Canes.
Ocyus insequitur Ptereias, cursuque citato
Intervalia facit lati decrescere campi.
Jam propior propiorque micat, jam captat hianti
Summa pedum rostro, jam terga fugacia stringit.
Ille pavet, flexoque obliquat tramite cursus,
Et dubia trepidans formidine, jamque teneri
Se putat, et rursum tangentis ab ore recedit,
Fataque moment© sibi prorogat, a;mula donee
Rostra Jevis mergat miserando in corpore victor,
Fulmineus victor, gemino cui tramite lumbos
Spina subit graciles, et castigata coercet
liiu suhstrictus venter, stant crura volantem
ON (OIHSINC;. 115
grounds,^ steeps and inequalities of surface — both because she Chap. XVII.
is light, and because her feet, from their wooUiness, are not
liable to be lacerated by the roughness of the ground ; ^ and
Praeteritura uotum, longo internodia ductu
Pes geril, in cueluin toUuntur acumiue bino
Auricula;, flexoque in la3via tergora gyro
Erecta; redeuni falcata volumina cauda;.
Mr. Gay's " Rural Sports," Canto 2nd, afford the only poetical description of a
liare-course in the English language, with which I am acquainted, in addition to tliat
already cited from the Polyolbion of Michael Urayton :
Yet if for sylvan sports thy bosom glow, Canto ii.
Let thy fleet greyhound urge liis flying foe.
With what delight the rapid course I view !
How does my eye the circling race pursue !
He snaps deceitful air with empty jaws.
The subtle hare darts swift beneath his paws :
She flies, he stretches : now with nimble bound
Eager he presses on, but overshoots his ground :
Slie turns, he winds, and soon regains the way.
Then tears with gory mouth the screaming prey.
5. Ol (peWewves. I have not met with this word elsewhere. Xenophon has to
<p4Wta, chsp. V. De Ven., to signify the same kind of stony ground. The Scholia on
the Acharnenses of Aristophanes, Act ii. sc. ii. explains (peWeiis as rocky ground,
stony beneati), with a superficial covering of earth — such as we see on the slopes of
hills, perhaps. ^eXXhs occurs in Hesychius : ffKXjjphs tottos koL Sv(rtpyi]s, Kcd i^ eiri-
^oKrjs irerpiiSris. Possibly the English term " fell " may be derived from the Greek
<pe\Khs or (peWevs.
6. TlSSas rovs irpScrOfv &Kpais vypovs, (TTivovs, opOovs- tovs 5e oiria'dei' arepfohs, ir\a- Xenophon. de
T6JS' iravras 8e oiiSeyhs rpax^os (ppovri^ovTas. ^ enal. c. v.
rie'^u/ce yap Saavs tovs TT65as ko.) Stj Kal tu>v rpaxecov avexfTai. The term Safftnrovs yElian. de
is evidently derived from the woolly covering of the hare's feet ; originally an adjective "J^^' Animal.
expressive of this peculiarity, but subsequently used to designate the hare herself.
To the same origin Junius refers the English term ra66e< — "cuniculus :" "Quotquot Franc. Jimii
unquam observarunt Anglos, in linguas vernaculae pronuntiatione, o sonare ut a, facile ,.^ *,
^ . . ghcan. a Lye.
mecum credent oliru fuisse rohbet, quod nunc rabbet pronuntiant et scribunt. Atque 1743.
ita robbet iilud fortasse corruptum fuerint ex roughfet, quod exprirait Gr. haavirovs."
The English word hare is derived by the same Etymologist from the Anglo-Saxon
11& ARRIAN
Chap. xvil. the running for her hfe, too, takes away all sense of diffi-
culties.
Chap. XVIII. When the greyhound has caught the hare, or been otherwise
Praising, &c. victorious in the course,^ you should dismount from your horse,
pat him with your hand and praise him, kissing his head, and
stroking his ears, and speaking to him by name — " Well done,
Cirras !"2— " Well done, Bonnas !"3— " Bravo, my Horme !"*
— calling each hound by his name ; for, like men of generous
spirit, they love to be praised : ^ and the dog, if not quite tired
out, will come up with joy to caress you. At this time, it is a
good sign for him to roll himself on the ground, as we see
horses do ; ^ for it shows that he is not done up with the
course, and, at the same time, rolling refreshes him.
hara. " A. S. hara videtur esse ab har, pilus ; quoniam, ut est apud Plinium, ' vil-
losissimum animalium lepus.' "
1. Let him be made to feel in the words of Oviil,
non tam
Turpe fuit vinci, quain contendisse decorum.
It is a great point to encourage a young hound, whether he kill or not.
Plutarch remarks in his treatise on the Comparative Instinct of Land and VVater
Animals, that the Canes Venatici, generally, tear tlieir game and lick up the blood
greedily, when they kill it themselves ; but if the animal, of which they are in pur-
suit, expire from exhaustion, before they reach it, they merely wag their tails, and do
not lacerate it ; showing thereby that the contest was not for the flesh of the animal,
but rather for the glory of victory.
2. Ki^^a — derived probably from the red colour of the dog.
3. BtJwa — the derivation of this canine name is unknown to me.
4. 'Opfii) — Arriau's own much-valued hound: to the same kennel perhaps belonged
Cirras and Bonnas.
5. eoiKe Se eX*"" ''"' '''''' ^'^OTfjuias eV tavTw (fwffiKTJs" ;U7) jap SeTffSai Kpfuv, aA\i
Vj'.Jian. oe
Nat. Animal. v'lKrjs epav.
L. VIII. c. II. " Trahimur omnes laudis studio," says Cicero, " et optiraus quisque maxime
gloria ducitur."
G. Pliny also makes the same remark, " Canes a cursu volutatio juvat, ut veterina
a jugo."
ON COURSING. 117
The more opulent Celts/ who live in luxury, course in the Chap. XIX.*
following mnnner. They send out hare-finders ^ early in the coursing'w^iih
morning to look over such places as are likely to afford hares hare-tiuders.
in fonn ; ^ and a messenger brings word if they have found
any, and what number. They then go out themselves, and
having started the hare, slip the dogs after her, and follow on
horseback.*
But others, who have no hare-finders, go out on horseback, Chap. xx.
collecting a large party of fellow-sportsmen together ; and finders^'^'^"
coming to likely lying-ground, when a hare is started, they
slip their dogs. While others again, who are more of work-
men at the sport, sally forth on foot ; ^ and if any one
* In the Paris edition of 1644, in Blancard's of 1683, and in Zeune's, this Chapter
stands after Chap. xiv. ; but, on the authority of Schneider, it is more appropriately
introduced in this place. Indeed the present, and two following chapters, treat of
the diflFerent modes of coursing among the Celts, and might all be united under one
title.
1. "Offot /jLev irXovTOvaiv aurwv Kol Tpvpwffiv — the superior class of Celtic gentry,
nobility, &c.
2. Tohs KaTOTrrevaovTas — finders to look over, &c. The French say, " aller a la Encyc.M^thod.
vue." — "c'est decouvrir s'il v a dans le pays des betes courables." ..,„
3. 'Avairav6fi(vos \aytis. No description can surpass in accuracy and elegance
that of the hare in her form by the elder Xenophon : KoTOKXtVerat Se inrodtls to, viro- De Venat.
K(c\ia imh ras \ay6vas, to Sg TrpSffdev (TkeAtj to. TrKelara (Twdels Kul e/creiVas, eV &Kpovs *•• ^' ^'
Se Toiis irddas ttjc yevvv KciTadels, ra Se Sira iinirerdcras iirl ras ai/j-OTrAdras' elra 5e
ivoffriyei ret vypd' €xei 5e koI rrju Tpix« (rreyav-qv iru/cj/rj yap Kal /xaXaKT].
4. The example of the Celtic nobility of Arrian's days was followed by those of a
later date. Bruyer relates (de Re Cib. c. 24.) " Gallia omnisleporibusscatel, ideoque
horum venatio peculiaris est mediocri nobilitati et primariae non invisa." And Bap-
tists Guarinus notes of the X'eronese territory, that it abounds with hares, and affords
opportunities for long courses :
Namque hie si studeas lepores agitare fugaces,
Cursibus effusis aquora longa patent.
1. AvTovpyoi Kwi^ytnioov. Upon this expression Henry Stephens merely remarks.
118 ARRIAN
Chap. XX. accompanies them on horseback, it is his duty to keep up with
the dogs.
Beating the They beat the ground in regular array, with an extended
front, proceeding in a straight line to the completion of a
certain extent of country ; and then, wheeUng about in a body,
return in the same way by the side of their former track,
omitting as far as possible none of the likely lying. "
But it is necessary, if many dogs are taken into the field,
that they should not be left at random, and without arrange-
ment. For when the hare is started from her form, not a man
would refrain from slipping his hound after her : one from
eagerness to see his own dog run, and another from being
startled and beside himself at the hallooing ; and the hare
would be caught, in consequence of the crowd and confusion
of the dogs, without a struggle, and the whole value of the
ScheHiasm. " (juod loquendi genus observatione dignum est," — offering no explanation: Zeune
hm V. c. XVI. interprets " qui pedites venantur, studio rei capti :" Holsten, " qui ipsi per se vena-
tionis studio incumbunt :" — those who have to do with the practical part of the
sport, as the slippers, leaders of tlie hounds, &c. the actual workmen. Such were
Cyneg. i. the ipyoirSvoi Kparepol of Oppian, the bearers of the hunting gear to the covert, &c.
V. l4o. 2. 'EKTTfpuaai. 5e eV} yueTOTroy raxdevres. We here see the military tactician : after
the lapse of nearly seventeen centuries, no improvement has taken place in the mode
of beating for a hare. One of our best English manuals of coursing, whose author
was probably as expert in the field as his predecessor of Bithynia, thus describes the
Turberville's plan adopted in the days of good Queen Bess : "To course y''. hare you must send
Ti „ either hare-finders before vou to find some hare sitting, or els yourself w'h. vour cora-
Hunting, &c. •' . .
pany may range and beat over the fields until you either find a hare sitting, or start
her. 1 have marked y^. hare-finders in their seeking of a hare in Norlhamptonshyre,
and they will never beat but one end of a furlong : and that shall be the end which is
downe the wind or from the wind ; for they hold opinion that a hare will not (by
her wil) sit with her head into the wind. He that will seeke a hare must go over-
thwart the lands ; and every land that he passeth over, let him beginne with his eye
at his foot, and so looke downe the land to the furlong's end, first on the one side
and then on the other ; and so shall he find y<^. hare sitting in her forme : assoone as
heespyeth her he must cry Sa how. Then they which lead the greyhounds may come
neare : and you may appoynt which greyhounds shall course. Then let him which
found the hare, go towards her and say. Up, pusse, up ! untill she rise out of her
forme."
ON rouRsiNc;. 119
spectacle destroyed. On which account a steward should be Chap. XX.
appointed over the sport, ^ should match the dogs, and give Steward,
orders to the field : — if the hare start on this side, you and
you are to slip, and nobody else ; but if on that side, you and
you : and let strict attention be paid to the orders given. *
3. "kpxovTo- — " the judge expert in coursing " of Turberville, p. 249.
It appears to me from this passage that the Celts coursed witli each hound lield in
a single slip and collar, and started probably simultaneously with his appointed com-
peer, held in juxta-positiun by a second person. Some commentators, however, are
of opinion, from the term (rufSt/affTw, that the dogs were held in double collars, or
couples ; but if so, we must still suppose, from the words (tv koI ah iwiXiifiv, that
two persons were appointed to let the dogs loose at the same time :
Copula detrahitur canibus. Ovid. Met.
L. VII. 709.
Xenophon particularly enjoins, in his instructions on hare-hunting, that the Spartan
hounds should he held in separate collars at the covert-side : fKacn-qv X'^P^^j (each
apart) '6irciis hv evXvroi Sxri, De Venat.
The ancient slip or slippe (ab elabendo Vlit. p. 94.) was formed by a leading thong ''• ^^'
or lyam, passed through the ring of the dog's collar, the two ends being held in the
hand of the slipper, or keeper. When the dog was loosed, the slipper let go one
end of the thong, and drew the other wilh his hand from the eye of the collar,
whereby the dog was liberated with the collar on his neck, the lyam remaining in the
slipper's hand. (See Xenophon, Pollux, and Conrad Gesner, on these accoutre-
ments : the latter is copious on the subject in his Hist. Quadrup. " Canis.") Such
a representation of greyhounds coursing, with collars on their necks, we have in
Monlfaucon, Tom. iii. Liv. iv. pi. 176. (Chasse au Lievre.) Nor are the incum- ggg {jj^
brances, which envelop the necks of Chrysis and Aura in this beautiful gem, got rid lithograph of
of in the coursing plates of " The Gentleman's Hecrealions," — so few are the ira- l^nrysis ana
, Aura,
provements in the practical department of the leasli, from the days of Arrian till
those of Richard Blorae. The modern method of slipping a brace of greyhounds, at
the same instant of time, from double spring or wedge collars, is of recent introduc-
tion ; liaving its origin, probably, at the institution of public coursing meetings.
4. 01 Se ffiireSovuraii' rh rax04y. Obedience to the orders of the &pxwv or ayccvo-
6iTt)s, in a coursing field, is an essential point of discipline: indeed, we could not
select any more important for the regulation of such an assemblage than the brief and
emphatic injunction of our author in his Tactics, " silence and attention to orders" — Arriani Tactic.
aiya. Koi Trp6(rex^ "^^ 'i^o.po.'yyiWo^iV(f. 71.
Ed. Blancard.
120 ARRIAN
Chap. XXI. The Celts sometimes course with a mixture of sagacious and
Coursing with swift-footed houuds:^ and while the doo;s of scent are tryino-,
sagacious and ' ^ JO'
swift hounds
together.
fBiapstfr of 1. This method of coursing was practised in England in the da^s of Edmund De
c. XXXV Langley (A. D. 1380). From the instructions which he gives relative to it, it
fol. 99. appears that the gre^^hounds were placed, as amongst the Celts, on the outside of the
covert. So also in the beautiful poetry of Scott :
Marniion. And foresters in greenwood trim
Inlroduction to L^^j -^ ^,,^ j^ ,^ j, gazehounds grim,
Canto 11. . b b ,
Attentive as the brachet's bay
From the dark covert drove the prey
To slip them as he drove away.
The startled quarry bounds amain,
As fast the gallant greyhounds strain.
De Canibus et " ^"^ autem vidimus," says Blondus, " venantes in capiendis leporibus hunc
\ enatione modum servare insidiandi. Divisi ac sparsi veuatores per inculta frequentiiis quain
per culta, arte quadam incedunt laqueis canem leporariura detinentes : spineta et
sentes, sive dumeta, saltusve potiiis celebranles quam nemora. Nonnunquam etiam
praemittunt odorum canem qui e latebris pellat timidum leporem, post quem e laqueis
mittunt canem fugacem, altis clamoribus persequentes, qui sunt exhortationes fuga-
cium canum."
U. Aldrovand. " In montosis locis (agri Bononiensis) ob rubetorum frequentiam, canibus saga-
de yuad. UigU. ciijug 3(j lepores excitandos utuntur, deinde visis leporibus canes leporarios solvunt,"
\ ivip. I/. II. r r '
^ &c.
The classic poet of Barga, although we look in vain for a description of the hare-
course throughout his varied and copious Cyncgeticon, has left us the following
counterpart in the machinery of the fox-chase with swift-footed hounds :
P. Angel. Barg. Interea juvenes qua sunt asperrima campi
Cyneg. L. vi. Dumeta, et spinis clivus consurgit acutis,
Obsedere vias, alii qua mane tepenti
Flamine in adversos ^uras fert Eurus odoras,
Veloces tenuere canes : turbaraquc sagacem
Immisere, premant patulis, qu<e naribus hostem
Obscenam, et dumis sese occultare parantein,
Conantemque animam tristi subducere letho.
Quam postquam certo latratu ursere propinquain,
Solvuntur canibus curracia vincla Lacainis :
ON COD US INC
121
they stand apart with the greyhouuds, leading them in their CtiAP. XXI.
hands where it is most probable the hare will direct her
course, that they may slip them at her when she breaks cover. -
And here the greyhounds answer the same purpose its Xeno-
phon's nets. ^ But the courses in this way are irregular and
confused, and the hare, however good, is generally so terrified
at the barking of the finders, that, unless she get far enough
a-head to be able to recover herself, she is easily caught, being
frightened out of her wits. *
and this is again followed by other chases, wherein the wolf and stag are the grey-
hound's quarry.
See also L'EcoIe de la Chasse, (Rouen, 1788,) " Maniere de prendre les loups
avec les levriers."
2. "Otto^s &v Toi irpoxoipfi- " Quacunque ratione fieri potest," Ind. Grsec. Z.
" When she is going off," Blane.
3. Kai elcrlv at Kivss oStoi, 8 ri irep ai &pKvs s,eyo<ptaVTi 4Keiv(f. From some curious
Dialogues composed by Elfric, Duke of Mercia, in Latin, Mr. Turner has shown that
our ancestors resembled their continental neighbours in these field sports.
" I am a hunter to one of the kings. — How do you exercise your art ? I spread
my nets, and set them in a fit place, and instruct my hounds to pursue the wild deer
till they come to the nets unexpectedly, and so are entangled, and I slay them in the
nets. — Cannot you hunt without nets ? Yes, with swift hounds I follow the wild
deer. — What wild deer do you chiefly take 1 Harts, boars, and rein-deer, and goats,
and sometimes hares,'' &c.
4. 'Yfrh T7)s KAayyrjs twv kvvZv, &e. Kvvuv e<p6l3riaev ofioKKT] : for a practical
exemplification of a course conducted upon the principle of uniting speed and saga-
city in the same pack, see Mr. Hobhouse's description of his sport with his host at
Votizza. To "four wire-haired Lacouni" were added "three mongrel pointers,
and several curs . . . with a large party of men on foot and horseback, making as
much noise as possible." It is scarce necessary to state the poor hare was killed
" after a short run."
This method of coursing (if it deserve the name) was much in use in France two
centuries or more ago. " They use their greyhounds," says Turberville, " only to
set backsets, or receytes for deare, wolfe, fox, or such-like. Whereas we here in
England do make great account of such pastime as is to be seen in coursing with
greyhounds at deare, hare, foxe, or such-like, even of themselves, when there are
neyther hounds hunting, nor other meaue to help them."
Edmund De Langley, in his jiHagStCT Of ffiatHf, condemns the union of sagacious
and fleet hounds, " spaynels and greihoundes," in the same field ; for " the spaynel
Q
Venerie
Norraande.
C. VII.
Hist, of the
Anglo-Saxons.
Apollon.
Rhod.
L. III. 13.
Journey thro'
Albania, &c.
Letter xvii.
Book of
Hunting.
p. 240.
c. XVII. fol. GO.
122
ARRIAN
Chap. XXI. Whoever, therefore, is a good slipper, should not let go his
dog while the hare is at all bewildered, (unless he would
destroy the sport,) but should allow her to make her first turns,
and then slip.
Chap. XXII. Let it be deemed unlawful to slip to a young hare;^ but
Ware Leveret, ^.^ther, in obedience to my namesake, spare such for the
Goddess." If possible, indeed, you should endeavour to call off
wil make al the ryot and al the harme." The latter'a mode of bunting is beautifully
described by Darcius of Venusium :
Canes.
Hi si forte levis toto lepus errat in arvo,
Pone legent rostro vestigia nota sagaci :
Et modo transverse, niodo recto jugera sulco
Scrutantur, &c.
Xenophon. ^' ^^ M*'' oiiu \iav veoyva ol (piXoKwi^yeTai acpiuai Trj @e<a. But the 'ame mercy
de Venatione. was not extended to fawns : see Xenoph. de Venat. c. ix. 1.
2. Tij ©foj. Diana ayporepu, or Veuatrix.
Homer. Iliad.
irSrvia OripZv
''ApTefiis ayporiprj.
Homer. Hymn,
in Dian.
T) KUT tjpri ffKi6evra Koi &Kptas r]veiJ.6e(T(Tas
ayprj Tepnofiivi] nayxpima t({|o riTaivet.
So, in the Anacreontic Airaveia,
yovvov/xai c' 4Xa<p-q$6\e,
s,avdi), TTol Aihs, aypiaiv
SeffTTOtv', "'Aprefj.t, Bripuv.
Polluc. Onom.
L. V. c. I. 13.
By Pollux the worshipful goddess is variously called ayporepa, Ka), Kwriyeris, koI
<pi\66ripos, /col opfia. For the popular belief respecting her many vocations, see
Callimacb. H. in Dian. How graphically is she decked out, in all her sylvan trim, br
Nemesian, in tlie following address to her, to aid, with her many sporting associates,
the essay of his Cynegetical Muse !
Nemesian.
Cyneg. 86.
Tu modo qu3B saltus placidos silvasque pererras
Latona^, Phoebe, magnum decus, eja age suetos
ON COURSING. 123
the dogs on scent; though they are with difficulty checked, Chap. XXII.
being intractable from hunger, and so keen at devouring
whatever prey they take, that you can scarce drive them
away, even by beating them with sticks.
You should course the stag, or any game of equal size in the Chap. XXIII.
same way, slipping high-couraged hounds ; ^ for the animal is Stag-coursing.
Sume habitus, arcumque manu : pictamque pharetram
Suspende ex humeris : sint aurea tela, sagittse :
Candida puniceis aptentur crura cothurnis :
Sit chlamys aurato multiim sub tegmine lusa,
Corrugesque sinus geinmatis baltbeus arctet
Nexibus : implicibus cohibe diademate crines.
Tecum Naiades faciles, viridique juventa
Pubentes Dr^'ades, Nympliajque, unde amnibus humor,
Adsint, et docilis decantet Oreadas Echo.
Due age, Diva, tuuin frondosa per avia vatem.
Te sequimur : tu pande doraos et lustra ferarum.
See Lucian's Deorum Dialogi, Venus et Cupido, for the pursuits of Diana ; and
for several elegant representations of her in her sporting attire, see Montfaucon,
Tom. I. Perrier, Tab. 64. Goltzii Numismata Grpeciee, &c. Tab. vii. f. 1. Insular
Medals, Tah. xvii. f. 1. Morell. Tab. xv. Passerii Tom. in. Tab. 88. &c. A few
of the most classic gems and medals have heen faithfully copied in outline by Mr.
Haghe from the antique, and annexed to this work ; they are taken from Montfau-
con, who had previously borrowed them from La Chausse and Beger.
The translation of Mr. Blane does not extend beyond this Chapter.
1 . Xenophon De Venat. c. ix. recommends Indian dogs for deer-hunting, as they
are strong, large, swift-footed, and resolute.
In the ancient field sports of Britain we find tlie deer, the wolf, and the fox, and
even sometimes the wild cat, (of which last the ifHsgStcr Of dSiMlt c x. reports,
" he hath the Devyllis spyryt,") coursed with greyhounds : but at present these
diversions are discontinued, and the hare alone deemed worthy of the honourable
distinction of competing in speed with the Celtic hound :
And where that ye come in playne or in place, Book of
I shall you tell whyche ben bestys of enchace : Aioan s.
One of theym is the bucke : a nother is tlie doo :
The foxe and the raarleron : and the wyide roo.
124
A R R I A N
Chap. XXIII. large, runs a long while, and is by no means safe to contend
with ; - indeed there is no little danger of a greyhound being
destroyed by a stag. ^
But where the plains are adapted for riding, as in Mysia,
Dacia, Scythia, and Illyricum,* they are in the habit of
The coursing of deer was a recreation of high repute, and was divided into two
sorts ; the paddock, and the forest or purlieu. See Daniel's Rural Sports. But a
better authority, Turberville, in " a short observation set downs by the Translatour,
concerning courting with greyhoundes," attached to " Tlie Booke of Hunting," has
given us liis remarks on coursing deer, and the method of doing it in the olden time
with " teasers,^' (" to start the deare from the whole heard, or make a low deare
strain,") " side laies," (" to way-lay him by the midway,") and " back-sets, or
receits," (to meet him " full in the face — to the end they may the more amase
him.") See Turberville's Appendix to his translation of Fouilloux, and " The Go-
vernour," B. i. c. 17.
2. Meya re yap rh 6'i]piof, &c. " He is of all beasts," says Gervase Markham,
" the goodliest, stateliest, and most manly :" and Buffon, after describing the stag
Hist. Naturelle. with his wonted eloquence, concludes, " sa grandeur, sa legerete, sa force le dis-
tinguent assez des autres habitans des bois : et comme il est le plus noble d'eutre
eux, il ne sert aussi qu'aux plaisirs des plus nobles des hommes ; il a, dans tous les
temps, occupe le loisir des heros."
" A red deare will beare sometimes foure or five brase of greyhounds before they
can pull him downe : such wonderfuU force he is of, and can so easily shake off a
greyhound when he pincheth him."
3. 'O Kivdovos oh CfxiKphs, &c. " He that hath a good hare greyhound, shal do
very evill to course a deare with him, for it wil both bruse him and make him lyther :
and the course at the hare is much the nobler pastime."
Oppian denies that deer butt with their horns, and thereby endanger the dogs :
Booke of
Hunting.
p. 247.
p. 247.
Cyncgcticus
II. 184.
ovnoTe yap Ke^a\fj<pi.v ivavria driplaaivro,
oi) 6T]pal KpaTepols, ovk apyaKfoicri Kvvicrffi
Be Venat.
C. IX.
but Xenophon, a practical authority, affirms it — tois Kfpaai iraUi Kol rois irocrlv. The
thrust from the tynes, or branches, of the stag's horns, were accounted far more
dangerous to a human being than those of the boar's tusk :
If thou be hurt with horn of stag, it brings thee to thy bier :
But barber's liand shall boar's hurt heal ; thereof have thou no fear.
Hippolyt.
Act. 1. 71.
4. "Evda Tc TreSia fin}\aTa. The Homeric scholar will remember the Nomade tribes
ON CO IJ USING. 125
coursino; deer with Scythian and lUyrian horses ; which, Chap, xxiil.
though slow at first in pursuit, and utterly despicable, as far as
appearance goes, by the side of those of Thessaly, Sicily, or
Peloponnesus, hold out to the last under the most severe work.^
On such occasions you will see the huge, swift, proud-looking
horse flagging, and this lean and scrubby little animal at first
passing him, then leaving him behind, and at last even driving
the stag away from him. He holds on indeed until the stag
gives out and stops, gasping with distress ; ^ when you may, if
of this champaign region, on whom Jupiter cast his eyes in looking from Mount Ida
towards Thrace. The Mysiana were of the number :
aiirhs 8f TraAtj' Tpeirev ocrcre (paeivwy Iliad, v. 3.
pScrcpiv i<p' iiriroTrSKuv QpriKuiv Kadopufievos alav,
Mv(TU)v t' ajx^l^dxcDV, Kul ayavuv 'li:ir7]ixo\'ywv, &c.
Seneca speaks of the " Vacuisque vagus Sarmata canipis," — Claudian, of the " gens De iv. Consul,
exercita carapo," — and an earlier poet, the exiled Ovid, in one of his mournful Honorii.
elegies, comraemorates the Scythian's skill in horsemanship :
Protinus aquato siccis aquilonibus Istro, Tristium
Invehitur celeri barbarus hoslis equo : '^'* '* *"
Hostis equo pollens longeque volante sagitt^
Vicinam late depopulatur huraum.
Strabo notices the hunting propensities of the inhabitants of the Scythian and Sar-
matian plains (L. xvii.); and the eloquent historian of the Decline and Fall en- Hist, of Rome.
larges on the vigour and patience both of the men and horses in the continual exer- vol. iv. c. xxvi.
cise of the chase. From the way in which these pastoral tribes of the Scythian
plains are introduced by Arrian in connexion with the Celtic coursing, we may con-
clude that they v»ere Celto-Scythians.
5. The highest praise is bestowed by Oppian on Sicilian horses, iiKvraroi. 'SiKeXoi : Cyneg. i.
hut fleeter than these are the Armenians and Parthians ; and fleetest of all, the ^^^*
Iberians.
C. 'O Se is ToaovTov 6.pa aurexft-
non ilium miquam genibusve labantem P. Angelii
Videris, aut animam fessum vix ore trahentem. rJarg^i Cyneg.
Verum importuno potuit superesse labori
Acrior, atque novas currendo acquirere vires,
L.
126
A R R I A N
Chap. XXIII. you choose, spear him at close quarters as if enfettered, 7 or
throw a noose over his neck/ and lead him away alive.
Chap. XXIV. In Africa there is a mode of coursing on Libyan horses,*
Cou/sinTof called iVomades, on which the sportsmen, mounted, catch not
Wild Asses, only red and roe deer," (for these are taken with little effort,
and the horses are not esteemed good in consequence,^) but also
Virgil. Georg.
L. III. V. 374.
Velocem quandoque fuga praevertere cervum,
Et premere immanes animis optavimus apros.
7. "E^fffTiv ijSri, €1 ixiv ^oiXoio, aKovriaai e77i50€»' ois ireTreSrifUfvriv,
Cominus obtruncat ferro, graviterque rudentes
Casduat, et magno laeti clamore reportant.
Xenophon gives a full description of the mode of ensnaring deer in a variety of
trap called irodocrTpd^r], and adds : aXiffKovrai 8e Koi &vev 7roSocrTpd$7]s SiwKSfiivai,
Htuv ^ 7) wpa Septv^, airayopevovcri yap atpdSpa, SxTTe effrwcai aKovri^ovTat,
Oppian. Cyneg.
IV. 54.
^vvhu aKovrl^eiu 5e koI avrla To^d^ecrdczL
6ripa.s apeioTepo'js.
De Nat. Anim.
L. II. c. II.
8. Bpdxov — a noose-rope. Such ropes were generally used by rude nations in
batlle as well as the chase. For a clever representation of this mode of catching
deer, see the Venationes Ferarum of Stradanus and Galle, and the accompanying
quatrain of Kilian Dufflseus.
1. /Elian mentions these horses in his second book of Animal History: Hkkttoi
fjLiv fijiv 'iiTiyaiv Kajxa/Tov 5e 57j Ti aiaOourai ovBtv KfVTol Se, Kai ovk ivcrapKOi, iirm]-
Seioi ye fiyjv Koi (pepeiu 6\iyo>piav 5e<xir6Tou eiaiv : — and Oppian in his first Cynegetic :
Cyncg. I.
V. 289.
Cyneg. ii.
V. 293.
Cyneg. ii.
V. 315.
Mavpuv S' ai6\a ^v\a iroXv irpocpepovatv avavruv
a/xcpl dpSfiovs ravaovs re, Kal ajxcpl nSvovs a\iyfivovs'
Kol Aifivis ixeja rovs SoAix^c 5p6fj.oy iKTf\eov(nv.
2. 'E\d<povs ^ SopKdSas. I take 4\d(pos to be the red deer, the cervus elaphus of
naturalists ; and 56pKas the roe deer, cervus capreolus, the chevreuil of France. To
these the poet of Anazarbus adds the fallow deer, under the name of eiipvKepu-
T€S.
3. From hence it would appear that it was no great exploit to take a red or roe
deer, iu Arrian's opinion ; but the latter was deemed very fleet by the last-cited poet,
ON CO\ KS1N(;.
12'
Arabian
Coursing de-
scribed by
Xenoplion.
wild asses,* which excel in speed, and power of holding out for Chat. XXIV
the greatest length of course.
For when the Greeks marched with Cyrus, the son of
Darius, against the great king,^ (in which expedition Xenophon
was engaged, who relates the circumstance,^) while they were
passing over the plains of Arabia,^ there appeared herds of
wild asses, but not one could be caught by any single horse-
man, and therefore the Greeks pursued them with relays of
horsemen at stated distances ; and after the asses had held
out for a long while against several, they sunk at last from
fatigue. Thus even Cyrus himself, the son of the great king,
and the brother of the great king, had not horses good enough
uKVTd.TdH' SopKoiv api'SijAa yeveOKa : and bis opinion is supported by the bigli autho-
rity of the Wayster of Game, who affirms that " he rennyth wondir fast, and some
tyme, at the partyng from his leyre, lie shal out goo a brace of good greye houndes."
4. The wild ass, or Koulan, is an animal of the greatest speed and beauty. He is
elegantly and correctly described by Oppian :
iStagstcr of
a^am. c. V.
fol. 32.
fSff^opov, Tive/xSevra,
Kpaitrvhv, o€\\oiro5r;i', Kpareptivvxov, alirvu ovaypov,
offTe TTeAei (fiatSphs, Se/xas &pKios, evpiis ISeaOat,
apyv(peos xpo'^>'i SoAiX'"^'»'''os, o|utotos 6e7y.
Cyneget. in.
183.
See also the Book of Job, c. xxxix. vs. 5. et seqq. Plin. Hist. Nat. L. viii. c. 44.
Varro de R. R. L. ii. c. 6. and the Veterinarian Apsyrtus, Geopon. L. xvi. c. 21.
IMartial records his beauty, " Pulcher adest onager." Spelman is mistaken in iden-
tifying the onager and zebra, and referring to the stuffed specimen of our college for
his example of the former under the type of the latter.
5. MeT'OJ' ^affiXea. This is the title given by all Greek authors to the king of
Persia ; and it is preserved to the successors of Mahomet in that of the Grand
Seignor. Cyrus was the youngest son of Darius by Parysatis, and brother to
Artaxerxes. His father, therefore, and brother, were both called, kut e|oxV> " the
great king."
6. Xenophon. Anabas. L. i. 5. 2.
7. The inhabitants of this part of Arabia are denominated SKijv/Tat "Apa^es by
Strabo ; a vagabond people, living by depredation. " Nomades, infestioresque
Chaldaeonim, Scenit»," says Pliny, " a tabcrnaculis cognominati ;" afterv/ards
Saracens.
Epigr. L. XIII.
100.
128
ARRIAN
Chap. XXIV. for tliis cliase ; and yet the Libyan boys, some at eight years
of age, and others not much older, mounted on their naked
steeds,^ and guiding them with a switch, as the Greeks employ
8. 'Ettj yvfivcUp Tuiv 'Ixiroiv.
Lucret. L. iv.
Gens quiE nudo lesidens Massylia dorso
Ora levi flectit frffinorum nescia virga.
Livii L. V.
Decad. iv.
The allusions to the tractable and fleet Numidian horse, and his expert rider, are
too numerous in the authors of antiquity for citation of more than a few. The barbs,
in the language of our great dramatist,
will follow where the game
Makes way, and run like swallows o'er the plain.
In the army of Hannibal, the " equi hominesque paululi, discinctus et inermis
eques, equi sine frjenis," are eulogized by the Roman historian : and Strabo notices
the docility of the African little steeds to be such S>s t airh pafiSiov oiaici^eadai.
Virgil speaks of the " Numidje infrsni," (^neid. L. iv. 41.) : Silius Italicus
of the
velocior Euris
Et doctus virgK sonipes : — L. iii.
and again, in the first hook of his Punic War :
Hie passim exultant Numida; gens inscia fra;ni,
Quels inter geminas per ludum nobilis aures
Quadrupedein flectit non cedens virga lupatis.
Oppian. Cyneg.
IV. 45.
But the poets of the chase, Oppian and Nemesian, have left us in detail their shape
and qualifications :
oirirSTf S' o5t€
Kttl novvoti 'l-mroiai kwoou Srep lOvs eAawetv
lirnoiatv Kiivoicnv 'Saoi irepl MavplSa ya7av
<}>€pfiovT', f) \ifiviffcnv, ocFoi n^ Kapre'C xfipwi'
&yXovrai ipeAioiai fiia^o/jievoio xaAivoD,
irelQovTai 8e Kvyoiffiv, oiri) fiporhs riyefioveid.
TovviKiV (TrireXaTOt Kilvwv iirt^riTopes 'inirocv
riSi Kvvas AeiVouffi (pi\ovs, iritrvvoi t' i\6ci>aiV
'Imrois, r)fKlov re jSoA?;, Kol y6(T(piv aptaywv.
ON ("OUHSING.
129
the rein, press these wild asses so closely in })ursuit, that at Chap. XXIV.
last they throw a noose around their necks and lead them away
quite subdued. s^
Such arc the methods of coursing adopted by those who have Comparison of
fleet hounds and horses : they neither ensnare the animals with Coursmg.
toils, nets, or springes j^*' nor employ, in short, any other tricks
or wily inventions, but contend with them in a straight-forward
trial of speed. " And to me, the two spectacles appear nowise
Quemque coloratus Mazax deserta per arva
Pavit, et assiduos docuit^tolerare labores.
Nee pigcat quod turpe caput, deformis et alvus
Est oUis, quodque infrenes, quod liber uterque,
Quodque jubis pronos cervix diverberet armos.
Nam flecti facilis, lascivaque colla secutus
Paret ia obsequium lent* moderamiue virgs.
Verbera sunt^praecepta fuga3, sunt verbera freni.
Quin et proraissi spatiosa per ajquora campi
Cursibus acquirunt commoto sanguine vires,
Paulatimque avidos comites post terga relinquunt.
9. The same fact is related by iElian, in his Natural History of Animals, L. xiv.
c. 10. ; and Beckman (Hist, of Inventions, Vol. iv. p. 292.) observes, on the autho-
rity of Vancouver, tbat the ISpSxos, or noose-rope, is still employed by the Hunga-
rians, for the subjugation of wild horses.
10. See these instruments of predatory hunting described in the early part of the
Appendix, and accurately represented in the spirited engravings of the " Venationes
Ferarum " of Stradanus and Galle. The metrical skill of A. C. Kilian Duffljeus, the
poet of the annexed quatrains, is not commensurate with that of the engraver.
11. 'Ek tov eiiOeos 5iayui'i^6iJ.evoi, Many are the instances recorded in which the
agency of the hound of chase was despised by " the light-footed sons of Chiron's
school." The heroes and heroines of old were all-sufBcient for the capture of the
fleetest animals of the forest and plain. This was indeed coursing in good earnest,
and is well illustrated by the simile of tiie text. In this way Diana furnished her
chariot with deer, her ■npuTdypiov, the swiftest beasts of draught —
iricrvpas 8' e'\ej SiKa deovffa,
v6a<pi KvvoBpoixiijs, 'lua roi Qobv apjxa (pepwai.
In this way, the son of Peleus arrested the attention of her sylvan ladyship and the
goddess Pallas,
R
Nemesian.
Cyneg. vs. 201.
Callimach.
H. in Dian.
vs. 105.
130
ARRIAN
Chap. XXIV. akin : the former being like thievish depredation ; the latter,
like a battle fought out with main strength : the one class of
sportsmen resembling pirates in their clandestine attack, while
the other are as openly victorious as were the Athenians over
the Medes in the naval engagement at Artemisium, ^- or at
Salamis and Psyttalia, or again at Cyprus.
Chap. XXV.
Age and iDode
of entering
bitch-puppies.
As to the age at which greyhounds should begin coursing, *
you may take a bitch out after the eleventh month ; - or, if she
Lee's Pindar.
Nem. Od. iii.
Justin. H.
L. XXXVII.
C. II.
Descriptioa of
Britaine.
Books Thirde.
c. 7.
Pindar. Fragm.
XL. p. 75.
edit. Heyne.
when, if we credit tales believed of old,
His speed subdued tlie bounding stag, liis spoil —
By bounds unaided and the treach'rous toil.
Mithridates, in later days, was wont, during liis rustication, " feras cursu aut fugare,
aut persequi, cum quibusdam etiani viribus congredi." And in our own annals,
" King Henrye the fife," says Holinshed, " tliought it a mere scoffery to pursue
any fallow deare wyth bounds or greyhounds, but supposed byra selfe alwayes to
have done a sufficient acte, when he had tired them by his own travaile on foote, and
so kylled them wyth hys handes, in the upshot of that exercise and ende of liys
recreation."
12. Tie pi 'ApTeixicriov.
'66i TraiSes 'A07]vai-
(t)v ipdXovTO (paevvaif
KpTjTTiS' i\ev6fplas.
Plato (\6yos ewiTd<f>ios) gives the first and principal honours (apiffrua) to the victors
of IMarathon — ra, Se Sevrtpua, to7s irepl 'ZaKafjuva koI iw' 'Apre/ncriV vavfj.ax'ho'ci<n Kal
viKTiaaffi. Artemisium was a northern promontory of the island of Euboea ; Psyttalia,
a small, rocky, and barren isle, otF the coast of Attica, and near to Salamis ; Cyprus,
an island of the Mediterranean Sea. The naval victories of Themistocles and Ciraon
are too well known to need any detail.
1. Having taken a summary view of the different modes of coursing amongst the
Celts, and elsewhere, be now enters in detail into the treatment, initiation, &c. of
young hounds.
2. The elder Xenophon mentions an earlier date for entering puppies — bitches at
eight months, dogs at ten months old : but he does not allude to greyhounds. Pollux
would introduce bitches at six months, and dogs at eight; Onomast. L. v. c. ix.
The courser will follow the example of his Bithynian predecessor, whose instructions,
indeed, are in exact accordance with modern practice.
ON COURSIN(;.
131
be well set, and not loose-limbed, you may let go a hare from Cuap. xxv.
your hand before her, in an open field, a month earlier than
this, starting the pup close to the hare, that she may enjoy
the sight of her game, and, by seeing it quite close, may work
with eaoerness.^ But presently slip another good dog to the
hare, that the puppy may not suffer by too long a course, nor
flag from over-fatigue ; and the second dog turning the hare
with ease again and again, will drive her into the puppy's
mouth, when the latter should be allowed to tear her with her
teeth till she has killed her.'*
Nemesian.
Cyneget.
vs. 18G.
3. lie recommends a later period for entering dog-puppies ; see the next Chapter.
Nemesian makes no distinction between the dog and bitch on this point :
Jam cum bis denos Phoebe reparaverit ortus,
Incipe non longo catulos producere cursu ;
Sed parvfe vailis spatio, septove novali.
His leporem praemitte manu, non viribus a-quis,
Nee cursus virtute parem ; sed tarda trahentem
Membra ; queant jam nunc faciles ut eumere praedas.
Nee seniel indulge catulis moderamine cursus ;
Sed donee validos etiam praivertere suescant,
Exerceto diu, venandi munere cogens
Discere, et emerites laudera virtutis aniare.
Necnon consuetaj norint bortamina vocis.
Sen cursus revocent, jiibeaiit seu tendere cursus,
Quinetiam docti victam contingere pra^dam,
Exanimare velint tantum, non carpere sutnptam.
Less diiTiise than the Carthaginian poet, the Veronese physician enters his " catu-
ius venaticus" in the following lines of his Alcou, without specifying his age :
mi igitur plenis ubi nondum viribus setas
Accessit, parvum cursu conscendere collem
Et ruoUi assuescant sese demittere clivo.
nine tenerum leporem, vel crura infirnia trahentem
Sectari capream, et facilem pra?currere can)pum
Incipiat, verbisque viri parere morantis.
4. ' AKiffKofxii/ou 5e tov \ayw, says the elder Xenophon, Si56vat avTois avappriyvvvai. Dc Venat.
Every sportsman is fully aware of the importance of blooding young hounds : kvwv c. vu.
Fracastorii
A Icon.
132 ARRIAN
Chap. XXV. As soon as the season arrives for taking out your puppies,
let them be first walked over such roads as are rough ; ^
^lian. de aypevriKhs airas avrhi fxev Xa^wv Oripiov T^Serat, koI /cexP^JTOi t^ &ypf «s HdKcf, fav
a urd ninia . ^^^^^^^ (rvyxoopriari 6 Secnror-rjs : and a greater than Xenophon or vElian has declared
A ■ . . |. that the curee, or quarry, is to tlie Spartan hound the object of his chase, ovSe rais
Ethic. Nicom. oanuis toov XaywSiv ai Kvves x'"/"""''"'> o-Wa rp fipcucrei — Sti fiopav 'd^ovffiv. But
Plutarch tells us that they will not touch the game, nor lap the blood of it, unless
L. III. c. X.
Plutarchi they kill it themselves ; while, in the other case, i^Sovrat StacnruvTes, Kal -rh aTjxa
Utraque ani- ^^^^^^^^ i^poQiixws, &c.
raalia, &C.
Gratu Ergo ubi plena suo rediit victoria fine
Cvneg. vs. 246. t . j • .
° In partem prajdee veniat conies, et sua norit
Prajmia. Sic operi juvet inservisse benigno.
Hoc ingens nierituni est : hffic ultima pahna trophffi.
Onomast. L. v. Julius Pollux advises that puppies be well blooded, Iva irpoffedi^aivTai ry Kvvrjye-
C. VI.
TiKr} Tpo<pfj,
Albi Dianae Atque in parva secant spoliatum segmina corpus,
L,eporiciaffi Adduatque infectum leporino sanguine panem.
MS. Twety and " Ye shal gif yo^ houndys the bowellis boyled w*". breed, and it is callyd reward
• for cause that it is etyn on the erthe aud not on the skyn."
/Hayster of " Goodnesse of greyhoundes cometh of ryght corage and of the good nature of her
f I fi9 * ^^'^^'^ ^'"^ modir, and also men may wel helpe to make hem good in the encharmyng
of hem with other good greihoundes and feede hem wel in the beest that he taketh."
Countrey Con- " In coursing," says Markham, " you shall observe two things, bloud and labour ;
tent. ±>. I. p. 51. bloud, which is a hartening and animating of your dogge to delight in the pleasure,
when he findes the reward of his paines taking ; for if a dog course continually, and
never kill, the sport will growe yrksome to him, and therefore, now and then, give
him such advantage that he may kill the hare — then labour, which is contrary to
killing ; for in it you must give the hare all indifferent advantage, both by lawe and
otherwise, whereby she may stand long before the dogge and make him shewe his
uttermost strength before he be able to reach her."
De Venat. 4. So Xenophon : ean Se koI, &vev tov evpiffKeii' rhv Xayic, ayadhv, &yeiP Tas Kvvas
^' '^* ils TO rpoxea* Koi yap fviroSes yiyvovrai, Kal ra (Tuifiara Siawoyovaai iv T6voiS roiovTOis
oxpeXovvrai,
Natalis Comes ^^'^ nulla hinc merces sequitur te digna laborum
de Venatione. In loca dura canes si duxeris, aspera montis
Per juga sylvestri populo vix pervia sicpe.
ON COUUSING. 133
for this exercise is conducive to forming and strengthening their Chav. xxv.
feet. Then station the man who leads them upon a conspi-
cuous and elevated spot, and be sure that he does not slip a
puppy when the hare has got much a-head, and is out of
sight ; (notwithstanding the elder Xenophon advises it in regard
to dogs that are to be practised at running on scent ; ^) for if
you slip a greyhound puppy out of sight of her game, she
runs wide, and jumps about, and is beside herself and be-
wildered. And after she is full-grown, if a hare happen to
escape her, she is never at rest, neither returning to her
keeper, nor obeying his call, but, from eagerness for a course,
continuing to run about wildly, like a mad dog, after nothing. ^
Let the man, then, that holds the puppy stand on such a spot
as 1 have stated, "^ concealed from view at the point where it is
most probable the tired hare ^ will come in the course of her
Scilicet hinc ungues solida?, corpusque labori
Aplius est parvo, tnaguum quod pertulit ante !
" Wlian thei be at sojoume, men sbuld lede hem out every day a myle or ij upon ^ap^ttr 0(
gravel, or upon right an hard pathe, bi a revere syde, bicause that her feet may be (JRainc.
, „ c. xm. fol. 59.
harder.
5. Ilepl rwv els Ixviiav a<TKovfi4vuv kvvuv — Spartan hounds, Castorians and Foxites —
with regard to wliich, Xenophon recommends that the hare should be out of sight j)e Venat.
before they be allowed to follow her ; lest, from being too near their game, such as c. vii.
are high-couraged and swift of foot might be injured by too much exertion in pursuit.
It is unnecessary to observe that the elder Athenian's remarks are inappHcai)le to the
courser's iiound, who runs entirely by the eye ; and the nearer he is slipped to the
hare, if he be only just entered, the better. A hare will always beat a puppy ia his
noviciate, unaided by an old and experienced hound.
6. Vlaivofievy eoiKev.
A.vaaa\eois 5' ijireir' KkeXoi Kva\v atcrcTouTes. AnoUon. Rhod.
L. IV. vs. 139 J.
7. He now gives in detail his instructions for entering greyhound puppies to their
appointed game, in opposition to those of Xenophon's seventh chapter ; nor can the
most experienced courser add to them any thing worth knowing, nor the most igno-
ratit complain of their insufficiency.
8. novovfj-evos 6 hayiis viroKafxtpas ti^h. To the same point sings the poet of
Barga :
134 ARRIAN
Chap. XXV. tuins ; aiid when he sees her quite weary, let him slip the puppy
close to her, neither before, nor directly opposite to her ; for
the bitch rushing right upon her will overshoot herself, and the
hare, with a wrench, easily skimming by, will of course leave
the bitch far behind ; the latter with difficulty turning herself,
as gallies sailing briskly a-head cannot readily tack, unless
the rowing be much slackened before they are brought about.
Let the hare, therefore, just pass by, and then let him slip
obliquely after her. Some one should follow up quickly, as
soon as the hare is caught, before the dogs are gorged with her
blood. Not that the flesh of a hare is to be accounted of much
worth by a person who courses for the beauty of the sport ; ^
but it is a bad thing to teach a greyhound to eat a hare. ^^
p. Aug. Bargtei Quaeque adeo multo jamdudum tarda labore
Lyneg. L. v. Genua trahat, primceve annis incauta juventae
Continuo sese facili det caede vorandara,
Namque animum, si spes olim frustrentur inanes,
Ipse suae sibi virtutis male conscius acrem
Abjicit, et dubia;, desperat prEemia palmae.
9. OvK eTretSr) to Hpea 6,pa irfpl iroXKov iron)reou avSpl is KtiWos KVVTjyfTOvvrt. And
yet we find that the hare's flesh was in high estimation with epicures of old ; and
a coursed bare is particularly lauded by Martial among the luxuries of a country
table,
L. III. Leporemque la;sum Gallici canis dente.
Epigram. 47.
In our own country, the sportsman was as attentive to supply the hall of banquet
with its due portion of the delicate little animal, as the kennel with its appointed
halow.
Booke of Thenne the loynes of the haare loke ye not forgete ;
St. Alban's. But brynge theyra to the kechyn for the lordes mete-
says the dignified Prioress of Sopewell, in her metrical canons of hunting.
See also '• The Venery de Twety and of Mayster John Giffarde." Fouilloux, p. 69.
Turberville, p. 174. and Gervase Markham, C. C. p. 33.
10. Hotn]phi' /toflrjjuo. It certainly is wrong to allow a greyhound to gorge himself
with his game, after he has been sufficiently instructed in the art of killing ; but no
puppy should be hastily checked, when he has caught his hare, even though, in the
words of old Gervase, " he may breake her."
ON COl]USlN(;.
13;
Many a dog-, too, lias been destroyed by gorging himself
while out of breath, after a long course, and has died of
sufibcation.
Ci.AP. XXV.
Ware dead.
Dog-puppies must not be taken out coursing until they are Chap. xxvi.
two years old,^ for their limbs become set at a much later period Age of enter-
than those of bitches. Besides it is attended with no little puppies,
danger to take them out earlier, many a greyhound having
been prematurely destroyed by a severe course before he was
full-grown, and especially those of the greatest spirit and
highest breeding ; for, in consequence of their spirit, they run
to the very utmost of their power.
The other practical points, already insisted on in reference to
bitches, are equally to be attended to in regard to the other
sex. Dogs are to be kept from copulation within the age Age of sexual
stated ; for the seed being not yet matured in them, is generally "itercourse.
weak and evanid, xuQuTrsp 19 toov vuldcov. ^ The puppies them-
1. Few coursers wait till the period specified before they enter their dog-puppies :
but it occasionally happens that dogs entered at fifteen months old, if they are large
and unset in their limbs, break down under severe work, and are rendered subse-
quently useless ; while others, again, more neat and compact of shape, will run as
well at eighteen months as at any later period.
" Men shuld late renne no houndes," says Duke Edmund, " of what condicions /Mniififrr nf
that thei be of, ne nat hunte with hem in to the tyme that thei were a xii mounthis ©aniC c xiii.
olde and passed, and also thei may hunt but ix yeer at the moost."
2. *wA.OTT€JV 5e Ka\ anh oxefas.
fol. 52.
Venus imminuit vires !
non ulla magis vires iiidustria firmat,
Quam Venerera et caeci stimulos avertere amoris.
Lucret. L. v.
vs. 1016.
Virgil. Georg.
III. 209.
Columella, who admits the dog and bitch to copulate much earlier than Arrian, is
still aware of the mischievous consequences of the practice ; " si teneris conceditur," De Re Rust,
says he, " carpit et corpus et vires, animosque degenerat."
L. VII. c. XII.
Blanda Venus canibus non permittenda tenellis.
As to the exact period at which tlie ewTJs tpya of Oppian (Hal. i. 532.) should
commence, and their probable duration, without risk of breeding from animals too far
Vanierii Prred.
Rust. L. IV,
136
ARRIAN
Chap. XXVI. selves too are so utterly ruined by it that you can never after-
wards, do what you will, remedy the error. The proper and
seasonable time for sexual intercourse is from the completion
of the third year. ^
Pollux.
L. V. c. VII.
Columella
De Re Rust.
L. VII. c. XII.
Plin. Hist. Nat.
L. VIII. c. 40.
Hist. Quadrup.
L, I. De Cane.
advanced in years, there is some difference of opinion. According to Pollux, &pa
apiffrrj kvvwv irphs ■nKjjpuxriv re Kol yeveaiv, T(p fiev &^^evi rerdpTov erovs ap^afiivov,
TiKevTcuov rh oySoov i) Se G^Aeia Tpiirls, fiexpi e^aeriSos (TvvSva^eaBu.
" Mares juveniliter usque in annos decern progenerant : post id tempus ineundis
foeniinis non videntur habiles, quoniam seniorura pigra soboles existit. Foerainae con-
cipiunt usque in annos novem, nee sunt utiles post decimum," according to Colu-
mella : while Pliny admits both dog and bitch at a year old — " canum generibus
annul partus, justa ad pariendum annua ietas."
Conrad Gesner cites an ancient, nameless authority, to the following effect :
" Mares quarto anno gignere incipiant, (opera scilicet hominura admittentium tunc
primuiD robustioris generandae sobolis gratia,) foeminje tertio usque in nonum."
If a courser follow Virgil's rule as to milch kine, in limiting the age of his brood
bitcU for the purposes alluded to, he will find it perfectly applicable':
Georg. III.
60.
^tas Lucinam justosque pati hymenjeos
Desinit ante decern, post quatuor incipit annos.
After the fourth year, no greyhound can be depended on for fair running, and there-
fore may be well spared, to keep up the kennel stock, when no longer useful in the
field:
Fracastorii
Alcon.
ut generosa canum tibi copia nunquam
Desit.
Countrey Con-
tentments. B. I.
p. 47.
Virg. Georg.
III. 96.
Nemesian.
Cyneg. vs. 114.
3. 'AttJ) rpirov juef fTovs itpUaOai — " You shall obseiTe," says Markham, " to have
your dogges and bitches of equal and indifferent ages, as about three or foure years old
at the most. But in case of need, your bitch will endure a great deale longer than
your dogge, and to breed with a young dogge on an old bitch, may bring forth an
excellent whelpe." " Frigidus in Venerem senior — ."
After describing a good-sbaped bitch, Nemesian adds :
Huic parilem submitte mareni, sic omnia magnum,
Dum superant vires, dum Izeto flore juventus.
Corporis et venis primaevi sanguis abundat.
Namque graves morbi subeunt, segnisque senectiis :
Invalidamque dabunt non firmo robore prolem.
Sed diversa raagis foetura: convenil aetas.
ON COIJ RSI NC, 137
And it sliould be thus managed: — ^vatch the opportunity of Chap, x.wii.
Time of sexual
intercourse.
Tu bis vicenis plenum jam mensibus acrem
In Venerera pennitte marem : sit foemina, binos
Quae tulerit soles. H*c optima cura jugaadis.
Gratius would have a general parity of character in both male and female,
Junge pares ergo, et majorum pigiiore signa Cyneg. vs. 2G3.
FcEturani.
And Bargaeus agrees with him that the similaiity should extend to the essential
points of age, shape, and bodily powers :
conjunge una qui corpore, quique "• Angelii
c- . ....... Bargaei Cvnet;.
iMut ffitace pares, atijue iisdem vinbus, ut mor I v'
Ipsa tuis votis similis foetura sequatur.
Columella is mistaken if he intends his observations on breeding in general, (de-
livered in his chapter on swine-breeding), to apply to the canine race. " In omni De Re Rust,
genere quadrupedum," says he, " species maris diligenter eligitur, quoniam fre- ^' ^"* '-• ^'
quenter patri similior est progenies quam matri." Markham's comparative view of
the merits of the male and female in breeding for the Celtic kennel vs^ill be found more
practically correct. See Countrey Contentments, B. i. The dam should be selected Booke i.
. , , . and
with the greatest attention to shape, pedigree, and character in the field ; nor should Countrey
the same points be disregarded in the sire, but they are not so important in the latter. Farme. c. xxii.
The chances, however, of producing a good litter are greater in the ratio of excellence
{ytvi/atSTTis) in both parents, their genealogical distinction, the blood of their " pro-
avorum atavi," &c. for the reasons stated by the philosophic poet : —
Fit quoque ut interdum similes existere avorum . Lucretii
Possint, et referant proavorum saepe fi^uras, L. i v. vs. 1212.
Propterea, quia nmlta mudis priraordia multis
Mista suo celant in corpore sajpe parentes,
Quffi patribus patres tradunt a slirpe profecta, &c.
It is evident from what the elder Xenophon says on the accoutrements of the
dog, in the sixth chapter of his Cynegeticus, that the Grecian sportsmen took some
pains to preserve the purity of breed of certain varieties of the dog. Sharp spikes
were attached to the ffTeA/uoj/iai or body -clothes; iyKare^pafjievai Se iyKivrpiSis, 'Lva
Tct yivt\ (pv\dT7ai(Ti, to prevent promiscuous connexion.
The remarks of the text aie defective on the subject of breeding, leaving much to
S
138 ARRIAN
Chap. XXVII. the bitch being clear of vaginal blood ; for if she receive
the seed before, it generally is not retained, but is washed out
be supplied by experience and reference to other authorities. Arrian, however, was
too good a judge of the importance of purity of blood in the greyhound kennel to
attend to the mongrel crosses recommended by other cynegetical writers, whose object
seems to have been to induce sportsmen to correct the faults or defects of one species
by crossing it with anotlier in which the opposite excellencies abounded. The
ancients, before the time of Arrian at least, had no idea of correcting the imperfec-
tions of individuals of the same species by selecting from it other individuals in
which the same defects were not apparent, but rather " a redundancy of the desired
excellency, coveted in the imperfect animal." Such is the plan of Gratius :
Gratii Cyneg. Idcirco variis miscebo gentibus usum.
^"^' Quondam inconsultis raatcr dabit Umbrica Gallis
Sensum agilem, traxere animos de patie Gelona;
Hyrcano, et vanae tantum Calydonia linguae
Exibit vitium patre emendata Molosso.
Scilicet ex omni fiorem virtute capessunt,
Et sequilur natura favens.
De Re Rust. Varro, however, speaking of the breed of the shepherd's dog, says " magni
L. II. c. IX. interest ex seniine esse canes eodem;" by which he means that it should not be
crossed with any hunting breed. But in the "Geoponica" we are cautioned against
L. XIX. c. I. allowing those of the same litter to have sexual connexion with each other, (pvXdr-
readai fi^ irore ol eK ttjs outtjs firtrphs oures Kvves tq irphs a.Wr]\ovs jUi|€i xP'h'^"''-^''''' —
a circumstance the more remarkable, because breeding in and in {(puivavra awiroicn)
was general in other animals, though not practised in the canine tribe :
Ovid. Met. Coeuntque animalia nullo
L. x- Csetera delicto, nee habetur turpe juvencse
Ferre patrem tergo, fit equo sua filia conjux.
Oppian's tale to the contrary is not worthy of attention.
The Greek poet of the Chase goes a little farther than his Cynegetical predecessors
on the subject of breeding. His concubinage is promiscuous, and he seems inditferent
whether the varieties united be both of a mild, or both of a savage disposition, or
each different in its type and character. The male and female are to be suited to
each other, and of superior excellence—
CyneE. i. ap/xiva t' aWTjAoicriv, ioiKSra t' e|oxa ^CAa.
vs. 31)2.
Then uniting the Arcadian with the Elcan, the Cretan with the Pannonian, the
ON COURSINC;
139
by the blood, ^ xaQansp Tali ymat^l ; and you must here pay her Chap. XXVTT.
particular attention, as it is only for a short interval of time
Cavian with Ihe Thracian, tlie Tuscan with the Spartan, and the Sarmatian with the
Iberian, he concludes with a preference of pure blood :
uiSe f^ev ev Kepdtreias' arap ttoAv <p4prara iro-vruiv
(pv\a fXfveL ixov6cpv\a, rd t e|oxa TiKHi^'puvTO
&vSpes iiraKTripes.
gens una tamen felicior unS. Natalis Comes
Nascitur ex specie. de Venat.
L. I.
Beliiide Ballu in his " Animadversiones" has evidently mistaken Oppian's meaning
in the latter part of this citation. The poet alludes to an union of the qualities of
individuals of the same variety of dog ; and not, as supposed by the French critic, to
breeding in and in, or proximity of blood, in the same family — a practice as degene-
rative in the canine race, if persevered in for a length of time, as the Stagirite has
observed it to be in the human species. See Aristot. de Rlietoricu L. ii. c. 17.
Brodasus very properly explains iJ.ov6(pv\a by iSiScpvAa in his annotations. And
Conrad Gesner, with his usual accuracy, says : " Prajstantissimi quidenicanes in suo Hist. Quad,
quique genere ixovScpvXoi sunt, id est, ex unius generis pare^tibus prognati : veriim ^* '• P* '^''''
superflua venatorum cura miscere etiam diversa genera, qua; quidem innumera sunt,
adinvenit."
Ipsa tamen generi sua cuique est maxima virtus. P. Angelii
Et quamvis variis proles genitoribus orta rSargiei Lyneg.
Testeturque aninios, et magnum robur avorum ;
Inque uno interdum geminetur pectore duplex
Utililas ; tamen ilia alieno proiiiius usu
Degenerat, semperque magis producit inertem
Progeniem, et patria longe a virtute remotani.
1. Ta Se Karafjirjuia Tats Kvalv e-trTo. rip-fpats yiuirat' crvfifiaiva Si afxa Kol fTrapcns Aristotelis
Hist. Animal.
L. VI. "20.
uiSotou* if Be tS xpo^'V tovti^ uii irpuaUfrai oxeiaf, aAA' eV rais i^era Tainas kuTo.
riixepais' Tas yap iracras SoKe7 (TKv^au 7]fi4pas Thrapas koI SeKa iis inl rh iruXv.
Dat Venus accessus, et blando focdere jungit. Gratii Cyneg.
vs. JG3.
The son of Gryllus recommends (c. vii.) the same watchful delay to insure fruitful
intercourse : S7€»' 5e Karairavofievas, iVa Buttov iyKvixoves yiyvuVTat, irphs kvvus
d^aOous. The term Karavavofuvas here signifies " when their heat is begiuning to
remit a little," and not, as rendered by Blane, " in a quiet manner."
140
A R U 1 A N
Chap. xxvil. that she preserves her heat after the vaginal blood has
stopped.
Suitable age in A bitcli's aoe niav be considered eood for the purpose from
bitches for ,
breeding. the second to the seventh year. "
^";f p- It is best for the dog and bitch to be shut up by themselves,
Wo.le of sexual ^^^ ^^ ^^ ^^^ ^^ sight v^rhile together. ^ For open and public
intercourse, copulations, if we may believe sportsmen, are not prolific ; ^
Fracastorii
Alcon.
Bis quinas tamen ante dies, accensus uterque
In venerem, venere abstiueant ; sic plena libido
Acrius exstimulat, viresque ad stmina praebet.
Hinc major soboles, atque inde valentior exit.
2. 'A-yaBi] 5e rfj 6r}\eia r]\iK'ta, &c. Marvellous tales are on record of periods much
later than the seventh year, in which bitches have given birth to numerous progenies ;
but Arrian has specified a limited time within which a greyhound bitch may be con-
sidered as being at the acme of her bodily powers, and likely to yield such a litter as
will not disappoint the expectations of the Veltrarius. To Mr. Pope we are indebted,
in his endeavour to reconcile with probability the age of the Homeric Argus, —
Odyssey,
B. xvii.
vs. 394.
^lian. Hist.
The dog whom fate had granted to behold
His lord, when twenty tedious years had roll'd, —
for the almost incredible case of a gravid bitch of the age of twenty-two years. After
which, we may well exclaim in the words of the Greek naturalist, ovkow ov5i''A.pyoi
Anniial- L. vii. ^ kvoov ixvdoTrolr]fj.a -^v, Si OeTe "OyUTjpe, ahu, ovte KOfiiros 7roir]TiK6s !
1. Xenophon merely says that tlie dog and bitch should be 070601, and the Fa-
Cyneget.
vs. 266.
liscian adds that they be of tried spirit.
Et prinium expertos aniini, quae gratia prima est.
In venerem jungunt, &c.
The Chace.
B. IV.
for erery longing dame select
Some happy paramour ; to him alone
In leagues connubial join. Consider well
His lineage ; what his fathers did of old,
Chiefs of the pack, &c.
2. At 7op ef TCf) ifj.<pavei 6fj.t\iai oh y6t'i/j.oi. This ridiculous notion, though doubt-
fully advanced in the manual, is supported by many of the old Cynegetica.
ON COURSING.
141
but such as are effected by dogs in private are reported to
succeed. ■'
Bitches, after being warded, may be led out, as walking
about is conducive to their strength ; * but they must not be
Chap.
XXVIII.
Management
afterwards.
Sed frustra longus properat labor, abdita si non Gratli Cyneg.
270
Altiis in latebras, unique inclusa marito
Foemina, nee patitur veneris sub tempore moechos
Ilia, Deque emeritas servat fastigia laudis.
Primi complexus, dulcissima prima voluptas.
Huric veneri dedit impatiens natura furorem.
The credulous author of the Cynographia Curiosa adds to the absurdity of the Cynograpb.
notion by saying, *' Si turn videantur canes, venationi inutiles patient," borrowing ' P'
the same from the Cynosophium, where such an opinion is said to be the result of
long pxperience. See Cynosoph. c. n.
3. Kiit(TKSTai re kvuiv €k jxias oxeias' SrjXov Se tovto ylverai lAi-Kuna eV rols KXiitrovcri Aristot. Hist.
ras oxdo-S' aTtal "yap iiri^avTis ■n\i)pov(n, says the Stagirite : and again he remarks, AnKual. L. vi.
that the Spartan dog and bitch are more inclined to copulate after exercise, a fact well
known to sportsmen : irov^<ratnes yhp /xaAAoi' Svi/avrai ox^veiv, ^ apyovvres. (See
Scaliger's note on the passage, L. vi. c. xx.) This circumstance is also noticed by
^han and Julius Pollux. Indeed the author of the Onomasticon, in a passage that
has escaped the observation of commentators, throws considerable light on the text,
which is here rather obscure. See L. v. c. vi. 51. of the Onomasticon.
Nee prius optatam in venerem dimitte volentes,
Quam rapido quassis cursu, quam corpora multo
Sole fatigatis vehementior ingruat a;stus.
Inde decern nuctes, totidemque ex ordine luces
Abde domi, cursusque omnes prohibere memento.
P. Angelii
Bargffii Cyneg.
L. V.
4. A greyhound bitch may be taken out coursing for ten days after having been
warded, but not longer — " Da requiem gravidcB, solitosque remitte labores." Walk- Gratii Cyneg.
ing exercise, however, should be continued till the period of parturition arrive. ^** *
" I! est prouve qu'une lice couverte, qu'on Icusse au clienil, s'engraisse et s'appe- Encvc. Method,
santit en cessant de travailler, et qu'en cet ^tat elle fait ses chiens avec peine, et ^ur les Chasses.
souventmeme elle meurt dans I'operation" — " on la fait proraener de tems en terns
dehors, par un valet de chiens," &c. &c.
The period of uterine gestation is in the Celtic greyhound the same as in other
varieties of the canine tribe :
Mox cum se bin a formlrit lampade Phoebe
Ex quo passa niareni genitalia viscera turgent,
Neraesian.
Cyneg. vs. 130.
142
ARRIAN
CllAl'.
XXVJII.
slipped again to a hare, for fear of being destroyed by over-
straining or excessive fatigue. The dog likewise should not be
let loose after a hare until he is recovered from his exhaustion,
and invigorated by an interval of at least sixty days' rest.
After which there will be no obstacle to his beins; coursed. ^
Chap. XXIX.
Breeding
season.
The most favourable season for breeding is the spring of tlie
year, ^ as the temperature is mediate between hot and cold.
FcECundos aperit partus matura gravedo
Continuo, largaque vides strepere omnia prole I
Hist. Quadrup.
De Lane.
Conrad Gesner remarks : " observavi in canibus nostris nonnullas catcllas gessisse
uterum prtEcise diebiis 60, nonnullas uno insuper aut duobus. Peregrina leporaria
nostra excellens tulit uterum diebus 63."
5. Thv S/}peva fxi] ((pievai iirl \ay<Siv. This caution is unnecessary for modern
coursers, who rarely use the same hound in the field and kennel, for coursing the
hare, and supplying the pack with high-bred successors. But if the same dog be
employed for both purposes, the interval specified for the restoration of his powers is
not too long. The Cynosophium, however, suggests a shorter period of 30 days,
during which nutritious food is to be administered, and then the stallion hound may
be again taken out for sport,
1. Although the rule has its exceptions, (see Brodajus in Oppianum, p. 42.)
Aristotle's observation, that animals in general op/iS irpos rhv avvSvaafuhv in the vernal
season, will be found correct.
Virgil. Georg.
III. 272.
Oppian.
lialieut. L. i.
vs. 473.
Vere magis, quia vere calor retlit ossibus.
ilapt Se yXvKvs olcnpos avayKaiyts ^AcppoSiTTis
Kal ydfjioi Tj^wctxn, Kul aWrjAoov (pi\6Tr]Tes
•naaiv '6croi yaldv re (pepeffffiov, a'l t ava K6\nov5
T]fpos, o'l t' afo, TtSvTov ipi^pvxv^ doveovrai.
All the Cynegelica agree with Arrian as to the spring being the most fit season for
De Venatione. breeding and rearing puppies. 'H yap cl>pa irphs rets av^riaeis raiv Kvviav KparlffTi] avrrj,
^' ^"* says Xenophon ; and the same opinion is repeated by the copyists of later date, with
little addition. Indeed, the reasons alleged in the text are the best that can be
adduced for preferring the spring to any other season :
Oppian. Cyneg.
L. I. V. 375.
iiapi p-iv TTpiuTtara Ae'^os trdpavve Kvyeatrtv.
ON COUUSINC,
143
WintxM' i«; not. ])ropitious for rearing pu])pies, more especially on ^"
account of the want of milk : - and sunuiier is distressing to
the dams for suckling. Autunui is worse than spring for this
reason, that the winter arrests the whelps before they are
thoroughly formed. ^
Ai>. XXIX.
The Cynosopliium specifies January and February as tlie best breeding months.
" La droite saison," says Fouilloux, " en laquelle doivent naistre est en Mars, Avril, La Venerie.
et May, que le temps est tempore, et que les chaleurs ne sont Irop vehementes." P* ^*
lie gives the same reasons as our author for avoiding summer and autumn, and is, of
course, followed verbatim by Turberviile. Markliam would " put them together to Countrey Con-
ingender and breed, eyther in January, February, or Marcli, according as they shall ^" '"^".f* ' ''
grow proud ; for those are the three most principal! monthes in the yeare for hound,
bitches, or bratches, to be limed in : not but tliat they may conceive and bring forth
as good whelps in other monthes ; but because there will be much losse of time in
the entering of them," He farther enjoins that " the moone be eyther in the signe
Aquarius or Gemini; for it is held amongst the best huntsmen of this land, tliat the
whelpes that are ingendred under those two signes, wil never runne mad, and for the
most part the littsr will have at least double so many dogge whelpes as bitch
whelpes."
2. 'AAAois re Kal airopia yaXuKTOs. The want of this essential article of nutriment
renders the winter objectionable for the rearing of whelps ; but its abundance in the
spring gives to this season an additional claim :
passim nam lactis abundans
Tempus adest, albent plenis et oviiia mulctris.
Nemesian.
Cyneg. vs. 158.
3. "On x^^l^" eTti\afJi.pdi'ei to, anvXaKia. The greyhound puppy is remarkably
tender and susceptible of cold ; indeed Fronto says that the whelp of the pastoral
dog requires to be fostered in warmth, Sucrxe^M^poi/ 7ap eVrt tovto rh ^Siov : and if an
animal, necessarily of a hardy constitution, be, when young, impatient of severe cold,
we shall readily acknowledge the importance of such a seasonable birth for the deli-
cate Celtic whelp, as will give him during his period of growth two summers to one
winter. " II faut, autant qu'il est possible, faire couvrir les lices a la fin de I'hiver Encyc. Method,
ou au commencement du prin terns, par la raison que les jeunes chiens, a qui les froids Les Chasses.
sont toujours nuisibles, ont pour eux deux etes centre un hiver, et qu'en consequence
ils s'elevent plus aisement."
It is an essential part of kennel management to support brood bitches with the
most nutritious aliment. Varro (in Geoponicis) recommends barley bread, in prefe-
rence to whcaten, as more nutritious, with mutton broth from bones, &c. poured over
the bread, to be given before whelping ; and afterwards, barley meal with cow's or
goat's milk, boiled bones, and water to drink. The same instructions are delivered,
Geoponic.
L. XIX. c. II
p. 139.
Geoponic.
L. XIX. c. I
144
A R R I A N
Chap. XXX. If you wisli a brood-bitch to recover her previous speed, ^
Management you must not let her suckle her whelps, - except merely to
after whelping. "^ f ' r J
almost ouTo\e|eJ, by Varro, de Re Rustic^, L. ii. c. ix. In the latter reference, the
author expressly says the bitches are more nourished by barley than wheaten bread,
" magis 60 aluntur, et lactis praebent niajorem facultatem." But the experiments of
the late Sir H. Davy on the quantum of nutritious matter contained in the different
varieties of bread corn, and tlie lest to which they have been put, in kennel feeding,
by practical sportsmen, induce us to believe that the " Scriptores de Re Ruslica" are
mistaken on this point. The farina of wheat is the best food for brood bitches,
boiled with milk, or scalded with meat-broti). Of the importance of keeping brood
bitches on highly nutritious food, the old huntsman. Pan, " Deus ArcadijE," was
fully aware ; for Diana found him carving a lynx for their repast :
Callimach. II.
in Dian.
?/c60 S' ail A if
'ApKaSi/CTjc fir\ UavSs' d Se Kpea \vyKhs eTUfive
MoicaAiTjs, 'Iva ul roKaSes Kwes fiSap fSonv.
Aristotelis
Hist. Animal.
L. VI. 286.
Aldrovaiidi
de Quad. Digit.
Vivip. L. III.
De Re Rust.
L. VII. c. 12.
1. The number of whelps in a litter varies much. The translator's experience
affords instances of twelve at a birth, and of a solitary P'ippy, from the same Celtic
dam. Aristotle states the former nuniher to be the greatest in a canine litter; but
Julius Caesar Scaliger (a celebrated dog-fancier) certifies, in his annotations on the
Stagirite's Animal History, a litter of fourteen whelps, as within his own knowledge :
and this is again surpassed by the case of the canis leporaria recorded by Aldrovan-
dus, " Canis leporaria hie Bononiae, unica foetura, catulos septenos supra decern enixa
est."
2. Mr; tav iKTpf(f>eiv avTi]v. Whether the bitch be again required for the field or
not, no humane courser will allow her to suckle more than four or five whelps. If
she be young. Columella advises that the first litter should be tak'en from her : " pri-
mus effcetai partus amovendus est, quoniam tiruncula nee recte nutrit ; et educatio
totius habitus aufert indreinentum." Nemesian also destroys the first litter, and the
smallest pups of subsequent litters :
Cyneget.
Ts. 134.
De Re Rust.
L, II. c. 9.
Sed quamvis avidus, primos contemnere partus
Malueris, mox non omnes nutrire minores.
Nam tibi si placitum populosos poscere foetus.
Jam macie tenues, succique videbis inanes,
Pugnantesque diu, quisnam prior ubera larabat,
Distrahere invalidam lassato viscere niatrem.
" In nutricatu secundum partum," says Varro, " si plures sunt, statim eligere
oportet (|uos habere velis, reliquos abjicere : quam paucissimos reliqueris, tani optimi
ON COURSING.
145
lighten any excess of milk, — and then put them to other Chap. XXX.
bitches, selecting such as are well-bred : for the milk of
in alendo fiunt propter copiani lactis." Fronto also agrees with him, and out of a
litter of seven recommends only three or four to be left with the mother ; out of three,
only two.
Many are the diagnostics, recorded ia the ancient Cynegetica, to assist the classic
sportsman in selecting the most promising puppies :
turn deinde nionebo,
Ne matrem indocilis natorum turba fatiget,
Percensere notis, jamque inde excemere parvos.
Signa dabunt ipsae, teneris vix artubus hasret
lUe tuos olim non defecturus honores :
Jamque ilium impatiens fequae vehementia sortis
Extulit, aftectat materna regna sub alvo,
Ubera tola tenet, a tergo liber aperto,
Dum tepida indulge! terris dementia mundi.
Verura ubi Caurino perstrinxit frigore vesper
Ira jacet, turb&que potens operitur inerti.
Illius e meinibus vires sit cura futuras
Perpensare : levis deducet pondere fratres :
Nee me pignoribus, nee te mea carraina fallent.
Nemesian demands our assent to a novel and somewhat cruel mode of ascertaining
the best puppies of a numerous litter, and states that it is founded on actual experi-
ment :
quae prodidit usus
Percipe, et intrepidus spectatis annue dictis.
Pondere nam catuli poteris perpendere vires,
Corporibusque leves gravibus preenoscere ciirsus.
Qiiin et ilammato ducatur linea longe
Circuitu, signetque habilem vapor igneus orbem.
Impune in medio possis consistere circo.
Hue omnes catuli, hue indiscreta feratur
Turba, dabit mater partus examine honestos,
Judicio natos servans, trepidoque pertclo.
Nam postquam conclusa videt sua germina flammis,
Continue saltu transcendens fervida zonae
Vincla, rapit rictu primum, portatque cubili ;
Mox aliuni, mux deinde aliuni. Sic conscia mater
Segregat egregiam sobolem virtutis amore.
T
Gooponic.
L. XIX. c. 2.
GratiiCyneget.
vs. 287.
Nemesian.
Cyneget.
vs. 144.
146
ARRIAN
Chap. XXX. degenerate CUTS is not congenial to high-bred pu])pies. '^ If,
however, the dam herself appear no longer serviceable for
Cynosopli.
C. III.
Hist. Quad.
L. I. p. 178.
De Caue.
Hist. Nat.
L. VIII. c. 40.
P. Angelii
Bargaei Cyneg.
L. V.
Ejusdeni
L. V.
The same diagnostics occur in the Cynosopliium of Demetrius, and the Alcon of
Fracastorius. The former says, the dam (pvaiKa tivX ■ir6Q(f SiaKp'urei ra fieXTiova,
Kol i^dyei, and recommends the refuse to be disposed of by sale or gift, after having
been placed under foster-parents. The heavier whelps should be placed, according
to this writer, under their own dam. But, of course, our diagnostic canons must
vary with each variety of dog. Gesner reconciles the conflicting opinions of the
Greek and Latin Cynegetica, on tlie selection of puppies, in these words : " ego ita
conciliarim, ut ad robur prseferendi sunt graviores ; ad celeritatem, leviores."
" Optimus in fnetu," says Pliny, " qui novissime cernere incipit, aut quern fert
priraum in cubiie fcEta :" and lie is supported by the Virgilian poet of Barga —
Namque ea quern secum tulit in straraenta, toroque
Coniposuit priinutn, prinioque affecit honore,
Hie alios omnes cursuque animisque stiperhis
Vincet ovaiis, siinul ac loris exire solutis
Quiverit, et saJtu transgressus inania campi
Intervaila cito diffugerit ocyus Euro.
He condemns the large and heavy pup as likely to be hereafter deficient in speed :
Continuo cujus subsidunt pcmdere membra
Atque artus major moles gravat, ille volucri
Insuetus cursu longe post ultima fratruin
Terga relinquetur, frustraque optabit adempta
Praeniiaque, et niulto perfusam sanguine prsedam.
Markham's
Countrey Con-
tentments. B.I.
p. 48.
" Touching greyhounds," says the practical author of Countrey Contentments,
" when they are puppies or young whelpes, those which are most raw-boned, leane,
loose-made, sickle or crooked bought, and generally unknit in every member, are
ever likely to make the best dogges, and most shapely : but such as in the first three
or foure monthes, are round, and close trust, fat, straight, and as it were full sum'd
and knit in every member, never prove good, swift, or comely."
The courser, in selecting youngsters from a numerous Jitter, will not be indif-
ferent to
The marks of their renown'd progenitors —
Sure pledge of triumphs yet to come ;
but will preserve all such " with joy," while he casts " the dwindling refuse to the
merciless flood," fearful of overloading " the indulgent mother."
3. Th yap Twv aryivvuv •ya.Xa. ov ^6n<pv\ov raTs yevvalaii. It is diflicult to prove
that the quality of the milk of varieties of the same species of animal is absolutely
ON COURSING. 147
coursing, it is best to leave the whelps with their own mother, Chat-, xxx.
and not to put them under a foster-parent. ' For the growth is
<lifferent, and productive of effects, beyond its physical nutriment, upon the innate
powers and propensities of the young animal supported by it : and yet such an opi-
nion is too much countenanced by naturalists to make us unliesitatingly condemn it
as destitute of all foundation. It was a favourite notion of ancient physiologists, and
many moral inferences were drawn from it by Galen and others. " Non frustra Noct. Attic,
credituni est," says A. Gellius, on the authority of the philosopher Favorinus, " sic- '-'• x". c. i.
uti valeat ad fingendas corporis atijue animi siinilitudines vis et natura serainis, non
secus ad eandera rem lactis quoque ingenia et proprietalcs valere ; neque in homini-
bus id solum, sed in pecudibus quoque animadversum," &c. Wherefore Sir Thomas
Elyot enjoins, when speaking of nutrication, "a nourse shoulde be of no servile TheGovernoiir.
condition, or vyce notable : for as some auncient writers do suppose, ofteniymes the
chylde sucketli the vyce of hys nouryse with the mylke of her pappe." See
Bratiiwait's English Gentleman, p. 94.
13. I. c. n
€1 5e vv roi irivvTi] (TKvKaKorpocpiTi iJLefie\r)Tai, Oppian.Cyneg.
fiT] TTOT a.ixi\yeadai CKvAaKas veo0ri\ei fia^^ '
alywu, ^ TrpojSaTcoc, /xrjS' oiViSirjiri Kvvfcrcnv'
•^ yap Toi vudpoi re Kol ovriBavol fiapvdoiev.
Nee unquam eos quorum generosani volumus indolem conservare, patiemur alienee Columel. de
nutricis uberibus educari ; quoniam semper et lac et spiriius maternus longe magis • • ^^ *'"•
ingenii atque incrementa corporis augent.
4. KpaTKTTov iSv virh rfj Te/coutr??. — Arrian here copies his predecessor almost
verbatim ; but in addition to \herhyd\a ayaBhv koI rh irvevfia of the former, the latter De Venat.
adds Koi at irepiPoXal (piXai. The classic reader will remember the patlietic address '^' ^"•
of Andromache in the Troades,
S) veov vitayKaXio'iJ.a fnyrpl (pihraTov, Eurijiidis
S, xpooThs r,Sb vvevfia ! Troad. vs. 7CC.
It is true that a foster-mother may " cherish kind — an alien offspring," and
" pleased" we may " behold her tenderness, and hospitable love," but instances are,
I believe, most rare of gre^'hound puppies, suckled by alien dams of mongrel blood,
repaying the courser for the trouble of rearing them. Tlav yap tc» reKhv Tpo<pr]V exet Piatonis
" JVlenexenus.
iiriTr\5iiau ui hv Tiicri : and it is iti vain that we make the unnatural attempt, at yhp
Oepairelai at aWdrpiai ovk elalv av^ifioi, according to both Xenophons j whereas " les Encycloped.
ieunes chiens, nourris par leur propre mere, seroient plus forts et mieux portans que 1 letlioilKiue.
■^ ' . / , ^ Les Chasses.
ceux qui sont nourris d'uu lait etranger." " When a bitch hath whelpes," says Tur- p_ j jq_
berville, " let a niastiffe bitch (une niatine, Fouilloux)give sucke to one halfe, and Booke of
you shall find that they will never be so good as those which the damme did bring Hunting, &c.
up." »'•"•
148 ARRIAN
Chap. XXX. stinted by a stranger's nursing, (as the other Xenophon
declares,) but the mother's milk and breath are cherishing to
her puppies.
Chap. XXXI. When puppies can run about, Xenophon properly recom-
^""p^uppreT'"^ mends that they be fed with milk ; ^ for the filling them with
Oppian. Cyneg. i) ^a t6(iov reKedv re, Kal apnySvoto yevedXris
'"• '"' • (pl\Tpov iv\ KpaSlri (ndlev 6f6s'
rSaaov pa cpvcris KparepuTaTov &Wuv.
1. Xprj yd\aKTi avarpeipiLi' aiiTci. See Ch. viii. where he also speaks of milk food ;
and Xenophon. de Venat. c. vii. 4. The latter recommends milk for the first year :
Kal ois fieWei tov airavTa xp6vov PtaxreaOat, &\\o Se yurjSeV — al yap /3ape?a( TrXrjfffxoval
rwv (TKvKaKlwv hioiffrpecpovai aKiMj, awfjiaai v6(Tovs iixvoiovcrt, Kal to fvrhs &SiKa
ylyvfTai.
Gratii Cyncg. turn denique foetu
^^- ^^^' Cum desunt, operis fregitque industria matres,
Transeat in catulos omnis tutela relictos.
Lacte no van) pubem, facilique tuebere maza.
Nee luxus alios avidieque impendia vitse
Noscant.
Columella also, and the Carthaginian poet, administer milk to ttie young fry, and
Pollux with his copyist Paullini adds thereto the blood of the game to which the
Columella hounds are to be afterwards entered; " Quod si eifoeta lacte deficitur, caprinum
De He Rust, maxirae conveniet prajberi catulis, dum fiant mensium quatuor :"
L. VII. c. 2.
Nemesian. Interdumque cibo cererem cum lacte ministra,
Cyneg. vs. 161. Fortibus ut succis teneras conflere medullas
Possint, et validas jam tunc promittere vires.
Cvnopranh " ^'^^^ autem despiciendum," says the credulous physician of Eisenach, on the
Curiosa. authority of Julius Pollux, "cui generi singulos applicare velis, ut eorum auimaliuni,
p. 33. qua; venation! sunt destinata, sanguinem cum offis statim post ablactationem subiiii-
nistres," &c.
■fMflncfrr nf " ^^^^ ''^^ grete nede of bur dame," according to Duke Edmund," in to the tyme
©anfc. c. XII. that thei be ij monethis olde, and than thei shuld be fedde with gootis mylke or with
fol. 51. kowes mylk and cromes of brede ymade smale and put there inne ; and specially in
the raorowe and at nyght by cause that y*". nyght is more cold than the day and also
men shuld geve hem crommes in fflesh brothe and in this wise men may norfshe hem
tyl thei be of half yeere olde."
ON COLRSiNC.
149
heavy food distorts their legs, and occasions diseases in their Chap. XXXI.
bodies. And as to giving dogs short names of easy pronuncia-
Largus victus solet esse maximo damno.
It vory rarely happens that tlie kxiuv dpTtrJ/cos is deficient in milk for six or eight
weeli* after the birth of her progeny ;
foemina qujcqne
Cum peperit dulci repletur lacte, quod omnis
Impetus in mammas converlitur ille alimenti :
but if llie puppies do not thrive on the nutriment they derive from their dam, it is
probably deficient in quantity, and should be dispensed with altogether as soon as
they will lap cow's milk sufficient for their support.
Tum tu adeo (nam tempus erit) jam parce parenti,
Exhaustis parce uberibus. Sed mollia nondum
Subducenda tamen natis alimenta, sed haustu
Pascendi lactis, cujus mulctralia pingues
Implerunt vaccas, et redeuntes rure capellas.
Turberville says, " the longer they tast of their dammes teat, the more they shall
take of her complexion and nature." And when weaned, " it is best," he remarks,
" to bring tliera up abroad with milke, bread, and all sorts of pottages, and you shall
understand that to bring them up in villages of the country, is much better than to
bring them up in a butcherie :" " aux villages, et non aux boucheries," Fouilloux p. 9.
How close is the analogy " touching the acceleration of growth and stature," in
the human and canine subject ! In breeding for the kennel. Lord Bacon's observa-
tions may be turned to some account. " Excess of nourishn)ent," says he, " is
hurtful ; for it maketh the child corpulent, and growing in breadth rather than in
height." " The nature of it may not be too dry, and therefore children in dairy
countries do wax more tall, than where they feed more upon bread and flesh ;"
" over-dry nourishment in childhood putteth back stature." Upon which principle
Albertus Magnus orders liquid food for the dog, because his temperament is dry.
It is seldom that the practical courser will differ from the advice of old Gervase
Markham; but wh'en he says, " if the house you keep be of great receite, and many
servants, you shall let your cooke bring up your whelpes, and your dairy-maide your
second best, and the rest you shall put forth amongst your friends or tenants, accord-
ing unto the love you possesse in the country," I am inclined to invert the merits of
the respective claimants on the litter, placing la cuisiniere at the bottom of the list.
unto thy choicest friends
Blondus de
Canibus, &c.
Oppian.
Halieut. L. i.
719.
Lucretii L. v.
805.
P. Angelii
Bargaei Cyneg.
L. V.
Booke of
Hunting, p. 22.
Lord Bacon's
Nat. History.
Cent. IV.
Commit thy valued prize: the rustic dames
Countrey Con-
tentments. B. I.
p. 27.
Somerville.
Tlie Cliace.
B. IV.
150
ARRIAN
Chap. XXXI.
Xenophon's
instructions
approved.
Care of brood -
bitches, not
allowed to
suckle.
tion, " in this we should also attend to him ; for the names
which he has enumerated, (in part the invention of others, and
some of his own creation), are cleverly composed.
But if you do not as yet wish your bitches to breed up any
puppies, you must take the greatest possible care of them
while under distress in consequence.^ For when they have
Columella
de Re Rust.
L. VII. c. 12.
C^neg.
443.
De V^enat.
L. 1.
Hercules
Stroza.
Shall at thy kennel wait, and in their laps
Receive thy grovi^ing hopes, with many a kiss
Caress, and dignify tlieir little charge
With some great title, and resounding name
Of high import.
2. Sec Xenophon de Venat. c. vii. ,5. All the names left us by Xenophon, Arrian,
and Columella, are Hissyllabical. Nominibus autem non longissimis appellandi sunt,
quo celerius quisque vocaius exaudiat ; nee tamen brevioribus, quam quaj duabus
syllabis enunlientur. Oppian names bis puppies, while young and tractable,
I'T/TTtaxoi :
•> avrap VT)itiaxoi<nv eV oiivSfjLaTa OKvXaKiaai
^aia. T(0€t, 6oa irdt'Ta, Bor]v 'Iva ^d^iv aKovri.
By which Gesner supposes the names should be " oxytona." Natalis Comes agrees
with his predecessors :
ponantur nomina cuique
Certa cani, teneatque ad summura syllaba bina :
Protinus ut noscat voces, et verba vocantum.
The indefatigable German naturalist has alphabetically arranged all the classic
names of the Greek and Roman kennels that have descended to us. We find in his
canine vocabulary, those of Xenophon, Ovid, Columella, and others of ancient days ;
and some from Blondus (of wliich Gesner disapproves) of more modern use. Ilyginus
has a copious list of canine appellatives in his 181st fable, entitled " Diana." And
one of the most chaste poets of the fifteenth century supplies the kennel with
bona naribus Heuresiiclme,
Theragus, Ocypete, Thoissa, Melaena, Cylindus,
Chaetodesque liirtus setis, domitorque ferarum
Theridamas, veloxque Lagois, et ocyor ilia
Protodomus, longoque legens compendia passu
Macrobates, Leuconque rapaci et cum Harpage Tbcron.
S. El Zi firiTTW idcKois aKvKaKevaai. Schneider is of opinion that Arrian is here
cautioning the courser agdinst running a bitch, whom it has been deemed prudent to
O N C O U R S I N (; . 151
ceased to oivc suck, tlioir teats become turgid and full of Chap. XXXI.
milk, and the parts beneath tiic belly distended. At which
time, it is not safe to loose them after a hare, — for their flanks
may be burst asunder : nor should you let them play with
another dog, as, by contending and striving with him beyond
their strength, they may be placed in equal danger.
It is best to wait till their teats are become flaccid. And
you will have a proof that it is safe to take them out, when the
hair falls off" abundantly, as you stroke it with your hand.
They are then, I think, free from the distress they laboured
under on account of their milk, and are ready for coursing. *
The greyhound bitch is fleeter than the dog,^ but the dog Chap, xxxil.
Estimate of
Sexes.
put aside from taking the dog, and whose milk-vessels are distended towards the
close of the period of gestation, as if she were actually pregnant. This interpretation
is ingenious, and may be tenable ; but as I find no such caution in any ancient author,
and have never seen any mischief accrue from running a bitch at the time alluded to,
(though her speed is certainly impaired by the constitutional plethora of the period ;)
and, moreover, as it magnifies a very unimportant circumstance in the physical
condition of the bitch, and is, on the whole, rather a far-fetched interpretation, I
have followed Blancard and Zeune in the more usual acceptation of the verb ffKvXa-
Kfvfiu, i. e. catulos nutrire. No man in his senses would think of coursing a brood
bitch while in the state described in the text.
4. Kal iraplaram-ai ijSri is SpSfiov. These words commence the 32nd Chapter in
all the editions which I have examined ; and though Schneider suggests their
adaptation to the close of the present Chapter, he does not venture to change their
position. Inasmuch, however, as the division into chapters is probably arbitrary, and
the words in question are more appropriate here than at the commencement of the
ensuing Chapter, they are here introduced.
1. Kvwv driXeia ixev wKurepa &pp(vos. I have already remarked that Arrian and
Xenophon invariably use the feminine gender when speaking of the dogs of the
chase : and so also the Grecian poets, (as the Kva\v raxeiais of Euripides, and ckv-
XaKicrai 0oa7sof Oppian,) and in some cases the Latin, (as the " canes montivag«"
of Lucretius, " venatica canis" of Ennius, and " multd cane" of Horace); as if
bitches were more quick-scented, " more fleet of foot, or sure of fang." Minerva, -
in the Ajax Flagellifer, compares Ulysses searching for the mad Ajax, to a Spartan
bilch ; though the verse would have admitted the masculine instead of the feminine
152
ARRIAN
Cfiap. XXXII. has more bottom than the bitch ; 2 and, because he can run
through the whole year, is a much more valuable acquisition :
and as good bitches abound, but it is no easy thing to meet
with a thorough-good dog, the latter is on this account more
precious : and again, it is fortunate if bitches preserve their
speed to the fifth year,^ whereas dogs retain theirs even to the
Sophoclis
Ajax Flagell.
vs. 2.
Markham's
Countrey Con-
tentments. B. I.
p. 47.
The Countrey
Farme. c. xxii.
Sir W. Scott.
gender, and the former would certainly have been more appropriate to the sex of the
person represented. The gender is changed by the poet in a marked way :
KOI vvv eVJ aKrjpais ae vavriKois SpSi
Aiavros, tvOa, rd^iv iaxo.Ti\v ^X^h
viXai KwrjyeTovfTa, Koi fierpovfievov
tX'^V TO Keivov veoxO'PCX^'} ottws ifSps
eSfr' evSov, fXr ovk tvdov ei 5e a' e/c^e'pet
Kwhs AaKaivrjs Sis ris eiipivos fidais.
This opinion, therefore, of the superiority of the bitch over the dog seems to have
prevailed in the kennels of antiquity ; and such, I believe, is still entertained by
sportsmen. " It is an old received opinion," observes the author of Countrey Con-
tentments, " amongst many men of the leashe, that the greyhound bitch will ever
beate the greyhound dogge, by reason of her more nimblenesse, quicknesse, and
agillity ; and it is sometimes seene that a perfect good bitch indeed, hath much
advantage of an ordinary dogge : but if the good dogge meet with the good bitch,
there is then no comparison, but the dogge will be her master, inasmuch as he ex-
ceedeth her both in lengthe and strengthe, the two maine helpes in coursing ; for her
nimblenesse is then no helpe, sith a good dogge in the turne will loose as little ground
as any bitch whatsoever." See also The Countrey Farme, c. xxii. by Markham,
ed. 1G16. The earliest edition, of IGOO, does not contain Markham's additional
remarks on coursing, but merely Surflet's version of " Maison Rustique."
2. "Ap^-qv 5e 6r]\e[as Stairoviiadai afiiivaiv. Aristotle remarks, in the Spartan tribe
of dogs, that the bitches are longer- lived than tlie dogs, in consequence of the latter
working harder than the former, Sib. jh iroi'(7v rotis a^ptvas fiaWov. " Whereso-
ever," says Markham, " the course shall stand forth long, the good dogge will beat
out the good bitch and make her give over."
3. A« 6ii\eicu (jlIv ayoeirriThv, k. t. \. I am not aware of any difference having been
observed by coursers, in the duration of the comparative speed of the dog and bitch.
It is not inability to run that disqualifies a greyhound (generally in his tliird year
from the period of entrance) for appearance on the coursing field, but a propensity,
acquired by experience, to skulk and run false :
Experience sage the lack of speed supplies.
And in the gap he seeks — his victim dies.
ON COUKSINC.
15: J
touth.* For all which reasons, in my opinion, a really tiood, Cum'. XXXII.
hioli-bred doc; is u irreat treasure^ — one that falls not to the lot
We can rarely, if ever, say of any greyliound, after he has run two seasons, what
Sliiillotc says of Page's fallow greyhound, who " was out-run on Cotsale :"— " He Merry Wives
is a good clog, and a fair dog ; can there be more said ? he is good, and fair." So
soon does tlie fleetest dog begin to n)ake up by cunning what he wants in willingness
to work.
-1. "k^^evfs 5€ Koi €s SeVoTOf hacpvXaTrovaiv. Our author is here at issue with
Juliana ]$erners, wlio says of tlie greyhound in his ninth year,
of VViiidsor.
Act
And whan he is comyn to that yere.
Have hym to the tannere ;
For the beste hounde that ever bytche had,
At nynthe yere he is full badde.
Book of
St. Alban's.
149G.
Indeed, it is incredible, however great may have been his youthful vigour, that any
dog should retain his full speed till the tenth year ; a period at vk'liich all the hodily
powers begin to feel the gradual approach of infirmity, at which many dogs die appa-
rently of natural decay, and all are incapacitated for strenuous exertion. " Canes
Laconici," says Pliny, " vivunt annis denis, fceminas duodenis, caetera genera quin-
decim annos, aliquando viginti." Instances of the latter protracted period are very
rare. I never knew a greyhound to reach the memorable age of the Homeric
Argus —
"Apyov 5' ail Kara y-olp i\a^ev (leXavos davdroio,
avTiK iS6vT 'Oivffrja ieLKOffTu iviavr^.
Odyss. xvir.
* 320.
Short is their span ; few at the date arrive
Of ancient Argus, in old Homer's song
So highly lionour'd ; kind, sagacious brute !
The Chace.
B. IV.
See ^lian de Nat. Animal. Buffon Hist. Natur. and Lord Bacon Hist. Vitje et
Mortis.
5. Me'^a fioi SoKfi rh KTTJfia &^pr]i> kvuv ry a.\T]dfla •yevvalos. Such in the annals of
British coursing wasTopham's Snowball, and such Bate Dudley's Millar !
Tu quos ad studium venandi legeris, et quos
Dixeris hinc comites cursus, cajdisque ferarum,
Quaere mares : maribus major vis est animusque,
Et melius tolerare valent certamina longa.
Natalis Comes
de Venation^
L.I.
G. Kal ovK &i^fv Oiwu tov eunevdas, K. r. \. With Schneider's sanction, I have
united the 33rd Chapter of the first and second editions of the Greek text with the
U
154
ARRIAN
Chap. XXXII. of a courser without the favour of some god.6 For such a
blessmg, then, he should sacrifice to Diana Venatrix.'^ He
Ovid. Metam.
L. VII. 754.
Attic. L. I.
C. XIX.
Coluthi Rapt.
Helena, vs. 32.
32nd of the German editor, from which chapter the former seeras to have been most
unnecessarily separated by Holstein, or whoever first divided the Cynegetiius into
sections, affixing to each a table of contents.
In accordance with Arrian's notion, the fabulous greyhound of the suspicious Ce-
phalus is conceived, in the imagination of the poet, to have been bestowed on the
virtuous Procris by the Goddess of the Chase, with the high character of pre-eminent
speed :
quern cum sua traderet illi
Cynthia, ' currendo superabit,' dixeral, ' omnes.'
7. 'ApTffiiSi 'AypoT4p(}. This title of the sylvan goddess is variously derived by
etymologists. Scheffer (-lElian. V. H. L. ii. c. 25.) would have her ladyship so
called from Agr£e in Attica — x'^p'^ov''AypaL Ka\ovfxevov, the scene of her first essay in
hunting on arriving from Delos. Aia^aai 5e rhv Eihiffahv, says Pausanias, xwptoi'
"AypcLi KaKovjxivov, /col vabs 'AypoTfpas iarlv 'AprfniSos, k. t. X. But Perizonias
objects to Scheffer's derivation, and also to that anh rrjs &ypas, d venaiione, consi-
dering 'AypoTepa rather to signify rustica, in agris agens. If &ypa, venatio, be the
rtiot of the title, to the same may probably be referred the titular epithet by which
Apollo is connected with the chase, by Pausanias in Atticis, (L. i. c. xli.) 'Aypalos :
unless the Attic Agrae would here afford a more ready solution. But the true deri-
vation of 'Ayporepa is to be sought in aypSs. See Etyraologicon Magnum.
From whatever source derived, it is sufl^cient for our purpose that the epithet is
commonly applied to her in the character of " Dea Venatrix," (Ovid. Met. L. ii.
454.) — " Dea sylvarum," (Ovid. Met. L. iii. 163.) — " ssevis iuimica virgo — bel-
luis," (Hor. Od. xii. L. i. 22.) — as presiding over woods, and delighting in hunting.
It is so used in the Thesmophoriazusae of Aristophanes,
rdf t' iv opiffi Spvoy6vot-
ai KSpav aeiaar^ "Ap-
reniv 'Ayporepav :
and in the Rape of Helen of Coluthus,
oiiSe KcuTLyvrirri Arirw'ias 'Air(5A\wi'os
"Aprefiis riTlfi7)(Te, Koi ayportprj irep iovcra.
To coursers it must be a mighty consolation to know that, by virtue of this distinc-
tion, the goddess is ominous of good when seen by them as a night-phantom ; at least
Oneirocrit. so says the dream-interpreter of Ephesus, the fortune-telling Artemidorus — Kvvrjyo7s
L, II. c. XXXV, jxaXiffTU avfx(pipu Si^ tV 'Ayporipav.
ON CODUSING. 155
should sacrifice, too, whenever successful in his sport, dedicate Chap, XXXII.
Homeri Odyss.
L. VI. 102.
The Odyssey affords the graphic outline from whence Apelles is supposed to have
worked ort" his linislied picture of the Goddess of the Chase as an active toxophilite :
"Aprefits flffi KaT* oPpeos lox^O'ipO')
^ Kara Trityerov ireptfiriKeTov, ^ 'EpvfiavOov,
TipirofXivt] Kairpoiai koI wfcefjjs ^\a<poiai'
rrj Se 6' oifxa 'Nvix(pai, Kovpai Aihs Alyidxoto,
'Aypov6fj.oi TTai^ovffi' K. r. A.
The rival copy of Virgil (^Iineid. L. i. 502.) will occur to the reader's recollection;
and I need not again exhibit (see c. xxii.note 2.) the elaborate and highly-embel-
lished portrait of the Carthaginian poet, (Nemesian. Cyneg. vs. 86.) Effigies in
marble of the Goddess of Hunting are to be seen in almost every collection ; alone,
with her usual symbols of venation, or accompanied by dogs of chase, or deer — or
both, as in an alto-relievo at Wilton House. Temples and altars of Diana Agrotera
are mentioned by Pausanias in Atticis c. xix. and c. xli., in Eliacis i. c. xv., in
Achaicis c. xxvi.
For the honour of Diana, in the character of Agrotera, the shows of wild beasts in
the Roman Circus and Amphitheatre were generally designed : so Claudian,
Tu juga Taygeti, frondosaque ftlaenala, Clio,
I Triviae supplex ; non aspernata rogantem
Amphitheatrali faveat Latonia pompfe ! . . . &c.
and for their support in splendid variety, the whole world was ransacked for its rarest
and most savage animals :
quodcunque tremendum est
Dentibus, aut insigne jubis, aut nobile cornu,
Aut rigidum setis capitur decus omne timorque
Sylvarun), &c.
No deity amongst the heathens was more terrible than the masculine daughter of
Latona, {a^peviKij irepa toO jXiTpov, koX opeios, in Juno's taunting language,) and none Lucian. Deor.
I ... e a f Dial. Juno et
less patient of atiront — ^
•^ Latona.
Claudian.
De Consul.
Mall. Theod.
vs. 292.
gods and men
Fear'd her stem frown, and she was queen o' th' woods.
The reader will call to recollection the death of the unfortunate sen of Autonoe, rhv
'Attraiuvos &@\iov /xSpov, (Euripid. Bacchse,) and the desolation of the well-cultivated
vineyard of (Eneus (Homer. Iliad. L. ix.) at the hand of Dian,
Milton's
Comus. vs. 44-5.
156
A H R 1 A N
Chap. XXXII. the first-fruits of his spoils to the goddess,^ and purify his dogs
and sportsmen,^ as regulated by the established rites of the
country.
Some of the Celts have a custom of annually sacrificing to
Chap.
XXXIII.
^, ,.. ' Diana : ^ while others institute a treasury for the g-oddess," —
Celtic ' "^ ^ .
luinting rites.
Iliad. L. IX.
533.
Calliniacli.
in Diaii.
260.
Ovid. Metam.
L. VIII. 277.
Plant. All!
III. G. 13.
Iliad. L.
26G.
Kal yap Toiffi KaKhp XP^'^^^P"^"^ ''Aprefits Zpcre
X<»catitvri.
It is supposed that the beautiful poetrjr of Callimaclius, in which the anger and
favour of the goddess are so feelingly described, (Hymn, in Dian.,) was imitated
from the Psalms of David, which the poet, peradventure, had seen at the court
of King Ptolemy. See the effects of her wrath, vs. 124. <rxeTA«ot oTs tvv-q x*"^*"
irT}V, K. T. A. ; with which are contrasted the good luck and haj)piness of those to
whom she is propitious, vs. 129. oiis Se k^v fv/xeiSfis re Kal 1\aos, k. t. \. The con-
clusion follows, of course, that no man in his right senses should think of slighting
the powerful dispenser of so much good and evil — htj ris urifi-fiffri T^jv^Aprefitv.
The reader will find an amusing description of the worshipful Dian in the sulks at
the marked insult of ffineus,
(solas sine Ihure relictas
Prsteritae cessasse ferunt LatuVdos aras) —
in Lucian, irepi Qvaiouv : Kai fioi 5oKe7 upav avT^jv eV toJ ovpavai Tore fj.6vr\v, says the
infidel satirist, tuiv &\\cev Qioov iv Oiviws irciropevfifVicy, Bfiua iroiov(Tav, Ka\ cxfrAia-
^ovaav o'las foprris a.Tro\ei(\)di\aiTa.i,
8. 'AvaTiQivai airapxas twv aMa KOfXiVwv rrj 06^, Kal airoKaSaipuv, k, t. A. — as
amended by Schneider. " Ac ne degustahant quidem novas friiges, aut vina," says
Pliny (xviii. 2.) " antequam sacerdotes primitias libassent." And our venerable
courser would have his disciples observe with strictness the same religious ceremonies
of dedication, purification, &c. The ancients always purified themselves before
sacrificing — " Ego, nisi quid me vis, eo lavatum, ut sacrificem :" and Hector tells his
mother he is afraid to pour forth even a libation to Jupiter with unwashed hands,
Xepcl S' avinroKTiv Ait Aei/Setc aWoira olvov
9. The Toi/s Kvvas koI tovs KvvrjyfTas of our author answers to the " tota juven-
tus " of Gratius, hereafter cited ; and his &s p6ixos, to the " lustralis de more sacri "
of the Faliscian.
1. M. Le Verrier de la Conterie derives the fete of the French Chasseurs called
La S. Hubert from this Celtic festival of Diana. As the latter supplanted wilh her
ON COUKSl NG,
157
into which they j)ay two oboli for every hare that is cauoht,^ —
a drachma lor a I'ox/ (because he is a crafty animal, and
Chap.
XXXllI.
images the unseen divinity of earlier adoration, she in her turn yielded the tutelage
of tiie chase to St. Martin, St. Germain, and St. Hubert. Arrian wrote in the second
century, and in the sixth we find Diana still predominant : — " Le pere Dom Martin
nous assure que vers la fin du sixieme siecie, les Gaulois c^Iebroient les inysteres de
cette divinite avec des chants excessifs, et toutes les debauches que peuvent produire
I'amour et le vin, sur une montagne des Ardennes qui est dans le Luxembourg, oii
ils avoient une idole de Diane fort grande et fort celebre," &c.
M. Fleuri (Hist. Ecclesiast. Tom. viii. L. xxxv. n. 22.) relates tlie destruction of
Diana's image, and the erection of the monastery and church of St. Martin on its
site. But neither St. Martin, nor St. Germain, (" eveque d'Auxerre, et chasseur de
grande reputation,") were able to preserve their ascendancy against the superior
claims of St. Hubert, (" eveque de Liege, plus fin et plus rus6 dans I'art de la
chasse,") who subsequently received the first-fruits of the chase, airapxas tuv a,\i<T-
Koft.(vwv, and a tenth part of the game, as an annual consecration, fviavcria, from the
posterity of the Celts.
The worship of Diana Venatrix extended from Celtica to the British Isles, which
at an early period were peopled by a Celtic race, (see note 12. at the end of the
present chapter). " Amongst other the goddes also," says Holinshed, " whiche
the Scottislimen had in most reverence, Diana was chiefe, whom they accompted as
their peculiar patronesse, for that she was taken to be tiie goddesse of hunting,
wherein consisted their chiefest exercise, pastime, and delite." And at the same
period, vve find these Scoto-Celts in possession of greyhounds and hounds of chase of
the highest repute, during the reign of Dorvadiile.
2. ©r/iraupbj signifies, primarily, " theca, ubi res pretiosa deponitur ;" and secon-
darily, " ipsa res condita." See Martinii Lexicon Philologicum.
3. 'Eirl fiev \ay^ a\6vTi Svo ofioXii iii^iWovaiv, The game of the modern courser
was valued by the Celtic sportsmen, for Dian's treasury, at about 2Jd. of British
currency. The obolus was a small Greek coin of silver, weighing about 11 grains,
in ancient money worth \\d. It was the sixth part of the drachma, which nearly
answered to the Roman denarius. The double obolus, or diobolion, exactly bit the
value of the hare in the Celtic scale of appreciation.
4. 'ETrl 5e aKdii-nfKi SpaXM^— Anglice, winepefjce /or a fox. The silver drachma
was equal to six oboli, consequently this crafty and destructive felon was estimated
at thrice the value of the hare. The reasons of the text for the extra payment must
be perfectly satisfactory to the patrons of the leash — '6ti iirifiovXov th XP^M^j ""^ ''""i's
Xwyltis Sta^delpei, k. t. \. " Fraudulenturn animal," says Isidorus, " insidiisque
decipiens :" and i£lian, alpovvrai Se oi Aa7cj) wrb aXoyirtKuv iviore, ovk ^ttov SpSfiCj),
dA\i Koi /xaWov Texfjl' (To<l>hv ykp airaj^v a\ei7nj|, Ka\ ^6\ovs oT^iv. Xenophon,
too, remarks that foxes are wont to kill not only hares, hut leverets, avrotis Koi ra
TiKva : and is supported by the Cilician poet of the chase, who says of the fux —
V6nerie
Normande.
Lu S. Hubert.
Historic of
Scotland.
Mainiis.
Pinkerton on
Coins. Vol. I.
p. 8<).
and Aiiisworth.
L. XII. c. ir.
iElian. de
Natura Animal.
L. XIII. c. XI.
De Venat.
aruian
Chap.
XXXIII.
destroys hares,) — and four drachmsB for a roe-deer,^ in consi-
deration of his size, and greater value as game.
When the year conies round, on the return of the nativity of
Diana,^ the treasury is opened, and a victim purchased out of
the money collected ; 7 either a sheep, or kid,^ or heifer,
Oppian. Cyneg.
L. III. 459.
St; T(5t6 Kal 6i)prt iriKpi]V iirl ixr\Tiv xxpaivn
oluvovs re BSXotcnv e\uv koI reKva XaryuiMV.
iMagstcr ot
<I5amt. c. VIII.
fol. 43.
iMagster of
ffiaiiic. c. V.
fol. 30.
L. VII.
Martial. Epigr.
L. XII. Ep. 68.
Antiquit.
Roman. Tom. i.
662.
Statii Sylv.
L. HI. 1.57.
" Foxes done grete banne," says Duke Edmund, " in wareyns of conynges and of
hares, the whiche thei ete, and take hem so gynnously and withe grete malice, and
not withe rennyng."
5. 'Eirl 5e Sop/caSi reffffapas Zpax/J^ds. The tetradrachm of silver was worth four
drachmas, or three shillings sterling — a high valuation of the roe-deer, an animal of
chase, rather scarce in the British Isles, but at all times, I believe, abundant in
France. De I-angley calls the roe " a good litel beest, and goodly for to bunte to."
6. 'OvSrav yiv46\ia t^kt] t^j 'Apre'^tSos. The gods of antiquity had their natal
days as well as men. " Dies nobis natalitii sunt," says Arnobius, " et potentias
coelites dies autumant habere natales." The anniversary of Diana's birth-day (see
Ad. Tumebi Adversar. L. viii. c. xxvi.) was celebrated on the 13th of August —
" Augustis reditldibus Diana." " Feriis suis, emeritos canes, quietosque a vena-
tions, et immunes habere credebatur, et ipsa etiam feriari," in the words of Pitiscus.
Ipsa coronat
Emeritos Diana canes, et spicula tergit,
Et tutas sinit ire feras.
Ovid. Metam.
L. XV. 130.
Pausanias in Achaicis c. xviii. describes a splendid celebration of the sylvan rites
of Diana Laphria by the people of Patrae, in costliness and magnificence far sur-
passing these Celtic ceremonies, but in character somewhat similar. The festival of
Patrse was also annual, as in Celtica.
7. 'lepuov.
Victiraa labe carens, et prjestantissima forma,
(Nam placuisse nocet,) vittis praesiguis et auro
Sistitur ante aras.
The ancient sacrifice consisted of three principal things — libation, incense, and vic-
tim ; of which the latter was most important — varying according to the character of
the deity to whom it was ofiFered, and that of the persons offering. Perfection of
form, as described by Ovid, was essential to acceptance at the altar.
8. Ot ixiv oiV, ol 5e alya. So iu Horace's invitation to Phyllis to attend his banquet
on Mfficenas's natal day.
ON COURSING.
15f)
according to the amount of the sum : and then, after having
sacrificed, and presented the first-offerings of their victims to
the Goddess of the chase,^ according to their respective rites,
they give themselves up, with their hounds, to indulgence and
recreation,*^' — crowning the latter on this day with garlands,"
CirAP.
XXXIII.
ara castis
Vincta verbenis avet immolato
Spargier agno.
Tlie kid of the Celtic hunters is mentioned in the celebration of Diana's riles by
Gratius ; see note 10.
9. Tuv Updwu airap^diieyot ry 'Ayporepa. The first-fruits of the spoil were offered
up to Diana Venatrix, (see c. xxxii. n. 8.,) as well as the purchased sacrificial
victims. We are told by Plutarch that it was customary to consecrate the horns of
the stag to the goddess, and to affix them to her temple j a quiver, too, with bow and
arrows, and a canis venaticus, were commonly added.
Tibi sEepe, Diana,
Maenalios arcus, venatricesque pharetras
Suspendit, puerile decus.
See Symmach. Epist. L. v. Ep. 68. and Pitisci Lexicon Antiquitatum.
10. Evuxovinai avrol re ko2 ot Kvves.
Carminum
L. IV. c. XI.
Claudian.
De Consul.
Honor. L. iv.
159.
Idcirco aeriis molimur compita lucis
Spicatasque faces (sacrum) ad nemora alta Dianse
Sistimus, et solito catuli velantur honore ;
Ipsaque per flores medio in discrimine luci
Stravere arma, sacris et pace vacantia fest&.
Tum cadus, et viridi fumantia liba feretro
Praeveniunt, tener^que extrudens comua fronte
Hoedus, et ad ramos etiamnum haerentia poma,
Lustralis de more sacri, quo tota juventus
Lustraturque Deee, proque anno reddit honorem.
Ergo irapetrato respondet multa favore
Ad partes qu^ poscis opem, seu vincere siivas,
Seu tibi fatorum labes exire minasque
Cura prior, tua magna fides tutelaque Virgo.
Gratii Cyneget.
483.
To the hunting jubilations of our early annals (when Dian's revels were scarce
exploded) John of Salisbury alludes in his Policraticus : " Si vero clariore preedil,
cervo forte vel apro, venantium labor effulserit, fit plausus intolerabilis, exultant
De Nugis
Curialium
L. I. c. IV.
160
AERIAN
Chap. as ail indication of the festival being; celebrated on their
XXXIII.
account. *-
Theocriti Idyl.
XVI.
venatores, caput preedag et solemnia quaedam spolia triumphantibus prieferuntur,
regeni Cappadocum captum credas. Sic cornicines et tibicines videas victorise glo-
riam declarare."
11. Tas Kvvas Se Kol ffrfcjjavovffiv. The custon) of crowniug, or decorating witb
roses and garlands of ribbon, greyhounds which have distinguished themselves in the
coursing field, continues, I believe, at the present day. Such were the rewards
bestowed on the fleet horses of the liippodrome :
Ti/uos 5e Koi wicees fWaxov 'iiriroi
01 (Kp'iaiv e{ Upwv (Tre(pavficpopoi ^vdov ayuivwu.
Strabon.
Geograph.
L. XIV.
See the medal of Diana Perga;a from Montfaucon Antiq. Expliq. Tom. i. p. 44.
The goddess holds a spear, or hunting-pole, in her left hand, and a fillet or crown in
her right hand, elevated over the head of a canis venaticus, who is wishfully looking
up, as if in expectation of the reward of merit. This medal is copied by the learned
Father from Beger, and derives its inscription from Perga in Pamphylia, nigh to
which city, I find in Strabo, stood on an elevated site the temple of APTEMI2 IIEP-
FAIA, whose rites were there annually celebrated.
12. Vestiges of the Celtic ceremonies of Agrotera seem to have been extant, under
a peculiar modification, in London, within a period not very remote. That Dian's
worship was not confined to continental Europe, but extended, as already noticed in
note 1. (sub fine) of this chapter, to the insular Britons, is an historical fact, con-
Illustrations of firmed, according to the learned and ingenious Mr. Douce, by the remains of such
animals as were used in her sacrifices, and also by her own images found on rebuilding
St. Paul's Cathedral — on the site of which. Dr. Woodward very plausibly inferred, a
Roman temple of the pagan goddess once stood. " It cannot be controverted,"
continues the first-cited able antiquary, " that Diana was reverenced in this country
long after the introduction of Christianity, when we find from the testimony of
Richard Sporling, a monk of Westminster in 1450, and a diligent collector of ancient
materials, that during the persecution of Diocletian the inhabitants of London sacri-
ficed to Diana, whilst those of Thorney, now Westminster, were ofifering incense to
Apollo. Sir W. Dugdale records that a commutation grant was made in the reign of
Edward I. by Sir William Le Baud, to the dean and canons of St. Paul, of a doe in
winter on the day of the Saint's conversion, and of a fat buck in summer on that of
his commemoration, to be offered at the high altar, and distributed among the canons.
To this ceremony Erasmus has alluded in his book De Ratione Concionandi, when he
describes the custom which the Londoners had of going in procession to St. Paul's
Cathedral with a deer's head fixed upon a spear, accompanied with men blowing
hunting-horns. Mr. Strype, likewise, in his Ecclesiastical Memorials, Vol. in.
p. 378. has preserved a notice of the custom as practised in Queen Mary's time, with
Sliakspeare,
and of Ancient
Manners, &c.
Vol. I. p. 392.
ON t O U R S 1 N <; .
161
This Celtic custom I follow with my fellow-sportsinen/ and x\xiv
declare no human undertaking to have a prosperous issue injunctions to
the observance
of religious
rices.
this additiun, that the priest of every parish in the city, arrayed in his cope, and the
bishop of London in his mitre, assisted on the occasion. Camden had likewise seen
it when a boy, and had heard that the canons of the Cathedral attended in their
sacred vestments, wearing garlands of flowers on their heads."
1. We cannot but admire the fine feelings of piety, and conscious dependence on
iin over-ruling Providence, which pervade the closing cliRpters of the Cynegeticus.
Many splendid passages might be selected from the classical writings of Greece
and Rome, demonstrative of the fact that, however darkened by mythological allu-
sions, the most enlightened heathens supported a conviction of the affairs of this
lower world being under the guidance of a Supreme Intelligence, and of man himself
being utterly weak and destitute when unsupported h.y the aid and influence of
Heaven. This feeling is strongly manifested in the works of Homer, Hesiod, Pindar,
Orpheus, Phocylides, and a host of others among the Greeks : and notwithstanding
the mischievous attempt of tiie philosophy of Epicurus to eradicate from the Roman
mind all sense of dependency on Heaven, (as if the Divine Essence, in relation to
hunma conduct, " nee bene promeritis cajntur, nee tangitur ira,") the works of
Virgil, Horace, and Claudian afford splendid examples of the important truth that
the natural aspirations of poetry tend to the honour of the Gods, and that when right-
fully employed, the genius of man is ever directed to the advancement of religion
and morality. It is unnecessary to refer to the innumerable passages illustrative of
the creed of ancient philosophers, contained in their works ; let it sufHce that Pliny,
in speaking of the unity of the Deity, gives the reason why men commonly spoke of
more than one God : " Fragilis et laboriosa mortalitas in partes ista digessit, inllr-
mitatis sure memor ; ut portionibus quisque coleret, quo maxime indigeret," &(?.
The catalogue of subordinate deities, enumerated by our author as directing the
affairs, destinies, and pursuits of mankind, merged with him in the belief of one
Supreme Intelligence, of which these subaltern deities were the several attributes
and manifestations, in the government of the universe and its constituent parts.
According to Hermesianax,
TlKovTOou, nep(Ti(()6i>r], Ay\fx,i)rt]p, Kvirpis,''Epciir€S,
Tpirctives, NTjpei/s, T-qdvs, Kal Kvavoxu'iTTis,
'Epfxris T,"li(pai(TT6s re KXvrhs, Uav, Zeis re, «:ai"Hp77,
"ApTffiis, r]S' 'EKUfpyos 'AndWooi', ds 9e6s icrri :
an opinion which was general with the superior philosojihers of Greece and Rome, in
opposition to the polytheistic notions of their inferiors, who, while worshipping the
" porliones" of Pliny, violated most grossly the unity of the ETs ®(hs of {)hllosophy ;
X
Lucretii
L. I. ()2.
Hist. Natur.
L. II. c. vn.
162
ARRIAN
Chap. witliout the interposition of the Gods. 2 For that Mariners,
XXXIV.
Hor. Canii.
L. HI. Od. IV.
— the understandings of the former being too strong (as Sir W. Jones has remarked
in the argument of his Hymn to Surya) to admit the popular belief, but their influence
too weak to reform it, and establish in its place, in the public mind at large, the
supreme unity of the Deity —
Qui terram inertein, qui mare temperal
Ventorum, et urbes, regnaque tristia,
Divosque, mortalesque turmas
Iraperio regit unus sequo.
Homer. Odyss.
L. III. 48.
For further notice of this subject, the reader is referred to Maxinius Tyrius, Dis-
sert. 17., a Greek philosopher of the second century, contemporary, I believe, with
Arrian.
2. OuSev &vev deuv 'ytyv6fjLevov avQpuivois is ayadhv awoTeXevra. To this we may
cite many parallel passages : -rravres Se Bewv x^'''^ov(r' &vQp(i3iroi, says the son of
Nestor to the divine attendant of Telemachus. Hesiod begins and ends his poem of
the Works and Days with inculcating piety towards the Gods ; the only way to please
wiioin and to be happy, he says, is to be religious and strictly moral —
Opera et Dies eS 8* oiriv adavdrwv fxaKapcav ■Kf(pv\ayfj.4vos fhai.
vs. 700.
' ^ aoi^^ ^'^^ ^"^^ '^'^® passages, recommendatory of due reverence of the Gods, less numerous in
the lyric and tragic poets of Greece, than in her heroic poets :
Pindar Pyth.
L. I. 79.
fK 6ea>p yap ixaxaval ira-
ffai Ppojeais aperais
ral Trepiy\(»iT(Tol t e<pvv.
See also the sublime supplication of Hecuba in the Troades of Euripides, vs. 884.
The hymn of Cleanthes,
ou5e Ti 7171/6x04 ipyov eVi x^"''' "■"'' St'xo:, ^aifiov,
oi'Ti Kar^ aldepwv Belov it6\ov, ovt eV2 iroyTqi, k. t. A.
is considered the forgery of a later age. Not so, however, the beautiful truths of the
Greek poet of the Halieutics :
Oppian.
llalieulic.
L. II. 4.
Tt yap fMspSTreaffty auvcTThv
v6ff(f>i 6iwv ; ouS" ocraov utt' ck iroShs Jxi/os aeTpat,
ov^ 8(701/ afjiiriTaaai $\e<pdpuv irfpicpata KVK\a,
oAA.' avTol KpaTfovai koi iQvvovaiv 'inaaTa,
ON COUKSINC;.
163
who regard their safety, supplicate the Gods at embarkation ;•' Chai-.
and, after dangers escaped, oiler np sacrifices of gratitude to
the sea-deities, Neptune, Amphitrite, and the Nereids.* Cul-
tivators of the soil do the same to Ceres, her daughter, and
Bacchus;^ Artificers, to Minerva and Vulcan;^ Professors of
TriK69eu iyyvs iSvTes, avayKairj S' arlvuKTOs
ireiderrdai, k. t. A.
3. "Oaoi vavrlWovTai, airh Qfuiv &pxovrai. The sea-deities were numerous, and of
various gradations. Spence arranges them in six classes. See Milton's invocation
of Sabrina, in his Comus, vs. 867. for the names of many of these Dii Marini.
Arrian mentions only Neptune, his Queen, and the Nereids — lords of the mediterra-
nean or inland seas : superior to whom were Oceanus, " Pater rerum," and 'I'ethvs.
Moreover, it appears from Apolionius Rhodius, that Apollo, for particular reasons,
{avrhs yap inaiTios en\fv aeOAiav, says Jason, addressing iraTpwiov ^AiroWwva,) was L. i. vs. 3.59.
worshipped, under the name of 'E/ujSajrios, by the Argonauts at the time of their ^^i^d vs. 1186.
embarkation, and under that of 'EKPacrios at disembarking. See also Homer. Odyss.
II. 430. where Telemachus pours forth " the holy goblet to the powers divine," but Pope's Odyss.
principally invokes, for a specific reason, " the blue-eyed progeny of Jove." ' "'
4. ^Ai/aaudevTfs xap'O'Trjpta Ovovmv,
Votaque servati solvent in littore nauta;, &c. Virg. Georg.
L. I. 43G.
and again, ^neid. xii. 766.
Servati ex undis ubi figere dona solebant
Laurenii divo, et votas suspendere vestes.
Several votive monuments are engraven in Pere Montfaucon's Antiq. Expliq.
Tom. II. with inscriptions, SALVOS IRE, SALVOS REDIRE, &c. : and Pitis-
cu3 (Lexic. Antiq. Rom. V. ii. p. 164.) has others, NEPTUNO REDUC. SA-
CRUM, &c.
See the indications of the Dii Marini appearing in dreams to sea-faring people, in
Arteniidorus, L. ii. 38.
5. "Otrot rT]v yriv epyd^ovrai. Every art and science had, in classic mythology,
■ts divine guardian, from whom it first emanated, and by whose liberal condescension
mankind were instructed in the rudiments of their several callings :
Ke7voi Koi Tfxvas TToAvKfpSeas avOpdwoKTiv Oppian. Hal.
&\Kos 5' aWoioiaiv iiruvvfios fTrXero ^aifioiv
epyois, olaiv eKacrros tiriaKoirov TJpaTo Tifxriv.
164
ARRIAN
Chap.
XXXIV.
instruction,^ to the Muses,^ Apollo Musagetes,^ Mnemosyne,^
The tutelar deities of husbandmen were Ceres, Proserpine, and Bacchus. Hence, in
the beginning of the first Georgic, amongst the ■' ajjrestum pr^esentia nuraina,"
Virgil invokes conjointly " Liber et alma Ceres ;" and Pindar designates Bacchus,
Isthra. L. VII
3.
X«Akokp(5toi» irdpiSpov
Aa/xdrepos.
Arteniidor. Athxtjttip 5e Koi Kopi], koI 6 Aiyofxevos "laKxos, sa^s the Epiiesian vit^ionary, yfwpyo7s
f ' Kal Tuis KrTiffaffdai yrjv Trpoijpr}iJ.evois ayadai. The department of rural economy under
Xj» lis C* oil*
the tutelagf of Ceres is succinctly stated hy Oppian in the second book uf his Hali-
eulics :
Oppian. Hal.
L. II. 19.
Arjo) fifv ^evyKrjs re /Socov, aporoto re yairjs
TTVpSiv t' ivKapiToio (pipii yepcLS ap.i]roio.
Arteniidor.
Oneirocnc.
L. II. c. 37.
Georgic. L. i.
21.
The connexion of Proserpine with husbandry is not so clear ; but as Nicoraedia, our
author's native city, was sacred both to the mother and daughter, and he held the
office of priest in the temple of the latter, we may suppose him fully acquainted with
all her tutelary distinctions, of which the patronage of agriculture seems to have been
one.
Bacchus's presidency was principally confined, in his character of Vithator, to the
culture of vineyards : AiSvucros toIs yeaipyois (TVfj,(pepei rots 7hi' ^vAtKhv Kapirhv yiwp-
yovffi, fjidKiara afiiriXovs. To the three deities of Arrian here mentioned, Virgil
subjoins others, "studium quibus arva tueri," whom the philosopiiic courser allows
to extend their fostering care to venation — at least some of them, as Pan, the
Nymphs, &c.
G. Oi Se a^Kpl. Tas rexvas Trovovjj.ei'oi. The difterent bodies or colleges of artificers
had their particular tutelary deities. Pau>^anias in Arcadicis mentions a temple of
Minerva Machinalrix : ecrrt 5e 'AB7)vas lephv iiriKXtjatv MaxaviriSos, otl fiovXev/xdrut'
darh 7) Behs irain-oiwv Koi iirirexvrindToiv evperis. The connexion of Minerva and
Vulcan with handicrafts is noted by Artemidorus : 'Adrjvix xeipore'xJ'ais ayady Sih t^v
irpocrriyoplat', 'Epyduri KaAelrai ydp "HcpaiffTos .... xe'p<^''o|t ayaOhs iraffi: — and by
Oppian ;
Sovpa Se TettTjjVocrflai, avaaT7J(Tai re jXiKadpa,
<pdpid T off/c^trat fi7]\wp ivavdei Kapirc^
TlaWiis iTTixdoviovi eSiSd^aro.
'li((iaiaTCfi 5e /ueAei f)at(TTi)pios iSpws.
Juno tells Latona that Vulcan's skill as au artificer, is a counterpoise to his claudicant
Lucian. Deor. deformity : oA\' oinos fxku d x<«'^os, Hfxws xpW'fJ''^^ 7* eirrl, T€X''''r''?s &»' &pi<rTos,
Dial, Juno ct ^
, K. T. A.
Latona.
Oneirocrit.
L. II. c. 35.
Ejusdeni c. 37.
Halieut. L. ii.
21.
ON ton USING, 165
and Mercury;" Lovers, to Venus'- Cupid,** Suada'^ and the Chap.
•' * XXXIV.
7. Oi aftcpl iraiSeva-iv. InstructDrs — those engaged in education — tlie fiuvaoirdAoov
epyaiv fVio-fcoiroj of tlie Ciliciiin poet.
S. Moi'xrais. I'lie Muses were tbouglit to preside over tlie ciiirerent departments
of science, poetry, vocal and instrumental music, and the fine arts generally.
fK yap Movcrdccv Kal ficr]06\ov 'AttSWcdvos Hesiod. D. G.
avSpis aoiSoi eadic iirl x^'ii'a Koi KidapicTTai. "■!•
y. 'Air6\\aivi Movffr^yeTTi. When the gods attended the nuptials of I'eleus and
Thetis on Mount Pelion, Apollo led " tiie tuneful choir" in the character of Musa-
getes :
eK Se fie\t(T(Tr]€VTOs air€(T(TVfi.4vtiov 'E\iku>vos Coluthi Rapt.
Mova-duf Kiyxxpwvov iiyaiv xepi"' ■^ASei' 'ktrSWwv. Helen, vs. 'Z'A.
Kepresentations of Apollo in the character of Musagetes or Lyristes, from the
Justinian gallery, are given by Pere Montfaucon in the first volume of his Antiquities;
by Spence, in his Polymetis, Pi. xiii. f. i. xi. ; and by Visconti, in the Clementine
Museum, Vol. i.
Mentis ApoIlineiE vis has movet undique Musas. Ausonii Rlusa-
In medio residens amplectitur omnia Phcebus. t . ,,
•^ Idyll. XX.
'AirdAA.coi' /uoi/diKoTy ayaffbs, says the Ephesian, ^07011' yap evperris d dths Kal fxovariKTis Artemidori
TracTTjs. In which character the Roman poets of the Augustan age have decked him ^ "^^"^""^ '
t' o o L. ii.c. 35.
out to the life. See Ovid's
Ille caput flavum lauro Parnasside vinctus — Metam. L. xi.
Verrit humum Tyrio saturata murice palla, &c. 165.
10. Mvrifj.o(7WTj. This goddess is celebrated by Hesiod, in his Theogony, as the
mother of the Muses :
eKris at Movffai XP^'^^I^'"'^'^^^ i^eyeuoyTo D, (J, vs. "Jl5.
evvea, T'ptnv aSov 6a\iaL, Kal Tepxpis aoiSfis.
So Akenside, in The Pleasures of Imagination :
Ye heauteons offspring of Olympian Jove Book
And Memory divine, Pierian maids.
That this mythology is judicious, has been remarked by Plutarch in his rules for the
education of children ; since nothing so much cherishes learning as memory. There
is a statue of iMneniosyne in tlie Clementine Rluseum of Visconti, Vol. i.
11. 'EpiJ.fi. Mercury is here introduced in one of his most creditable capacities, as
the author of letters, and the god of orators and eloquence :
166
AKRIAN
Chap. Graces.i^ And, upon the same principle^ Sportsmen should
xxxiv.
Francis's
Horace. B. i.
Od. X.
The god of wit, from Atlas sprung.
Who hy persuasive power of tongue
And graceful exercise refined
The savage race of human kind !
Artemidori
Oneirocrit.
L. u. c. 37.
Bucol. Eclog.
L. 11.57.
'Ep/i7)s ayadbs ro'is iirl \6yovs dpfjiUfjievois, koI adAriTois, Kot iratSoTplfiais, k. t.A.
12. Oi 5e aficpl TO ipaiTiKo. 'A(^po5iT7?. In the Rape of Helen, Venus is called
'Ap/jLOvlris ^aaiXeta, (v. 26.) 6a\dfxuv fiaaiAeia, (v. 137.) and ydixoov /SacriAeio, (v. 306.)
queen of marriage. And to the same purport is the description of Nemesian :
cui cura jugales
Concubitus hominum totis connectere seclis.
Artemidori
Oneirocrit.
L. II. C.37.
fidXiffra 8e ayaOrj irepl ydfiovs Kol Koivuvias, Kal irepl tIkvoiv yovds, says the dream-
interpreter, of the goddess of love, crvvSecriiciiv yap Koi iinyovoou eaTlv alria. The reader
will remember her angry speech (tangit at ira Deos) in the prologue of the Hip-
polytus,
rovs fiev aifiovras Tafia irpeafieviii Kparr),
acpdWw S' '6(Toi ^povovffiv eis Tifias fieya, k. t. \.
Argonaut.
L.I. 615.
^Eneid. L. r.
668.
U. G. vs. 201.
Od. III. vs. 17.
and her vengeful and infuriate character, as drawn by Apollonius Rhodius in re-
ference to the Lemnians :
ovvfKa fj.iv yepdwv iinSriphv &Ti(T(rav.
and amplified by Valerius Flaccus, L. xi. vs. 29.
13. "EpwTt. Venus confesses that she has little power without the aid of her
favourite son Cupid ;
Nate, meae vires, mea magna potentia, &c.
Ad te confugio, et supplex tua numina posco.
She is accompanied by him and"I;U€pos (whom the Grecian mythologists seem to have
distinguished from''Epa)s) in the Theogony of Hesiod.
T^ S"'Epos ai/iapTTjtre, KaVlfiepos eWero Ka\6s,
The Odes of Anacreon aflford many graphic sketches of the mischievous little god :
ipepovra t6^ov,
Trrepirydi re Kal <pap4Tprii'.
14. Hfi0o7. Suada or Suadela — the goddess of persuasion — nuplianmi conciliutrix.
ON con RSIN(;. \()7
not be ne.oloctt'ul of Diana V^enatrix,"^ nor Apollo ,•" nor Pan,'" Cum-.
^ ^ XXXIV.
In the temple of Jupiter at Dlytiipia, as described by Pausanias, Cupid is seen re-
ceiving Venus rising out of the sea, and the goddess TleiOw placing a crown on lier
head : and so in the Rape of Helen, she is the bearer of tlie brida! chaplet :
Kal CTfcpos affK-fiffacra yafi7}\iov i^\v6e rifieo), Loluthi K. H.
^ , ,. , vs. 28.
To^evTi]pos EpooTos e\a(ppi^ovffa <paptTpr]v,
Horace unites Suadela and Venus in the attractions of " the well-bemoney'd swain"
— " bene-numraatuin decorat Suadela Venusque." And Artemidorus says her ap- Epod. L. i.
pearanceis ominous of good to all persons, and on all occasions; TleiOcu Se koI Xdpnes, *-'"• ^''
Kol'^npai, Kui Nvfiipaiirphs irdvra Kal iraffiv eiaiv ayadai. . '' *
15. XdpKTiv. The Graces of Heathen mythology were ladies of great influence:
simplicity of manners, gracefulness of deportment, gaiety of disposition, liberality,
eloquence, and wisdom, were all derived from them :
avv yap vfuv rci, repirva Kal to, y\vKea rindar. (Jlymp.
, , „ ^ L. XIV. 6.
ylverai iravra pporoiS'
el (ro(phs, el KaXhs, eif tjs ayXahs
hviip.
In the Theogony they "keep their court with the God of Love," and revel in ban- Hesiodi D. G.
quets ; and in Horace's supplicatory Ode to Venus, they are associated with the
" Regina Cnidi Paphique," Cupid, the Nymphs, Hebe, and Mercury :
Fervidus tecum puer, et solutis Larm. L. i.
^ . . TVT .. Od. 31.VS. 5.
Gratiae zonis, properentque Wymphse,
Et parum corais sine te Juventas,
Mercuriusque.
16. Tovs iirl Bripa einrovSaK6Tas ov xph ct/ieA.eTi' t^s 'Apre/xiSos tjjs ^AypoTfpas.
Xenophon was equally strict in his religious observances towards the rural deities, De Venat.
bidding the sportsman, before he slip a single hound, to vow a participation of the ^' ^'"
game to Apollo and Diana Agrotera. See Pitisci Lexicon Antiquit. Roman. and Apul.
Met. VI. p. 175. The falconer of Demetrius, in later days, offered his morning
adoration to the God of heaven before sun-rise, and then flew his hawk at the
quarry : rhv debv iiriKaAea'dfj.ei'os rp Oripa evuivws (TvW^\f/otTo, k. t. A. IfpuKOffocpiov,
Following his Classic prototypes, Adrian de Castello makes the cardinal hunter ^'
supplicate the Sylvan goddess :
Volans Ascanius levi veredo Adriani
Precatus Triviae perenne numen, \ enatio apud
poetas tres
Aldi.
KiH
A K R I A N
Chap. nor the Nymphs, 19 nor Mercury,"'^ the conductor and president
XXXIV.
Invadit jaculo, diuque librans
Jecit eminus, &c.
as a necessary preliminary to the slaughter of a stag, bayed by the hounds.
Xenoplion. 17. 'Att^AAcows. Apollo shared with Diana the institution of hunting: 'AWaAoi-
De V enat. ^^^ ^^j '/^pTffj^i^os &ypai koI Kvvis. Whence, witli Ids twin-sister, he is seen on antique
c. I.
relievos with dogs and other emblems of the chase. In his character of Venator,
Chiaramonti of '^poUo is described by Maximus Tyrius as a youth armed wiili a bow, his naked side
Visconti and appearing beneath a chlamys, and his feet raised in the act of runnhig :
Guattani.
1. XVIII. Quails ubi hibernam Lyciam Xanthiqiie fluenta
Virgil. jEneid. Deserit, ac Delura maternam invisit Apollo,
L. IV. 143. ^ ^ . . , .
Instauralque choros, mixtique altaria circum
Cretesque Dryopesque frenmnt pictique Agathyrsi ;
Ipse jugis Cynthi graditur, mollique fluentem
Fronde premit crinem fingens, atque implicat auro ;
Tela sonant humeris.
Statii Achil.
L.I. 167,
Liician. Deor.
Dial. Juno ef
Latona.
Tibull. L. III.
El. IV. 34.
De Augment.
Scient. L. ii.
Virg. Eclog.
L. 11.33.
The reader is of course familiar with the Apollo of the Belvedere — the Venator of
Statuaries — " Venator Apollo :" but perhaps not so well acquainted with the Wilton
effigy of him, exhibiting in a small compass all the symbols which characterise his
presidency over poetry, music, divination, or more probably medicine, and the chase
— (irpoatrotiiTai jjXv itavra elSevai, Kol To^eveiv, koI KiOapi^etv, koI larphs ilvai, Kol
fiavTfiiaQai) — in three of which attributes he is cited liy our author in the present
Chapter. The attitude of the god is easy and graceful ; he appears to lean against
one of the horns of his lyre, placed on a tripod, around which a serpent twines.
Over his right shoulder is seen his quiver, and his head is decorated vpith a laurel
crown — "casta redimitus tempora lauro:" the chlamys of the Venator is throvi'n
off, exposing the belt beneath, and the former with its gem is placed on some fit
receptacle beside tlie right leg.
18. Tlav6s. " Officium Panis nulla alia re," says Lord Bacon, " tam ad vivum
proponi atque explicari potuerit, quain quod Deus Venatorum est," &c. He was the
god of the shepherds as well as hunters, the leader of the Nymphs as Apollo was of
the Muses, the patron of rural life, and president of the mountains. Happy the man,
exclaims the poet of the Georgics in his eulogy of country life, who numbers the
rustic deities, and Pan amongst the rest, in the catalogue of his acquaintance :
Virg. Georg.
L. II. 494.
deos qui novit agrestes,
Panaque, Sylvanumque senem, Nymphasque sorores!
The most gra[)hic description of the goatish god I have any where seen is in the
13th book of Silius Italicus:
ON COtUSlNC. 169
of tlic hi«li\vavs, nor any other mountain o-ods-^ that there Chai'.
pendenti siniilis Pan semper, et uno
\'ix ulla iuscribens terras vestigia cornu, &c. &c.
But as tliis lias been cited at length by Spence in his Polyinetis, a book of easy
reference, I decline introducing it here — wishing, as much as possible, to present my
readers with passages omitted by this celebrated scholar. Let Lucian's more brief
delineation be substituted : 6 /liv Kepara Ix'^^i ""' '^^"^ *l Tjtxia-fias is rh ko-to) al'yX Deorum
» ^ \ t o o^ a ' '■>' ' 5 J. ' ' /. Concilium.
eoiKws, KOi yfyeiov paav Kaoetij.fi/os, oXiyov rpayov oiatpepwv ecrrif.
19. 'NvfjLipiv. Beger's list of these ladies does not much exceed one hundred in
number, although it is said that Diana had above a thousand in her retinue. We
may suppose those principally interested in Cynegetical pursuits to have been the
Oreades, nymphs of the mountains; the vvfi<pai'OpeaTid5es of Homer (Iliad, vi. 421.)
the 'Opel-nKayKToi of Aristophanes (Thesmophoriazusae) ; the Napace, nymphs of
the meadows, (of whom Virgil, " faciles venerare Napa;as,") and the Dryades and
Hamadryades, nymphs of the woods, the (ptXopvi6a>v Apvddwv X'^P^^ ''^ Oppian
(Cyneg. i. vs. 78.) See Claudian. de laudib. Stilic. L. in. for a description of the
" acies formosa Diana," and the Epicedium of Hercules Stroza; in which latter the
names of many of these inferior Sylvan deities, " turbae nemoralis," are registered in
chaste hexameters, addressed to the Ducliess of Ferrara. Sometimes the Naiads also
accompanied the land-nymphs in their hunting pranks :
pulchro venantes agmine Nyrophas, Valer. Flacci
Undarum, nemorunique decus, &c. Argon. J,, in.
* ' 530.
Elves of hills, brooks, standing lakes, and groves. Tempest,
Act V. sc. I.
20. 'Epfiov ^Evo^Lov Kol 'Hytfioviov. " Deum maxime Mercurium colunt," says J)q bello
Cassar of the Gauls or Celts : " hujus sunt plurima simulacra ; hunc omnium inven- Gallico L. v.
torero artium ferunt; hunc viarum atqne ilinerum ducem ; hunc ad quajstus pecuniee
mercaturasque habere vim maxiniam arbitrantur." Being the god of every species of
gain, and the dog being sacred to him, we have additional reasons for the injunction
of the text. He was called 'Eff^Sios or "vialis" according to Pitiscus, " qui viarum Lexicon Anliq.
pra;ses, in biviis, et compitis ponebatur ad semitas monstrandas :" in which capacity V. ii. 180.
his statues are, what are commonly called Terminal, — that seemingly imperfect, ugly,
awkward-looking shape, to which a worthless Roman nobleman, Rubellius Plancus, is
assimilated by the satirist of Aqainum ;
at tu Juvenal.
Nil nisi Cecropides, truncoque simillimus Hermae. °^'- ^'"'" ^"'
NuUo quippe alio vincis discriinine, quam quod
Uli niarnioreum caput est, tua vivit imago.
V
170 ARRIAN
J^^^y may be : otherwise their pursuits must turn out abortive, their
XXXIV.
Uy\l XXV. 3.
Act. V. sc. I.
Senecae
Hippolyt.
Prol. vs. 73.
A Greek medal is extant of Arrian's native city, of the reign of Antoninus Pius,
bearing tlie impcess of the god Terminus. See Numruophylacium Reginae Christina;,
Tab. i.vii.
The old herdsman of Theocritus, with the title flvoSios, affords the reason of its
use :
€« roi ^eive Trp6(ppwv fjivB-fiffofiai o<rct' ipaivus,
'Kp/xew a^SfjLevos Setv^v oiriv elvoSioio.
rhv yap (paffl ix4yi(rTov iirovpaviwu Kf^oAaJtrOai,
ei" Kev odov ^axp^^ov avrjvriTai tis oSi'ttjj'.
See Eustathius ad Homeri Odyss. xvi. and Ouzelius ad M. INIinuc. Felic. Octavium,
p. 109.
In his character of guide or conductor, ('liyeix6ptos,) amongst many others, the
wily god volunteers his services to Cario, in the Plutus of Aristophanes :
EP. aW' T]yf fjL6vwv. KA. aW' 6 dfhs ■^Srj fi\4net.
Though the messenger of tlie gods, and supremely Aihs &yy f\os, he seems to have
been a willing itinerant on earth {65onr6pos) in the cause of humanity. See Iliad xxiv.
Guard of our life, and partner of our way !
21. "OffOL &KXoi opeioi 6eoi. Almost every mountain had its tutelar deity ; but
Arrian probably here means the rural deities hitherto unnamed, as Sylvanus, Silenus,
Priapus, Aristaeus, the Fauns, Satyrs, Pales, Flora, Feronia, and a host of others.
On a due observance of the rites of these gods and goddesses, and demi-deities of
" hill and dale, forest and mead," (to whom might be traced, perhaps, the fairy sys-
tem of more modem days,) and more particularly on an observance of those of Diana
Agrotera, was an abundant supply of game, and avoidance of the ordinary casualties
of the chase, entirely dependent :
Tua si gratus numina cultor
Tulit in saltus ; retia vincta*
Tenuere feras ; nulli laqueum
Rupere pedes; fertur plaustra
Praeda gementi: turn rostra canes
Sanguine multo rubicundii gerunt ;
Repetitque casas rustica longo
Turba triumpho.
ON COUKSINf;.
171
dogs injured, their horses lamed,- and themselves disap- x\x\\'
pointed. -3
And of this, Homer gives evidence in his poem.^ Teucer, Chap. xxxv.
he says, the best bowman of the Greeks, in the archery-contest exampk-s from
Homer.
22. KoJ yap koi ol /ewes fi\dinovTai, k.t. A. All that Arrian lierc anticipates as a
consequence of neglect of the rural deities, Savary of Caen, iu bitterness of heart,
invokes on the ill-fated heads of the hrelhren of the leash ; whom he designates as
enamoured of the savage pugnacity of the bull-dog greyhound — ivitli which alone,
the wolf-greyhound of his country, this poet was acquainted. Great as may have
been his love of the harrier's chase, and great his admiration of its followers, whom
he calls Dian's legitimate worshippers, I cannot conceive him conversant with the
genuine pastime of his Celtic ancestry, nor with the kvoov rij aAridela yivvaws of
Arrian, when he wrote the i'ollowing virulent anathema :
C. XXMII.
Talia legitimosnon infortunia tangant
Cultores, Diana, tuos : inhonora Laconis
Sed quoscunque juvat feritas truculenta Rlolossi,
Sola quibus ca;des, si qua est in caede voluptas,
Illorum paribus turbentur gaudia causis.
Mulcta suppliciis cor insatiabile prEedre.
Plecte viros, extingue canes, rabiemque feroceni
InstilU, dominus catulis odiosus et ipsis,
Exsequet falsum veris Actaeona posnis.
Et qui parlicipes (pigeat licet ista precari)
Disrumpanlur equi, domini plectantur in illis !
Album Diana;
LeporicidiB.
L. V.
23. .Elian tells us there is a temple of Diana in an isle of the Red Sea called /Elian, de
Icarus, abounding with goats, roe-deer, and hares, which a sportsman niav catch, if Natura Animal,
" L. XI. c. 9.
the goddess be duly petitioned ; but if not, he is not only unsuccessful in his sport,
but punished for the transgression — iav 5e /ur; alr^ar), ovt^ alpel, Koi Sl5uai 5i/cos, &s
aWoL \iyov(jiv.
1. "Ofi-ripos iv TJj irotricrei, Arrian alludes to the contest for the prize of arclierj', at
the ganies celebrated by Achilles on the occasion of the funeral of his friend Patro-
clus. I give Pope's translation of the passage :
To the tall top a milk-white dove they tie.
The trembling mark at which their arrows fly.
"Whose weapon strikes yon fluttHriiig bird, shall bear
These two-edged axes, terrible in war;
Iliad B. XXIII.
vs. 1020.
172 ARRIAN
Chap. XXXV. hit the cord only, and cut it asunder, because he had offered
^' 852^8 ^''"'' ^^ ^^^^ ^^ Apollo ;- but that Merion, who was no archer at all,
by having invoked Apollo, struck the bird when on the wing.
Again, the posterity of those, who fought against Thebes
with Polynices, captured the city,^
Ihad. L. IV. To omens trusting, and the aid of Jove ;
406. seqq.
'J'he single he, whose shaft divides the cord."
He said : experienced Merion took the word ;
And skilful Teucer : in the Iielm they threw
Their lots inscribed, and forth the latter flew.
Swift from the string the sounding arrow flies ;
But flies unblest ! No grateful sacrifice,
No firstling lambs, unheedful ! didst thou vow
To Phosbus, patron of the shaft and bow.
For this, thy well-aim'd arrow, turn'd aside,
Err'd from the dove, yet cut the cord that tied :
Adown the mainmast fell the parted string,
And the free bird to heav'n displays her wing :
Seas, shores, and skies with loud applause resound,
And Merion eager meditates the wound :
He takes the bow, directs tlie sliaft above.
And following with liis eye the soaring dove,
Implores the god to speed it through the skies,
With vows of firstling Iambs, and grateful sacrifice.
The dove, in airy circles as she wheels
Amid the clouds, the piercing arrow feels :
Quite through and through the point its passage found,
And at his feet fell bloody to the ground.
2. 'ETTCtSTj jur) firrjv^aTO raj 'AirdWuvi. The God of Archers and Arciiery.
The poet and the courser would both teach us the same lesson — that without
addressing supplication to heaven, we cannot succeed in our undertakings. IVIerion
docs not conquer because lie is the better archer, but because he is the better man.
3. Tovs fKySvovs Se ru'V iirl @r)^as avv FIoAi/i'eiK?;. The Homeric line cited by
Arrian from the speech of Sthenelus, in the fourth book of the Iliad, alludes to the
victors of the second Theban war, wherein the sons of the seven captains subdued
the city, before which their fathers had perished :
Pope's Iliad. With fewer troops we storm'd the Theban wall,
13. IV. 4G0. And happier saw the sev'n-fold city fall.
ON couRsiN(;. 173
whereas tlieir fathers, not at all inferior to them in valour, had Chap. XXXV.
perished before it, because they were disobedient to the signs
vouchsafed to them by the Gods.
And lastly, Hector, inattentive to Polvdamas when he ob- ^^^^^- ^- ''"•
. . 210. seqq.
jected to an attack on the Grecian fleet,* (because the Trojans
would not return from it with honour to themselves, as he
inferred from a serpent dropped by an eagle,) was soon after-
wards taught otherwise by experience, that no good comes of
being refractory towards the Deity.^
In impious acts the guilty fathers died ;
The sons subdued, for heav'n was on their side.
Capaneus, the sire of Sthenelus, was thunder-struck, while blaspheming Jupiter —
Talia dicentem toto Jove fuimen adactum Statii Thebaid.
^ . . L. X. 927.
Lorripmt.
4. UoXv^dfiavTi ovk (covrt. From Pope's translation I extract a part of the speech
of Polydamas, with the omen referred to :
Seek not this day the Grecian ships to gain ; B- ^ii- 253.
For sure to warn us Jove his omen sent.
And tiius my mind explains its clear event :
The victor eagle whose sinister flight
Retards our host, and fills our hearts with fright,
Dismiss'd his conquest in the middle skies,
Allow'd to seize, but not retain the prize, &c.
Pope's version of Hector's reply to this speech of Polydamas, is one of the most
splendid specimens of his talent to be found in the poem — as the whole incident is
perhaps the finest of Flaxman's beautiful illustrations of the immortal bard.
5. OiiK wyadhv aireiBiiv TCfi Beicp. Homer himself draws many similar inferences in
the progress of his interesting tales both of the Iliad and the Odyssey — x''^*'"''^'' '''<"
fptcrdevios Kpoviuvos — iraicrlv ipi^ffievai — and again, 6e66ev 5' ovk ecrr a\eaadai : and
Pindar abounds with like injunctions of humble submission to the divine will — XP^^^ Pyth- ii«
■irphs — Qihv oiiK fpi^fiu, k.t.\. — ttotI Kivrpov Se toi — XaKTi^ffiev, reXeOei — dMcrdriphs ' |»o*
olfios. See also vs. 89. ejusd. Carm. The reader cannot but recollect the memorable
counterpart to these words, (with reverence be they cited !) in the Apostolic history Act. Apost.
of the conversion of St. Paul — aKKr\p6v aoi irphs Kevrpa XaKri^eiv.
How beautiful the metaplior that runs through the following lines of the poet of
Cilicia !
174 A Kill AN
Chap. XXX\^ Following these examples, it is right in field-sports, as in
every thing else, to begin with adoration of the Gods ; ^ and,
after having obtained success, to offer thanksgiving-sacrifices'''
and libations,^ with auspicious words, 9 and crowns,^" and
Oppian. Hal. oW' ah\ ixa-Kapes ■Kavviripjoroi r]vla ■wavri)
Khivova', p K edfKaxTW 6 5' 'iffinTai, os ks aa6<ppo)V,
irp\v ■)(a^^'''fi ndcTTtyi Kal ovk iOeXaiv iKariTat.
See the sensible remarks of Xenophou on the words 2YN ©En nPATTEIN, at the
conclusion of his treatise De Offic. Magistr. Equit. c. ix.
De Legibus, 6. "ApxeaOai re awh Beuv, " A Diis iinraortalibus," sajs Cicero, " sunt nobis
agendi capienda piimordia :" and Julius Pollux, to whom I have frequently referred
in the early part of these annotations, concludes his address to Commodus, at the
commencement of his Onomasticon, with the same sentiment — trotrjaofj.ai Se tV
apx^v, a(p' wv iJ.6Xi.ara. irpoa-fiKft rovs eucre/SetS, anh rwv dewv.
DeExpeditione 7. Xapiariipia Oveiv ev irpd^avra. So in his Anabasis, Arrian writes, Bvcai 'AAe^av-
Alexandn g ^^ Kapuavia Yopio-T'^pjo rvs Kar 'IvSaiv viKrjs, k. r. A. These free-will offerings
L. VI. c. XXVIII. ' J, r ,, ■
may he considered in the light of grateful acknowledgments to the gods for blessings
received. They were paid by soldiers after victory, by husbandmen after harvest,
and by sportsmen after success in the field.
8. SireVSeii/. Wine was generally used in these libations, but not always ; for
there were vqcpaXia Uph—sdbet sacrifices, wherein no wine was poured forth. Gene-
iEneid. L. vi. rally, however, wine was employed, as we learn from Virgil's " frontique invergit
* vina sacerdos."
9. Evcprjixuv — " favere lingua, bona verba dicere." This expression does not seem
to mean that the persons present at a sacrifice were to observe profound silence, but
rather to abstain only from words of evil omen. Mr. Cowper has preserved its sense
correctly in his translation of eixpTjiMrja-ai, Iliad ix. 171. " That every tongue abstain
from speech — Portentous." Ogilby, Dacier, and Pope, all mistake the signification
Schol. ad of eixpvfieiv. " Prascones claiuantes," says Festus, " populum sacrificiis favere jube-
Aristoph. b^nt. Favere est bona fari." But Bourdin ad Aristoph. Thesraophor. eiKpTjfj.e'iv
Thesm. Act. i. , - » -..,,/
ffrjuaivei aiyau koI mwirav Si ev<p7]iJ.ias.
10. 2Te<|)a«'oCi'. The sacrificial victims were adorned with garlands and crowns on
iheir liorns and necks. The altars were decorated with sacred herbs, and the priests
themselves wore crowns upon their heads, composed of the leaves of the tree sacred
to the deity to whom they paid their devotions. See Tertullian de Idololatri^.
11. "Tuvuv. Hunting-carols, it maybe, were chanted to Dian and her sylvan
train, by the Celts and other sportsmen of old. It was customary to sing hymns in
honour of the Gods, and dance around the altar of sacrifice, on occasion of cele-
brating the more important religious rites ; when the songs, in general, commemo-
rated the exploits of the worshipped, enumerated their virtues, and the benefits con-
ON COURSING.
ni
hymns, ^* and to dedicate the first-fruits of the captured Chap, xxxv
game, i- as the conqueror does of the spoils of war. ^^
ferreil upon the worshippers, expressing, at the same time, a wish for their conti-
nuance. "T/xvoi iJ.ev fs Tovs 6eovs Troiovvrat, ewatvoi 5e es wOpwirovs, s?iy s Callisthenes,
in his splendid speech on the line of distinction to be drawn between divine and
human honours.
12. ^Airapx^s rwv aXuTKOfuvaip avaridevai. The aTrapxal, or first-fruits of animal
sacrifices, were small pieces of flesh cut from every part of the beast, and offered to
the gods, (see Homer, passim) : but hunters, according to Pitiscus, dedicated to the
Goddess of the Chase the bead, horns, feet, skin, &c. of the slaughtered game; to -""t'^* rloman.
which custom Nisus alludes in bis invocation to Diana:
Arrian. de
Exped, Alex.
L. IV. c. XI.
Lexicon
Si qua tuis unquam pro me pater Hyrtacus aris
Doraa tulit, si qua ipse meis venatibus auxi,
Suspendive tholo, aut sacra ad fastigia fixi :
Hunc sine me, &c.
iEneid. L. ix.
406.
13. 'O Tp viKTi TroXe'/Uou aKpodluia, Before the spoils of victory were distributed
among the warriors, they considered themselves obliged to make an offering out of
them to the Gods, to whose assistance they were indebted for them all. Those sepa-
rated to this use were termed, according to the author of the Archaeologia Grseca,
uKpodivia, because taken OTr' &Kpov rod Oivhs, from the top of the heap.
BEfrER.
VAIL li A NT.
APPENDIX
SOME ACCOUNT
CANES VENATICI
CLASSICAL ANTIQUITY.
prima ilia canura, non uUa per artes
Cura prior, sive indomitos veliementior hostes
Nudo marte premas, seu bellum ex arte ministres.
Miile canum patriae, ditctique ab origine mores
Cuique sub., Gratii Falisci Cyneget. vs. 151.
APPENDIX.
In introducing to the reader's notice the Canes Venatici of the
following monograph — wherein the embellishment of fable is often
admitted as the language of truth, and amusement is paramount to
instruction — it must not be expected that I should carry back the
history of the chase to the early period of the world's annals, when
harmony, and family accord,
Were driven from Paradise ;
and man's subject creatures revolted from their revolted lord —
Ktt\ Brjpes aiSovs a.yvafi]<xavres vSfiovs,
us Svafteinj (pevyovai rhv irplv SiffirSTTiv —
the probable date of its institution — (" cum peccato enim animalium
noxa simul et persecutio et fuga subintravit, et artes venationum
excogitatai sunt,") — nor to the later epoch of its Phenician origin,
maintained by Polydore Vergil on the authority of Eusebius ; nor
its more fabulous Theban birth and distribution, the thrice-told
tale of John of Salisbury : ^ but rather consider hunting as an art of
acquisition and self-defence of remote and undefined antiquity.
Cowper's
'Taik. B. VI,
Phil, de
Animal.
Propriet. vs. 8.
Agrippa de
Incert. et Van.
Sc. et Art.
0. LXXII.
De Invent.
Rerum. L. in.
c. V.
Euseh. de
Praep. Evang.
L.I.
]. To Henricus Cornelius Agrippa, and his Origin of the Chase, reference is else-
where given. Identical with his view of its rise, progress, and demerit, is that of
Joannes Sarisberiensis, in his Policraticus, De Venatici et autoribus et speciebus ejus,
et exercitio licito et illicito. " Et piimi quidem Thebani," says John, (who wrote
180
APPENDIX.
P. A. Bargaji
de Aucupio
L. I. p. 13.
Oppian. Cyneg
L. II. 7.
Tickell's
Miscellanies.
Gratii Cyneget.
TS. 2.
On Venation, as a pastime, too much has already been said in
the preface to Arrian : and I will at present confine my remarks to
a few classical anecdotes of its primitive furniture, its founders, and
progressional improvement ; premising, by the way, that when men
were unacquainted with the blessings of civilization, and had no
idea of pleasure beyond the gratification of their appetites — when,
in short, they were in a state of nature — hunting was not the by-
work of leisure hours, but the call of continual urgency — not the
jocund diversion of a day, but' the]toilsome and perilous occupation of
a life. In such early times, the nonage of a fallen world, commenced
the war of men with beasts :
Ccepere in pecudes avidi saevire ferasque,
Et nil tale prius meritas captare Tolantes.
The personal safety of himself and those dependent on his
protection, and the daily cravings of hunger, dictated to man the
necessity of animal slaughter; so that, in seeking his quotidian
meal, he originated the art of hunting :
iiriS6fnriov evparo Oiiprtu.
Rude arts at first, but witty want refined
The huntsman's wiles, and famine form'd the mind.
The first hostile efforts of the barbarian lords of creation against
their biped and quadruped subjects, " joint-tenants of the shade"
with themselves, were confined, we may suppose, to manifestations
of physical strength and brute courage ; by which, under the
powerful incentives of self-interest, they procured the vital neces-
saries of food and clothing :
prills omnis in armis '
Spes fuit, et nuda silvas virtute movebant
Inconsulti homines.
De Nugis
Curialium
L. I. c. IV.
in the reign of our second Henry, and from whom later authors have purloined the
oft-repeated reprobation,) " si fidem sequamur historije, earn communicandam omni-
bus statuerunt. Et ex quo suspecta sit omnibus gens foeda parricidiis, ipcestibus
detestanda, insignis fraude, nota perjuriis, hujus artificii, vel potius maleficii, in pri-
mis preecepta congessit, quae postmodum ad gentem moUem imbellemque, levem et
impudicam (Phrygios loquor) transmitteret," &c.
1. Armis from armi not arma. Wase's version is wrong. The term is more com-
A 1' 1' K N Dl \ .
181
And here at the head of rude pedestrian sportsmen we find the human
inventor of the science of the chase, that legendary personage, the
Gorgon-killing Perseus ^ — " Gorgonis anguicomai Perseus supe- Ovid. Metam.
rator" — (for I would not deprive Latona's hunting-twins, Apollo
and Diana, nor the worshipful race of Centaurs, <pvXa Qripofnyii, " Xen. de Venat.
of their priority of claim, and patent of precedency, in the apotheosis *^ '•
of the chase,) who, when he had performed this redoubted act of ^ \ j", 5
courage, as we are told by the poet of Anazarbus :
voiSuv Kpaivvoiffiv ieipSixevos irTepvyerrffi Oppian. Cyneg.
Kot ■nrwKaSf koI 6uas iKa^vro, Koi ytvos alywv L. 11. 10.
aypordpaiv, SdpKovs re doohs, opvywv re yeve6\a,
•^y avTw;' i\a(l)(i)i' (ttiktuv alnetva KdpTjva.
As men in general, however, did not possess the speed of Perseus
nionly applied to the shoulder or arm of animals than man : but the sense of the
passage requires the interpretation I have put upon it, and is farther illustrated by the
" unguibus et pugnis" of Horace, and "merat vires " of Ovid : Hor. Sat. L. i.
S. III. vs. 101.
Turn genus humanum solis errabat in agris ; Ovid. Art. Am.
Hisque mera; vires, et rude corpus ei'at. *-" "*
Politian elegantly exemplifies the Faliscian's meaning in his Silva, entitled Nutricia ;
Sed longum tamen obscuris iramersa tenebris Carmina V.
Gens rudis, atque inculta virum, sine more, sine ulla illustr. roet.
' ^ ' . p. 159.
Lege propagabant sevum, passimque fenno
Degebant homines ritu, visque insita cordi
Mole obsessa gravi, nondum ullos prompserat usus,
Nil animo, duris agitabant cuncta lacertis.
1. For Perseus's title to this post of honour Oppian is my only voucher; but his
words are decisive :
iv fiepSwetrffi Sf irpuros 6 FopySvos aiiXfv' a/ifpffas, Cyneg. L. 11.
Zrtvhs xpv<^^ioio irdiS K\vTbs fvparo Uepffevs. ^s. 8.
2. Will the reader admit the explanation of the Policraticus as to the fabulous con-
nexion of these hybrids with the chase : " nempe qui his studiis aut desidiis insistunt, J. Sarisberi-
semiferi sunt, et abjecta potiore humanitatis parte, ratione raorum prodigiis conforman- ensis de N. C.
-,,..■ -rr ,, ■■ ■ , . .r> L. I. C. IV.
tur r and again, " Venatores omnes adhuc institutionem redolent Centaurorum.
Raro invenitur quisquam eorum modestus aut gravis," &c.
182
APPENDIX.
Bedingfield's
Education of
Achilles.
Callimach. H.
in Diaii.
105.
and Achilles,! " To sweep with winged feet along the level
plain;" nor the power of catching at force, vow^t Kvpobpofiirfs,
the fleetest animals of chase, like the goddess Dian ; it became
necessary to add to their naked powers sundry inartificial imple-
ments, auxiliary to the subjugation of some, the destruction and
expulsion of other beasts.
Lucretii
L. V. 964.
Et manuum niiri freti virtute pedumque
Consectabantur s^lvestria sa?cla ferarum
Missilibus saxis, et magno pondere clavae :
Multaque vincebant, vitabant pauca latebris.
Somerville's
Chace. B. i.
New and unpolish'd was the huntsman's art ;
No stated rule, his wanton will his guide.
With clubs and stones, rude implements of war,
He arm'd his savage bands, a multitude
Untrain'd ; of twining osiers form'd, they pitch
Their artless toils, then range the desert hills.
And scow'r the plains below : the trembling herd
Start at th' unusual sound, and clam'rous shout
Unheard before ; surpriz'd, alas ! to find
Man now their foe, whom erst they deem'd their lord,
But mild and gentle, and by whom as yet
Secure they graz'd.
Acquiring knowledge by experience, man advanced in the
mechanism and variety of his hunting gear, as in other articles of
increasing civilization.
Gratii Cyneg.
vs. 5.
Post ali^ propiore vi&, raeliusque profecti,
Te sociam, ratio, rebus sumpsere gerendis.
Hinc omne auxilium vitse, rectusque reluxit
Ordo : et continuas didicere ex artibus artes
Proserere ; hinc demens cecidit violentia retro.
The Times.
Find. Nem.
Carm. L. in.
85.
1. " The light-footed Greek of Chiron's school," as Churchill calls hira.
p.ls re Koi Bpacre'i' 'Addua,
KreivovT i\d<povs &uev kv-
vwv SoXitcv 6' kpKtoiv
TTOcrcrl "yhp Kpd-TtdKiv,
APPENDIX.
183
Finding, on patient trial, the )^f«os evpii Trfpt^re^es of Oppian, with Oppian. Cyneg.
its rude accompaninieiit of fire,'cVc. insufficient for capturing the
more wary creatures —
Nam fovea atque igni prius est venarier ortum
Quain !-epire plagis saltum, canibusque ciere ;
he had recourse to the various kinds of weapons, snares, and wily
inventions of slaughter described by Xenophon, Gratius, Oppian,
and Nemesiati ; and often aUuded to by other writers, both sacred
and profane :
Lucretii
L. V. 1249.
Turn hqueis captare feras, et fallere visco
Inventum.
Virgil. Georg.
L. I. 139.
But " short of due perfection" were all the hunter's wiles, till the
dog was tutored to assist in the sylvan pursuit and massacre, and to
contribute the acuteness of his senses, his speed and courage, to the
service of mankind ; who consummated their superiority over the
animals of the forest, when they had directed to their chase the
adapted powers of this faithful ally, and begim, in the words of the
cited poet of the Georgics — " magnos canibus circumdare saltus," —
redeeming thereby their esculent crops and innocuous herds from
the ferocious and depredatory aggression of quadruped felons, i
Kov<povf<iiv T6 (pv\ov 6p-
viOccv aiJ.(pt0a\uv &yeL,
Otjpioov t' ay piuiv (dvr)
irovrov t' elvaXiav (pvaiv
crirelpaiffi SiKTvoKXciaroi?
■KepicppaSris avrip'
Kparel Se ixr^x^tvals aypav\ov
8r]phs opeaaifiaTa.'^
Ejusdem
140.
Sophoclis
Antigone, 350.
1, Nee mediocre pacis decus habebatur submota carapis irruptio ferarum, et
obsidione quadam liberatus agrestium labor.
2. According to Manilius tlie power of fasbioning implements of hunting, breeding
dogs of good pedigrees, breaking them in, &c. is derived from sidereal influence at our
nativities :
At Procyon orieus, quiim jam vicesima Cancri
Septimaque ex undis pars sese emergitin astra,
Plin. Paneg.
Trajan. Diet.
81.
Rlanilii
Astronomicon.
L. V.
184
APPENDIX.
Adriani
Cardlnalis
Venatio.
Certaine
Illustrations,
&c. p. 25,
The " venaii<li mille via?" of the Carthaginian poet have been
superseded in the British islands by the superior attraction of
the gun :
macliiiiJe,
Mirandas, horrificae, ininacis, atrae,
Qualem nee Steropes, nee ipse fertur
Pater Lemnius inferis cavemis
Informksse Jovi, nee uUa in orbe
Per tot secula cogitavit setas ;
and of various eminent breeds of lleet and sagacious dogs, adapted
to the chase at force. But as these methods were heretofore
employed by our less civilized ancestry, ^ are still in vogue in
unreclaimed countries, and many of them yet practised on the
continent of Europe— whatever be their " incongruity to our present
factions," as Wase expresses himself — a brief description of the
" supellex venandi" will not be unacceptable to the modern reader,
c. III. fol. 21.
c. IV. ful. 25.
Venatus non ille quidem, verum arma creatis
Venandi tribuit : catulos nutrire sagaces,
Et genus a proavis, mores numerare per artes,
Retiaque, et valida venabula cuspide fixa,
Lentaque contextis formare hastilia nodis,
Et quodcumque solet venandi poscere cura
In proprios fabricare dabit venalia qufestus.
1. We have the authority of the most ancient record of British field spoils, called
j'ttagfitfr of (fliaitir. (a curious manuscript in the British Museum,) for tlie general
use of much of the classic furniture of the chase in France and England five centuries
ago. Let the reader compare the following with the Greek and Latin Cynegetica :
" Of the Hare, and the methods of taking her. Men slee hares with greyhoundes
and with rennynghoundes by strengthe, as inEngelond; but ellis where thei slee hem
with smale pocketes and wt p'suetes and wt smale nettis, with hare pipes and with
long nettis and with smale cordes that men casten where thei mak here brekyng of
the smale twygges whan thei goon to hure pasture," &c.— " Of the Hertc. Men
taken hem with houndis, with greyhoundis, with nettis, and with cordes, and with
other harnays ; with puttes and with shott, and with other gynnes, and with
strengthe, as y shal say here after," <Slc. Almost all the instruments of this royal
armoury, the fruits of De Langley's extensive experience at home and abroad, and as
such recorded in his hunting manual, have their counterparts in the works of Xeno-
phon, Gratius, Oppian, and Nemesian.
A I'lM'.N IllX. 18.J
by way of introduction to the subject of classic hunting witli tlic
ancient varieties of the canine race.
With seeming accuracy Gratius has described the whole of the
antique poaching gear ; ' but it must be confessed that neither
Xenophon's, nor the Faliscian's, nor the hunting technicalities of
the other Cynegetical writers, can be fully explained to modern
comprehension.
The deities and demi-deities of sylvan life are objects of invoca-
tion in the exordium of Gratius :
His ego praesidibus nostram defendere sortem GraliiCyneg.
Contra mille feras, et non sine carmine, nisus '^' '■^^'
Carmine, et arma dabo venandi, et persequar artem
Armorum, cassesque, plagarumque ordiar astus.
and then, under their tutelary aid, the poet begins to handle the
" arma venandi ;" which, as recorded in the Cynegetica generally,
consisted of the linea or formido, nets of various mesh and size and
shape, nooses, springes, and other traps — missile weapons, as darts,
arrows, &c. ; and those for standing-defence, as the halberd-like
boar-spear, &c. : many of these, however, were not of very remote
antiquity. ~
1. " We are not sensible of Gratius's great care in the choice and ordering of Certaine
speares," in the language of his illustrator, " nor of his provision in sliowing to set ,"* lations,
engines, and dig pits, which men prize in those countries where beares and lyons,
with such ravenous beasts, do abound. We seem to have a different end in our
hunting, which hath introduced a diflFerent stile of hunting," &c.
2. The arts of war and hunting advanced passibus aquis ; both at first equally
rude, and destitute of ingenuity of contrivance in their respective instruments of
assault ;
Unguibus et pugnis, dein fustibus, atque ita porro fjor. Sat. L. i.
Pugnabant armis quae post fabricaverat usus. S'l'- '"• l^^*
Before the age of Homer, the bow and arrow, " the artillery of ancient heroes," the
67X05 or ^6pv, spear or pike, |iiJ)os the sword, and Kopivri the club, constituted the
entire armoury of tlie warriors and hunters of semi-barbarous Greece. See Iliad xi.
and xvii. Odyss. ix. and xix. How scanty was the furniture of Hercules in his
attack of the Nemcan lion !
2 A
186
APPENDIX.
DeM
L. II, c. XII.
Gratii Cyneg.
vs. 75.
Wase's
Illustrations,
&c. p. 7.
Gratii Cyneg.
vs. 85.
The feathered line or pinnatum was called, from its effect, metus,
formido, and belfxara dripHv, (Oppian. Cyneg-. iv. 389.) " Cum
maximos ferarum greges," says Seneca, " linea pennis distincta
contineat, et in insidias agat; ab ipso effectu d'lctB, formido."
Sunt quibus immundo decerptae vulture plumae
Instrumentum operis fuit, et non parva facultas.
Tantum inter nivei jungantur vellera cygni ;
Et satis armorum est. Ha;c clar^ luce coruscant,
Terribiles species : ab vulture dirus avaro
Turbat odor silvas, meliusque alterna valet res.
The line of feathfers of various hue, impregnated with artificial
odour, " was drawn about the woods ( oXiyov yat'jjs efvirepdev,
Oppian. Cyneg. iv. 380.) in the intermitted spaces where the
toyles were pitched, that so the deer (than which no creature is
more timorous) might balk them, and be cast upon the net." The
linea thus flanked the bUrv or long net, where not extensive enough
to enclose the covert ; and filled the intervals, between the purse-
nets and nooses, when the latter were set independent of the retia.
Hie magis in cervos valuit metus. ' Ast ubi lentee
Interdum Libyco fucantur sandice pinnea,
Lineaque extructis lucent anconibus arma :
Rarum si qua metus eludat bellua falsos.
Theocriti Idyll.
L. XXV. 20C.
ainap iyi> Kepas vyphv e\i)V, Kol\ijv re (papfrpav,
'Iwf e^uirAeir/j/, veonrjv erfpr/cpi re fidKrpou
evirayes, avr6<l>\oiov, inripecpeos Korivoio,
evfierpov.
B. I, c. XVIII.
The Persian hunting of Cyrus, as described in the Cyropsedia, (L. i. c. v.), presents
Sir T. Elyot's. "^ ^^^'^ warlike weapons alone. " Than tooke every man " (I quote from The Go-
The Governour. vemour) " with hym his bowe and quiver with arowes, his sword or hach of Steele, a
little tergat, and two dartes."
1. " The formido," Wase admonishes the reader of his Preface to Gratius, " may
be in some measure retriv'd by looking into the Sicilian hunting, where it continues
in use at this day. When the nobles or gentry are inform'd which way a herd of
dear passeth, giving notice to one another, they make a meeting. Every one brings
with him a cross-bow or long-bow, and a bundle of staves. These staves have an
iron spike at the bottom, and their head is beared with a cord drawn through all of
L, IV. 58G.
A rriiN 1)1 \. ltS7
The Ciliciaii poi't lias lelt a graphic description of the formido, as
employed in the Armenian bear-hunt — a picture so vividly sketched,
Cyneg. iv. :J80., that I regret its length prevents transcription.
A part of it will be found hereafter under the Eastern " Canis
[nductor'—tUe Armenian liniehouiid. The fourth Halicutic, in an
apposite and beautiful simile, describes the startling effect of the
feathered line on timid animals of chase :
wSe Koi eV ^u\6xoi(rtv dpfarepoi aypevrripfs Oppian. Hal,
eTXov avaKKelrjv i\a.cpwv ivaypii Te'xfj;,
fiTipivBai crrexl/avTes cinav Spios' aij,(pi Be KOv<pwv
opvidoiv 5r}(ravro 6oa impd' ral S' iaopuaai
r]\efiaTa irTfiffaovcTi Kevhf <p6^ov, ouSe ireKaffcrai
(xw^iBiais TTTepvyecTatv arv^Sfievai fie/xdacnv
ela-6Ke OtjpTjTTJpes iirat^avTes '4\u(Xi.
Many notices of this instrument w^ill occur to the classical reader
them. Their length is about four foot. Being thus provided, they come to the herd,
and there casting themselves about into a large ring, they surround the deer, and
then every one of them receives a peculiar stand, and there unbinding his fagot, ties
the end of his cord to the other who is set in the next station ; then to support it,
sticks into the ground each stafFe about the distance of ten foot one from another.
Then they take out feathers which they bring with them dyed'in crimson for this very
purpose, and fastned upon a thrid which they lie to the cord, so that with the least
breath of wind they are whirl'd round about. Those which keep the severall stands,
withdraw, and hide themselves in the next covert. After this the chiefe ranger
enters within the line, taking with him only some hounds, which draw after the herd,
and coming near with their cry, rouse it. Upon which, the deer fly till they come
towards the line, where they turn oflto the left, and still gazing upon the shining and
shaking feathers, wander about it as if they were kept in with a wall or pale. The
chief ranger pursues, and calling to every one by name, as he passeth by their stand,
cries to them that they should shoot the first, third, or sixth, as he shall please ; and
if any of them miss or single out any other then that which was assigned by the
ranger, it is counted a disgrace to him : by which means, as they pass by the severall
stations, the whole herd is kill'd by diverse bands . . . These stakes are of the same
use with those ancones* mention'd in Gratius, but it might seem that they are farther
improv'd." — " These things," continues the translator of the Faliscian, " may be of
use to have been preraitted ;" and with the same view they are here introduced by
the author of this Appendix.
* The staves (lithe Sicilians are the ancones of Gratius— the araXiKis and irxciAfSes
of the Greek hunters.
188
APPENDIX.
in the works of the Latin poets, but in none more copiously de-
lineated than in the Cynegeticon of Nemesian ; who enumerates the
many sources whence the feathers of dissimilar tint are to be culled
for decorating the " plumed line :"
Nemesian. Dat tibi pinnarum terrentia millia vultur ;
'-yneg. vs. 312. p^j Jjbye magnaram avium foecunda creatrix,
Danlque grues, cygnique senes, et candidus anser ;
Pant qufE fluminibus crassisque paludibus errant,
Pellitosqiie pedes stagnanti gurgite tingunt :
nine mage Puniceas native raunere sumes :
Namque illic sine fine greges florentibus alis
Invenies avium, suavique rubescere luto,
Et sparsos passim tergo vernare colores.
If the reader be interested in the minutiae of Grecian and Roman
net-making, and the methods of fixing the apKves, 6/fcrua, and ivobta,
the casses, retia, and plaga, he is referred for the former to the
Cynegeticus of the elder Xenophon, and that most extraordinary
work of human research, the Onomasticon of Julius Pollux — for
the latter, to the Venatio Novantiqua of Janus Vlitius, a scholar of
deep erudition, and an experienced sportsman: — a summary view
being all that can be rendered by the present writer, professedly
epitomising the labours of more experienced workmen.
The apKves or casses were conical, purse or tunnel-like nets,
ending in a point at one end, and having a running noose of entrance
at the other, resembling somewhat a hooped calash, or cowl.
The hiKTva or retia were long sean-like nets for open fields, and
Nemesian. ^^^ encircling brakes and coverts; " longoque meantia retia
Cyneg. vs. 300. tractu."
The kvohia or plagtB were nets of much less length, to be placed
across roads, game-tracks, paths, and narrow openings between
bushes.
The apKves appear to have been sometimes placed independent of
the blKTva, but more commonly in the course of the main nets ; so
that when the animals passed along the linear and reticular barrier,
exploring a place of egress, terrified by the formido, (which flanked
the hayes, and occasionally was drawn along above the net-rope to
scare the game from overleaping,) and the meshes of the biKTva,
(continuous except where the purse-nets were introduced with their
A I'l'HN 1)1 \.
189
slip-knot entrance), on attempting to pass out at the apparent opening
of the ap(.us, tliey became by their struggles entangled therein ^ — the
purse either spontaneously, or by the agency of the men placed there
to draw the necessary ropes, immediately closing at the mouth.
iird KeXdSovTos ar)Te(ii
raiviai t' 4<pinTfp6f Str]epiat KpaSdovcrt,
KivvfXivai irripvyis re Ktyh'ia crvpi^ovaiv.
ovveKa iraTTTaivovaa kot' &pKvas avriov epirei'
iv 8' eneffev \iV(Oi(Ti \6xois.
Oppian.Cyneg.
L. IV. 409.
The whole management of the nets and lines was vested in the
watch at^rtuiv TTvXawpwv referred to, who were concealed under
copse-wood, for the purpose, more particularly, of attending to the
enlbpo/jios and 7reptSpo/xos, the ropes (smooth and knotless) which
governed the apKves, and passed through iron rings, along the course
of the biKTva, up to the watchmen's hiding-place :
4v Se Svo) kK'^volv SoioTs iKarepfle Kepatais
avepas aKpoXivovs virh fxetXiveoicri irdyoiffLV.
The length of the biKTva or retia, properly so called, would
astonish a modern disciple of Diana. So great was the extent of
ground sometimes enclosed by these toils, that Plutarch mentions, in
his life of Alexander, hunting-nets above twelve miles long. With
such it was customary to encircle vast tracts of country, and then, by
Opplan.Cjneg.
L. IV. 382.
1. The complete and helpless entanglement of the victim of the tunnel-net is
admirably described by Seneca, in the simile of The Agamemnon, where Cassandra
likens the son of Atreus, ensnared in a cassi-form vest (so happily called by jEschy-
lus irnixov^v apKiKTraTov) by the "seraivir" Thyestes and the adulteress queen-
consort, to a boar inextricably enveloped in these toils :
At ille ut altis hispidus sylvis aper,
Cum casse vinctus, tentat egressus tamen,
Arctatque raotu vincla, et incassiim furit,
Cupit fluentes undique et cascos sinus
Disjicere, et hostem quaerit implicitus suum.
See the definitions of Pollux in my notes to the first Chapter of Arrian's Cynege-
ticus— itpKuex, S'lKTva, 4v6Sia.
Agamemnon
vs. 1386.
Senecae
Agamem.
Act. v. 886.
190 APPENDIX.
gradually contracting their ambit, to force the animals of the district
into a narrower compass ; — when at the will of the magister vena-
tionis, the work of slaughter commenced. i This mode of hunting is
very clearly described, with its usual auxiliaries of noise and flame,
in a simile of the Achilleid :
Statii Achil. sic curva feras indago latentes
' '• Claudit, et admotis paulatim cassibus arctat.
Illffi ignem sonitumque pavent, difFusaque liuquunt
Avia, tniranturque suum decrescere moutem.
Donee in aiigustaiu ceciderunt undique vallem,
Inque vicem stupuere greges, socioque tiniore
IMansuescunt. Simul hirtus aper, simul ursa, iupusque
Cogitur, et captos contemnit cerva leones.
The Faliscian poet, in the early part of his Cynegeticon, specifies
the best materials for the composition of nets, with particular in-
structions for their size and shape :
Gratii Cyneg. Prima jubent tenui nascentem jungere filo
^^" ^^' Limbum, et quadruplici tormento adstringere limbos.
Ilia operura patiens, ilia usus linea longi.
Tunc ipsum medio cassem qui nascitur ore.
Per senos circum usque sinus laqueabis, ut omnem
Concipiat tergo, si quisquam est pluriraus, hostem.
Et bis vicenos, spatium praetendere passus
Rete velira, plenisque decern consurgere nodis.
Certaine 1. "In Poland, when the king hunts," observes Wase, " his servants are wont to
lluistrations of surround a wood, though to the space of a mile or better in compasse, with toiles,
the Ovneffeti-
call Poem of ''^'^ich are pitched upon firme stakes : this being done, the whole town, all sexes and
Gratius. p. 68, ages, promiscuously rush into the inclosure, and with their loud shouts rear all the
beasts within that wood, which making forth, are intercepted in the nets. There
small and great beasts are together intai)gled, after the same manner as when amongst
us we draw a net over a pond, and after heating it all over with poles, we bring out
not only pike and carp, but lesser fry : so they enclose at once, dear, and bores, and
roe-bucks, and hares : for so they order their nets, that the space of those meshes
which are twisted with greater cords, for the entangling of greater beasts — that
space, I say, is made up witli smaller whip-cord, for the catching lesser prey." See
Xenophon de Venatione, c, vi., and Pausanias in Ba;oticis, c. xxi. The latter
autlior relates that the Celtic hunters surrounded plains and mountain-thickets with
their toils, so as to be certain of catching all the animals within the circumference
thereof.
APPENDIX. 191
On the same suhjoct the Carthaginian summarily touches, distinctly
recognizing the three varieties of which we have been just speaking :
Necnon et casses iidem venatibus aptos, Nemesian.
Atque plagas, longoque meantia retia tractu W^eg. vs. 2J9.
Addiscant raris semper contexere nodis,
El servare nioduni maciilis linoque tenaci.
And an earlier poet, in his praise of the brumal pleasures of the
countryman's life, sunders plagte and retia, applying them to such
totally difterent purposes, that it is probable they sometimes differed
as much in the structure of the mesh, its size, &c. as in the magni-
nitude of the whole instrument :
At cum tonantis annus hvbernus Jovis nor. Epod.
r ^ . L. 11.29.
Inibres mvesque comparat ;
Aut trudit acres hinc et hinc raulta, cane
Apros in obstantes plagas ;
Aut amite levi rara tendit retia
Turdis edacibus dolos,
Pavidurave leporera, et advenam laqueo gruem,
Jucunda capiat praemia.
Whatever honour be attached to these reticular inventions, and
that of the running-noose, the Ppoxos or laqueus, is due to Hip-
polytus :
&pKvas aire fip6xovs re, Kal ajKvKa hlKrva wpwros Oppian. Cyneg.
'1idt6\vtos ix(p6irfff(rii> iiraKxripeffffiv f<p7ive.
The fipoxos generally formed a rhomb-shaped entrance to the apicvs,
as probably did the laqueus to the cassis : — but as the tunnel was
occasionally used separate from the sean-like toil {biKTv — rete) and
from the road-net (evobiov — plages), so may these slip-knot nooses
have been also set independent of the purses, their usual additaments,
in narrow passes, or straits frequented by game :
Namque hos aut foveis, aut cseci in limine callis P. A. Bargaei
Occultant, &c. Cyneg. L. i.
The noose-ropes/ being of much ruder manufacture, and more simple
1. Such were the anpai of the Parlhians, applied to the purposes of human war-
192
APPENDIX.
Gratii Cynegt
vs. 89.
Hor. L. III.
Od. IV. vs. 70.
Cyneg. L.
28.
structure, than any variety of net with meshes, must have been of
earlier institution.
Nam fuit et laqueis aliquis curracibus usus.
Cervino jussere niagis contexere nervo ;
Fraus teget insidias, habitu mentita ferino.
These laquei curraces,^ seemingly from this passage made of other
materials than hemp before the days of Gratius, are yet in use, under
the form of springes and wires, with deer and hare-poachers ; who, I
find in Oppian, are indebted to the giant-hunter Orion — " integrae —
tentator Orion Dianae" — for the first establishment of their nocturnal
depredations :
rvKTeplovs Se \6xovs, vvxiv" iraviTr'iKXo-nov &ypTiv
'npiuf irpwri.aros e/i'^coTo KepSaXed^pwv.
We are next introduced by Gratius to dentatee pedica, spiked
De Bell.
Judaic. L. vii.
c. 27.
Argonaut.
L. VI. 133.
Preface to the
Reader.
fare : for it is evident from Josephus's account of Tiridates's narrow escape from the
Alan aeipacpSpos — {fipdxov yap avr^ tJs ir6^pudev Trepi^aXoov efieWev iiri<nrd(reiv, el
M^ T^ l'4**' Owrrov iKe7vos 7hv r6vov Kuipas, e<p6r} Sia<pirye7p,') — that the instrument
employed against the king was of the nature of a laqueus. And a farther illustration
of the use of the noose-rope in war we find in the lines of Valerius Flaccus,
Doctus et Auchates patulo vaga vincula gyro
Spargere, et extremas laqueis adducere turmas.
1. Some idea of the curraces laquei, and hunting nets duly set, may be formed from
the engravings of Strada and Galle (1578.'); or those of the Venationes Ferarum &c.
of CoUaert, Mallery, Theodore and Cornelius Galle of later date. The spirited wood-
cuts of John Adam Lonicer, of Francfort, attached to the Venatus et Aucupium
of Sigismund Feyerabendi (1582), are amusing, but far less illustrative than the
former.
To Pere Montfaucon we are indebted for a few copies from the antique of the
larger varieties of nets for hunting, Ziktvo,, retia ; see his plates of stag-hunting :
but we have no representations of other predatory instruments in the latter work.
Wase confounds the laquei curraces with the dentatee pedicee, where he describes the
former as " a round hoop of yeughen wood made of boughs, which stood bent by
force, in fashion of a coronet, and all stuck with iron nayles, and wooden pins," &c.
Peradventure, they may have been set together, the gins in a shallow pit beneath tlie
nooses, more superficially placed on the ground. See Xenoph. de Venat. c. ix.
Polluc. Onom. L. v. c, iv.
Al'l'KN 1)1 \.
193
. 1- . t 1 1- V I 1 '^en. de Venat.
ii>ot-tra[)s or i^ms, resembling the -KocoaTpapai o\ Aenoplioii ami ^^ ,x.
I*»)llux; and formed, as the following lines indicate, of wood, con- Poll. Onom.
ceulod on tlio ground ; ^* ^' ^^'
Quid (jui dentatas illgno robore clausit
Venator pedicas 1 cum dissimulautibus arniis
Sa?pe habet iiiiprudens alieni lucra laboris 1
It being no small recommendation to them that one poacher might
reap the fruits of another's labours. Their invention is attributed to
a virtuous and holy Arcadian, ycleped Dercylus,i in higli favour
with the Sylvan goddess, and by her initiated in the mysteries of
hunting, and the formation of sundry destructive implements of
predation, which he first employed in the valleys of Mount Maenalus,
and the Lacediemonian AmycIvK :
And
O felix, tantis quern primum industria rebus
Prodidit auctorem ! Deus ille, an proxuma Divos
Mens fuit, in caecas aciem quae magna tenebras
Egit, et ignarum perfudit himine valgus ?
Ergo ilium primis nemorum Dea finxit in annis,
Auctoremque operi dignata inscribere magno,
Jussit adire suas et pandere geutibus artes.
Gralii Cjneg.
vs. 95.
1. It is remarkable that this inventive genius is noticed by no other writer ; high
as his character stands with the Faliscian,
baud illo quisquam se justior egit,
Aut fuit in terris Diviim observautior alter :
unless indeed he be the sly coadjutor of Alebion, wlio with a thief cleped Dercjlus
(of a different caste seemingly from the Gratian hero) despoiled Hercules of his
bovine booty during its transit through Iberia. See Natal. Comes, Mytholog. L. vii.
Perhaps we may with Wernsdorf consider him the first writer on the science and
mechanism of the chase, rather than the actual inventor of its multifarious furniture :
or if we cannot thus dispose of his claim to manual dexterity, may we not identify
him with Aristaeus, the Arcadian nephew of Diana,
hv KaXfovaiv
aypea Koi nSfiiov,
a sort of legendary Sir Tristrem iu ancient matters of venery, and rural economy.
2 R
Gratii Cyneg.
vs. 103.
Excursus II.
ad Gratii
vs. 103.
Apollon.
Argonaut.
L. II. 508.
194
APPENDIX.
Plutarch,
in Araatorio.
But it must not be forgotten that a competitor for the glory of these,
and other like discoveries, is mentioned by Phitarch, in Amatorio,
and by Nonnus, in Dionysiacis, in the person of Arista^us — ev^ovTai
b"Api(TTai(i) boXovrres opvyfxam Ka\ jSpo'^^oisXvkovs Kal apKTOvs, os npioTOS
diipeaaiv errrt^e Trobriypas: — indeed, if we may credit the Christian poet
of Panopolis, the sire of the hapless Actajon is entitled to the inven-
tion of almost every article of hunting-gear, the dresses of sportsmen,
initiation of hounds of chase, &c. — of many of which he has been
deprived by less rightful claimants :
Nonni in
Dionys. L. v.
Kilvos avijp irpciriffTos oplSpofios a\(j.ari rapau>v
evpe <pi\oaKoirf\oio irdvov KefiaSoffaSov i/yp-qs,
■Kois voepif) fxvKTript irapa acpvpa (popfidSos v\7]s
dripos aar)ndvTOio kvwv fiavreierai oSfi^v,
vpdLU o^vKeKevOov iirl Zpdjxov ovara reivwf
Kal SoAiTjy SeSctrj/ce iroXvirKoKa d'lKTva rexftis,
Kal araX'iKwv tvttov opQ6v. k.t. A.
Gratii Cyneg.
vs. 108.
To the first-mentioned Arcadian worthy Gratius attributes the
earliest fashioning of hunting-spears with morce or guards. Virgil
sings of " lato venabula ferro," for close conflict ; and Gratius more
particularly adds, to the honour of Dercylus's armoury, the introduc-
tion of bitid spears :
llle etiam valido primus venabula dente
Induit : et proni moderatus vulneris iram
Omne moris excepit onus. Turn stricta verutis
Dentibus et geminas subiere hastilia fuicas.
But although the Arcadian formed the spear for pedestrian assault,
Oppian. Cyneg. ^^*^ Meleager was conspicuous in the use of it, — kv oTabioiaiv opeiore-
poiiTt fiuOoiaiv, — a more celebrated hero tirst wielded it in distant
jaculation on horseback :
L. II. 22.
Oppian. Cyneg.
L. II. 14.
jTTiraAe'rjr 8' &ypr}v 6 <pae(T(p6pos evparu Kdcrrwp,
Kal Tobs iifv KaTiTri<pviv, firl aKonhv tdvs &kovti
PaWSfXfvos, Tovs 5' oSre Boois 'Itzttoktiv iKavi/wv
O^lpas eAe lv\6xoKn /leffrifiPpLVolo Spdfioio.
— a style of hunting, which we may suppose to have been much
practised in the Boman empire by persons of noble rank, as Mont-
faucon gives several representations of it from the sepulchre of the
A J' P E N D 1 X .
195
Nasoni : — in exact accordance with which, tlio nnreXari]^ oi Onnian t.y"eg. L. i.
J vs. 91. seqq.
\ IS decked out tor the equestrian chase.
The reader's recollection will readily supply, from authors in every
one's hands, the use of bows and arrows,' and small darts — " excussa IVIartial. de
Aiiipli. Cfusar.
iancea torta raanu, — m the early annals ot held-sports : L. xi.
Quocirca et jaculis habilem perpendimus usum :
Neu leve vulnus eat, neu tit brevis impetus illi.
Ipsa arcu Lyci&.que suas Diana pharetia,
Annavit comites ; ne tela relinquite Divse,
Magnum opus et volucres quondam fecere sagitta;.
Gratii Cyneg.
vs. 122.
The far-famed female ally of Meleager in the attack on the Caly-
donian boar,
the paragone
Of Lycey forest, Atalant, a goodly lady, one
Of Schaenyes daughters,
claims the merit of first employing archery ; having been instructed "
both in KvyTjXaair) and e.v(jTo\iri by Dian herself, (see Callim. H. in
Dian. vs. 217.)
"SiXoivrios irpuTT) Se kXvtt) fliryarrjp 'AroAai'Tij
flTjpffi <p6vov irrepoevra (ru7jj8o'A.os ivparo Kovpr).
We are unacquainted with the form and use of many of the wea-
Golding's
Ovid's Me lam.
B. VIII.
Oppian. Cyneg.
L. II. 26.
1. The decay of archery in England is feelingly deplored by Sir Thomas Elyot,
because " in shotyng is a double utilitee : " it is " the feate, wherby Englyshmcn The (iovernour.
have been moste dradde and had in estimation vrith outwarde princes, as wel
enemyes as alies," &c. ; and secondly in " kyllynge of deere, wylde foule, and other
game, there is both profyte and pleasure above any other artyllery."
2. Superior expertness in the chase — " To bend the bow, and aim unerring darts,"
— was always attributed to the personal instructions of Diana; so was Scamandrius
taught, though his skill availed him nothing before the fatal lance of Menelaus :
fffOhhv 6ripr}r^pa' SiSa^e yap "Apre/xis avri)
PdWeiv &ypta ndi/ra, to re Tpecpft ovpeatv i/'Atj.
dAA' ov ol run ye xP^'^'m' ''Aprefnis loxeaipa,
oiiSe eKrtPo\iat, iiaLv rh irpiv y iKfuacrro.
Iliad. L. v. 51.
196
APPENDIX.
pons, with which Oppian accoutres his able-bodied rustics for the
covert-side,
EjusJem
L. I. 148.
Koi fj-ijp T6aaa (pipoivTo ttotI kj/tj/xous ^vXoXovs t6
epyow6uoL Kpartpol 6vpr)s epiKvSfos 'dvAa,
ivrea t' ehQripoio fitya irviiovTa (pSvoio, k. t. A.
Nat. Com. de and Natalis Comes, with his brief scholiast Ruscellius, throws no
light on them, in the borrowed armoury of his first cynegetic. The
Hieron.
Riiscell. Schol. Oppianic catalogue runs through eight lines, in which we recognize,
Breviss. Iliustr.
Aid. F. Venet.
M.D.LI.
P. A. Bargffii
C^neg. L. I.
Oppian. Cyneg.
L. I. 450.
in addition to the former implements of predatory hunting, others
particularly devoted to the capture of the hare, the ap-rraXnyov and
Xaywofoyos -piaiva, the hare-pole, and three-pronged hare-fork —
belonging probably to the class of murderous instruments mentioned
by the poet of Barga :
Nee desint durte sinuato vertice clavas
Qua; leporis cursum jactK compescere possint.'
Among the more simple modes of following wild animals for cap-
ture, I should have earlier mentioned that of tracking— from its
simplicity, probably, coeval with the rudest species of pursuit. It is
alluded to in the 32nd Epigram of Callimachus,
'nyp€VT)]S, 'EfftKuSes, eV ovp^cri iravra Kaywhv
Si(pa, Kol Trdarjs Ixvia, SopKaXiSos,
arlPr] koi PKpercf Kex<''PWf''os —
in the 1st Georgic of Virgil vs. 308. and the 2nd Satire of the 1st
book of Horace vs. 105. Oppian describes tracking as twofold, by
men, and dogs, — the former of course being the more ancient, and
more correctly termed tracking, the latter scenting :
efSea 5« (Ttj/Sit/s SvaSepKfOS tirXero Stffaa,
avZpwv, T)6e Kwwv fiepoins /xiv ap" alo\60ov\oi
bfifxacri TfK/xijpavTo, Koi ev (ppdcraavro Ke\ev6a'
Hv^anripcri Kui>es 5e iravixi'ia ai]yi.rivavTO.
Scliol. ad
Theocrit. id.
1. The \ayoiP6\ov of Theocrilus IdvU. iv. 49. vii. 128. Epigr. ii. 3. {^v\ov, ^
SiatpevyouTes ot Aayuol /SaAAoj/Tui,) seems to be the type of Barga;us's weapon — the
lagobolion of Natalis Comes. ])e Veiiat. L. i.
A 1' I' EN 1)1 \. 197
Savaiy's ejaculation on snow-tracking the hare is more aniusiiii; than
poetical :
O nix ! improba nix ! generosii; invisa Diana*, Alb. Diana;
Pcrnicies leporum ! venantum ignobile vulgus j
Quam votis petit assiduis, ut ca;de cruenta,
Depopuletur agros! &c.
The many wily inventions devised by man's ingenuity of old for
ensnaring noxious and timid animals, appear to us more like instru-
ments of lawless poaching, than fair hunting, and fully justify the
conclusion of Arrian's 24th chapter de Venatione ; wherein, with the
spirit of a genuine courser, he exclaims, " there is as much difference
between a fair trial of speed in a good run, and ensnaring a poor
animal without an effort, as between the secret piratical assaults of
robbers at sea, and the victorious naval engagements of the Athe-
nians at Artemisium, at Salamis, at Psyttalia, and at Cyprus."
It has been erroneously stated by Montfaucon and others, that the Antiq. Expi.
. Tom. III. L. III.
use 01 nets and snares was not an exercise of pleasure to men or e. iv.
quality, but only to peasants, and persons of inferior grade ; — the
praise of a noble employment being, on this view, alone awarded to
hunting with dogs, or being armed for the sport with venabula,
hastilia, &c. either on foot or horseback. But this distinction, how-
ever plausible in theory, is not tenable in fact. Discreditable as the
use of snares may be deemed, and irreconcilable to modern taste, the
philosophic recluse of Scillus, the patrician Xenophon, and every
other sportsman, whether high or low, of the classic ages, must plead
guilty to their employment :
ducuntur et ipsi Manilii L. v.
Retibus, ct claudunt campos formidine mortis,
Mendacesque parant foveas, laqueosque tenaces,
Currentesque feras pedicarum compede nectunt,
Aut canibus ferrove necant, prjedasque reportant.
I do not mean that the gentry had not the aid of servants in these as
in other menial occupations — (for it is evident that Xenophon's
npKvuipos was a servant ; and on the huntsman's tomb, recorded by
Pausanias in Achaicis c. xxii., by the side of the principal is the
(>iKiTT)s uKoPTia e^w»', Kai I'tywv Kvvas eirirribeias drjpeuovffiv auOpwirois —
The ostentation too of the Horatian Gargilius,
198
APPENDIX,
Hor. L. I.
Epist. VI. 58.
Xenophon
de Venat. c.
qui mane plagas, venabula, servos,
Differtum transire forum populumque jubebat, —
is farther proof ; and so likewise the "/awm/e, comitumque animosa
juventus" of Nemesian, engaged in preparing the furniture of
hunting;!) — but I mean that the gentry were practically engaged in
this predatory venation, themselves directing and assisting in the
distribution of the whole machinery of it. In defence, however, of
Xenophon, the most accomplished of ancient sportsmen, and in con-
tradistinction of his habits in the field to those of modern poachers,
whom in some of his predatory tackling it must be allowed he
resembled, we may observe that he orders all the apparatus to be
taken away when the sport is over — avaXveiv ^pj) to. nepi Kvvrtyeaiov
ir&vra — a clear indication, that though he and his compeers used nets
and dogs together, forestalling their prey, contrary to the custom of
the more enlightened moderns, who hunt at force, Kara iroSas, — yet
it was held illegal, or at least unsportsmanlike, to leave snares on
the ground longer than the time of the actual chase. ^
Ovid. Metam.
L. VII. 805.
1. Additional evidence of the attendance of servants being usual at hunting expe-
ditions, is afforded bj the tale of Cephalus,
Venatum in silvis juveniliter ire solebam ;
Nee mecnm famulos, nee equos, nee naribus acres
Ire canes, nee Una sequi nodosa sinebam.
Tutus eram jaculo, &c.
Preface to the 2. The hunting of the ancient Hebrews appears not to have differed materially
Keader. from that of the Pagan world. " Canaan," observes Wase, " was hemmed in with
Gratius ^ ' ,
Englished &c. deserts : there was the great Lebanon, and there was Mizpeh, and Tabor, and other
by C. Wase. mountains which abounded with game; and in the royall age, I beleeve, hunting
itself was much frequented; for though the sacred history do not ex professo take
care to deliver us any thing concerning those lighter recreations, yet the frequent
representations made by it throughout the writters of that age, do give some proba-
bility that it was a frequent object among them, and taken from the common use.
David's persecutions are sometimes likened to fowling, oftentimes to hunting : his
enemies dig a pit for him, they set a snare to catch his feet. No authors of human
learning, whose works yet survive, make so much mention of grins as the Psalmes
have made : his enemies bend tliiir bow, and make their arrows ready upon the
string, to shoot at the righteous. J'his was Esau's artillery. So that according to
APPENDIX. 1!H)
But of " tlio abrogated styles of hunting in the ignorant non-
age of the world," — to use the language of Christopher AVase, —
enough. The pit, the snare, and other svpellex venandi, were
employed, as already stated, long before the dog was tutored to the
chase, ^ and were continued after his initiation, and that of his
valued associate and coadjutor the horse, (the joint-presents of the
tliat age, hunting was so instituted ; for our author, speaking of these two, intimates
that they were courses of an elder date, for Ginas saith he,
Nam/ttif et laqueis aliquis curracibus usus :
Cervmo jussire magis, &c.
He saith likewise for bows and arrows,
Magnum opus et celeres quondam fecire sagittae.
David's enemies hide a net for him. ' The proud have hid a snare for me, and Psalm cxl. 5.
cords ; they have spread a net by the way side ; they have set grins for me.' Neither
was it unknown to the Jewish huntsmen the way of driving beasts, by an immission
of fear, which is the fonnido et pinnatum," &c. The biblical scholar will remember
the memorable passage of the book of Job, " the steps of his strength shall be Job c. xviii.
straitened, [Gr. hunted,) and his own counsel shall cast him down. For he is cast into
a net by his own feet, and he walketh upon a snare. The gin shall take him by the
heel, and the robber shall prevail against him (the entangling cord or noose holdeth
him fast). The snare is laid for him in the ground, and a trap for him in the way.
Terrors shall make him afraid on every side, and shall drive him to his feet." In the
prophet Isaiah almost all the methods of capture given in the Classic Cynegetica
contribute their metaphorical signification. " Fear, and the pit, and the snare, are Isaiah c. xxiv,
upon thee, O inhabitant of the earth. And it shall come to pass, that he who fleetli
from the noise of the fear shall fall into the pit ; and he that cometh up out of the
midst of the pit shall be taken in the snare." See also Jeremiah c. xlviii. and
Ezekiel c. xix. The irayiSes Oavdrov of the LXX. version of Proverbs xxi. 1. may
be compared to the *' mortis laquei " of Horace, L. in. Od. xxiv. vs. 8. and to the
" leti plagae " of Statins Silv. V. i. vs. 155.
1. It is a curious fact, that in the Hebrew text of the Scriptures there is no allu-
sion whatever to hunting with dogs. Nimrod is called in the Greek version ylyas
Kvvriyhs, Genesis x. 9., and Esau ivOponros elSoos Kwriyeiv, Genesis xxv. 27.; but in
the Hebrew, there is no reference to the employment of the dog. The cam's lutnbis Bocharf.
tenuibus, quo ad venationem utunlur venatores, introduced by commentators. Proverbs Hierozoic.
XXX. 31., I believe to be a fanciful rabbinical creation. See a note on the subject in
the prefatory matter to my translation of Arrian.
200 APPENDIX.
twin-sons of Leila,) who contributed their services in common to
almost every variety of chase :
Oppian. Cyneg. ^uval Brjpoavvai re Xiuwv, Ivvai re iro5a7poi'
L. IV. 43. I- ^ s' > ' fl ' !t ' ' ' fli
iTTTTOtJ r)5e Kvueaai diaiKe/jLev.
We know not at this period whether the different varieties of the
canine tribe are to be classed under the same species — whether a
specific identity exist in the wolf, the jackal, and the dog — nor
whether, in the latter family, the peculiar adaptation of each variety
for peculiar functions can be the accidental consequences of mere
degeneration, excited to change by the climate of different countries,
and the ingenuity of man.
Let the primeval stock be what it may, the race was first initiated
in the pursuit of wild animals by that celebrated sportsman, the
Amyclean Pollux ; — for we must not despise fable where history is
silent, and again quote the Greek poet of the chase :
Onpian. Cyneg. irphs Se fiodovs Oripvv Kwas SiirAiae Kapxcip^SovTas
StoyevTis ■npSnos /iaKf:^aifi6vios no\v5evK7]S,
Kol yap iru7/uaxi7?(7[ \vypovs ipapi^aro (pwras,
Kol (TKv\dKia<n doais fiaXlovs iSaixdacraTO Orjpas.
The species being distributed over the habitable world, derived its
various names from its geographical distribution i— each country
having its variety of the race, characterized by remarkable qualities,
and distinguished by them in the Cynegetical works of Greece and
Rome : —
1. Tlie exceptions to this geographical nomenclaturg are only I'our, viz. the Ver-
tragus, otherwise called the Celtic or Gallic hound ; the Metagon, a lime-hound;
the Agassaaus ; and Petronius : the origin of which two latter names is uncertain.
The sub-varieties of the Cretan, mentioned by Arrian and Julius Pollux, may also
constitute exceptions to the general rule ; but these, vpith the Menelaides and Har-
modii, Caslorii and Alopecides, must be considered as merging in the more general
titles of Crete and Laceda;mon : and so likewise the porter and pastoral dogs, and
others deriving their names from their vocations, in the topical appellatives of their
respective countries.
L. II. 18.
A I' P K N 1) I \ .
201
prima ilia canum, non ulla per artes
Cura prior, sive itulomitos vclicmcntior liostcs
Nudo niarte premas, seu belluin ex arte niinistres.
Mille canum patria;, ductique ab origine mores
Cuique suil.
Gratii Cynpf;.
vs. 151.
Where the descriptions of these mores or qualities are sufficiently
full, in the works alluded to, for a satisfactory classification of the
several varieties of the canine tribe, it is the object of the following
trivial work to attempt it —
the various gifts to trace,
The minds and genius of the latrant race.
Tickell's
Rliscellanies.
But it must not be expected that it will give an account of all the
serai-fabulous dogs of classical antiquity, or attempt to reduce
within the pale of a zoological arrangement the shape and properties
of every mongrel, however memorable, that has puzzled the dis-
criminative acumen of Conrad Gesner himself; or find archetypes
in the kennels of Greece and Rome, for " all the barkand parish-
tikes" of the credulous Dr. Caius, and more recent writers of canine
biography.
This little monograph being almost exclusively confined to the
common Canes Venatici —
Ben Jonson's
Sad Shepherd.
Act II. sc. 3.
TOffaoi t' inl iraai Kvveaffiv Oppian. Cyneg.
e|ox' api^7i\oi nd\a t aypevrripcri fifhovrai — '"
it is not incumbent on me to inquire whether a Cerberus, or an
Orthrus, (the i:paT€p6(f)pova reKva of Typhaon and Echidna i), ever Hesiod. Tbeog.
existed in canine shape — whether Anubis was a biped or quadruped
" iatrator" — a genuine barker, or a dog-faced Mercury — "Epjiris u virgil. iEn.
KvyonpoawTTos — whether Euripides was torn to pieces by ferocious L. viii.768.
"^ '^ r J Lucian. Jupiter
dogs or spiteful women — whether the beauty of the dog of Alci- Tragoedus.
7] 8' inroKV(r(xafj.eu7i, reKero KpaTfp6cppGua reKVa,
''OpBpov /jlIv TTpunov Kvva ytivaTo rrjpvovfi'i'
htimpov aiiTis iTtKTfv a/j.'fixavov , ovri (parethv,
K4p$epov cifxr)(rrr}v, aiSew Kitva xaXKefJc^oivof,
■KiVTTfKovra Kaprivov, dcotSe'a Tf , Kparepdv n .
2 c
Hesiod. Theog.
vs. 308.
202
APPENDIX.
Pollucis
Ononiast. L.
In Ibin.
Plutarch, de
Solert. Animal.
&c.
Pollucis
Onomast. L. v.
blades, probably a Canis Ostiarius and not a Canis Venaticus, was
impaired by the loss of his tail, or the act of decurtation conferred
on the eccentric Athenian the notoriety he expected — nor on what
variety of the race is to be charged the deaths of Thrasus, Actaeon,i
and Linus, of Ovid's well-known tetrastic. It is foreign to my
purpose to inquire whether Plutarch's dog, who threw stones into
an oil-cruse till he had raised its contents sufficiently high in the
neck of the vessel to lap the oleaginous fluid, surpassed in sagacious
ingenuity the cunning brutes of more modern dog-fanciers — whether
the disciplined mimic, exhibited before Vespasian in the theatre of
Marcellus, must yield to the discriminative feats of his congener
before Justinian. All these non-descripts, from the janitor Orci to
the theatrical pantomimi, are out of my beat. Amusing too as it
might be to the reader to have an acccount of every faithful dog,
recorded by the immortal German naturalist as the av/ijua^^ot and
c(ofxaTO(j)v\aK€s of man, — and the anecdotes of canine instinct and
affection registered by Plutarch, ^lian, Pliny, Solinus, and Julius
Pollux — versified by Johannes Tzetzes and Natalis Comes, and
reprinted by the laborious PauUini in the Cynographia Curiosa,
presented to his notice, — such a compilation would lead me into too
wide a field. For the same reason, and without meaning any dis-
respect to the ladies of Greece and Rome, I am prevented from
enrolling on my file their domestic pets —
Lucret. L. iv.
995.
consueta domi catulorum blanda propago
Degere —
the ol eirl rfpTTwXjyj/, Knl o'l fxeXiru'iot Xeyo/uevot of the visionary
Artemidorus. ^ I cannot, however, deny the reader the gratification
1. With the aid of the poet I shall hereafter venture an opinion on the breed of
some of the pack of the stag-like huntsman — the most celebrated of the trio — slain by
command of Dian : eVeJ ^ixade ocpdeicra virh tov 'AKratcovos, <po$r]6e7iTa n^ 6 veaviaKos
f^ayopevffrj rh alcrxos avrrjs, iira(prJKfv avTw roiis Kvvas. See J, Sarisber. Policrat.
L. I. c. IV. for the moral of this tale.
2. The iieXiToia KwiSia were so called, " quia ad fceminarura delicias ex Rlelito
Emend, p. 242. insula advehebantur :" — the " smalle ladyes popees that here awaye the flees" of
Alban's. * Juliana Berners — " Instruments of folly to play and dally withal, in trifling away the
Lucian. Deor.
Dial. Juno et
Latona.
Minshasi
A 1' 1' i: N D 1 X .
203
of perusing the following lines of Darcius, in which he celebrates
these tiny creatures; — of whom Martial's Issa will be remembered
as a clussic exemplar—" Delici* catella Publi."
Sunt huroiles etiain Molitaju ex gentc catelli,
Quod gremio gestare soleut Hero'ides, hique
Nee cursu celerem sectantur privpete cervum.
Nee lato pavidum leporem scrutantur in arvo :
Veste sedent flux^, et pedibus mylesia caleant
Serica, sub Tjrioque reeurabunt moUiter ostro :
None caput exertant gremio, saliuntque decorum
Nobilis in vullum doming, lusuque fatigant
Labra corallino modicum siiffusa rubore,
Vemantesque genas, et ebur superantia coila,
Smaragdoque graves digitus, et Perside gaza.
Nunc tenui latrare soiio, pictoque videbis
Lascivire toro, aut nitida juveniliter aula.
But hold-
Martial.
L. i.Ep. no.
.T. Darcil
Venusini Canes.
whilst thus we play the fool, ('liurchill's
In bold contempt of every rule — ^ '"^ Ghost.
_ . . " B. HI.
Things of no consequence expressing,
Describing now, and now digressing —
To the discredit of our skill,
The main concern is standing still.
It is a favourite notion of classic writers that the qualities and
dispositions of the animals of each country are in accordance with
those of the human inhabitants : and this opinion prevails more
especially relative to domesticated animals, the reclaimed varieties
of the dog and horse. Numerous instances might be adduced in
corroboration of this hypothesis. Strabo remarks in the Iberian
and Albanian people, and their dogs, the same fondness of hunting —
dripevTiKol be Kal avroi Ka\ o'l kvves uvtuv els virepfioXi'jv : and ^lian, ^iian. de Nat.
in the Medes and their horses — aopapoi bk Mfjboi Kai aftpol, Kal °™c. 2.
fievTOi Kal ol eKeiviav toiovtoi Imrof (pairjs av avroiis rpvcp^v avv Tois
beuTTorais, ical t^ fxeyedei tov awfiarosy Kai t^ KaWei, k. t. X. These,
treasure of time, to wythdrawe theyr mindes from more commendable exercises, and Holinshed's
to content theyr corrupt concupiscences wyth vaine disport, a silly poore shift to shun Description of
theyr irkesome ydlenesse." „ "'•*'°^;
■' ■' B. III. c. 13.
204
APPENDIX.
probably, he meant to contrast, as well as their proud riders, with
the sorry-looking, unsightly horses of Libya, (active, however, and
patient of fatigue), and the unsightly people of the country.
The naturalist then proceeds to say that such also are his opinions
with regard to the dogs of each country ; and specifies, as examples
corroborative of his hypothesis, the Cretan, Molossian, and Car-
yElian. de Nat. nianian — kvcjv Kpj/c^" /coi/0^, kui uXtiki), kuI opetflaaiais trvi/Tpcxpos'
Animal. L. iii. , v . > i' / f - q - \ "i t
c. 2. ''f* fxivToi Kai avToi Kpr/res toiovtovs avrovs iTapaoeiicvvai, icai <^dei >/
(pflfir). dufxiKwraros be KvriLv Mo\oct(tos, errei (^vfiwhetTTUTOi Kai ol avvpes.
'Avfjp be Kap/myios kui kvihv aiJ(j)6T€pa aypiuiTaTa Kai fietXi^Orjvai
ciTeyKTa (pvertv. A farther example of this prevalent notion is found
in the lines of Gratius on the crafty Acarnanian dog — " clandestinus
Acarnan :" —
Gratii Cyneg.
vs. 184.
Sicut Acarnanes subierunt praelia furto ;
Sic canis ilia suos taciturna supervenit hostes
Thucyd. B. P.
L. III. 107.
alluding to a passage of the history of Thucydides, where he relates
that Demosthenes placed 400 Acarnanians in ambuscade, in a
hollow way near Olpae ; whence they issued forth in the heat of the
subsequent engagement, and by their sudden assault on the rear of
the Peloponnesians, completely routed them. A similar reference
to national character is evident in the passage of Gratius, on cross-
ing defective breeds of dogs with others in which opposite excel-
lencies exist :
Gratii C^fiieg.
vs. 194,
Quondam inconsullis mater dabit Unibrica Gallis
Sensum agilem, ' &c.
Antiq. Sept.
etCelt.Keysler.
s. II. c. II. G.
Lucan. L. i.
p. 19.
Ed. Farnab.
1. A passage which Wase supposes to allude to the canis Gallicus of Arrian ;
whose impetuosity of course, and entire want of scent, his peculiar characteristics,
resemble the heedless, rash, and head-strong ardour of the Gallic character in gene-
ral, (yElian. V. H. L. xii. c. 23.) and particularly of the Gallic soldiers of Lucan's
Pharsalia :
quos ille tiraorum
Maximus haud urget lethi metus ; inde ruendi
la ferrum mens prona viris, animffique capaces
Mortis : et ignavum reditur«e parcere vita;.
But an allusion to the war-dogs of Ccltica, the " divcrsi Cella; " of vs. 15G. of the
APPENDIX. 205
But to tloscoiid from these general remarks on the supposed assi-
milation ot" men and animals, cohabitants of the same soil, to the
particular kennel-rolls of Greece and Rome. There appears to
have been a threefold distinction of Canes Venatici, acknowledged
by classic authors, during the imperial government of Rome. I do
not mean that this classification is accurately observed by all the
cynegetical and popular authorities ; but it may be traced, more or
less clearly, in the writings of Gratius, ^ Seneca, Arteraidorus,
Oppian, Claudian, and Julius Firmicus.
The Faliscian notes a triple division in the fragment of his
Halieutic poem :
canum quibus est audacia preeceps, Gratii Halieut.
Venandique sagax virtus, viresque sequendi.
98.
" In cane sagacitas prima est," says Seneca in one of his Epistles,
" si investigare debet feras ; cursus, si consequi; audacia, si mordere
et invadere."
We find nearly a similar arrangement in the Oneirocritica of
Artemidorus, a strange visionary of Ephesus, who spent his whole
life in endeavouring to solve the mysteries, hidden, as he conceived,
in dreams — rwv kvvwv oi /uev eirl df]pav Tpe(j>ovTai, Kat tovtwv ot fxeu Artemidori
, , x.c>f/ ~ a ' ~ 'S^•^J^-~ Oneirocrit.
€i(Tiv t^vevrat, ot oe ofxoae tois orjpiois ■j^^iopovaiv' ot ce ent cpvKaKT) twv l ii c xi
KTrifJLarwv, ovs olKovpovs Kai Seff/xtous Xeyo/icr, k. t. X.
Claudian, in his third book De Laudibus Stiliconis, describing
the active co-operation of Diana and her nymphs in advancing the
honour of his hero, " Consulis in plausum," distinctly specifies a
triple division :
variae formis, et gente sequuntur, Claudian. de
Ingenioque canes : ilia; gravioribus aptw Laud, btilic.
Morsibus ; hae pedibiis celeres ; hae nare sagaces ;
Cynegeticon, seems equally tenable. At the same time, it is not impossible but that
both passages may refer to greyhounds, under the names of Galli and Celta;.
1. In the muster-roll of Actaeon's pack by Gratius's contemporary, amidst various
sorts of hounds culled from various countries, the same characteristic distinctions pre-
dominate : we have a
trux cum Laelape Thcron, Ovid. Met.
Et pedibus Pterclas, et naribus utilis Agre. * "'' *
206
APPENDIX.
Jul. Firmici
L. V. c. VIII.
and then inverting the order of sequence, names, apparently in
illustration of his classes, the Cretan, Spartan, and Briton :
Hirsuteeque fremunt Cressae, tenuesque Laceena;,
Magnaque taurorum fracture coUa Britannae,
The first we must acknowledge to be nare sagaces ; the second
pedibus celeres, the slenderest and speediest hounds, probably,
known to the poet, in the absence of the Vertragus, — whom alone
we consider swift of foot, and entitled to rank under the class so
denominated. The Britannae justly exemplify the dogs of combat —
graviorihus aptee morsibus.
Julius Firmicus comprehends the whole genus under the triple
distinction of " Molossi, Vertragi, et qui sunt ad venationes ac-
comodati," — meaning to include in the latter periphrasis the whole
class of sagacious hounds, as he does the pugnacious under the
title of Molossi.
Of Oppian's tripartite arrangement, exemplified in the portraits
which he has drawn of the individuals representative of each class,
and of his farther distinction, founded on purity and commixture of
blood, I shall hereafter speak ; assuming at present, on the autho-
rity of the cited passages, that all the more celebrated varieties of
the canine race, mentioned in the Cynegetica of Greece and Rome,
of the date referred to, may be classified under the triple division of
pugnaces, sagaces, and celeres. ^
Joan. Darcii
Venusini
Canes.
1. Tlie same threefold division runs through many of the modern semi-classical
Cynegetica— being founded, as of course it is, in the essential qualities of the canine
race:
Nunc age quis villas meiior, gregibusque tuendis ;
Quffi volucri soboles cursu, nasove sagaci
Sit potior ; ncc enim solers dedit omnibus unum
Natura ingenium.
Ulysses Aldrovandus, in the section of his elaborate work which treats of the canine
De Quad. Digit, race, uses the very words of Seneca hefore cited, to mark the " tres prajcipua cani-
P* * * bus venaticis proprietates — sagacitas, cursus, atidacia."
Vanierii Praed.
Rust. L. IV.
Sed non una canum species : pars nata domorura
Excubiis, gressum et mensam sectatur herilem :
Venandi studiosa feras pars alite cursu
Insequitur, vcl nare sagax vestigat odora.
Al'l'KNDlV. 207
In Xenoplion, and the cailinr Greek writers, we do not trace
more than a twofold division into pugnaces and sagaccs ; the
varieties of the latter class differing, perhaps, amongst themselves
in degrees of swiftness. Indeed, that they did so is evident from
what Socrates remarks of the sagacity and speed of different indi-
viduals of the race, in the well-known interview with the beautiful,
meretricious Theodota : — on be /iefl' iinepav aTrobibpn(TKov(nv ol Xayios Xenoplion,
ciXXas KTwyrai Kvias, aini'es, rj ay eK rf]S vofifis els rriv evyfiv aireXdum, «^inof- • "••
Tj; oafifj aiadavofieyai, evptUKOvmy avrovs' on he TTobuiKCis eialv, u'xrre
Kal eK Tov (havepov Tpe^oyres airo(j)evyeiv, fiXXas av Kvvas ra-^elai na-
paffKevd^ovrai, Hva kutu nobas aXicnciovrai. The swift-footed of this
passage must not be interpreted as the celeres of our third class,
which will be found to contain only the Vertragus of Arrian ; — on
whose authority it is affirmed that the greyhound was unknown in
Greece in the days of the Socratic Xenophon. Probably, they
were the most speedy of the Canes Laconici, to which the philosopher
alludes — the daaffoves avpacov Kvvoffovpibes of Callimachus. H. in Dianam.
In accordance with the distinctions pointed out in the classical
kennels is the threefold character of ancient hunting : but as coursing
properly so called, (the third variety of chase peculiar to the Vide Jani
^j , „,.,.. . • 1 1 • Vlitii Venat.
Vertragus), was or late introduction in comparison with hunting, Novantiq.
the two grand divisions of the sports of the field may be considered
as primarily founded on the twofold distinction of canes pugnaces
or hellicosi, and canes sagaces ; and by Gratius, under the terms
arma and artes, both are vividly depicted.
"■ The one," says Christopher Wase, " is a desperate and gla- Certaine
T ,-1 • , 1- • 1 , 1 1 • ,1 Illustrations
diator-nke entering the lists w^ith beasts, and assaulting them by of the Cvneg.
violence; which was the school of cruelty and ignorant course of ^ ,.'"'"^°.„
'' ° Uratius. p. 1/.
ancient Nimrods : the other a crafty circumventing them by wiles,
which is the child of ingenious invention, much assisting man to re-
establish him in his empire over the beasts of the field, that hath
been so much empayred." Then, again, he observes, " the mag-
num opus is bold and hazardous hunting of great beasts, and leve
opus is hard-riding and pursuit of little fugacious quarry."
It was left to the courser of Nicomedia, the Bithynian Xenophon,
to place on record in his supplementary Cynegeticus, and to illus-
trate from his personal experience, the third variety of chase with
dogs peculiar to Celtica ; — which we have designated as forming a
208 APPENDIX.
class of themselvos, under the title of pedibus celeres, of the greatest
speed of foot and least sagacity of nose of the whole genus, running
entirely on sight of their game. The Celtic or Gallic hound does
not appear to have been introduced generally into the more southern
parts of Europe, till after the dissolution of the commonwealth of
Rome. He is first mentioned by Ovid ; and his style of coursing
the hare so exquisitely described, that it must have been derived
from actual experience in the field rather than hearsay ; which latter
alone seems to have given him admission into the Cynegeticon of
Gratius, Ovid's contemporary.
The earliest systematic account of the two first varieties of Vena-
tio, will be found in the Cynegeticus of the elder Xenoplion ; who
describes in the 6th chapter the style of hunting the hare in the
mountainous, woodland regions of Greece, with all its poaching-
gear : and in the 9th, 10th, and 11th chapters, the chase of deer,
boars, lions, pards, lynxes, panthers, and bears. The Greeks were
J. Vlitii Venat. entirely unacquainted with the third species of Venatio, named, for
distinction's sake, Venatio cursoria, as the others are V. hellica,
and V. indagatoria.
The animals obnoxious to the chase were suitable to its diflferent
varieties, and coped with by classic hunters according to the prowess
of each game. Some creatures being timid and fugacious, others of
great strength and ferocity, and a third class wily and artful, — the
Plin. Paneg. hunters were wont, in the words of Pliny's panegyric, " certare cum
^" ' fngacibus feris cursu, cum audacibus robore, cum callidis astu ;" —
thereby acquiring, in Diana's school of mimic war, the necessary
experimental knowledge for following the flying foe, or contending
with the daring, or the subtle, in the field of real battle. ^
1. Painter's Palace of Pleasure amusingly works out the points of resemblance in
the field-array of an army and a hunt ; — " by the pursuite of Beastes, sleyghts of
warre bee observed : The Houndes be the square battel!, the Greyhoundes be the
flanquarts and Wynges to follow the enimy, the horseman semeth to gieve the
Chase, when the Game speedetli to covert, the Homes be the Trumpets to sounde'
the Chase, and Retire, and for incouragement of the Dogges to run. To be short, it
seemeth a very Campe in battayle, ordayned for the pleasure and passetyme of noble
youth."
A I' I' i: N I) 1 \ .
209
(iiatius has ologantly sketched th(; hcasts of Vcncry in his Ila-
lioiitic frasiiK'iit : '
Ca^tera qua3 densas habitant aiiimalia sylvas,
Aut vani quatiunt semper lymphata timores,
Aut traliit in praiceps non sana ferocia mentis.
Ipsa sequi natura monet, vel coimnus iro,
Impiger ipse leo venantum sternere pergit
Agmiiia, et adversis infert sua pectora telis :
Quoque venit, fidens magis, et sublatior ardel,
Coticussitque toros, et viribus addidit iram,
Prodigus atque suo properat sibi robore letbum.
Foedus Lucanis provolvitur ursus ab antris.
Quid nisi pondus iners, stolida;que ferocia mentis ?
Actus aper setis iram denunciat hirtis,
Et ruit oppositi nitens in vulnera ferri,
Pressus, et eniisso nioritur per viscera telo.
Altera pars fidens pedibus, dat terga sequenti,
Ut pavidi lepores, et fulvo tergore damse,
Et capto fugiens cervus sine fine tiniore.
Oppian's distribution of them into classes is nearly similar :
drjpajv ol fiev eacnv firi<ppoves, aio\6fiov\oi,
aWa defxas /3awi" toI 5' f/xiraMv aKKrjfvres,
/SouAtji/ 5' if (TTTideffaii' avdhKiSis' ol 5' &p^ Sfiaprrj
Kal KpaS'iTiv SeiKo), Koi yv7u ireKova' afievr]Vol,
aWa ■K65tiT(Ti 0001' Tolaiv 5e Qihs irdpe TtavTO,,
jSouAV /cepSaAerjv, Kparephv fievos, wKea yovva,
•yiyvdffKovcri 3' eKaffros krjs (pvcrtos kMito, SSipa,
evO' 6\LjoBpai>ees re Kal tvQa ireKovcri Sacpoivoi. k. t. A.
And in Claudian we recognise a summary classification of the same
distinctive characters, adapted to the threefold varieties of the dog
already noticed in his poem :
capitur decus omne timorque
Silvarum. Non cauta latent : non mole resistunt
Fortia : non volucri fugiunt pernicia cursu.
Gratii Ilalicut.
vs. 71.
Oppian. Cyneg.
L. IV, 25.
Claudian. de
Laud. Stilic.
L. III.
1. This fragment, highly Gratian in its style and subject, but long mis-appropriated
to Ovid on the erroneous authority of Pliny, (L. xxxii. c. 2.) is now considered, on
the strength of internal evidence, by Vlitius and Wernsdorf to belong to Gratius.
2 D
210 APPENDIX.
A minute description of each particular chase would exceed the
limits of a compendium, ^ and lead me into too extensive a field.
Ojipian. Cyneg. etSfa ttoWo. Tre\ei KXeirrjs iroXvepytos &yprjs,
fivpia' Ti's Kev airavra fxiij (ppepl x<»p^<^^^^^t
eiireixivat /caret fioipav ;
Let a few brief sketches of the more celebrated suffice — beginning
with the hare-chase of the keenest and most accomplished sportsman
of the classic ages.
After the snares and nets are duly set, and a man placed to
watch them, the first-fruits of the sport being vowed to Apollo and
De Venatione Diana 'A yporepci, Xenophon slips one of his most keen-nosed dogs,
rrofwruTr] ly^veveiv, the rest of the pack being held singly at the co-
vert. If this finder hit on a scent, a second dog is immediately
slipped, and a third, and so on till the whole pack are in full cry
after the started hare. The huntsman follows with his pole, and chla-
Sic apud mj/s wrapped about his hand, cheering the dogs, '\u> kvpcs, Iw kvpps,
Uindnrfii _ y, ~, ,. ii_iii
Anuot. in loco o^'P'^s ye (o Kvt'es, Ka\ws ye lo Kvves, — takmg care not to iieaa tne
pro KUKas. game — firj vTtavTav imopov yap — for nobody but a bungler and no-
sportsman is guilty of this. It is then customary to shout to the
watchman at the nets, XiiTf itals, avrf Ttals, waT. b)), ttoI bij — To her,
hoy ! to her, hoy ! now, hoy ! now, hoy ! — the latter replying whe-
ther the hare be taken or not. If she be captured, the hounds are
called off, and begin to draw for a second ; but if not, and they
again hit off the scent, the halloo should be Evye, evye w kvres,
eTzeaQe w Kvves. If the dogs are got very forward, so that the hunts-
man cannot keep up, but is thrown out — neither seeing them, nor
hearing their cry — he should keep running on, calling to everyone
he happens to come near, and inquiring for the pack — >) icaTe'ibes w>7
Tits Kvvas ;
When he finds them, if still on scent, he should cheer, and call
every dog by name as often as possible, varying the intonations of
1. Spirited representations of the different chases are given in RIontfaucon's An-
tiquities, Tom. III. Liv. III. from ancient gems, the Sepulchre of the Nasoni, Arch
of Constantine, &c. See also the Venationes Ferarum of a later date by Strada and
Galle, alreadj' referred to.
APPKNUIX. 211
his voice. If the liare lias made for the mountains, he should en-
courage tliom with Ei/a Kvves, eva w Kvres : but it" they have over-shot sic aimd
the scent, he should call them back — Hark back, dogs ! hark hack ! bacc'l)a^ntiuiJ*in
— oh naXiv, ov iraXiv w Kvve.s : when brought back to the scent, he moatibus!
should draw around, making many casts, {kvk\ovs,^) even up to the Vide Savary
line of the nets, encouraging the dogs till they again pick up the Lep'oricidae.
scent — at he biappiTTTOvarai ras ovpas, Kai tawrals efiKiirrovani, kuI Xen. de Vei)at.
_\\'' ^- <> \ ' > ' • A. \' c. VI. 23.
TToAAa vTr€pnT}Cu)(Tai, Kai eTraraKAayyavovaai, enavaipovffat ras KcfaAas,
el(TJ3\€Trovaat els tov Kwriyerrii' , ewiyvwpi^ovaat aXtjOf] elvai ijcr) rriura,
u0' avTwv araffTrjcrovai tuv Aayw, /cat eTTidai KSKXayyv'iai — starting oft
again at full cry.
The watchman at the nets gives a particular shout, significant of
the hare's capture in the apKvs, or her escape by going beyond, or
stopping short. If she be taken, they try for another; if not, they
continue the pursuit of the same. Weary at length with their day's
work, the huntsman must himself, towards evening, assist the pack
in searching out the poor tired hare at her quat, (KarakXiveTai yap ev Xonophon de
_ \ X , , , f V , ^ 'i\ \ II- Venaiione.
/uiKpio 70 OTjpiov, Kai ovK aiiaTUTai viro Kunov kui cpopuv,) and bring them c. vi.
forward with encouragement ; " cheering the meek dogs much, the
eager ones little, the intermediate moderately," till they kill her
Kara ttoSos, at force, or drive her into the nets : and thus at last
will the huntsman become master of the hare — " infelicem bcstiolam J-Sarisberiensis
1 1 • • 1 /- V 1 1 • „ Policrat. L, i.
lepusculum timidum tanto tortasse praedabitur apparatu. c. iv.
Oppian's instructions on hare-hunting, contained in a few verses at
the latter end of his fourth Cynegetic, are of little interest. Hares
should never be chased up hill, as their shape is particularly adapted
for it, and they avail themselves of the advantage whenever they can
aet to a rising around :
"o s'
avrlKa yap (TKvKaKas re kcu avipas aOpi/aavTes Oppian.Cjr'iieg.
irphs \6(pov Idvovffiv, eVei fxdXa yivclocrKovatv
'6tti irdpoidev eacnv oM^drtpoi irdSes avTo7s. k.t. A.
Beaten roads should be avoided by huntsmen , and ploughed lands
preferred for sport. iElian has left us an animated description of De IVatuni
..... Animal.
the hares shifts and prowess in avoiding her pursuers, and the con- l. xih.c. 14.
1. kvkKovs, the rings of Cervase Rlarkhain, Countrey Coulei)tmeu(s,Book 1. 1. 1. 1.
212
APPENDIX.
De Venatione
C. IX.
Apuleii IMet.
L. vjii. p. 512.
tempt with which she looks down, olov uiro aKo-mus, on their fruitless
efforts to overtake her.
The stag-hunt is treated of by Xenophon, in his ninth chapter,
with snares, traps, &c. Indian dogs are here preferred, for their
size, strength, speed, and courage. But as his name-sake has
written on the same variety of chase with Celtic hounds and Scy-
thian horses, I pass on to the boar-hunt, in which the former is
Ejusdem c. x. diffuse — too diffuse for more than a bare reference. Indian and
Locrian hounds are selected from the pugnacious class, and Cretan
and Spartan from the sagacious, to assist the sportsman in his attack
of the wild boar. The latter hound appears to be employed, on this
occasion, as a lime-dog, or inductor, to find out the lair of the beast.
Purse-nets, javelins, 7rpo/36\m, and woboffTpafSai, are in request.
" Jamque apud frondosum tumulum," says Apuleius, in a vivid,
but somewhat wordy sketch, "■ ramorumque densis tegminibus um-
brosura, prospectu vestigatorum obseptis carapis, canes venationis
indagini geuerosae, mandato, cubili residentes invaderent bestias,
immittuntur : statimque solertis disciplinae memores partitae totos
prjecingunt aditus : tacit&que prius servat<i mussitatione, signo sibi
repentino reddito, latratibus fervidis dissonisque miscent omnia " —
" aper immanis atque invisitatus exsurgit," &c.
Ovid's Calydonian boar-hunt, with the " lecta manus juvenum "
of Meleager's confederacy, will occur to the classical reader, and
farther illustrate this perilous species of chase ; ^ which, with" others
yet more dangerous, described by Xenophon in the 11th chapter of
his Manual, and by Oppian in his fourth Cynegetic, constitute
examples of the bellica Venatio, " periculosae plenum opus aleae,"
so emblematic of actual war.
The Athenian is very brief on the subject of lion, pard, lynx,
panther, and bear-hunting. These ferocious brutes are commonly
Ovid. Metam.
L. VIII.
Horat. Od.
L. II. 1. 6.
1. For further particulars, see Xen. de V. c. x. Oppian. Cyn. iii. vs. 379. Adrian.
Venat. vs. 55. (Edit. Aid.) Natalis Comes de Ven. L. iii. v. 342. (Edit. Aid. F.) Cae-
sar. Borgiae Duels Epiced. per H. Strozam. P. A. Bargaei Cyneg. iv. p. 104. and lac.
Savary, Syothera L. i. A capital wood-cut of a boar bayed by ferocious hounds is
given by I. A. Lonicer in his Venatus ei Aucupium, Tab. Aper. and others in the
Venationes Ferarum of Strada and Galle. See also the IHauStcr Of (SSamc; of \^t
tDgKretoor, c. vn.
A1»1'ENI)1\. 213
taken by stratagom ; raioly, if over, at force. Oppiari is more
(lifl'iise, amplifying; the lion-chase with the Libyan, Indian, and
^Ethiopian practices for capturing the king of beasts.
As a splendid specimen of poetical talent in this too much
neglected author, (for he richly deserves the character bestowed on
his works by J. C. Scaliger, C. Barthius, and other eminent scho-
lars,) I select, from the latter part of the same book, the following
extract — a description of an Armenian bear-hunt. The bear is
found with the limehound of the country, the nets, snares, and
fii'lpivBos evarpofos are set, and the din of pursuit commences :
<rd\iriy^ filv KeXaSriae ireXcepiov rj Se re x6xiJ^y\s Oppian. Cyneg.
,>v - „ - V <>v -/> - L. IV. 398.
otv AeATjKe dopoucra, kul o|u oeoopKe XaKovaa.
al^rjol 5' firopoxKrav aoWees, e'/c 8' eKdrepdev
amla Or/phs laai ^aKayyti^hv KKoviovres.
7] 8' SnaSov irpoKmovaa Kol avepas, l$vs opovei
yvfivhu '6wov Aeuffcrej treSiof iroXv' KeWev eiretra
I|ei7js KOTO vuTov iyeipSfisvos \6xos auSpui/
K\ayy7]5hv irarayivcnv, eV ocppva firipivOoto
aevSixevoi koL Seifia iroXvxpoov tj Se t' aviypij
aft^iPoXos fxdXa irdfiirav orufb/xeVrj ■rre(pAp7iTai,
TToj/To S' ofiov SeiSoiKe, \6xov, ktvitov, av\hi>, avrijif,
5eiiJ.a\4r]v fj.ripii'doi', iirel KeXdSopros ar)T(oi
raiviai t* icpvirepOe Sirjfpiai KpaSdovat,
Kivinevou iTTfpvyes re Xiyffia avpi^ovcriv
oSveKa Trairraivovcra kut &pKvas avrlov epirer
iv S" eireaeu Kiveotai \6xois. k, t. \.
But farewell the detail of these savage chases ! ^ —
The king of brutes The Cliace.
In broken roarings breathes his last, the bear * '
Grumbles in death ; nor can his spotted skin,
Though sleek it shine, with varied beauties gay,
Save the proud pard from unrelenting fate !
1. The reader will find descriptions of many of the different chases, for wliicli I
have no room here, in the Latin Cynegetica of the 14th, 15th, and 16th centuries,
cited under the boar-hiint of Calydon. For " the chiefe huntyng of the valiaunt
Grekes and noble Romaynes," see " The boke named The Governour, devised by Sir
Thomas Elyot, Knyght." B. i. c. xviii.
214
APPENDIX.
Venatione
Senecaj
Hippolyt.
Act. I. sc. 1.
The most lively and striking picture of classic Venation, in ge-
nere, which I have met with in the Latin language, is contained in
one of Seneca's tragedies; which, let them be the productions of
whom they may, contain much brilliant descriptive poetry. The
whole arrangement of the field is admirably given in the Hippolytus.
The duties of the biKrvayuyos, tx»'ci'")s, icvvaywyus, apKVbjpos, and
XivoTTTijs, are successively detailed in the prologue, spoken by this
Xenophon de rigid paragon of chastity himself, {(Ta)(ppo(Tvvy kui oatori^Ti jjiai^apicdets,)
in the character of Magister Venationis.
" Ite umbrosas cingite sylvas,
Suiiimaque montis juga Cecropii,
Celeri plants lustrate vagi
Quae saxosa loca Parnetlii
Subjecta jacent ; et qua; Thriasiis
Vallibus amnis rapid a currens
Verberat unda : scandite colles
Semper canos nive Riphaea.
Hac Lac alii, qua nemus altii
Texitur alno ; qua prata jacent,
Quie rorifer^ mulcens aura
Zephjrus vernas evocat herbas," &c.
says the son of Theseus to his attendant huntsmen— describing the
local scenery of different parts of Attica, most abundant in game —
and allotting them their respective stations and duties, with the mute
limehounds, (" canibus tacitis,") the 7ioisy pack, and divers imple-
ments of the sylvan chase : ^
duni lux dubia est ;
Dum signa pedum roscida tellus
Irapressa tenet, alius riiras
Cervice gravi portare plagas,
Alius teretes properet laqueos.
Picta rubenti linea pinna
1. The lines of this animated picture, which describe, in the language of ex-
perience, the different degrees of restraint to be imposed on the Limiers, the Molos-
sians, the Cretans, and Spartans, are here omitted : inasmuch as they will be more
api)ropriately cited by us, when we come to speak of the family of limiers, the canes
inductores of classical antiquity.
APPENDIX. 215
\'ano cludat tcrrore feras,
'I'ibi libretur missile Ictlium.
Til grave, dcxtra la!v.'\(]iie siniul,
llobur lato dirige ferro.
Tu prfficipites clamore feras
Subsessor ages : tu jam victor
Curvo solves viscera cultro.
So much for the furniture of the chase, its inventors, and practice,
by way of introduction to our triple classification of the Canes
Venatici of the classic ages. We will now proceed, oluov Ini okv- Oppian.Cyneg
\aKb)l',
CLASS I,
In the first class of the triple division — quibus est audacia prte-
ceps, or gravioribus aptee morsibus — are included all the canes
pugnaces or bellicosi — pugnacious dogs of war.
The Mede, Celt, Ser or Indian, Albanian, Iberian, Lycaonian
or Arcadian, Hyrcanian, Locrian, Libyan, Egyptian, Pannonian,
Magnesian, Molossian, Briton, Athanaanian, Acarnanian, and a few
others nearly allied.
CLASS II.
In the second class of Canes Venatici, under the title of naic
sagaces, are placed all keen-nosed dogs of scent.
The Spartan, Cretan, Carian, Etolian or Calydonian, Metagon,
Belgian, Gelonian, Umbrian, Tuscan, Armenian, Petronius, Agas-
saeus or Briton, Segusian, and others of inferior note.
CLASS III.
In the third class, entitled pedibus celeres, those dogs alone are
comprehended, which ran on sight of their game, as the Vertragus,
and possibly the Sicambcr : of the latter, however, I know nothing
beyond the meagre allusion of Gratius to his speed, and the apparent
distinction made between him and the Vertraha, in the Cynegeticon
of this poet :
216 APPENDIX.
Gratii Cyncg. Petronios (sic fama) canes, volucresque Sicambros,
vs. 201.
El pictani macula Vertraham delige falsa.
L. VI r.
Janus Vlitius considers the Sicambrian to be the Gallo-Belgic
hound of more modern days, and identical with the Ovidian canis
Gallicus : but the latter is more probably the Vertraha of Gratius,
the oveprpayos of the younger Xenoplion. The Sicambrian people,
Strabo strictly speaking, were Germans, and not Belgians; as they dwelt
on the eastern, or Germanic side of the Rhine.
On first comparing the different types of the Oppianic Canes Ve-
natici with those of the Latin Cynegetica, I was misled by the
authority of annotators to an admission that the type, so particularly
described by the Greek poet in his first book, firiKebavov Kparepdv
Sifias, K. T. X. vs. 401. ad vs. 412. was of the sagacious hound, the
Petronian or such-like. But this interpretation, in addition to the
want of resemblance of the picture to the supposed original, implies,
in a notorious copyist of his predecessors' labours and a keen ob-
server of natural history, the entire omission of the swiftest of the
canine tribe, the canis Gallicus or Vertragus ; which, if known by
fame in the age of Gratius, alluded to by him in his Cynegeticon,
accurately portrayed by Ovid as to his style of running, and subse-
quently, and more minutely, by the younger Xenophon, could not,
under any balance of probabilities, have been lost to the sporting
world, between the time of Arrian and that at which Nemesian
flourished : — by the latter of whom the greyhound is most beautifully
depicted, and the mode of initiating greyhound puppies in the hare-
course detailed with the hand of a master. I am, therefore, on more
mature reflection, inclined to consider the passage referred to de-
scriptive of the greyhound type, the third class of ancient hounds,
the family of pedibiis celeres.^ That Rittershusius makes no allusion
1. If the appropriation of the Oppianic portrait to the Vertragus of Arrian alone
be deemed too scrupulously exclusive, — inasmuch as it leaves the Spartan hound of
Xenophon undescribed by the Greek poet, — I will allow that preference of the Celtic
type to all others may have influenced my decision ; and am willing, with the
reader's approval, to admit tlie hound of Lacedaenion into a participation of the honour
bestowed on the Vertragus.
vs. 4(J7.
APPENDIX. 217
to such a rosomhlance, docs not surprise nic ; for, by pointiiijs; out a
supposed dotVct of the picture, compared with a sketch of (iratius,
this learned and laborious commentator proves that he was not aware
of the variety of dog intended to be delineated by his author — per-
haps himself unacquainted with its type in nature. The very feature
of the boX(\o(jKios ovpi), condemned by this editor as burthensome to
Canes cursores, with a preference of the " cauda brevis" of Gratius,
(suited to the Canes bellicosi alone,) is so remarkable and useful an
additament to the greyhound's form, that, instead of burthening, it
essentially assists him as a Canis cursor, (" ad conversiones in cursu Cynographia
reciproco regendas,") and much strengthens the resemblance of the 12.
Oppianic picture to its Celtic prototype in Arrian.
The conclusion of this sketch is followed by that of the Canis pug-
nax or helUcosus of the first class, hereafter cited, Qovpoi b' aid" erepoi, Oppian. Cyneg.
K. T. X. ; and this again by the amusing and lively picture of the
keen-scented beagle or hare-hound — o-KvXdicwv yivos aXKipov l^^vevrri- Ejusdem
pu)v, K. T. \. — the representative of which is taken from Britain, and
constitutes, according to my theory, Oppian's specimen (rather a
sorry one, it must be allowed) of the second class of Canes Venatici,
termed nare sagaces. Are we not, then, allowed to conclude that
the same tripartite distinction of Canes Venatici was acknowledged
by the Cilician poet, as we have already traced in the more systema-
tic authorities cited ? ^ The latter did not escape the notice of the
1. In addition to tbis triple view, a farther distinction of the canine race is founded
by Oppian on purity and commixture of blood. The mongrel or mixed breed is again
divided into two varieties, the one constituted of dogs of diflferent countries crossed
with each other ; the other of dogs crossed with various wild animals, BijpoiJLiyrj, as
tigers,' lions, wolves, and foxes ; — whence in the opinion of the ancient cynegetical
writers originated many varieties of hybrid races ; which later experiments have
proved to be founded in fable ; with the exception of those produced between the
wolf and dog, and the jackal and dog. It is not improbable that the latter hybrid
production may have given rise to the fabled progeny of the dog and fox, the oAwTre-
KiSes of Xenophon ; as the Canis aureus and common dog readily breed together ; but
we have no very well authenticated case of a litter from the Canis vulpes and dog — to
which assumed cross, the attention of John Hunter, " magnus ille naturae inda-
gator," had been directed before his death, but not advanced to actual experiment,
as in the other crosses of the wolf and jackal with the domestic dog. Dr. Caius,
2 E
218
APPENDIX.
learned writer of the Venatio Novantiqua, himself an experienced
and ardent sportsman ; but he has not corroborated the earlier
classification of others with the more recent evidence of the poet of
Anazarbus — indeed, he seems to view the Oppianic hound (Cyn. i.
401.) a,s sagaci-celer, and the Vertragus as unknown both to Pollux
and Oppian.
The Cilician gives a decided preference to those canine tribes
which are specifically pure in their breed — cjtvXa novo^vKa — and enu-
merates, without any attempt at classification, all the tribes known
to him, under their geographical appellations : -
Oppian. Cyneg.
L. I. 3{i7.
Tlaiovis, kva6vioi, Kapes, Qp^'iKes, ''Wrjpes,
'ApKuSes, 'Apyeioi, AaKeSaifiSyioi, TeyeiJTai,
'Savpofxd.Tat, KeAroi, Kprires, 'M.dyvriTes, 'EireioJ,
iierffoi t' Aiyvirroio iroXvipafj-adotiTiv eV oxGuiS
^ovKoKiwv oipoi, AoKpol, x^po'^oi T€ MoAofferof.
But if the kennel-master acted on the principles laid down by this
poet, and his Latin predecessor, Gratius, and crossed his pack with
irreconcilable varieties out of different families, belonging to difi'erent
countries, (and that he did so we have evidence in the irregular and
ill-disciplined muster-roll of Ovid,) although the names on Oppian's
file might remain, the animals must have been so changed by the
" superinduction of opposite qualities," that a genuine breed of any
one variety must have been most rare. To this general amalgama-
tion of heterogeneous forms and qualities in the canine race, must be
attributed the custom of applying the terms Molossian and Spartan
Venatio
Novantiqua,
Luclan.
adversus
Indoctum.
it is true, speaks of the vulpi-canine cross as an established one, " quasi protritum
aliquid," says Vlitius, " quod ego rumore tantiim," continues the latter, " et vix
ita conipertum habeo," — but of this, more anon.
2. Of these the most important are hereafter mentioned under the same or dif-
ferent names: The Tlalovis, are Pannonians — the AiiarSvtoi probably identical with the
Tuscan — and those of the town of Tegea, (where Lucian tells us, the inhabitants exhi-
bited the hide of tiie Calydonian boar — SelKvvffiv Teyearai tov Ka\vSa>viov rh Sf'pyuot,)
must of course be considered Arcadian sub-varieties. The rest are of the Molossian
character. Instead oCEireiol Bodin and Belin de Ballu read 'Afiopyo); but of the
hounds of Amorgos, one of the Cyclades, I know nothing.
APPENDIX.
219
to the Canes bellicosi ami Canes sagaces respectively, gregatim — the
dogs of Epirus and Sparta being held the best of their several classes.^
And, for the same reason, a true Molossian or Spartan of pure blood
must have fallen to the lot of few of Dian's vi^orshippers. Aristotle
speaks with praise of the Spartan and Molossian cross,^ but awards
the highest price in the Spartan kennel to the purest blood : and
Themistius, in his first oration, states it as an acknowledged rule in
breeding, that the kennel be supplied from bitches of the purest and
most unadulterated blood.
Even after the introduction of the Vertragus, and the commixture
of his breed with the older varieties of sporting dogs —
Hist. Animal.
L. IX. c. I.
Preecipites pedibus catulos liabuere sagaces, —
P. Angelii
Bargeci L. v.
the names derived from Sparta and Molosse were still kept up, and
prostituted in many instances on most degenerate brutes.
With regard to the original geographical distribution of the three
varieties of bellicosi, sagaces, and celeres, and of their respective
chases,^ the most prevalent opinion of continental writers, who have
1. Under the sanction of antiquity, and scarce inferior to the purest poet of the
Augustan age, loannes Darcius comprehends under the terms Moiossi and Lacones
all dogs of chase ;
Quae generosa canum soboles, quis cultus alendo
Sit catulo, unde suos Epirus clara MoJossos,
Audacesque sibi commendet Sparta Lacones,
Diva refer.
J. Darcii
Veniisini
Canes.
2. Such was the Pard of Ercole Strozzi ;
Pardus ad haec genitrice Lacon, genitore Molossus,
Non extrema canum fama, et spes acris Opunti.
3. M. Desmoulins is of opinion that the modern numerous races of domestic dogs
must be referred, each in its own country, to diflferent unreclaimed species ; and if
so, allowing somewhat for emigration with man, and somewhat again for crosses
among the varieties of each region, we must suppose thac those, which manifest
remarkable distinctive qualities, derived them originally from the wild indigence of
Csesar. Borgia;
Ducis Epiced.
per H.Strozam.
Bulletin
Universel.
220
APPEN DIX.
Spelnianni
Glossar. p. 113.
devoted their attention to the Cynegetica of Greece and Rome, is
that the last mentioned originally came from Gaul, the sagacious
from Greece, and the bellicose from Asia. War-dogs of pure blood
are nearly extinct in the British islands, and are becoming more rare
on the continent of Europe ; being much crossed with the sagacious
and swift-footed tribes. Vlitius, himself a Dutchman, naturally
espouses the Belgic origin of the Belgic, or, more correctly speaking,
the Celtic dog. Spelman, on the contrary, claims him for the
honour of Britain ; and, in addition, we have always deemed some
sorts of hellicosi and sagaces indigenous of this country. Mr. Whi-
taker, in his History of Manchester, gives to the ancient Britons the
old English hound, or talbot, as the parent stock of the celebrated
sagacious hounds of our island : and it is found, by experience, that
this dog degenerates in every other part of the world — a strong pre-
sumptive proof of his being indigenous of Britain. The earliest
record of the greyhound allots him to Gallia ; and we have no hesi-
tation in considering him of Celtic origin, notwithstanding the offen-
sive disclaimer of Savary of Caen —
Venationis Gallos aon bsec infamia tangit.
Cervinae Leges.
No exclusive national claim can be made for the pugnacious tribe,
almost every nation of antiquity having had its particular variety ;
of which none surpassed the Britannus and Molossus, natives of
regions remote from each other, unconnected, probably, in their
lineage, and united alone in untaraeable ferocity of character.
The translator of Gratius, after enumerating the various sorts of
the British hound, greyhound, and mastiff, (which he calls *' indi-
Certaine genu, or native of England,") observes : — " all these dogs have de-
tlie Cyneo^e- Served to be famous in adjacent and remote countries, whither they
ticallPoem.&c. are sent for great rarities, and ambitiously sought for by their lords
and princes, although only the fighting dogs seem to have been
known to the antient authors : and perhaps in that age hunting was
not so much cultivated by our own countrymen."
each particular region. Exclusive of the jackal, he considers that there are three
wild species in Europe, and Western Asia, which have contributed to produce the
varieties of our domestic dog, at present known.
Ari'ENDlX.
221
CANES VENATICl. Class I.
CANES BELLICOSI or PUGNACES.
Quibus est auducia prceceps.
Tho type of this class is given by Gratius in the following lines,
which must be taken as a general description, requiring some lati-
tude in its application to individuals : ^
Sint celsi vultus, sint hirtee frontibiis aures,
Os magnum, et patulis agitatos morsibus ignes
Spirent, adstricti succingant ilia ventres,
Cauda brevis, longumque latus, discretaque collo
Caesaries, non pexa nimis, non frigoris ilia
Impatiens : validis turn surgat pectus ab armis,
Quod roagnos capiat motus, magnisque supersit.
EflFuge, qui lat^ pandit vestigia plants.
Mollis in officio, siccis ego dura lacertis
Crura velim, et solidos haec in certamina calces.
By its side we may place its counterpart in Greek ; — for, notwith-
standing the Oppianic sketch has been appropriated by Bodinus to
the Albanese, it certainly may be viewed in a broader light, as a
picture in outline of the whole pugnacious family, without reference
to individuals :
dovpoi S' av6' erepoi, rolaiv fnveSriios oXktj,
SffffOl KOl TavpOtCTLV iTTiXpO-OV r]\)yiVi'lOlS,
KoX avas vfipKTTripas iTrdi^aures oKerruai'
S<T<T0t /urj5e Xeovras iovs rpiiovffw dvuKras,
^aTpe<p4es, irpuveffffiv iotK6Tes a.Kpo\6(poi(Ti.
(jifxuTipoi ixkv tcuTi irpoadnrara, Zeiva S' vTrepBe
vivei. eiTicrKvvloKn fifaScppva, Kal TrypJecrey
6(pda\fj.oi X'^poTrfiO'iv vKoariK^ovTis diruiraTs'
pivhs anas Xiaios, Kparephv defias, ivpea vuna'
KpaLTTfol 5' ov TiKiQovcriv, arhp ft-ivos evSodi iroAA^j'
Kal ffdivos &(ppa<TTOV, KpaSir] Kal Gvfihs avaiSris,
Gratii Ilalieut.
vs. 98.
Gratii Cyneg
vs. 269.
Oppian. Cyneg.
L. I. 413.
1. We may suppose the muzzle in this class more or less truncated, and the capa-
city of the cranium diminished. But the sketches of physical structure are too
superficial in tlie ancient cynegetica to found a classification on the principle of
M. F. Cuvier.
222 APPENDIX.
The introduction of a third, more recent portrait, will be justified
by the chaste Latinity of Peter Angelio, and the faithful accuracy of
his pen :
P, Angelii Hie tibi ingentes tauros aggressus, et ursos
°l •' °' Sistat, et imposito fugientes vulnere tardet :
Cui sumtiJEe pendent aures, cui laxa superne
Labra fluant, cui vultus atrox, cui maxima cervix,
Obtusumque caput, pressumque ante omnia rostrum :
Praiterea magnique pedes, unguesque recurvi :
Molle solum, sublime femen, suppressior alvus :
Ipsaque rectorum longa internodia crurum :
Spina duplex, pingues lumbi, color helvus,' honestuni
Pectus : et e patulis efflet qui naribus ignem,
Latratu quoties s^lvas implevit, et amplo
Pectore conceptas subitus decurrit ad iras.
Turn vero splendent oculi, collumque tumescit,
Et caudam crebro villosa in terga retorquet.
The quarry of these savage hounds consisted of animals more fero-
cious than their assailants — such as
Gratii Halieut. Trahit in prseceps non sana feiocia mentis,
vs. 73.
Following the order of the poetical manual, to which we are
indebted for our first-cited outline of the race, the Mede and Celt
arrest our earliest attention, followed by the Ser, Lycaonian, Hyrca-
nian, Briton, Molossian, and others:
Gratii Cyneg. magna indocilis dat praslia Medus,
^^* ^^^' Magnaque diversos excollit gloria Celtas.*
The Persian appears to have been a connecting link between the
pugnacious and sagacious classes, though his neighbours of Media
De Quad. Dio^. !• Aldrovandus explains color helvus as " medius inter rufum et album " — fawn.
Vivip. L. III. 2. Tbe epithet " diversos" may indicate remoteness of birth-place as explained
by Johnson ; or difference of character as hinted by Wase — Gallia being far distant
from Media, and the Celtic dog being sagacious as well as pugnacious, and therefore
tliffering from the " indocilis Medus," whose character was that of mere truculency,
unredeemed by the least sagacity.
APPENDIX. 223
itiul llyicania were a jmroly savage breed. The Persian was a
mongrel variety —
Perses in ulroque paratiis. Ejusd. vs. 158.
The character of the " indocilis Medus" we may infer from iElian's
description, already cited, of the men and horses of the country —
which at the conclusion he also extends to the dogs — ravra roi kuI De Natur;i
Trept TtHy kvvwv iireKn voe'iv fioi. The latter were fierce, impetuous, ^^ jjj^ ^ \^^
and of great size.
There is evidently no connexion between the Celtic of Gratius
and Kvyes KeXrtcat of Arrian, though deriving their name from the
same source, and seemingly of the same country. The former
were originally perhaps the only varieties of the canine species in-
mates of the kennels of Gaul,
Gallia cum pridem coleret devota Dianam, Savary Venat.
Cervin. Leges.
the sagacious and swift-footed hounds being subsequently admitted
therein ; — but not until the older mode of hunting ferocious animals
with savage dogs had fallen into disrepute, from the superior attrac-
tion of the improved style ; or into disuse, from the gradual ex-
tirpation of beasts of prey. As the latter disappeared, or were
driven into remote fastnesses, we may suppose the more timid and
fugacious creatures supplied their place ; and, multiplying in the
ratio of the others' diminution, afforded abundant quarry to the
Vertragus, and the archetype of the chien courant of modern
France.
How beautifully are the more innoxious sports of sylvan life, and
superior claims of the hare and deer hunt, touched by Ovid in the
fable of Venus and Adonis. The goddess of love turns huntress :
Per juga, per sylvas, dumosaque saxa vagatur Ovid. Metam.
Nuda genu, vestem ritu succincta Dianae :
Hortaturque canes ; tutaeque aniraalia prsdae,
Aut pronos lepores, aut celsum in cornua cervum,
Aut agitat damas ; a fortibus abstinet apris.
Raptoresque lupos, armatosque unguibus ursos
Vital, et armenti saturates cajde leones.
Te quoque, ut hos timeas (si quid prodesse monendo
Possit) Adoni, monet. ' Fortisque fugacibus esto,'
L. X. 537.
224 APPENDIX.
Inquit ; ' in audaces non est audacia tuta.
' Parce meo, juvenis, temerarius esse perfclo .
' Neve feras, quibus arma dedit natura, lacesse ;
' Stet milii ne magno tua gloria. Noa movet fetas,
' Nee facies, nee quee Venerem movere, leones
' Setigerosque sues, oculosque animosque ferarum.
' Fulraen habent acres in aduncis dentibus apri ;
' Impetus est fulvis et vasta leonibus ira.'
No wonder that the Celtic people by degrees discontinued the
warlike chase, fraught with innumerable perils, and substituted the
harmless pursuit of fugacious quarry, with keen-scented and swift-
footed hounds, according to the injunctions of the meretricious queen
to her disobedient " sweete boy :"
Sir A. Golding Pursuing game of hurtlesse sort, as hares made lowe before,
Ovid's Melam. Qj. gtagges with lofty heades, or buckes ;—
which, in the days of Arrian, constituted their principal field sport.
* Julius Pollux, in his Ononiasticon, mentions the Celtic war-dogs,
and Oppian also includes KeXroJ in the muster-roll of his first cyne-
getic.i It is probable that they were a-kin to those of ancient
Britain ; for we are told by Strabo, who lived soon after Gratius,
Strabo L. IV. that the exports from this island to Gaul consisted of §ep/uarn, Kal
P* • avbpaTToba, Kal Kvves eu^uets Trpos rets Kvvr^yeTtas. KeXrot be Kal vpoi
Tovs TToXefjiovs ^pwJTa/, Kal tovtois, Ka\ to'is e7rt)(wptots. AVhence it
appears that the Celts had native Canes Venatici which they
employed in war," as well as those imported from Britain. ^ In this
1. Belin de Ballu appears to consider the Oppianic KeXroi Segusian hounds of
scent, and not war-dogs. See his Animadversiones in Oppian. L. i. vs. 373. Did the
poet inchide under the term KeXrol all the various sorts of hounds supposed indi-
genous of Celtica — the war-dogs, the Vertragi, Segusii, and hybrids of Pliny? No
country of antiquity affords such numerous varieties of the canine species as Gaul ;
and as the inhabitants are by the Greeks called Ke\To!, by the Romans Galli, and
sometimes synonymously with the latter, Celta; ; so may Oppian, an eastern Greek,
include under the term KeXroi the various subdivisions of the canine tribe, througliout
the whole territory of Gaul, however distinguished by earlier writers, either as indi-
genous of peculiar localities, or characterized by dissimilar qualities.
2. The high antiquity of the Canes Venatici of Gaul, espoused by Jaqucs du
A 1' p i: N I) I \ . 225
adaptation of canine ferocity the Ccltiv were not peculiar ; but as
dogs, thus applied, can scarce be considered in their sporting
character, it is unnecessary to multiply citations. Let the few
instances hereafter adduced suffice on this head. Whether these
Celtic dogs are the Gallic hybrids of the natural historian I cannot
say : " hoc idem," says Pliny, " e lupis Galli, quorum greges suura L. vm. c. 40.
quisque ductorem e canibus et Lyciscam habent. Ilium in venatu Emend.
comitantur, illi parent. Namque inter se exercent etiam magis-
teria." There were whole packs of these dogs in every chase or
forest, " that had for their leader some particular demi-wolf, which
the rest accompanied in hunting, obeyed, and were directed by;
keeping an order among themselves of government and mastership."
Gratius mentions, in the next place, the Ser, the Lycaonian or
Arcadian, the Hyrcanian, and the union of the latter with the
tiger.
Sunt qui Seras alant, genus intractabilis irte ; Gratii Cyneg.
At contra faciles, magnique Lycaones armis. ^ '
The Serae were a nation of Ethiopia near the origin of the Nile,
and also of India between the Indus and Hydaspes : but " the
famous Serse were a people of Asia, the farthest to the east beyond
China towards Scythia without Imaus," according to Wase's
geography of Gratius. As the poet does not record the fame of the
Canes Indici under their usual denomination, we may consider the
Seric dog as the redoubted Indian — " genus intractabilis ir«."
The Indian dog is noticed by Herodotus, Aristotle, Xenophon,
Diodorus Siculus, Strabo, Plutarch, Pollux, iElian, Athenaeus, The-
Fouilloux in the first chapter of his Venerie — " De la race et antiquite des chiens
courans, et qui premierement les aroena en France," will amuse such of my
readers as may think his work worth referring to. Deducing the breed from the
kennel of Brutus, (the son of Sylvius, the son of Ascanius, the son of J2neas) under La Venerie de
whose fostering care les chiens courans et Uvriers were exported from the Trojan Jaques du
territory, Fouilloux exhibits the very vessel of transportation, with its canine cargo
aboard.
3. It is a generally received opinion that the pugnacious and sagacious dogs of
Britain were constantly exported to Gaul ; and Janus Vlitius remarks that the same Venatio
practice continued within his knowledge. Novantiqua.
^ 2 F
226 APPENDIX.
mistius, and Phile, among the Greeks; and by Pliny, Solinus, and
Quintus Curtius, among the Latins. The size, strength, speed, and
courage of this dog induced Xenophon to recommend him for boar and
Xenophon. deer hunting — elai yap ((T^upa!, fueynXai, nobtvKeis, ovk iid/v^oi, says this
experienced sportsman ; and iElian adds to his good qualities
^lian. de keenness of sight or scent in tracking — ewyevels Kal ix^l f^orayfun'ai
L. viii. c. 1. * Qripiov ayndal, K. T.X. J. Pollux, on the authority of Nicander,
derives the Canes Indici from Acteeon's pack ; who, when they
Ovid. Metam. had recovered from their madness, " satiatse sanguine herili,"
' ' ' passed the Euphrates, and wandered into India. He particularly
L. V. c. V. 39. distinguishes them from the Hyrcanian, with which they have
been by some historians confounded. Both the last-mentioned
iElian. de Nat, authors, and also Plutarch, would have us believe that the lion
L. IV. c. 19. ^^^ the only antagonist with whom this courageous dog would
Plutarch. willingly contend : — rwv be aXXwy ^.djoyv vTrepipporovvTa Travrtov, says
Ed S^te^ii Plutarch ; and ^lian affirms his victory over the lion ; but Themis-
tius adds the pard to his chosen antagonists, to the exclusion of
Brodaei Annot. inferior combatants, as wolves and foxes. Fable however and history
in Oppian. , i . i i i • i i p ■ i •
p. 43. are so closely blended m the records ot canine biography, that we
are compelled occasionally to doubt. And did we not relieve
ourselves by incredulity, the marvellous tale of patient courage
narrated by iElian, as manifested by this fierce animal, would make
us shudder at the bare recital. It is found in detail in the first
chapter of his eighth book de Natur^ Animalium,^ and succinctly
copied by Pollux in the fifth chapter of the fifth book of his Onoma-
sticon.
The cruel experiment, transmitted to us by Dr. Goldsmith, as
having been practised on the British Molossus, is quite eclipsed by
this more barbarous exhibition of the innate fortitude of the dog of
India. For in the latter case, the commencement of the inhuman
test of patient courage was the amputation of the tail, and the
conclusion decollation. The legs of the poor brute were successively
cut off", one by one, without his quitting his hold of the lion, his
chosen antagonist : — and when at last the neck was severed from the
Vulgar Errors !• " Wherein," says Sir Thomas Brown very justly, " are contained many things
&c. B. I. suspicious, not a few false, some impossible."
AFl'K N 1)1 X,
227
Animal.
L. VIII. c. 1.
body, the teeth still adhered with the trunkless, but still mordacious
head, (credat Judeeus,) suspended to the wound. But let the credulous
story-teller speak for himself: — kciI TeXevTwvres rj/$ KefaXiis to Xoittov iElian. de Nat.
aufxa d^e7\o)* ohovres ht eiceiy)} }'ipTT]rTO rj/s e^ "PX''* avTiXapiis, koI >;
Kt^aXj) })(i}pe7ro fxerewpos eic tov Xeojros, avrov fievroi tov oaKOPTOs t|
apx»;s ovK en ovtos. The"dog like the British bull-dog was memo-
rable for never quitting his hold — a feature in his ferocious character
remarked by Phile in his iambic versification of Elian's marvellous
tale.
Travrhs Kwhs ixeyiatos, 'IvZhs iras kvwv.
t)S ovSf Thv \fovTa irap6vTa rpe'juet,
avOiffTarat Se, Koi (T<ppLya irphs tV y.a.xr\v,
Kol To7s jSpuxiJ^yUoTs avQvXaKTU avvrSfiois,
eyKUfievov Se Kaprfpe7 rhv avddSrj.
Kol SaKViTai fifv, avTiSuKvei Se irXiov.
Tf\os Se TOV TevovTos aiirhy apTrdcras,
^iiTTeL Kara yrjs, Kal (nrapdrrei, koI 6\lpei.
K&v Tis eireXdwv a7ro/f(5\|/j? t6 aKe\os
7$ rhv /Meyav dyxoi'Ti, Kal irp\v yevvdSav,
fi6\is & veKphs VTravri(Tei rh arojxa..
In the scarce plates of Stradan, engraven by Galle, there is a
picture of the Canis Indicus, as I conceive, fighting with the ele-
phant and lion. The annexed quatrain, by Kilian Duffla^us, suffi-
ciently explains it, but is not worthy of citation. The following
poetical portrait, however, by a far better scholar, will be read with
pleasure, whether viewed as delineating the Indian, or his congener,
the Albanian :
De Animal.
Proprietate. De
cane Indico.
p. 148.
Venatioues
Ferarum, &c.
pi. IV.
— si aliqua e sylvis sese fera nobilis altis
Offeret, et campo belluin committit aperto,
(Degeneris neque eniin laetatur sanguine praedas)
Vim canis egregiam, atque acres mirabere pugnas.
Vidimus assuetos inter deserta ferarum
Nequicquam immanes irasci in cornua tauros.
Sternere ludus apros, nee totam excandet in iram.
Si rigidis pugnent infonnes unguibus ursi.
Gaudet atrox magni fremitura si forte leonis
Audiat, et celeri rapitur per devia cursu,
Ac formidando metuendus obambulat hosti,
Villosas donee cervici adnisus inhasret,
Sanguineaque feram morientem extendi! areni.
Hercul. Stroz»
Csesar. Borgife
Ducis Epiced.
228 APPENDIX.
Acriiis exultans vastus in pra;lia barros
Provocat, et tantam (dictu mirabile) niolem
Sternit ; at ingentem procumbens ille ruinam
Per dumosa trahit, garritu tesqua sonoro
Dissultant, gliscitque gravis venantibus horror.
Bodin supposes Oppian to allude to the Canis Indicus in his 1st
Cynegetic, vs. 413. ; but as the poet does not mention any name,
and particularly specifies a want of speed in the dogs he describes, I
should rather refer his sketch to the Molossian or true Epirote, (if it
must have a particular application,) than to the Indian or Albanian.
I have no doubt, however, that it is, as already stated, a general
description of the pugnacious type, and therefore includes both
Indian and Molossian.
Many of the anecdotes of the Indian dog are promiscuously told
of the Albanian, Iberian, and Hyrcanian ; and it certainly is diffi-
cult to point out any distinctive characters between them. Of the
latter I shall presently speak, in the rotation in which he is recorded
by Gratius. The Albanian and Iberian are undoubtedly consimi-
lars, strongly impregnated with the Molossian cast — natives of the
Asiatic district indifferently called Iberia and Albania. They are
celebrated by modern travellers as much as by classic historical
Hist. Natur. and cynegetical writers. Pliny does not name the country of the
dog " inusitatai magnitudinis " given to Alexander by a king of
Albania ; ^ though it would be a fair conclusion that the dog was of
L. VUI. C. XL.
1. To this dog Priscian alludes in his Periegesis, vs. 706. :
Poeta; Latini Hie sunt Albani bellaces marte feroci;
Minores. Unde canes nati superant genus omne ferarum.
Tom. V.P.I. ,, ^, J ■ u- -1
Wernsdorf. Magnus Alexander niissum sibi viderat inde
Victorem barrique canem, rapidique leouis : —
and John of Salisbury celebrates the race in his Policraticus ; the merits of the
breed losing nothing of its lustre, but rather gaining, in tiie prose narration ; —
De Nugis " Albani quidem in Asi^ canes habent leonibus fortiores : eos virtute canum, et sua;
Curiahum gentis artificio, quasi imbelles bestiolas populantur. Canibus quidem illis nulla
ferarum fortior, nulla animosior est. Hos Hercules, tergemino Gerjone victo, ab
Italia trajecit in Asiam, eis virtutem qua leones sternerent, quasi hereditariam dere-
linquens," Sec.
APPENDIX. 229
the same country as the king. Yot Strabo, notwithstanding he StraboL. xv.
commemorates the prowess of the Albanian race of dogs, particu-
hirly notes that those presented to the king of Macedonia were
Indian ; and he is supported by Phitarcli, Diodorus Siculiis, and
Julius Pollux, differing somewhat in the historical detail. SolMius,
for the most part a copyist of Pliny and Strabo, is, on this occasion,
it may be, mistaken in assigning to them an Albanian origin.
Speaking of the Albanese, he says : " A pud hos populos nati canes C.J. Solini
feris anteponuntur, frangunt tauros, leones prcmunt, detinent quid- "c. xv.
quid objectum : quibus ex causis meruerunt etiam annalibus tradi.
Legimus petenti Indiam Alexandro, k rege Albani»E dono duos mis-
sos," <!t:c. — and again, " Hoc genus canes crescunt ad formam am-
plissimam, terrificis latratibus ultra rugitus insonantes." May we Vide Bodini
not reconcile these statements by considering the Albanese dogs of Oppian. p. 63.
the Latin historians — Pliny, Solinus, and Curtius — the Indians of
the Greek authors — Strabo, Plutarch, Diodorus, ^lian, and Pol-
lux — and the Albania of the former, the India of the latter ? The
inhabitants of Albania and India were both excessively addicted to
hunting — djjpevriKoi re /cat avrol Ka) c'l nures avriuv eh v7t€p(3o\iiv. Strabo L. xr.
The Iberian dog is mentioned by Julius Pollux, Oppian, and
Nemesian — the latter poet merely saying the breed is not to be de-
spised by sportsmen ;
Nee tibi Pannonics stirpis teninatur origo, Neniesian.
Nee quorum proles de sanguine nianat Ibero ; J &• • •
and the former recommending it to be crossed with Sarmatian blood,
'2,apfiaTiK6v re itoaiv (popiois nphs 'l^7}pi5a vviJ.<pT]v, Oppian. Cyneg.
L. I. 397.
Darcius records the strength, courage, and velocity of the Albanian
breed ;
AdJe etiam Albanos, qui quantum viribus apris Darcii
Occursare valent, fulvosque jequare leones, V enusini
, Canes.
Lt vasto indomitos certamine frangere tauros,
Aligeras tantum cursu pra;vertere damas ;
and two lines below mentions the dogs, " quos dives Iberia pascit,"
as if distinct from the Albanese — which, if Asiatic, they certainly
resembled. It is, however, possible, that Darcius may allude to
230
APPENDIX,
Brodaei
Ann<itationes
in Oppian.
Jones's
Oppian's
Halieutics.
Oppian.
Halieu't.
L. HI. C23.
European Iberia, or Spain. Indeed, the geographical appropriation
of Oppian's Iberian dogs is doubtful in the opinion of commenta-
tors. Brodaeus assigns the Iberian horse of Oppian (Cyn. i. vs. 284.)
to Asia ; but the people mentioned by the poet under the same
name, in connexion with the Celts, in the episode at the conclusion
of his second Halieutic, are evidently inhabitants of Western Europe.
And again — his description of the tunnies " rushing from th' Atlan-
tic deep," into the Mediterranean, and of their subsequent capture
along its shores, places the Iberians a second time in the West :
TovcrS' ^Tot Ttp&Tov fiev 'lp7}p'iSo5 evSodiv a\iJi.r)s
avipes aypwcTcrovcTt filrj KOfi6covTes''lfiripes.
SevTfpa Se 'Po5avo7o napa (rrofxa 6r]priT^pis
KeXrol, k. t. \.
hovrever, w^hether Asiatic or European, it is sufficient for our classi-
fication that the dogs vpere of the pugnacious class.
The modern representative of the classical Albanese occupies a
more extensive district than his ferocious prototype, vfIio vpas con-
fined to the region between Colchos and Armenia ; whereas his
descendant is found in Macedonia, Illyria, Chaonia, and Epirus.
Of the classical Albanian, in his character of a dog of war, Vale-
rius Flaccus has left us the following very animated description :
Valerii Flacci
Argonaut.
L. VI. 107.
Insequitur Dranga;a phalanx, claustrisque profusi
Caspiadae ; queis turba canuni non segnius acres
Exilit ad lituos, piignasque capessit lieriles :
Inde etiam par mortis honos ; turnulisque recepti
Inter avos, positusque virum : nam pectora ferro
Terribilesque innexa jubas ruit agmine nigro
Latratuque cohors : quanto sonat horrida Ditis
Janua, ve! superas Hecates coiiiitatus ad auras.
P. Angelii
Bargjei Cyneg.
L. V.
And the fame of his tribe, as spread over these countries at large, is
celebrated by the chaste poet of Barga in his 5th Cynegeticon, with
the same song, decies repetita, of leonine and elephantine quarry :
Quid ! tibi si, quarum concursu exhorruit Argo,
Cceruleis sparsas adeam Sjmplegadas undis,
Cappadocumque eras, et inhospita Colcliidos arva,
Alque iter ad duros contendam pergere Iberos :
Caspiaque Albanis quondam regnata tyrannis
AlM'l'.NDIX. 231
Littoral et extrenii prsetcrvehar ostia Sami :
O quales, quantosque canes, quam fortia bello
Pectora, quiim cert;\ prolem virtute valentem
Inde legam ? sola ilia uros, sola ilia leones
Invadit, sola aggreditur dignata elepliantos.
Opportunity offers, in introducing the dog of Arcadia to the
reader's notice, of speaking of the semiferous race of lupine dogs, the
denii-wolves of the ancient Cynegetica.^ The cross of the wolf and
dog is of considerable antiquity; indeed the belief of its existence
may be traced very generally through the popular works of the
classic ages. Under the Spartan dog, in the second class, I shall
again allude to hybrid dogs, and refer to Mr. Hunter's paper on the
subject in the Transactions of the Royal Society of London. At
present, it may be stated that the cross of the wolf and domestic dog
is an established one, and that the breed, so obtained, has been car-
ried forward for many generations. Aristotle, I believe, first re-
marked the sexual intercourse of these congeners in Cyrene ; and,
from the fact as stated by him. Cardan (" a great inquirer after Vulgar Errors,
truth, but too greedy a receiver of it," according to Sir Thomas ^'
Brown,) inferred the gradual degeneration of wolves into the canine
type.2 " Ut lupos et canes," says Brodeeus in Oppianuni, " mutu6
coire fatear, Diodori, Ovidii, (' Deque lupo concepta Nape,') ac
complurium facit auctoritas." As the mule is born from the horse
and ass, remarks Galen, so a mixed breed may be generated from
the wolf and dog.^ The race of old reported to have been sprung
1. Arcadia boasted not these as her only ferine crosses — ^v\a Bripo/xiyri — for in the Find. Pyth.
country of Lycaon, too, in all their glory, rode the arparhs OavfjicwThs of senii-hunian -L" i'* ^^'
centaurs, lords of tlie chase, around mount Pholoij,
a/xcpl irdSos *oA.o7js ave/iuSeos &ypia (pv\a Oppian. Lyneg,
OTipo/xiyrj, fiepSirwv [ji.sv in' l^x'ias, l^v6<piv 5e
'imriDV rifii^p6Tccv,
2. Scaliger denies the inference — " Possunt quidem lupi mitiores fieri, sed Exercitat.
nunquam lupinam formam, et totalem feritatem exuent, quemadiuodum et plantae ^*'^*
novo cultu raitescunt."
3. Both these hybrid productions are alluded to, in his wonted strain of dissfust, ^^* ^* '^g"PP*
...... . ^ ' de Incert. et
by the misanthropic Agrippa, in his 73rd chapter, de Agricultura. Yg^^ ^ g^ g^j^^
232 APPENDIX.
from the latter connexion was that of Arcadia, the Lycaonian ;
thence called, peradventure, hycas by Simonides, and Lycisca by
Scaliger. Virgil and Ovid — " Mista lupo canis est signata voce Lycisca." ^
That the Lycas of the canine epitaph was of lupine origin, we may
conjecture from the name ; but the Cean poet specifying other loca-
lities as the scenes of his hound's exploits in life, and Pollux calling
her AvKaba Tr)y QeTra\r)v, some other kennel may put forward a
claim, instead of that of Arcadia, for the honour of the breed ; or
the name may be merely an appellative distinction, unconnected
with lineage ; — still the monumental elegy is deserving of citation :
Simonides t] aev koI (pBiufvas, \evK offrea toiS' ivi Tu/i/3y
einendatus, ex lorKU erirpoueeiv drjpa^, &ypot(T<ra AvKis.
Polluc. Ononi. ^ , / '* ,,„,,,
L_ ^^ ^j^ Tav 5' (xpeTav ow(v fjLeya Xlri\tov, ar api5r]\os
''Ocraa KiOatpwvSs olopSfioi (TKOTriai,
Gratius contrasts the docility of Lycaonian dogs, the Teyej/roi of
Oppian, with the intractability of the Indian,
Cyneg. vs. 160. j\^t contra faciles magnique Lycaones armis.
The breed of the northern part of Peloponnesus, having been of
Ovid.Metam. great note, and the son of Pelasgus (" notus feritate Lycaon ")
having been converted into a wolf — the first subject, it may be, of
lycanthropy — the dogs indifferently called Arcadian and Lycaonian,
Vide Pausan. were probably, says C. Wase, " heirs of his own body naturally
begotten." Many Arcadian hounds are found in the Ovidian pack,
among the mistaken pursuers of the unfortunate son of Aristaeus —
Euripidis {%v wfioffiroi (jKvXaKfs, &s idpi-^wro,
SLecrndffavTO Kpelffcrov' iu Kvvrjytais,)
possessed of great speed and resolution :
1. In tlie rare tract of Jean de Glamorgan, I find a practical remark to tlie point :
La Chasse " Noterez que j'ay veu quelquefois que les levriers font difficulte de prendre una
du Loup. Joupe cliaude, ains la veulent saillir et covrir comme une cliienne : mais s'il y a aux
cours quelque bonne levriere, rile la prendra par envie et jalousie."
A I' 1' I. N 1) 1 X .
233
hide ruiint alii rapidfl velociiis aurS,
I'amphagiis, et Dorceus, et Oribasus, Arcades omnes,
A'ebrophouosque valens, et triix cum Laelape Tlieron,
Et pedibus Pterelas, et naribus utilis Agre,
H^la;usque fero nuper percussus ab apro,
Deque lupo concepta Nape, pecudesque secuta
Poemenis, et natis comitata Harpvia duobus,
Et substricta gercns Sicyouius ilia Ladon ;
Et Dromas, et Canace, Sticteque, et Tigris, et Alee,
Et niveis Leucon, et villis Asbolus atris,
Free valid usque Lacon, etcursu fortis Aello,
Et Thous, et Cyprio velox cum fratre Lycisca.
The poet elsewhere bestows on the hound of Arcadia the local epi-
thet of Maenalian, from Mount Msenalus —
Maenalius lepori det sua terga canis.
Is it not probable that some of the hounds of chase, bestowed by
the Arcadian God on the Goddess of hunting, were culled by his
goatish majesty from the kennels of the country of Lycaon, where
Pan himself gratified his sporting ardour ? — the brace of pie-balled
— the leash of long-eared — and the spotted hound ?
t]v 5" o yiveifiTTis Suo fxiv Kvvas ^jxicrv -mffovs,
rpiis 5e TrJp' ovariovs, eva 5' ai6\ov' o'i pa. Xiovras
avTovs av fpvovTiS, 'Sre Spd^aiVTO Sepdaiv,
iiKKov iTi ^(iovTas eV av\iov.
The other seven which Pan contributed to Dian's pack, being
dacriToves avpawv, and destined for more timid quarry, are placed
under the Spartan family, of which they were the fleetest members.
Whether all the dogs " of Areas kinde," as sings Sir Arthur
Golding in his " worke very pleasant and delectable," were demi-
wolves, and " gaunt as any grewnd," I cannot take on myself to
decide ; but it is a fair inference, from the evidence adduced, that
lupi-canine crosses predominated, in all their ferocity, in the kennels
of Arcadia — not indeed to the exclusion of canine indigence of pure
blood, but enough to give a ferine character to the general type.*
Ovid. MeSani.
L. 111.209.
Artis Amator.
L.I.
Callimacti.
H. in Dian,
vs. 90.
Golding's
Ovid's Metaro.
13. III.
1. Blondus, in his ' Libellus de Canibus et Venatione,' remarks on the breed of
demi-wolves, as they are called by Shakespeare, that this cross was not had recourse
234 APPENDIX.
The Hyrcanian, savage as he was, is reported to have increased
his natural ferocity by engendering vi^ith the tiger :
Giatii Cyneg. Sed non Hjrcanae satis est veheraenlia genti
vs 159 /v N
Tanta; suis petiere ultro fera semina sylvis.
Dat Venus accessus, et blando foedere jungit.
Tunc et niansuetis tuto ferus errat adulter
In stabulis, ultroque gravis succedere tigriin
Ausa caiiis, niajure tuiit de sanguine foetum.
And to the subsequent generations of this cross Bargaius gives speed
in pursuit, and courage in attack :
P. A. Bargaei Sic itaque imraanes duxere e tigride mores
J ^' ' ' Hyrcani, quibus exuti post deinde nepotes
Sive ursos, sive illi apros videre niinaces,
Accurrunt celrres, et aperto marte lacessunt.
The breed of Hyrcania, having escaped the notice of Aristotle and
his copyist Pliny, is of course omitted by Solinus, (whose work
The Goveruour. entitled Polifhistor, however " mervaylous delectable" in the
opinion of Sir Thomas Elyot, is a mere breviary of the twice-told
Aristot. Hist, tales of the too credulous Roman naturalist,) but the same fabulous
L. vui. C.28. union with the tiger is recorded by them as the parent stock of the
Indian dog. May not the Indian and Hyrcanian, though separated
to in his days, because it was not wanted — " tanta feritate et astutii non egemus :"
Wase's ^^^ Wase bears testimony to its historical notoriety. " From the experience of this
Illustrations, country," says lie, " that semi/era proles, or whelps, that come of the commixture of
*■ ''■ * a bitch with a dog-wolf, is verified, called anciently /(/cisctp ; and this ill quality they
find inherent to that sort of dogs, that they can by no way of bringing up be restrained
Gratii Cyneg. from preying upon cattle — ' sed prajceps virtus ipsa venabitur aula' — by which they
vs. 107. have merited to be esteemed criminal before they be whelped; and there is a law in
that behalf, which straitly enjoins, that if any bitch be limed with a wolf, either she
must be hanged immediately, or her puppies must be made away : this may serve to
avouch somewhat, all tliat character which Gratius gives of the seraiferous mongrels,
of his Hyrcanian and the Tiger."'
Parry's By the occurrences which took place at Melville Island, recorded in the Appendix
1st Voyage of ofCapt. Parry's 1st Voyage, we have clear proof that even an undomesticated wolf,
\ni ei dix ^^ '^^ natural and wild state, will have intercourse with a domestic dog.
APPENDIX,
235
by Athena^is and Pollux, have been deemed identical by the Stagi-
rite ?' — To the tiger-cross of Irak, the compound epithet Xeoirojutyets
is applied by the learned grammarian just cited, as if the " fera
semina" of the first connexion were leonine. The ferocity of the
breed, contrasted with the timidity of the stag, affords an argument
to Lucretius against the Pythagorean doctrine of a promiscuous
transmigration of souls :
Deipnosopb.
L. V. c. 8.
Pollucis
Onomast.
L. V. c. V. 39.
Quod si immOTtalis foret, et mutare soleret
Corpora, perniistis animaiites moribus essent:
EtFugeret canis Hyrcano de semine saepe
Cornigeri incursum cervi, &c.
Lucretii
L. III. 748.
By the archbishop of Thessalonica the Canes Hyrcani are men-
tioned amongst the cTr/cr/j/ua kwCjv yevr] of bis commentary on Homer
(ad Iliad, p.) but they are not found in either of the poems ; nor,
indeed, do I remember in the Iliad or Odyssey any dogs distinctively
marked by their geographical appellations.
The plaintive wailing of the old nurse, Carme, over her daughter,
the nymph Britomartis,
iWo(p6vov BpnSixapriv, ivcrKOWov ris wore MiVais
VTOi7]0iis vtt' fpani KaTeSpafiev ovpea Kp'jjrjjs,
H. in Dian.
vs. 190.
1 . The contiguity of India to Hyrcania, and the latter abounding with tigers, raay
be the cause of the same tale being told by Aristotle and Pliny of the tigri-canine
cross of India, as by Gratius of that of Hyrcania. Both are of course purely
fabulous. Whatever loss the fierce dog of Irak may occasion to pastoral property,
herds and flocks — be is still to be cherished for his superior prowess in the savage
hunt : —
Sed prsece'ps virtus ipsii venabitur aula :
llle tibi et pecudum multo cum sanguine crescet ;
Pasce tanien, quaecunque domi tibi crimina fecit,
Excutiet silv^ magnus pugnator adepta.
Gratii Cyneg.
vs. 1G7.
The people of Hyrcania fostered their savage race of dogs for the express purpose, De curand.
amongst others, of devouring the bodies of the dead — a practice noticed by Theodoret Grsc. affect,
as being discontinued by them and the Caspians after their conversion to Chris- -q . * Sno
tianity.
236
APPENDIX.
in one of Virgil's minor poems, amended by Heyne, refers very
pathetically to the companionship of the Hyrcanian dog" in the moun-
tainous chase —
Titus
Andronicus
Act II. sc. II.
Cirisvs.307.
to climb the highest promontory top —
though associates from a Cretan kennel would have been more in
place —
Nunquam ego te summo volitantem in vertice mentis
Hyrcanos interque canes agmenque ferarum
Conspiciani, nee te redeuntem amplexa tenebo.
De Venat. fjjg Locrian dog, much esteemed by Grecian sportsmen, is
particularly employed by Xenophon in the boar-chase ; but I knovr
not to which of the territories called Locris he should be appropriated,
nor whether common to all. Nor do I find in him properties suffi-
ciently characteristic of the family of bellicosi to place him here
with confidence — and yet I no where see him used in pursuit of timid
fugacious quarry. 1 Oppian (no authority for classification) intro-
duces him between the Egyptian and Molossian — here then let him
Oppian. Cyneg. stand — jiovKoXiwi' ovpoi, AoKpol ^(^apoTroi re MoXotrffoi. The following
beautiful little epitaph of Anyta is admitted, merely because its
subject, the fleetest of musical hounds, bears the name of Locris —
Anyta
Epidauria.apuJ
ScriptoresGree-
cos fllinores.
Oxford, 1829.
ii\eo Syiirore Ka\ crb -KoXippi^ov irapa. dd/xvov,
AoKpl <pi\o(j)66yycDV uKvraTa aKvXaKoiv,
Tolov iXacppi^opTi reaS eyKdrdero KiiXtf
iov aiiei\tKT0V ■iroiKi\6oiLpos eX'^*
for I am by no means convinced that the title is any thing more
than an individual appellative (unconnected with locality) bestowed
Numismata
Siciliffi et
Magnae Gra;cia2
T. XXVI.
T. XXXV.
1. The hare on the reverse of Locrian numismata cannot be considered as proof of
the pursuit of such quarry being the popular diversion of the country, nor as militating
against the Locrian hound's introduction here ; — for the same impression occurs oa
other coins — on those of the Falisci, a colony of Argos, and others — having reference
to historical or mythological subjects, unconnected with the field sports of the
country.
APIM', N I) IX.
237
by a Grecian lady, perhaps, on a valued pet. Darcius of V^onusiiim
places the Locrian with the Arcadian, and others of the pugnacious
class.
Sunt et Locrenses catuli, sunt Arcades, atque
Cjpria quos Salaniis, quos dives Iberia pascit.
The Carthaa,inian poet alone has commemorated the " acres
catuli" of Libya, his native country.
Joan. Darcii
\^eniisini
Canes.
Quinetiara siccfE Libyes in finibus acres
Gignuntur catuli, quorum non spreveris usum :
Nemesian.
Cyneg. vs. 128.
and from hira probably, Fracastorius (a learned physician of Verona,
who wrote a short poem of some merit, " de cura canum," eleven
centuries later,) may have derived the Canes Libyci of his Alcon,
recommended for the savage chase.
Nam rabidas si forte feras te cura tenebit
Venari, et variis caput objectare perSclis ;
Spartana de stirpe tibi, de stirpe Molossii
Qusere canes, Libycos illis, acresque Britannos
Pannoniosque truces, et amantes prajlia Celtas
Adde, nee Hyrcanos, nee Seras sperne feroces.
H. Fracastorii
Alcon.
It cannot be granted to Conrad Gesner that the Libyan of the
African poet is the Metagon of Gratius ; nor is the resemblance
between the former and the Egyptian of Oppian sufficiently clear
to justify an inference of identity. Indeed our materials for
forming a judgment are far too scanty. We know no more of
the " Incola arundiferi Nili" of Natalis Comes than we cull from
the credulous historians of the Egyptian dog, ^lian and Solinus,
relative to his fear of crocodiles. The former naturalist reports ol
fiev aWoi Kvyes Kai eXe'iv, Kal avi'^^vevcrai to. drjpia ao(poi' ol be Alyviv-
Tioi (pvye'cu beivuTaroi, k. t. X, " E Nilo nunquam nisi currentes
lambitant.. dum a crocodilis insidias cavent," adds the author of
the Polyhistor.
The Pannonian breed of Canes bellicosi, of high courage, were
employed in actual war, as well as its mimicry the chase.
riaioves stand at the head of Oppian's long catalogue, and, upon
De Venatione
L.I.
^lian. de
Nat. Animal.
L. VI. c. 53.
Polyliistor.
C. XV.
238
APPENDIX.
his principle of omnifarious commixture, are recommended to be
crossed with sagacious Cretans —
Oppian.Cjneg.
L, I. 395.
H. Fracastorii
Alcun.
eirtfi'KTy^o riaiotri KprJTas.
The Veronese poet makes a twofold distinction of the dogs of
Pannonia in his cynegetical effusion, entitled A Icon, In the
first class, he places the Pannonii truces, as already cited, adapted
for the chase of fierce prey ; in the second, Pannonii agiles, for
timid, innoxious quarry :
Si vero parvos lepores, capreasque fugaces
Malueris, timidosque sequi per devia cervos,
Delige Pannonios agiles, volucresque Sicambros.
iEIian. Var.
Hist. L. XIV.
c. 46.
The Pannonii truces are noticed by Julius Pollux, and also
their consimilars of Magnesia — both evidently of the .Epirote
breed. The former are also mentioned by Nemesian, Cyneg. v. 126,
iElian characterizes the Magnesiau war-hounds as (pojSepoi re, kuI
aypioi, Kal €t'TV)(€lv cifxeiXiKToi ; and states that the horsemen of
Magnesia, 1 in the Ephesian war, were each accompanied to the field
with a Canis Venaticus, the dogs collectively first assaulting the
enemy, backed by the pedestrian soldiers, and lastly by the cavalry;
who did not charge till the canine warriors TrpoTrrjbun'Tes eraparroy t})v
Trape/jfioXi'iv. The MayvrjTes are merely named by the poet of Ana-
zarbus, in his first Cynegetic, vs. 37'2.
Of all the pugnacious dogs of the classic file, the most renowned
were those bred on the continent of Epirus, and denominated, from
De Nat. Anim.
L. vit,
C. XXXVII.
Plin. L. vni.
c. 40.
J. Darcii
Venusiiii
Canes.
1. Oi Maidi'Spy irapoiKuvvres MayvriTes. The same are mentioned by iElian, in his
work de Natura Animalium, in conjunction with the Hyrcanians, as being attended
to battle by canine auxiliaries — Kal -^v Kal tovto av^jxaxi-iibv ayaObv avrols Kol eirt-
KovpiK6v. And Pliny, speaking of the Coloplionii and Castabalenses, says they had
" cohortes canum — fidissima auxilia, nee stipendiorum indigna."
His Colophoniacae (si vera est fama) phalanges
Auxiliis, hostem valido fregere duello :
Infaustoque olim cecidissent Caspia marte
Agmina, ni tali defensa coborte fuissent.
Al'PENDlX. 239
one of its principal districts, Molossian : of which Aristotle records
two varieties, the one for ordinary hunting, the other for guarding
flocks, houses, and property. The fabled origin of the breed is con-
sistent with its high repute in the kennels of antiquity. For, on the
authority of Nicander, we are told by Julius Pollux, that the Hpi- Onomast.
rote was descended from the brazen dog, which Vulcan wrought for
Jupiter, and animated with all the functions of canine life —
Koi ^vxh" fi'Be'ls dZpov eSw/ce Ait.
Of this Molossian prototype the fortunate proprietors were, suc-
cessively, Europa, Minos, Procris, and Cephalus ; and, somehow or
other, as he passed from kennel to kennel, amidst heroines and he-
roes, or whilst in the temporary keeping of Diana, (who seemingly
bestowed him on Procris,) he was metamorphosed into a wolf-
greyhound, under the name and character of thje Ovidian La^laps.
See Class iii. Vertragus.
The pro\Vess of the Canes Molossi rendered them most useful
auxiliaries in the field of battle ; ^ and they were equally prized in
the contests of the circus and amphitheatre. Their war praises are
sung by the classic muse of Darcius, in a style worthy the purest age
of Koman literature, nor are their other merits forgotten by this
accomplished poet :
Divers^ veniunt prsEstantes dote TMolossi J. Darcii
Uiversi ingeniis, uon omnibus omnia pra;stat Venusini
.,,.,... o Canes.
J\atura, at vario ludit discruinne morum, &c.
But our citations must be made from writers of an earlier date, and
the character of these dogs derived from coeval, or at least original,
sources. The attachment and fidelity of Epirotes to their masters
formed a remarkable feature of their tribe — so much so, that Statius
tells us the soldiers of Molossia wept over their faithful canine com-
panions, slain in war :
1. ^lian tells us of a war-dog, perliaps an Epirote, (TvarpaTiurTjv Kvva — wiio so De Naturrl
distinguished himself with bis Athenian lord at the battle of Marathon, as to be Animahiiin
' L. VII,
honoured with an effigy on the same tablet with his master. c xxxviii
240 APPENDIX.
In Epiced. gemit inter bella peremptum
1 ileti Ursi. Parthus equum, fidosque canes flevere Molossi ;
— a manifestation of kindly and affectionate feeling, of which their
congeners of an earlier date, on the authority of Tryphiodorus,
were totally unworthy :
Tryphiodori of 8' v\doi'Tes
uypla KOirTOiievoiffiv en avopaaiv uSvpovro
vs. G08.
vi)\iis, ov5' a\iyt^ov eovs ipvovns AvaKras.
L. III. c. II.
In the capacity of dogs of war, they do not fall under my plan ;
nor indeed as ohovpol, nor as fighters in the Venatio of the amphi-
theatre, do they strictly come within this arrangement. On these
points of their character the reader will find illustrative anecdotes in
Julius Pollux, Pliny, and Solinus.
As dogs of the chase, their strength, size, and undaunted courage,
enabled them to contend with the most terrific wild animals ;^ and
we are assured that the lion himself has been mastered by the dog of
Epirus — the tiger, pard, panther, and boar, have yielded to him.
The epithets applied to the Canis Molossus all indicate his fire
De Nat. Anim. and resolution. iElian calls him Ov^xiKwraTos ; Virgil, " acremque
Molossum," (Georg. in.); and Seneca uses the same epithet,
" teneant acres lora Molossos," (Hippolyt. Act i.) But there is
much difference of opinion whether he was an open or close hound,
when employed in the field.- To the latter conclusion I am induced
to accede from the following passage of- Statins,
1. For a fine representation of the Canis Molossus Venaticus, see De la Chausse,
JMuseum Romanum, Tab. lxiv. and Montfaucon Antiquite expliquee, Chasse au
Sanglier, Tom. iii. pi. 179. Several hunters are returning from the chase with the
Magister Venationis, bearing in his hand a shield ; — a cart drawn by oxen conveys a
dead boar, on which lies a huge dog apparently killed in the fray, and by the side
walks a second hound of the type alluded to. See also the Venationes Ferarum of
Stradanus and Galle, plate viii. and the Genii hunting, from Maffei, at the beginning
of this Appendix, where a IMolossian-like hound is on the point of seizing a wild
boar.
2. Lucan has "ora levis claniosa Molossi" — and Claudian " Molossi latrantes" —
and into the error of his poetical predecessors Cardinal Adrian has fallen, in his
APPliNDlX. 241
muto legit arva Molosso Achill. L. ii.
Venator, videat donee sub frondihus liostem.
On the trail of his game I believe him to have been a mute limier or
limehoinul, (whence Savary's term echemylhus,) and never to have Venationis
opened untu the quarry had started trom its lair — being even at that Leges. L. i.
time less noisy in his bark than the purely sagacious breeds. His
silence or closeness is clearly indicated by Gratius, where he orders
the yelping Etolian dam to be crossed with a Molossian sire,
vanas tantum Cal_ydonia linguee Cyrieg. vs. 196.
Exibit vitium patre emendata Molosso.
Will not the praises of Lydia, of Martial's well-known epitaph,
place her among the savage inmates of a Molossian kennel ?
Epigr. 70.
Amphitheatrales inter nutrita magistros Martial.
Venatrix sylvis aspera, blanda domi : {i'^T* ^^*
Lydia dicebar domino fidissiiua dextra,
Qui non Erigones mallet liabere canem,
Nee qui Dictsek Cephalum de gente s^ecutus
Luciferse pariter venit ad astra Dese.
Non me longa dies, nee inutilis abstuiit astas,
Qualia Dulicliio fata fuere cani :
Fulmineo spuniantis apri sura dente pereiiipta,
Quanlus erat Calydon, ant, Erymanthe, tuus.
Nee queror infernas quamvis cito rapta sub uuibias,
Non potui fato nobiliore mori.
Venatio ad Ascanium Cardinalem ; — as if the Molossi were remarkably latrant,
whereas closeness of mouth was their more distinctive quality : unless indeed this
Cardinal of St. Chrysogonua refer to two different sorts of Molossi, the one latrant,
the other mute and sagacious :
Deducunt alii canum phalanges. Poetaj Tres,
Latrantes abeunt simul molossi P' ^^' ^'^"* Aid.
-^ . , . . . 1534.
Mox indaginis unicae sagaces :
for he subsequently slips some boar-hounds, "perinvia lustra tnussitantes," and
others again are distributed about the covert by the harbouiers or huntsmen ; the
latter being denominated "feros molossos."
2 H
242
APPENDIX.
— her education and her quarry will, at least, assign her to the mus-
ter-roll of our first class.
But of the Canis Molossus Venaticus, enough ; — matchless as he
was for stoutness, before Britain was discovered and its race of
Canes bellicosi brought into competition with those of Epirus, he at
last was compelled to yield the palm of ferocious hardihood to the
British bull-dog, and to succumb to his superior prowess :
Gratii Cyneg.
vs. 179.
At magnum cum venit opus, promendaque virtus,
Et vocat extreme pra^ceps discrimine Mavors,
Non tunc egregios tantum admirere Molossos.
Luciani
Tugitivi.
De NaturCv
The second variety of the Epirote noticed by Aristotle, though
out of the pale of this epitome, is worth recording from its classical
associations, and because it possesses in an eminent degree the
canine qualities lauded by Lucian, ro (pvXaKTiKov, to ohovpiKoy, koI to
(piKohktJTTOTov — the " tarn fida custodia, tamque amans dominorum
Deor. L. 11.63. adulatio, tantumque odium in externos " of Cicero. To this I give
the name of Canis Molossus Villaticus, and include under the title
the ohovpos, olKO(j)v\a^, nvXawpdi, TpcnreSevs, ostiarius, pastoralis, pe-
cuarius, &c. ; names derived from the different uses to which the dog
was applied. Let the Villae Custos of Columella be our type : —
" amplissimi corporis, vasti latratus canorique, ut prius auditu
maleficum, deinde etiam aspectu terreat, et tamen nonnunquam, ne
visus quidem, horribili fremitu suo fuget insidiantem,^ &c." — Here
we place the sharp-toothed watch-dog of Hesiod's agricultural
injunctions ;
De Re Rust.
L. VII. c. 12.
Opera et Dies.
vs. 602.
(/cal Kvva Kapxctp6SovTa ko/jluv /xt) <pei5eo (t'itov
fii] iroTi 0"' riiu.ep6K0iT0S avrip arrh xpi]ixar tArjTai,)
Metamorph. — here, the " canes rabidos et immanes, et quibusvis lupis et ursis
L. VIII. p. 553
saeviores, quos ad tutelae praesidia curiose coloni fuerant alumnati,"
1. Refer to Surflel's translation of Maison Rustique, good reader, if you Lave it,
and smile at the portraiture of the watch-dog, the joint execution of 7ny medical
brethren, " Charles Stevens and John Liebault, Doctors of Pliysicke." C. 27.
p. 1C8.
APPENDIX.
243
of Apulciiis ; — here, the pastoral dogs of Varro (Geopon. L. xix.
c. I.) Froiito (Geopon. (L. xix. c. ii.) and Varro (De lie R. L. ii.
c. IX.) ;i — and here too those, in general, of the poet of Syracuse, the
canine guards of flocks and herds, so prettily alluded to, in the in-
stance of Lauipurus, by the goat-herd boy of the eighth Idylliuni,
<^ei5ei» tSv ep'Kpuv, (pelSev, \vKe, ruiv TOKiiZuiv /lev,
ju7)5' aS'tKei n^, '6ti fnKKhs (uv iroWoicriv o/xaprfw.
S) hd[j.irovpe Kvuiv, ovrco fiadvs virvos ex^' '''" ;
ov xph KOifiacrOai fiadiais avv iraiol vefiotna . , .
Theocrit. Idyll.
VIII. 63.
and the milk-fattened ban-dog of Claudian,
sic pastor obesum
Lacte canem ferroque ligat, pascitque revinctum,
Dum validus servare gregem, vigilique rapaces
Latratu terrere lupos, Stc.
Claudian. in
Eutropium.
L.I.
The notices in Homer of these dogs are numerous; (see Iliad.
K. 183. fj.'. 302. p. 109.) and their watchfulness, as nightly centinels,
is sung in classic hexameters by the poet of Venusium :
Uberior tamen est illis, et fortior inde
Laudis causa venit, moUi quod tempora somno
Pauca terunt, seu flaramigero det lumina curru
Phoebus, seu niveas agitat Latonia bigas,
Somnifero obliquum volvens jubar axe per orbem.
Sed vigili domino curil, raroque cadente
Lumine prospiciunt, et herilia murmure circum
Claustra freraunt, ne sint nocturne pervia furl,
Neve lupo, tut&que greges statione quiescant.
J. Darcii
Veniisini
Canes.
Pitiscus tells us, on the authority of Eustathius, that it was cus-
1. The answer of the Canls Pastoralis (ore (puvrjevra ^vra ^ua) to tlie dissatis-
fied sheep is beautifullj illustrative of his services in the economy of pastoral life: — iya>
ydp elfii 6 koI vfias avras d^wv, wcrre n-fjre inrep avdpunruv kKitrTeaQai, fii\re virh Xvkoov
aprrd^ecrdai' iirel vfiels ye, ei /ktj iyw Trpo<j)v\dTTOi^i vfias, ouS' t-v ve/xeaOai hvvaiade,
<pofiovjxevai fJLT] air6\T}<7d€ — thereby making good his claim to a share of his master's
food.
Xenopbou
Memorab.
L. II. c. VII.
244 APPENDIX.
Pitisci Lexicon tomary with the ancients to have porter-dogs ^ — " nioris erat atriensi-
ntiqiut. Yms fores servari a canibus," — such were the rrvXawpoi and rpaTreiiies
of Homer, the attendants at the door of Telemachus, Kvyes Trobas
apyoi, (Odyss. v. 144.) — the house-dogs of Patroclus, nine in num-
ber — of whom two were slain, and offered on his funeral pile, (Iliad.
;//'. 173.) and the Kvres wfxrjaral of Priam — whose anticipated reckless
laceration of his dead body — ttoXIov re Kapj], ttoXwv re yeveiov — by
the TTvXau/poi, is pleaded by the aged king to deter his ill-fated son
from contending with Achilles. (Iliad, j^'. 69.) — Such too were the
gemini custodes of Evander, which followed their rustic king to the
dormitory of his Trojan guest, (^neid. L. viii. 461.)"
As an attribute of the porter-dogs, speed was utterly unnecessary,
though given to those of Telemachus, above cited : and that they
generally possessed it not is implied, I think, in the question of
Ulysses to Eumjeus, as to the character of the " unhoused, neg-
lected " Argus ;
Odyss. L. XVII. ov ffdcpa olSa
ei S^ Kol raxvs fCKe Ofeiv enl elSe'i rcfSe,
i) avTcos oToi re rpaTre^jjfs ki5v6s avhpuiv
yiyvovr', ayKdtris S' 'iveKev Kop-iovcnv &vaKr€S.
Ulysses Aldrovandus, Spelman, and Ducange, have left us the
many titles of the watch-dogs of the classic and middle ages, in their
respective works. See Aldrovand. de Quad. Digit. Vivip. L. ii.
1. Statues and pictures of Kvvis fpovpoSS/jLoi were sometimes exhibited on the
entrance doors, or walls of vestibules — of which kind were the dogs wrought of gold
and silver by Vulcan for Alcinous, Au/jia <pvXa(Tffi(iivai fxeyaXiiropos 'AA/civJoio— and
•the Canis Catenarius of Petronius Arbiter — " ad sinistram intrantibus non longe ab
ostiarii cella, canis ingens catena vinctus in pariete erat pictus, superque quadratS,
liteia scriptum, CAVE CAVE CANEM." — Even Mercury himself was some-
times there exhibited — upon the principle, I suppose, of setting a thief to catch a
thief.
2. Aristotle alludes to Porter dogs in his Nicomachean Ethics, L. vii. c. vi.
introducing them in a very pertinent illustration of the difference between inconti-
nency of anger, and incontinency as to pleasure : anger seems to listen to reason,
though it does not hear it distinctly, &c. — KaQdinp ol Kvves, irp\v ffKi^^MT&ai ei (pihos,
iStv ixSyou ypocpricrr) , xiKaKTOvaiv o'lnuis 6 6ufj,hs,Siit Oep/xSrriTa u. r. X.
A 1' !• E N D 1 \ ,
245
Canis Epithcta ; and the Glossaria of Spclniaii and Dncangc. Tlie
title ot»co0u\o$, derived from the office of the animal,
Sn crov TTpoixaxftctt Kol (pvAdrTfi ri]P Bvpav,
occurs in a pretty epigram of the Locrian poetess on the picture of a
Grecian lady ; but is there probably applied to a domestic pet,
calvoi Kiv a' iaiSolcra Ka\ olKO(p6\a^ ffKv\dKaiva
Seairoivav (leXaQpuv oloixeva iroOoprjv.
To the " hylax in limine" of Virgil (Eel. viii.) — the " vigilum
canum tristes excubia; " of Horace (L. lll. Od. IG.) — I need not
refer ; nor indeed to the Catenarius of Seneca (de Ira, L. in.), nor
the ^t'ffyLitos of Artemidorus (Oneirocrit. L. ii. c. xi.) To say that
all these passages afford instances of Molossian Canes custodes,
would be going too far. They merely exemplify the use to which
trusty, vigilant individuals of the pugnacious canine race were ap-
plied, and the functions they performed, in the rural and domestic
economy of G reek and Roman households. Horace, however, par-
ticularly specifies Epirotes in the capacity of house-dogs — " domus
alta Molossis Personuit canibus " — as if they were the usual custodes
of patrician houses. For much of the point of his pretty fable rests
on the sumptuousness of the town-house, wherein dwelt the city-
mouse, joint-tenant with a biped lord, " in locuplete domo," the
appointed place of rendezvous for the rustic friend.
To the same tribe, for want of a more appropriate one, (unless the
reader would place them on a Libyan or Egyptian file,) I assign the
" exquisitior custodia" of Massinissa, the canine guardians in whose
protection he deemed himself more safe than in that of his fellow-
men ;
Hos Maurusiacus sibi Massinissa paravit
Custodies, honiiiium fidei diffisus, et isto
Non sibi conducto sua sccptra satellite cinxit.
Aristopli
V^espa*.
Nossis
Locrissa. A pud
Poetas Graecos
Minores.
Salir. L. ii.
S. VI. vs. 114.
J. Darcii
Venusini
Canes.
" Parum fidei in pectoribus hominum reponens," says Valerius L. ix. c. 13.
Maximus, " salutem suam custodi^ canum vallavit." ^
1. On which the indignant historian observes with warmth, " quo tani late patens
iiuperium
Valerii
quo tautus liberorum numerus? quo denique tarn arcta benevolentid Maximi L. ix.
246
APPENDIX.
But we are going beyond our prescribed bounds, and must return
to our text-book, the Cynegetieon of the Faliscian ; viho next intro-
duces to notice the Canes bellicosi of the British isles, a parent stock
of native growth. We have no information of any source from
whence these could have been imported into Britain, and, as Strabo
states that they were exported from thence into Gaul, it is inferred
that they were indigena. Whether the Canis bellicosus Anglicus
of Aldrovandus, or the Canis Mastivus, omnium maximus, animosus
Hist. Animal, ^i pugnax of Ray, be alluded to in the following lines of Gratius,
is doubtful. Possibly the poet may include both breeds, as the ani-
mal combats of the Roman amphitheatre were supplied by the Pro-
curator Cynegii with the finest specimens of our war-dogs, without
reference to minute distinctions ;
De Quad.
Digit. Vivip.
L. III. c. via
Gratii C^'neg.
vs. 174.
Quid freta si Morinum, dubio refluentia ponto.
Veneris, atque ipsos iibeat penetrare Britannos ?
O quanta est merces, et quantum inipendia supra !
Si non ad speciem, mentiturosque decores
Protinus ; (haec una est catulis jactura Britannis.)
At magnum cum venit opus, promendaque virtus,
Et vocat extreme prajceps certamine Mavors,
Non tunc egregios tantum admirere Molossos !
Their hardihood in seizing the bull is celebrated by Claudian in
the well-known verse,
De Laudibus Magnaque taurorum fracture colla Britanns.
Stilic. L. III.
In the early authentic record of the Canes Venatici of Britain
by the royal sportsman, Edmund de Langley, three sub-varieties of
our Canis bellicosus are enrolled, in addition to the mastiff:
iMagstrr of << Alaunt is a maner and natre of houndes and the good Alauntz
(ffiamr. , ^ , •, ^ , , , ,
c. XVI. fol. G7. ben tlie which men clepyn Alauntz gentil. Other there byn that
men clepyn Alauntz ventreres. Other byn Alauntz of the bo-
cherie.^
constricta Romana amicitia, si ad hffic tuenda nihil canino latratu ac morsu valentius
duxit?"
1. The duke considers alauntz primarily derived from Spain, not natives of
APPENDIX.
247
" Thei that ben siontilo sliiild be nmile and shape as a jirey-
hoiintlo evyii of alio thingcs sauf of the hevcd, the whiche shuld be
greet and short," &c. " Commonly Alauntz byn stordy of here
owyn nature and have not so good witte as many other lioundes
have. For if a man prik an hors the Alaunt wil gladly rcnne and
bite the hors. Also thei renne at oxen and at sheep at swyne and
to alle othere beestis or to men or to othere houndes for men hav
seyn Alauntz sle her niaystir, and in alle maner vt^ise Alauntz byn
inly fell and evol undirstondyng and more foolish and more sturdy
than eny other maner of houndes," &c.
" That other nature of Alauntz is clepid ventreres, almost thei
bene shapon as a greyhounde of ful shap, thei hav grete hedes and
greet lippes and greet eeris. And with such men helpeth hem at
the baityng of a boole and atte huntynge of a wilde boor. Thei
holde fast of here nature but thei byn hevy and foule and ben slayn
with wilde boor or with the bulle and it is nat ful grete losse," Sec.
" The Alauntz of the bocherie is soch as ye may alle day see in
good tounes that byn called greet bochers houndis," &c. — " Thei
byn good for the baytyng of the bulle and huntyng of the wilde
boore whedir it be wt. greihoundis at the tryste or wt. rennyng
houndis at abbay with inne the coverte," &c.
The first and second of the above sub-varieties appear to have had
some commixture of Celtic blood in their veins — indeed the name of
Ventreres receives a ready solution in the Latin term Ventraha, by
which the greyhound is designated, according to Barthius, in an
iBajistrr of
([Same.
c. XVI. fol. 67''.
fol. 68.
fol. 681".
Britain ; " As men clepyn greihoundes of England of Scotland and of Bretayn
right so the alauntez and the houndes for the hawke cometh out of Spayn."
Minsheu deduces Alani " a regione quadani Epyri, quee Albania dicitur, unde primum
advecti creduntur hi canes." But they probably were bull-dogs in the common
acceptation of the term.
The reader will remember the Alauntes of Chaucer, on which Dryden has bestowed
r^uvenesccnce under the type of greyhounds, attendants of " the surly king of
Thrace :"
Minshaei
Emendat.
p. 451.
Ten brace, and more, of greyhounds, snowy fair,
And tall as stags, ran loose, and cours'd around his chair;
A match for pards in flight, in grappling for the bear.
Palaraon and
Arcite. B. J.
248
APPENDIX.
ancient MS. of Gratius, where the more usual reading is Verlraha —
(Veltracha.)
Viewing the " canes gravioribus aptee morsibus" of Britain to
contain only two principal indigenous sub-varieties, the bull-dog
may be adduced as an animal of the most ferociously brutal aspect,
and most invincible courage in the creation. i The mastiff surpasses
his congener as much in size, as he is inferior to him in ferocity.-
See Caius de Canibus Britannicis.
To these truculent dogs, eixpvels irpos Kvyrjyeatas, according to
Strabo (L. iv.), as well as resolute in war, our rude ancestors were
beholden for the destruction or expulsion of beasts of prey from these
Cuvier Regn.
Animal.
Description of
Biitaine.
B. III. c. 13.
Pegge in
Arcliffiolog.
vs. X. p. 156.
iMagetfr of
c. XVIII. fol. 09.
1. It has been observed by an eminent living naturalist, that the cerebral capacity of
the bull-dog is sensibly smaller than of any other race : and it is doubtless to the
decrease of the encephalon tliat we must attribute his inferiority to all others, in
every thing relating to intelligence. He is scarcely capable of any education, and is
fitted for nothing but ferocious comba). In the ancient translation of Caius's
libellus by Holinshed, this savage brute is sketched to the life, as "an huge dogge
stubbome, ougly, eagre, hurthenous of body (and therefore but of little swiftnesse,)
terrible and feareful to behold, and more fearse and fell then any Archadien curre."
Nor is our estimate of Ids might in conflict weakened by Raphael's statement that
" alone and wythoutanye help at al, he pulled downe first an huge beare, then a
parde, and last of al a lyon, each after other, before the Frenche King in one day."
2. Amongst the coins of Cunobelin is a representation of a dog, probably of this
native variety, tall enough, according to Pegge, and of sufficient strength " to carry
a lady." And in Thoresby's Museum is a British coin " exhibiting a dog under a
man on horseback." (p. 338.
The mastiff is at present principally used in this country as a watch-dog ; and such
appears to have been his vocation of old. "His office is for to kepe his maistre's
beestis," says Duke Edmund, " and his maistre's hous. and it is a good nature of
houndis for thei kepen and defenden at her power al her maister goodes. thei byn of
cherlich nater and of fuule shap &c." — " ther byn many good for men that huntea
for profit of housold as for to gete fflesh. Also of maystifs and of alauntis ther byn
many good for the wilde boor;" — but " it is of no greet maistrie ne of grete redynes
the huntyng that thei do for here nature ys not tendre nosed in harde nor in sandy
nor in dusty grounde." For the etymology of the term mastiff, the reader is referred
to Dr. Caius, Winsheii, Skinner, and Holinshed — and for that of ban-dog, a variety
of the same, to Skinner in voce. The Mandaiarius, Sarcinariufi, Difensor, &c. of
Caius, the custos curlis, imstoraiis, porcarUius, ttrsaritius, caieiialus, &c. of Spel-
man and others, are all probably Caaes Mastivi.
APPENDIX. 249
islands. The wolf and the wild boar yielded to their prowess;^ Blount's
11 1 • .11^ I •• • • Ancient
and they are thence sometimes called (. anes luporarii in ancient Tenures.
tenures.
Having mentioned the bellicosi of Molossia and Britain in verses
already cited, Gratius compares others to them in the sequel ;
Comparat Lis versuta suas Athamania fraucles," Cyneg. vs. 182.
Acyrusque,^ Plierecque,'' et claiidestinus Acarnan.
Sicut Acamanes subierunt pra'lia fiirto,
Sic canis ilia suos taciturna supervenit hostes.
1. The existence of these noxious beasts of prey, in the sylvan fastnesses of our
islands, is too well authenticated by ancient records to be doubted.
Foure manere bestis of Venere there are : Book of
The fyrste of theym is the liarte : the seconde is the hare. ^'•' Alban s.
The boore is one of tho : the wulfe and not one mo.
On referring to Blount's ancient tenures, we find many estates held per serjantiam,
whereby the possessor was compelled to furnish these dogs for the destruction of
wolves. See A. T. p. 15. p. 52. p. 60. p. 94. " But Almighty God be thanked," in TheGovernour.
the ejaculatory language of Sir Thomas Elyot, "in this realme be no such cruel B. i. c. xviii.
beastes at present to be pursued !''
See Wase's Illustrations, c. vi. " of the Styles of Hunting different from the
English, both Antique and Forreigne."
Mr. Ritson, in a posthumous work on the Celts, has left it on record that " the Blemoirs of
Britons, in the last decade of the eighteenth century, made use of Spanish dogs in a ^}^^ Celts or
war with the IMaroon negroes ; having no longer any of their own fit for the pur- r> if 1
pose."
2. In Pliny's animated description of the Indian or Albanian dog's assault, we ob-
serve the crafty wiles or fraudes of the Illyrian and Acarnanian breeds. " Horrentibus Hist. Natur.
quippe per totum corpus villis, ingenti primiim latratu intonuit : mox inruitassultans, L. viii. c. xl.
contraque belluam exurgens hinc et illinc attifici dimicatione qua maxime opus esset,
iiifestans atque evitans, donee assidua rotatum vertigine afflixit." Indeed all the bel-
licosi thus attack their prey — but generally in silence. The Indian was latrant, it
seems, the Acarnanian mute.
Athamania, called also Illyricum, bordered on Thessaly and Acarnania.
3. Acyrus, saysWase, is " suspicious of corruption ;" ,which Gronovius proposes Geography of
to amend by reading Epirus, Vlititis substitutes Taygetus, and Heinsius Argivus. Oratius.
4. Pherce was situate between Demetrias and Pharsalus in Thessaly, near the lake
Bccbe — virh (TKOiririu opeos XaXKoiSouloLO. I am not aware of the dogs of these several Anollon. Bhod.
places being mentioned by any other author. Pheras was probably celebrated for its L. i. vs. jO.
2 I
250
APPENDIX.
J. Vlitii
Venatio
Novantiqua.
Wase's
Illustrations of
Gratius.
These were perhaps very cunning and savage varieties of the clog of
Laconia, and classed in consequence by the poet with the family of
pugnaces ; though more properly belonging to that of nare sagaces.
The words of Gratius are of doubtful signification, and the passage
may be corrupt. He either means, as the British dogs excel in
courage, so do the Athamanian in cunning — which is his usual anti-
thetical mode of stating opposite qualities — or else, as the British
dogs surpass the Molossian in stoutness, so they equal the Athama-
nian, Thessalian, and Epirote in subtlety. This interpretation
accords with the known properties of the British bull-dog. It is
singular that dogs of two districts, Acarnania and Etolia, adjoining
each other, and only separated by the river Achelous, should have
been of such opposite qualities — the former so mute, the latter, in
the sportsman's phrase, so open.
CANES VENATICI. Class II.
CANES SAGACES.
Claudian. de
Lauil. Stilicon.
L. III.
Ha nare sagaces.
The multitudinous varieties of this class have one common quality,
by which they are united in the same family, and which Gratius
terms " venandi sagax virtus," diversified in its phenomena, and
operative under great dissimilarity of external shape. ^
breed of game ; for, being one of the many haunts of Dian, it bestowed on tlie God-
dess the local name of Pheraea :
Callimach. H.
in Dian.
vs. 25 'J.
1. This class appears to answer to the second of M. F. Cuvier, having the head
and jaws shorter than those proper to our third class of pedibus celeres, but not so
much truncated as in the canes bellicosi. The parietal bones, in such types as are
supposed to resemble those of antiquity, do not approach each other above the tem-
poral fossae, but widen so as to enlarge the cerebral cavity of the forehead.
1
A P P E N 1) 1 X .
251
Of the larger and more powerful varieties the type is given by
Xenoplion in the tliird and fourth chapters of his Cynegeticns, and
by Julius Pollux in the fifth book of his Onomasticon : — that of
the smaller and more nimble sorts will be found hereafter in the
examples of the Canis Petronius of Gratius, and the Canis Agassicus
of Oppian. The names of the hounds, principally derived from the
countries of which they were supposed to be indigenous, have been
already enumerated. Their mode of hunting is faithfully struck off
by the Latin poet of the Halieutica, a fragment of disputed author-
ship, heretofore attributed to Ovid, but latterly to Gratius :
Qu^ nunc elatis riiiiantur naribus auras,
Et nunc demisso qu<eruut vestigia rostro,
Et produnt clamore feram, doniinumque vocando
Increpitant. Quern si collatis effugit arrais,
Insequitur tumulosque canis camposque per omncs.
In our descriptions of the pugnacious class, we followed, where
able, the order of the Faliscian's Cynegeticon, — filling up lacunaj,
when apparent, from extraneous sources; but, in the present class,
we have no such text-book by which to regulate our progress, and
must be beholden to the Greek and Latin Cynegetica, collectively,
for an arrangement of the individuals of this class in such sequence,
as the scale of their importance in the kennels of antiquity may seem
to justify. And first, and foremost, we place the well-known hound
of Lacedeemon.
The Spartan dog, in its two varieties of Castorian and Foxite, was
employed by Xenophon for the common purposes of hunting.^ The
Kaaropiai were so called on Koorwp yitrdels 7w epyu) juaXtara avras bie-
(pvXa^ey ; or, in the words of the Onomasticon, because they were
K.aaTopos dpcfifiara, *A.ir6X\u)vos to hwpov.
H^ojuat 4k SirapTTjs erepovs Kvvas, oiis hrvraXKii.
TiWiwv is epcuTtt ffJLhs Koipvetos 'AnSWuy.
Ilalieutic.
vs. 100.
Xenophon
Cj'neg. c. III.
Pollucis
Onomast. L. v
c. V. 3!i.
Nonni
Dion\si«c,
L. XVI.
The aXuTreKibes had their name bion bk kvvSiv kcu aXwirei^wy kyevov- ^^°' ^^"^8'
1. Perhaps Xenoplion's to 5e 7eVjj rwv kwoov eVri Zuraa may not. have so confined
an application as here stated. The KaarSpiaL and aAwireKtScs may comprehend ajl
the Canes Venatici of the Athenian's day collectively — at least all such as were used '
by him in hare-hunting at Scillus.
252
APPENDIX.
Natalis Comes
de Venat. L. i.
to; Castor, according to Nicander, having united the dog to the
fox, and produced a hybrid sort of sporting hound of great repute.
Castorides venatori gratissima tiirba.
But as if Castor and Pollux, being twin brothers, born whh-i fiiij,
(ApoUon. L. I.) possessed a common identity, the honour of having
first initiated the canine race in the pursuit of game, is indifferently
awarded to both. Oppian, we have already seen, bestows it on
Pollux, and Xenophon on Castor — " ovo prognatus eodera." Ari-
stotle considers all the Canes Laconici to be of the sort called uXw^-e-
Ktbes — not that they were all sprung from the fox and dog, but were
fox-like in appearance : — and on the same authority, we hold that
Hist. Animal, the bitches of a Spartan kennel were superior to the dogs — AaKai-
vai Kvves ai 0)/Aetat eu^i/eorepat tujv apperiov eiai.
Although the eloquent compiler of the Cynegeticus distinguishes
his harriers, as above stated, into Castorian and Foxite hounds, he
notes no characteristic peculiarities in either : but Themistius, the
Paphlagonian philosopher, induces us to believe that each possessed
Oratio xxvii. the distinctive features of a particular family — eTcpov fxev koXXos
Ka(TTopib(i)v Kvvwv, erepov be uXwneKibtjy. Vlitius's fanciful emenda-
tion of the text of the Onomasticon has led him into an error, and
produced the monstrous birth of a third variety, which he ascribes to
Julius Pollux, called aXuTreKiKacTTopes ; but which that learned man's
work will not admit.
Of the whole Spartan tribe the swiftest, perhaps, were the Kvyotrov
pibes of Callimachus — deriving their name from Cyxosura of La-
conia —
Statii
Thebaid. L. iv.
Dives et Orchomenos pecorum, et Cynosura ferarum.
They were the gift of the Arcadian God Pan to Diana, and pos-
sessed sagacity of nose equal to their speed of foot :^
1 . With some of the descendants of the KwoffovplSes, the latrant sagacious Lacoiini
of the modern Votizza, Mr. Ilobliouse reports that lie enjoyed the sport of coursing
with his Grecian host in the Morea. See Journey through Albania, Letter
SVII.
I
Ai'i'r.Knix. 253
liTTi S' *^5«/c6 Callin.ach. It
„, , , ,« « , ^ -► in Dian. vs.DS.
vaffffovas avpawv KwoffovplSas, al pa oicu^ai
&Ki(Trai ve$povs re koL ov nvovra Xaywhu,
Ka\ koi'ttjv t\d,(poio, Kal vffrpix^s tvda KaKial •
<n)ixrit>ai, Kal ^opKhs iv^ Ifx"""' ■^TWaff^ai • • •
— and near a-kin to them, we may suppose, if not of the same blootl,
were the brace presented by the worshipful Agrotera to her much-
favoured Cyrene :
— dijpTjTTJpe Svai Kvve, tois tvi Kovpri Ejusn. vs. 207.
'Yiprits irapa Tvfj.fiof 'Ico\kiov efifiop' ai8\ov.
But of fable, enough — The Spartan's shape, qualities, and style of
hunting, singly and in pack, are fully described by Xenophon in the
third, fourth, and sixth chapters of his Manual. The quarry is here
that of which the Athenian was most enamoured, viz. the hare, — with
which the woods and parks of his Scilluntian retreat abounded. But
for the boar-chase the hound of Lacedaemon is also employed. To
the Indian, Cretan, and Locrian dogs, the sportsman, who would Xenophon de
successfully combat the savage boar, must add the choicest indivi-
duals of the Spartan kennel. And in this chase, he will find one of
the latter hounds most useful as a Umier,^ to follow up the trail to
the boar's couch in silence, and then, with the rest of the pack, to
bay the started quarry :
Fulmineus seu Spartanis latratibus actus, "'"* Italici de
^ , ,..•,. 2<"' bello
Cum sylvam occursu venantura perdidit, hirto Punico L. i.
Horrescit saevus dorse, et postrema capessit
Praelia, candentem mandens aper ore cruorem :
Jamque geraens geminum contra venabula torquet.
Julius Pollux, on the authority of Nicander, has transmitted to us Onomastic,^
subordinate varieties of the Spartan, entitled MjweZfliWes from Mene-
laus, Harmodii from Harmodius, and others from other persons, and
places of inferior note. Virgil applies the epithets Taygetan to the
1. A limehound — ri 5e kvwv eVl tJ» -koXv acpi^erai toirov v\wSr) Ix^evovau . .. — ' Xenophon de
iveiSav 8' a(piK7)rai iirl Trjv (wrjv, v\aKTe7, k. t. A. Venat, c. x.
254
APPENDIX.
Propert. L. II. race, from the " juga longa Taygeti " which traverse Laconia, a
favourite resort of the Sylvan Goddess :
Virgil. Georg.
L. III. 43.
vocat ingenti clamore Citliasrou,
Taygetique canes :
Ejusdem
vs. 343.
and Amy clean, from the birth-place of Castor and Pollux :
omnia secum
Armentarius Afer agit, tectumque laremque,
Armaque Amycleeumque canem, Cressanique pharetram;
Bulletin
Universe!.
Pliilosoph.
Transact.
Vol. 77. p. 24.
a local epithet also found in a supposed fragment of Pindar, cited
by Plutarch, Quaest. Conviv. ix. 13. 748. and admitted amongst the
Fragmenta ex Hyporchematibus. Vol. ii. of Heyne's edition. (Oxon.
1007.)
But a few words, before we proceed farther, on the lineage of the
oXwTreciSes.
Modern naturalists, with the exception of Mons. Desmoulins, are
pretty generally agreed that the Canis aureus is the real origin of
the domestic dog. And if so, being a native of Asia Minor, and
of a dirty fulvous colour, may we not suppose him to have been the
cross, from which the foxite hounds of Xenophon were bred ? The
latter had more or less of a ferine aspect, and fulvous colour,
softened down by the admixture of hair of a different hue about the
muzzle. Still tawny was the predominant colour — "fulvus Lacon,"
(Hor.)
Mr. Hunter denies the existence of a genuine foxite, as the dog
and fox are of different species, and will not produce together.
Guldenstadt allows the jackal may be the Thos of Aristotle. May
he not also be the Thos of Gratius, and " Cat o' mountaine"^ of his
translator ? May not Hagnon's pack,^
Illustrations of '• ■'^ tetm borrowed, according to Mr. Douce, from the Spaniards, wlio call the wild
Shakspeare. cat gato-montes.
' ' "' ' 2. Ilagnon Astylides — as the Cretans used ayvelv, according to Ilesychius, for
a7€t»', 6 wyvwv may stand for 6 Kwriyus. See Wernsdorf, Excursus in. ad Gratii
V. 215. PoettE Latini Minores, Tom. i. p. 242.
APPENDIX.
255
Hagnon magiie, tibi Divoin concessa favore,
derived from a Tlioaii cross, and otiier such semiferous comraixtures,
be founded in fact ?
Gratii Cyneg.
vs. 250.
Hie et semiferam Thoum de sanguine prolem
Fiiixit. Non alio major sua pectore virtus,
Seu norit voces, seu tiudi ad pignora Martis.
Thoes commissos (clarissima faiiia) leones
Et subiSre astu, et parvis domuere lacertis.
Nam genus exiguum, et pudeat quara infornie fateri
Vulpini specie, &c.
May not these possible tales have given currency and belief to the
supposed, impossible, fictitious, engendering of the fox and dog, and
the breed of semi-wild aXwireKihes 1 — Aristotle says roundly, when
animals resemble each other in size, outward character, and time of
gestation, they may breed together ; and that it positively happens
with the dog, fox, and wolf — ol be QiLes, says the Stagirite also,
ofioiujs KvioKovrat toIs kvctI, kciI tiktovcti tvcjjXu, k. t. \. — and therefore,
by his own canons, may engender with dogs. Galen, Hesychius,
and Gesner, seem to allow the possibility of vulpi-canine issue :
Caius accounts for such a birth by the " pruriens libido " of the
parties concerned : ^ even Blumenbach and Desmoulins, on the
authority of others, have given credency to it. Pennant reports a
case of prolific engendering of the fox and dog, on the word of an
Oxfordshire woodman ; and Daniel cites a second in London.
Hunter, who assumed nothing in natural history of doubtful cha-
racter as fact, till he had put it to the test, denies this cross, a jtriori,
not from actual experiment ; for he did not live to make the trial.
The former crosses he fully established : see Phil. Trans. Vol. 77.
Ejusdem
vs. 263.
Pennant's
Quadrupeds.
Daniel's
Field-Sporls.
Vol. I. p. 12.
1. Caius's love of the marvellous in natural history surpasses (considering the age
in which he lived) that of ^lian and Albertus Magnus. Under the heads of Urcanus
and Lacsena, this credulous correspondent of the acute Conrad Gesner notes, seem-
ingly in good earnest, that the former is the offspring of the Canis Catenarius and bear,
the latter of the dog and fox, " quos, licet inimicos, pruriens tamen libido sspe ita
hie conjungit, ut alibi solet." The truth, however, of tlie latter maybe doubted, after
the impossibility of the former.
J. Caii
de Canibus
lirit. Libell.
256
APPENDIX.
May not Ovid be supposed to allude to the cross of the Thos and
dog-, and to exemplify it in the individual of Acta^on's pack whom
he calls Thous ?
Ovid. Metam.
L. III. 220.
Cyneg. L. in.
vs. 33G.
Philosoph.
Transactions
Vol. 77.
Et Thous, et Cyprio velox cum fratre Lycisca.
The fanciful origin of Oppian's Thos from the wolf and panther, lidev
Kp(iTep6(ppova (piiXa, baffles all elucidation.
Let the uXwireKtbes, then, be considered as possible hybrids,
the produce of authenticated crosses. ^ The wolf, jackal, and
dog, all differ but little. " The dog himself," says Mr. Hunter,
Gratii Cyneg.
vs. 259.
Theocriti
Idyll. I. vs. 110.
Cowper's Task.
J3. V.
Hor. Od. L.
Ode VI.
1. We may suppose the far-famed hound of Sparta, the foxife harrier, '' vulpina
specie," not very unlike the prick-eared, or at least semi-pendulous-eared lurcher of
modera days, employed by a poaching shepherd to guard his flock, and too often to
catch at force, KaTo. irSSas, his master's hares, or drive them into the wily laqueus or
suare :
(Trel Koi iJ.a,\a vofx^vti,
KoX TTTUKas fidWei, koI drjpia t' &\\a Stci/cet.
Shaggy, and lean, and shrewd, with pointed ears.
And tail cropp'd short, half lurcher and half cur ;
he is too well known by his depredations in the hare-warren to need a fuller delinea-
tion.
Janus Vlitius considers the Spartan a long-eared hound, and proposes to read Zra
fjMKpa instead of fjuKpa in Xenophon's minute description of the type of excellence in
this breed : but Horace's " aure sublata" would rather favour the notion that the ear
was small and prickid vp in pursuit of game, as we see in lurchers, and such-like
poaching tikes :
Nam qualis HUt Molossus, aut fulvus Lacon,
Arnica vis pastoribus,
Agam per altas aure sublatA nives
Quaecunque prajcedet fera.
on which Dacier observes, " plus les chicns sont courageux, plus ils dressent les
oreilles en courant ;" a quality for which a prick-eared sharp-scented lurching cur
might be praised — which is characteristic of the Molossus, but odious in the genuine
well-bred greyhound, with which the " veloces catuli" and "fulvus Lacon" of the
contemporary poets of Rome have been ignorantly identified by monkish an-
notators.
A 1' P E M) I X . 257
" may be the wolf tamed, and the jackal may probably be the dog
returned to his wild state."
All animals having been originally wild, the more a specific class
may differ from its prototype in appearance, the further it is removed
in consequence of variation arising from cultivation. Where dogs
have been least cultivated, they still retain most of their original
character, or similarity to the wolf, or jackal, both in shape and dis-
position. Thus the shepherd's dog, all over the world, has strongly
the character of these wild animals — and so I have no doubt had
the dog of Laconia.
The wild dogs of modern travellers, as found in Congo, Lower
^Ethiopia, and towards the Cape of Good Hope, somewhat resemble
the Spartan type. They are stated to be *•' greyhound-like in shape,
red-haired, with upright ears, rough tails, and extremely fierce."
The Dingo of Australasia, and Dhole of the East Indies, look very
like aXwTreKibes. The North and South-American half-reclaimed
varieties have the elongated jaws of the semi-barbarous breeds, and
tend to prove from their general shape, their character of counte-
nance, their quick manner, and pricked and erect ears, identity of
species in the dog, wolf, and jackal.
But on this subject enough : — let us now return within the pale
of the kennel of Lacedjemon. The true Spartan dogs of the olden
time were strong, swift, and courageous; and barked on scent of
their game. We know that they were strong, on the authority of
Ovid's " praevalidusque Lacon ;" and swift, from Virgil calling
them " Veloces Spartae catulos," and Pindar alluding to the same
excellence in the fragment beginning
airh TavyiTov /xev AuKaivav Apud Athenffii
iv\ dr\pa\ Kwa rpixeiv TrvKivdnaTov kpi7iT6i'. Deipaosopn.
Epist. L. I.
c. 21.
Still their speed, like that of the Etolian of Gratius, was of a quali-
fied character, and very much below the Vertragus.
Their strength and courage recommended them to shepherds and
herdsmen, as guardians of their flocks — the goatherd Lacon's dog,
from his venatico-pastoral cast, being probably, of this variety.
X a/xlf ivTl Kvuiv (piXoirol/xvLos, &x Xvkos &yx^^' Theocriti Idyll.
tv r<fi iraiSl SlScom ra Orjpia irivra Sitiicei'. ^'- IOt>-
2 K
258 APPENDIX.
Virgil enjoins feeding the Spartan and Molossian on fattening
whey, for the safe custody of cattle ;
Virgil. Georg. Veloces Spartae catulos, acremque Molossum
L. III. 404. Pasce sero pingui: nunquara custodibus illis
Nocturnum stabulis furem, incursusque luporum,
Aut impacatos a tergo horrebis Iberos . . .
and briefly runs through the ordinary chases in which the canine
tribe generally are used ;
Ejusdein Sape etiam cursu timidos agitabis onagros ;
vs. 4uy. £(. canibus leporem, canibus venabere damas.
Saepe volutabris pulsos sylvestribus apros
Latratu turbabis agens : montesque per altos
Ingentem clamore premes in retia cervuin.
The trailing quality of the Spartan, and keenness of scent/ Plato
refers to, in his Parmenides — waTrepye al AaKaivai aicvXafces fieraOeis
Kal i'^i/eueis to. XexBevra, (Zeno Socrati) — and Sophocles in the
prologue of the Ajax Flagellifer, where the wily son of Laertes,
tracking the murderous maniac, A'lavTi rw aaKea(l>6p(^, is likened
to a sharp-nosed Spartan hound,
Sophoclis Ajac, e6 Se a eKcpepn
ilagell. vs. 7. Kvvhs Aokowtjs Scttis evpivos ^dais.
Homer's kindly and vivid description of the hunting excellencies
of the faithful Argus, his keenness of sight and smell, and speed of
foot, would lead us to place him amongst the swiftest of the saga-
cious class : and where can we assign him a more honourable station
than in a Spartan kennel ? — I am aware some ancient Greek writer
(to whom I have lost my clue of reference) considers this far-famed
hound an isolated variety of no particular family — ofnos >/ (^vais koi
€v aWois Kal airaffL Tonots biaaireipei Kvpas ayadovs, biroios ris Kal 6
1. This quality Aristotle justly attributes to the length of the nostrils of the
Spartan hound, affording a more extensive surface for the distribution of the minute
branches of the olfactory nerves— tfcwv ot ixvKTrjpis fiaKpoi, oTov twv \aKwviKwv,
dacppavTiKO,'
APPENDIX.
259
"Apyos— not reducible within the pale of a general classification
foiuuKHl on geogiuphical distribution ; but he has evidently all the
characteristic qualities of a genuine Spartan, and I never heard of
any breed peculiar to Ithaca.
"Apyos 'OSvacrrjos Ta\affi(ppovos, ov ha ttot' avrhs Odyss. L. xvii,
/ ) . y t \ 292.
Qpi^i /tec, ov^ anSvjyTo' irapos S eis \Kiov ipriv
^X"'<'' '''^^ Se Trdpoidev ajivecTKOv vtoi ivSpes
alyas eV ayporepas, r/Se wpSKas, TJ5e Xayccovs.
Bred by Ulysses, nourish'd at his board J\°P^ '
, , Odyssey.
But ah ! not fated long to please his lord ! jj_ x vii. 348.
To him his swiftness and his strength were vain ;
The voice of glory call'd him o'er the main.
Till then in every sylvan chase renown'd.
With Argus, Argus, rung the vs^oods around ;
With him the youth pursued the goat or fawn,
Or traced the mazy lev'ret o'er the lawn.
The answer of Eumaeus, in which he fondly dilates on the prowess
of the old dog in the better days of his youth, throws farther light
on his supposed connexion with a Spartan kennel :
01) fiiv yap Tj (piyeaKe /SaOeiijs fievOeaiv v\rjs Odyss. L. xvii.
Kvd)Sa\ov '6tti l^oiTo' Koi ixfect yap TreptrfSr] ... *
— evidently showing that he ran on sight of his game as well as scetit :
for the common reading 'iboiro is preferable to the Sioito of Eusta-
thius, and is followed by Pope in his inimitable translation :
Oh ! had you seen him, vig'rous, bold and young, , Pope's
Swift as a stag, and as a lion strong : „ ^ J'
^' ° ' B. XVII. 3oO.
Hira no fell savage on the plain withstood,
None 'scaped him, bosom'd in the gloomy wood ;
His eye how piercing, and his scent how true.
To wind the vapour in the tainted dew !
A Spartan huntsman might value such omnifarious qualifications ;
but we cannot allow such a hound, el S?) Kal raj^vs eaKe Oieiv, within
the precincts of a coursing kennel, where speed and keen-sightedness
are essential properties, according to the modern canons of the leash ;
but to stoop to " the tainted green " with the sagacity of a harrier.
260
APPENDIX.
Ovid. Fast.
L. III.
or even of a Caledonian deer-hound, of which Argus has been
deemed a prototype, invalidates the claim to ehyeyeia in the breed.^
Diana having been particularly veorshipped in Crete,"
De Natura
Animal. L. iii.
C. II.
De Venat.
C. III.
Pallada Cecropice, Minoia Creta Dianam,
Vulcanum tellus Hjpsipilaja, colit, ...
vpe naturally look for a race of dogs deriving a local name from her
favourite isle. And, accordingly, connected with the last-mentioned
tribe of Canes Venatici, we have the Cretan and Carian, powerful,
quick-scented, nimble hounds ; whom it would be wrong unnaturally
to dissever, as having no marked physical peculiarities. Indeed
from their parity of character, and supposed identity of origin, the
hounds of Crete, and its neighbouring continent of Caria, have gene-
rally been united in one family,
^lian describes the Kvojf Kpijcraa Kovcpr], Kai aXriKii], Kai opei^aaiais
cvrrpofos. By Seneca the Cretans are called pugnacious — " pug-
naces Cressae;" and by Claudian, wire-haired — " Hirsutaeque
fremunt Cressse." Arrian, when speaking of the Segusian hounds of
J. Darcii
Veiiusini
Canes.
Solini
Polyhistor.
1. To Darcius of Venusium we owe the following description of the ardour of the
Spartan pack ;
Inde suos etenim Lacedaemon Achaica laudat,
Assueti quoniam sylvis, ciipidique ferarum
Praecipiti fervore ruunt, perque invia lustra,
Convallesque cavas, et sentibus horrida duris
Arva, et vulnificis dumeta rigentia spinis
Dente rotant preedas, indefessique sequuntur
Quod semel emissum est. Illos non obvius aninis
Vicinos dirimens sinuuso gurgite coUes,
Sistit, nee rapidos lato tenet obice cursus.
Et licet assiduo frangantur anhela boatu
Ora, trahantque aegros afflictis viribus artus,
Assequier tamen est animus, &c.
2. Solinus and Pliny, while they admit the religious adoration of Diana by the
natives of Crete, deny to the soil many of the common beasts of chase. '' Ager
Creticus," says the former naturalist, "sylvestrium caprarum copiosus est, cervo
cget. Lupos, vulpes, aliaque quadrupedum noxia nusquam educat."
APPENDIX. 261
Celtica, their unsightly aspect, their noisy howl, and extraordinary
sagacity of nose, indirectly proves the speed and keen-rscentedness of
the Carian and Cretan. Oppian enjoins the hound of Crete to be
crossed with that of Pannonia, and the Carian, as if different, with
the Thracian,
(TTifilcryeo llaloffi Kdtjtos, Cyneg. L. i.
„-_.., vs. 394.
Kapas QpriiKiOiS ...
but, it is probable, the Pannonian and Thracian resembled each
other as much as the Cretan and Carian.
Two sub-varieties are recorded by Julius Pollux under the titles of
btairovoi and Trdpnnroi : — the former so called from their bustling,
indefatigable character — rets vvktus toIs jjuipais ev toIs ttous tu Qrjpia Pollucis
Onomast.
fxayciLS einXafiftdi'eiv, Kai ttoWukis irapevvaadevras toIs drjpiois /xe0' L. v, c. v.
{jfiepay I'lpj^eadai Tijs /ia^rys ; the latter, from their running at the
horse's side — toIs 'iTrnois avvBtovaw ovre irpodeovres oire fxi)v cnroXenro-
fievoi.
Cecropius catulus est quem dixere parippura. Natalis Comes
de Venat. L. i.
To these the courser of Nicomedia adds a third sub-variety, seem-
ingly produced by the union of the former two — at bicnrovoi airo rov Arriani
_, . . V - , , , ^ . ,y, r . ,,,,,_ ,, de Venat.
<pt\oTrov€iv , Kui ai irafiai ano tov o^ews, kol at /uicrat utt afi<poiv ; the ^.^ jjj^
Irafiai probably answering to the Trapnnroi of the philologist. On the
authority of Arrian, we conclude the Cretan and Carian modes of Ejusdem
hunting to have been the same as generally practised in Greece — such ^' ' *
as are described at large by the elder Xenophon in his Cynegeticus.
See Meursii Opera, Tom. iii. c. vii. Greta.
Though not used by the elder Xenophon in the common hare-
chase, the Cretans are recommended for boar-hunting, and were
sometimes employed in pursuit of deer.
Incert. Auctor
Kprjcrcru. kvuv i\a.<poi.o kut' Ixviov e5pa/<€ ydpyws — apud Stepliani
Schediasm.
How beautifully is their style of hunting described by the poet
Varius, " Mzeonii carminis ales," in the fragment preserved by Ilor. Lib. i.
Macrobius !
Seu canis umbrosam lustrans Gortynia vallem, Varius apud
c- . • . •. J I * Macrob. L.vi.
Si vetens potent cervae cotnprendere lustra, . , ^
262
APPENDIX.
Saevit in absentem, et circum vestigia latrans
Aera per nitidura tenuds sectatur odores :
Non amnes illara raedii, non ardua tardant,
Perdita nee serae merainit decedere nocti.
—affording the Cilician copyist one of a profusion of highly poetical
similes, with which he depicts the polypus, or preke, searching for
its beloved olive-tree :
Oppian.
Halieut. L. iv.
vs. 272.
fvda 7cfcp ayXaSKap'TTOs aXhs ffx^^i" iiTTiv i\alrj
ye'iTOffiv eV yowolcrty eiroKToiT) Tfda\v7a,
Ketdi Se irovXviroSos v6os eA/ceTOt, rivr eV txvos
Kvooffffiov evpivoio Kvvhs ixlvos, Sar' eV opearfft
6r]phs avtxvevei (tkoM^u fidffiy i^epeeivQiv
pivhs vn ayye\ir) vr]fj.eprei, Kai re fi.iv Siku
fidp-if/e, Kol ovK ifj.drriaei', ehv S" iireKacrffev &vaKTa'
&s Kol r7i\iQ6w<xav &(pap /iddev eyyhs iXalriv
■KovKinros, iKBvvn 5e fivdZv, Kol ya7av avfpiret
K07xoA-rfa)y, "irpeixvoicn 5' 'A0rjvai7;s eTre'Aacrcrej'.
In connexion with the kindred Spartans, the Cretans are briefly
See Werusdorf mentioned by Gratius, — an allusion being, probably, intended to an
intermixture of the two allied breeds in order to produce the Meta-
gon,i whose praises are subsequently sung :
in loco.
Gratii Cyneg.
vs. 211.
Wase's
Illustrations.
c. 5. p. 38.
At vestrum non vile genus, non patria vulgd,
Sparta sues et Creta sues promittit alumnos.
To your higli breed countries of dogs not base,
Sparta and Creta do conferre their race.
Ovid specifies them by name in Actaeon's blood-thirsty pack.
Gralii Cyneg.
vs. 231.
1. This canine name is not found in any other Cynegeticon. From the construc-
tion put on the passage by Wernsdorf, it appears that he would derive the Metagon
from a Spartan and Cretan cross : but how, let me ask, could the huntsman breed a
mute inductor, whose essential attribute was closeness, "ne voce lacesseret hostem,"
from the union of two such latrant races ? — A litter, so bred in Actaeon's pack, was
any thing but mute, " Labros, et Agriodos, et acutcB vocis Hylactor," as above cited.
Wase's interpretation of the passage is more correct — see his version, vs. 211. where
the lines of Gratius are differently rendered than in the chapter on the geography of
the poem, p. 38.
APPENDIX.
263
primusque Melampus
Iclinobatcsque sagax latralu signa dedere ;
Gnossius Iclinobates, Spai-tanri gente Melampus;
Ovid. Metam.
L. III. 206.
and subsequently a litter,
that had a sire of Crete
And dam of Sparta,
as sings Sir Arthur Golding
Golding's
Ovid's Metam.
B. III.
Et patre Dictso, sed niatre Laconide nati,
Labros et Agriodos, etacutae vocis H^lactor.
Indeed almost all the O vidian pack were of Cretan, Spartan, and
Arcadian blood, well chosen by the poet for the fabled chase of the
son of Autonoe,^ " falsi sub imagine cervi " — "
€VT€ Tavwrpeixvoto KaB^ifievos v\p6di (priyov,
MvajxeVTis ivurjaev oXov Se^as lox^o.lp-qs'
6rfi\r^p 8' aK6pr]Tos adrjiiToio Oeatvris
ayphv avvfj.(pevroio Sefias Steixerpee Kovpri?
ayxt<po.viis, k. t. A.
The whole of the Spartan family, inclusive of the Cretan and Ca-
rian, appear to have barked, as I have already observed, on scent of
their game^ — a quality reprobated by Gratius (malignum officium !)
when shown before the quarry was started from his lair.
Ovid. Metam.
vs. 223.
Nonni
Dionysiac.
L. V.
1. Claudian bestows the title Molossian on the entire pack, to designate, it may
be, their ferocity :
Sic mons Aonius rubuit, cum Penthea ferrent
Meenades ; aut subito mutatum Actajona cornu
Traderet insanis Latonia visa Molossis.
2. The stag Actajon iu the stream had spied
The naked huntress, and, for seeing, died :
His hounds, unknowing of his change, pursue
Tiie chase, and their mistaken master slew !
3. The loud latrancy of the tribe escaped not the notice of the bard of Avon, who
Las cleverly appropriated much of the borrowed shape and KAayjii of a modern pack
In Rufinuni
L. II.
Dryden.
Palamon and
Arcite. B. ii.
264
APPENDIX.
The noisy bark of the Etolian breed Gratius contrasts with the
mute cunning of its neighbour of Acarnania, already considered in
the first class 'A
Cyneg. vs. 186. At clangore citat, quos nondum conspicit, apros
^tola quaecunque canis de stirpe (malignum
OflScium) sive ilia metus convicia rupit,
Seu frustra niinius properat furor. Et tamen illud
Ne vanum totas genus asperuere per artes,
Mirum quam celeres, et quantum nare merentur:
Turn non est victi cui concessere labori.
Too much addicted to gladdening, when near the lair of his game,
(Sir Thomas Lucy's, perhaps, or other Warwickshire squire's) to our classic breed
of the olden time :
Midsummer I was with Hercules and Cadmus once,
Night's Dream. When in a wood of Crete they bay'd the bear
Act IV. „„ , ^ •'
With hounds of Sparta : never did I hear
Such gallant chiding; for besides the groves,
The skies, the fountains, every region near
Seem'd all one mutual cry : I never heard
So musical a discord, such sweet thunder.
With Angelio's description of the Cretan hounds, the more striking features of
which are drawn from passages already cited, I close their portraiture.
P, A. Bargffii Est eadeni facies, et eidem proxima formas
JO''' Corpora : niembrorum sed non asquantia molera
Dictaeis, animus tamen, et constantia pugnax,
Quandoquidem serus litem si forte diremit
Vesper, et obtentis umbrantur rura tenebris ;
Nusquani abeunt, nusquam vestigia pressa reiinquunt,
Veriim haerent vigiles, &c.
1. The dog, wliich sits at the foot of the noble statue of Meleager, is, probably, a
representation of the animal which assisted the hero of Calydon in his attack of the
Ovid. Metam. wild boar — (" infestae famulus, vindexque Diance") — that had laid waste the domain
L.viii. vs. 272. of his father (Eneus. (See F. Perrier, Tab. 51. and 52. ex yEdibus Picliiniis, and
Montfaucon Antiq. Expliq. Tom. I.) He is apparently a boar-hound, and per-
haps of the type of Etolia or Calydon — the names being indifferently applied to the
same dog, from Calydon, (the rocky Calydon of the Homeric catalogue, Iliad ii.
640.) the capital of the state, over which the sons of (Eneus once reigned.
A I'l'i. N III \. 265
the Etolian is not admitted into the class of Canes Bellicosi, whose
general character was closeness till the game was started ; at winch
time a cry, however loud, was not objected to by classic hunts-
men, — but the dog, that roused the game by giving tongue before-
hand, was strongly reprobated. Such was the faulty dog of Caly-
don, who needed all his other better qualities to counterbalance this
latrant propensity. That he had some valuable properties Gratius
allows, and recommends them to be turned to account by judicious
commixture with the mute Molossian's blood :
vanas tantum Calydonia linguae Cjnegeticus
Exibit vitium patre emeadata Molosso.' ^''' '""■
In consequence of the common Canes Venatici giving tongue or
opening, before the game was roused, it was customary with classic
sportsmen to employ Inductores, mute finders, " canes tacitae,"
(Senecae Hippolyt.,) to search out the quarry by the trail ; ^
Dogs such whose cold secrecy was meant Sir W. Dave-
By nature for surprise— "^"'^' C^°^- "•
■' : . stanza 30.
Wise cemperate limebounds, that proclaim no scent,
Nor harb'ring will their mouths in boasting spend.
These are the Metagontes of the Faliscian poet — so called from Wase, p. 79.
" drawing after their game " — /xerctyojrcs :
1. Such a sire was most likely to correct the '* vance linguae vitium" of the Calydonian
breed; and from such parentage may have been deduced the Glympicus of the son of
Astylus. No dam could cross more appropriately with a Molossian sire, contributing,
on her part, the important qualities of speed, sagacity, and unwearying ardour of
pursuit ; and receiving, from the male side, courage, strength, and closeness of
mouth. The cited lines of Gratius, carefully perused in connexion with those which
follow in the text, will, I think, warrant the parentage assigned to the hound in
question ; and such a view will materially assist the general understanding of a
somewhat obscure part of the Cynegeticon.
2. Without such auxiliaries all the hunter's toil will be fruitless, says Bargaeus :
Ni tecum canis acer eat, qui naribus auras p. a. Barga;i
Ducat odoratas, et nusquam impressa ferarum Cyiieg. J^. i.
Insistat cupide vestigia : nee tamen ullos
Latratus, vocesque hilari de pectore mittat,
Cum latebrae non longe absuat, fidique recessus.
2 L
266 APPENDIX.
Gratii Cjneg. mature pressantes gaudia lusu
vs. 207. Dissimulare feras tacitique accedere possent.
Steadiness and a close mouth are essential attributes of the lime-
hound tribe. 1 Gratius, Lucan, Seneca, iElian, and others, insist on
silence. And Oppian, seemingly forgetful of this negative quality
in the Armenian bear-hound, (whom I consider a limehound,) incul-
cates closeness in sagacious dogs, generally, from their very puppy-
hood ;
ppian. Cyneg. M'?^' v\6.eiv e6e\oiiv, iirei /jidKa 67]pevTrip(ri
L. I. 448. (Tcyrj ridiii6s icm, iravfloxa. S* Ixvevrripaiv.
They are to be taught it with their names, and other matters of
kennel discipline.
The limiers of classical antiquity, more numerous perhaps than
the reader may suppose, are found widely distributed. We gather
traces of them in Homer, Lucretius, Virgil, Pliny, Gratius, iElian,
Seneca, Nemesian, Oppian, Silius Italicus, and others. The Belgic
hound of the poet of the Second Punic War is certainly an inductor
or limier :
Silii Italici de '^^ canis ocultos agitat quum Belgicus apros,
2''o B. P. L. X. Erroresque ferae sellers per devia mersk
Nare legit, taciloque premens vestigia rostro
Lustrat inaccessos venantum indagine saltus :
Nee sistit, nisi concepturii sectatus odorem,
Deprendit spissis arcana cubilia dumis.
And it strikes me, that the Gelonian and Umbrian of Gratius, the
Tuscan of Nemesian, and the Armenian bear-hound of Oppian, are
all varieties of limehound. Of the Metagon, already mentioned,
there can be no doubt — he is clearly of the class described by the
Greek poet of the Halieutics:
Oppian. Hal. (TKvXaKes Se ffvvefiiropoi jjyefiov^es
L. I. 18. KUwSaKa ffrifialvovcri, koI lOvyovatP &vaKTas
evp^iv eh oOtV —
1. See the mode of breaking-in the limier, chien de f raid, in J. Savary's rare
work, Venationis Cervinae Leges, L. ii. sub initio.
A V V E N D 1 X .
267
The Homeric inductors occur in the boar-hunt of Mount Parnas-
sus, in the van of which Ulysses, ohrafjievai /ue/iaws, distinguishes
himself, with the sons of Autolycus :
ol 8' is fiiiaaav 'Ikhvov iiraKTripes' irph 5' &p' avTuv
'vC'? ipevfuivTes Kvves ij'iaav,^ k.t.A.
and the abstract phraseology of Lucretius affords a second early no-
tice of them :
OJyss. L. XIX.
435.
turn fissa ferarum
Ungula quo tulerit gressuni, praemissa canum vis
Ducit.
De Rerum
Matura L. iv.
6b4.
The first limehound in the annals of sporting was Glympicus,
tutored in the art of harbouring by the Boeotian Hagnon, a hunts-
man immortalized by Gratius :
Sed primurn celsa lorum cemce ferentera,
Glympice, te silvis egit Boeotius Hagnon,
Hagnon Astylides, Hagnon, quera plurima semper
Gratia per nostros unum testabitur usus.
Hie trepidas artes et vix novitate sedentes
Vidit, qua propior patuit via : nee sibi turbam
Contraxit comitem, nee vasa tenentia longe.
Unus presidium, atque operi spes magna petito,
Assumptus Metagon lustrat per nota ferarum
Pascua, per fontes, per quas trivere latebras,
Prima; lueis opus : turn signa vapore ferino
Intemerata legens, si qua est, qua fallitur, ejus
Turba loei, majore secat spatia extera gyro.
Atque hie egressu jam turn sine fraude reperto
Incubuit spatiis, qualis permissa Lechaeis
Thessalium quadriga decus, quara gloria patrum
Excitat, et prims spes ambitiosa coronas.
Gratii Cyneg.
vs. 213.
1. The Ascrean Poet's hunting-picture on the shield of Hercules is rather a chase
at speed, than trailing after leporine game ;
Toi 5' cL/ci/TroSas Xayhs i]pew
^fSpes BripevTot, Kot Kapxap('iSovre KVUi npO
Hesiod. Scut.
Hcrcul.vs.302.
2G8 A P F E N I) 1 \ .
Sed lie qua ex nimio redeat jaciura favore.
Lex dicta officiis: ne voce lacesseret hostem,
Neve levein prasdam, aut propioris pignora lucii
Amplexus, primos nequicquam eftunderet actus.
Jam vero irapensum melior fortiina laborem
Quum sequitur, juxtaque domus queesita ferarum,
Ut sciat, occultos et signis arguat hostes :
Aut effecta levi testatur gaudia cauda,
Aut ipsa infodiens uncis vestigia plantis
Mandit humum, celsasve apprensat naiibus auras.
Et taraen, ut ne prima faventem pignora fallant,
Circa omnem, aspretis medius qua clauditur orbis,
Ferre pedem, accessusque, abitusque, notasse ferarum
Admonet, et, si forte loci spes prima fefellit,
(Rarum opus) incubuit spatiis ad prospera versis,
Intacto repetens prima ad vestigia gyro.
We here see the limier's style of harbouring portrayed to the life
— falling on the trail — coining to a fault — recovering the scent — and
following it up to the lair. The harbourer of more modern days is
the inquisitor of Pliny's short sketch ; " Scrutatur vestigia atque
L. VIII. c. XL. persequitur, comitantera ad feram inquisitorem loro trahens : qu-A
vis^ quam silens et occulta, quara significans demonstratio est !" But
of all descriptions in the range of classical literature the most exqui-
sitively beautiful is Elian's — no painter can surpass this graphic
^ hunting-piece : — TrporiyeiTat rov KvvtfyeTOV (6 kvuv 6 dripariKos) ifxavn
Aniraalium fxaKpw irpoarifx^evos, Koi pivrfKarei, Trjs fu)vrjs e'xwv eyKpaTws (cat (Titjirwv,
. VIII. c. I. ^^ ^^ ^^ rpj^g hound's busy manner, — his steady search, even where
there is no game, — his burst of silent joy at catching a scent, — his
salutation of the harbourer as if sympathizing in his glee at being
successful, — his drawing on up to the boar's couch, — the start —
and final pajan of exultation and victory, are all described in masterly
style.
The Gelonian breed is very cursorily mentioned by Gratius, as
timid and sagacious ;
Arma negant contra, martemque odere Geloni,
Sed natura sagax . , .
and is recommended to be crossed with the tigrine Hyrcanian ;
whence spiritless Gelonian bitches have derived that courage and
pluck, of which they stood in need ;
Hist. Nat.
A V V E N I) I \ . 269
traxerc aninios dc patre GeloiKi' CJr.uii Vvnv".
Ilyrcano. vs. 11)5.
'I'lio l^mbrirtii li;ul iimch of the Gclonian character — timorous and
soft — but remarkably keea of nose. AVishiug to incorporate every
good quality in the same mongrel breed, Gratius ejaculates —
At fugit adversos idem quos reperit hostes Gratii (.'yiieg.
vs 171
Umber.' Quanta fides, utinam et solertia nans,
Tanta foret virtus, et tantura vellet in arniis !
Silius Italicus notes the sagacity of the Umber, and seems to
indicate his closeness of mouth in the contrasted barking of
the Spartan,
Ceu pernix cum densa vagis latratibua implet Silii Ital. dc
Venator dumeta Lacon, aut exiarit Umber r. • r
° runico L. iii.
Nare sagax e calle feras perterrita late
Agmina praicipitant volucres forraidine cervi.
But his habits are most vividly sketched in an elegant simile of
Seneca's Thyestes, vi'here Atreus, exulting in his artful entrapping of
his brother, (as a w^ild beast enveloped in the hunter's toils — plagis
clusa dispositis fera, — ) exclaims in a strain of ill-dissembled
self-gratulation,
venit in nostras raanus Senecas
Tandem Thyestes ; venit, et totus quidem. A -r n 4<)''
Vix lempero animo, vix dolor frenos capit :
Sic, cum feras vestigat, et longo sagax
Lore tenetur Umber, ac presso vias
Scrutatur ore; diim procul lento suem
Odore sentit, paret, et tacito locum
Rostro pererrat: preeda cum propior fuit;
Cervlce tola pugnat, et gestu vocat
Dominura raorantem, seque retinenti eripit.
The Virgilian Umbrian, to which ^neas in pursuit of Turnus is
1. " Umber is here," says Wase, " the liracco of Italy ; and as their dog is timo-
rous, so their bore is not very courageous. Whence the poet, — 'I'huscus aper gcnc-
rosior Umbro."
270 APPENDIX.
likened in the last book of the ^neid, may be taken to signify any
Canis venaticus, and not that of Umbria particularly :
Vii-oilii i?Lneid. Inclusum velutisi quando flumine nactus
L. XII. 749. Cervum, aut puaiceee septum formidine pennse,
Venator cursu, canis et latratibus ixistat ;
Ule autem, insidiis et rip^ tenitus aha,
• Mille fugit refugitque vias : at vividus Umber
Haeret hians, jam jamque tenet, similisque tenenti
Increpuit raalis, morsuque elusus inani est.
The true Urabrian, I conceive, was mute — certainly so, until his
game was on foot ; as were all the other finders spoken of. But
another reason against the dog of Maro being the native dog of Um-
bria is this — the poet would never have compared the brave and
victorious iEneas to a notoriously timid animal, who " fugit ad versos
idem quos repperit hostes — " while the hero was dealing death and
destruction on all sides of him ;
Virgil, ^neid. -3Lneas mortem contra praesensque minatur
L. xii. 760. Exitium, si quisquam adeat ; terretque trementes
Excisuruiu urbem minitans ; et saucius instat.
If the character of the hounds of Umbria be such as stated, on the
authority of the ancient Cynegetica, the epithet " audaces " bestowed
on them by the Latin poet of Barga must be unmerited ;
P. Aneelii Celtis velocibus Umbros,
Bargffii Cyneg. Audaces Umbros, et odoris naribus acres.
L. V.
Barthius, erroneously in my opinion, identifies the Tuscan dogs of
Nemesian with the fierce Molossian-like animals of Oppian's first
Cynegetic (vs. 413.). To the passage already cited under the Canes
Bellicosi, the reader is referred, for the purpose of comparison with
the following from the Carthaginian poet :
Nemesian. Quin et Tuscorum non est extrema voluptas
CvHeg.vs. 231. Seepecanum: sit forma illia licet obsita villo,
Dissimilesque habeant catulis velocibus artus ;
Haud tamen injucunda dabunt tibi munera praedse.
Naraque et odorato noscunt vestigia prato,
Atque etiam leporum secreta cubilia monstrant.
Oppian's boar and lion-killers have very little resemblance to these
A pp F.N nix. 271
indices of t\\v form or scat of the timorous Iiaro, The latter |)oi>t rc-
conimends the Tuscans (whom he is also supposed to designate under
the title of Ausonians in his first kcnnel-roll) to be crossed with the
Spartan race ;
Tvp(Tr)vh ytveBXa M-Kuiffi— Oppian. Cynrg.
L. I. TS. 395.
The Armenian bear-dog was a sort of lyemmer used by sportsmen
of the East for tracking bears ;i
trovKxJs ox^os Paivovcrt ravvaKia fievOea hpvfxoov, Oppian. Cyneg.
v^ > , / \ >.. ' t L. IV. vs. 350.
loptfs, avTOAvyois aw eupipeacri Kxiveaaiv,
'[■)(yM iif(TTev(T0VT oXoiav TrovXiirXava OrjpSiv.
aW' 6it6t adp-fi<T(i)cri Kvves arnxij'ia Tapacov,
fffiroVTai, (TTJ/Se'as re noSriyeTeovcrtv b)j.aprri
p7vas fiiv Tavaas crxeSfiflei' x^P'^°^^ ridivres,
e^oirlffci) 5" eiirep Ti vedrepov aOprjcretav
^X^°^> iifeiySfievui 66pov avriKa Kayxo-^^f>''''res,
XtlGSfievoi Tov ■KpSaOev tir^v 5' els &Kpov 'iKuvrai
fvirKaveos (TTifiiris, 6rip6s re iravaloXov ew^v,
aiirlx' 6 fifv OpciffKei ira\diXT)S airh 07jpr)T^poy,
oiKTpa jUO\' vKaKSuv, Kexo-pripi-^vos f^oxa OvjjlSv.
The poet concludes this part of his description with a singularly
beautiful simile of a bare-footed little damsel in joyful search of
mountain violets, (discovered by their grateful odour, and plucked for
the decoration of her head,) with which she returns singing to the
home of her peasant parents :
&s Kvvhs IolvOt] 6viJ.hs Bpacrvs. aiirap eiraKrrjp
KOI /xaXa )uv Gdvovra fiirtffdfievos reXafnuffi,
KayxaXoiop ■TtaKii'opaos fBr] fieS' ofiiKov eralpuv.
The biKTva and apKves, the SeT/xa TroXvxpoov of the feathered line,
and the other instruments of the savage chase, combine to secure the
ursine quarry. See Oppian. Cyneg. iv. vs. 354 ad vs. 424.
1. A close-mouthed hound, probably, with much of the pugnacious disposition of
our first class, added to his sagacity. Many of the limehound tribe, at least those
used in trailing after fierce prey, must have had a strong dash of the same daring
spirit — not so, however, the uncrossed Umbrian and Gelonian.
272
APPENDIX.
LucaniPliarsal.
L. IV. 437.
Having already noticed the wary employment of the mute finder
to search out the lair of animals obnoxious to the chase, let us look
at the subsequent proceedings.^ When the nets and snares were set,
the game found, and started by the Canes ductores, the attendants,
it seems, slipped the latrant pack, which were held in couples ?.t
hand. That this was the ordinary routine is proved by Xenophon,
Lucan, Seneca, and others. The Greek sportsman of Scillus does
not, indeed, say that the dog first slipped should be mute, but
merely quick-scented. Lucan, however, particularly states his qua-
lity of closeness in the lines of his Pharsalia, where he likens the
naval tactics of Octavius, " Illyricze custos Octavius undee," to the
wily stratagems of a huntsman preparing for the attack of his
game ;
— Sic dum pavidos formidine cervos
Claudat odorata; metuentes aera pennse :
Aut dura dispositis attollat retia varis
Venator, tenet ora levis clamosa Molossi;
Spartanos Cretasque ligat; nee creditur ulli
Sylva cani, nisi qui presso vestigia rostra
Colligit, et praeda nescit latrare reperta,
Contentus tremulo monstrasse cubilia loro.
Senecse
Hippolyt.
Act. I. 30.
— and Seneca implies the same,
at vos laxas
Tacitis canibus mittite habenas ;
Teneant acres lora Molossos,
Et pugnaces tendant Cressse
Fortia trito vincula collo.
At Spartanos (genus est audax
Wase's
Illustrations,
&c. c. vi. p. til.
1. " The hunting used by tbe ancients was much like that way which is at pre-
sent taken with the Raindeare which is seldome hunted at force, or with hounds, but
onely drawne after with a blood-hound, and forestall'd with nets and engines. So
did they with all beasts ; and therefore a dog is never commended by them for
opening before hee hath by signcs discover'd where the beast lyeth in his layre, as
by their drawing stifle our harbourers are brought to give right judgment. There-
fore I doe not finde that they were curious in the rausique of their bounds, or in a
composition of their kcmiell and pack, cither for dccpenesse or lowdnesse, or sweet-
nesse of cry like to us," Sec.
A 1'1'F. N l)l\.
273
Aviduiiujue fernc) nudu cautus
Propriore liga. Vcniot tempiis
Cum latratu cava saxa sonent :
Nunc demissi nare eagaci
Captent auras, lustraque presso
Quarant rostro.'
1. The Canis ductor, or lime-hound of the middle ages, the ffxfii^aar^s and ynivv-
t))j of ancient glossaries, " qui odorisequa nare spelaja ferarum, et diverticula depre-
Lendit," was strongly allied to, if not identical with, the Sleut-hound of Scotland,
the blood-hound, lyme-dog, or limer (from the lyam or leash with which he was led)
of authors, employed in the pursuit of animals of chase, and the discovery of murders
and ambuscades. See the Glossaries of Spelman and Ducange, in voce.
Skinner defines the Limmer " Hybris, i. e. canis vilior ex cane sagace venalico
cum Molosso copulato prognatus," — and such probably was the parent stock of this
much-famed dog. Tiie Lorarius of Caius must have been a more nimble cmimal
than the Sleut-hound — " propter velocitatem et gravius feram urget, et citius capit."
The Lymer is fully treated of in De Langley's curious manuscript intitled iJHagSlcr
of ©aiUC, c. XX. et seqq. Much also will be found relative to him in the Book of
St. Alban's, Fouilloux, Turberville, and Blome : and he is particularly described by
the Latin poet of Caen, under the title of " Canis armillaris."
The following portrait by the poet of Barga is worthy of exhibition :
Ille qiiidem multa virtute insignis, et usu
Vcnaudi, saltum si quando ingressus apertum est,
Evinctus loro dominum trahit. Atque ubi signa
Invenit, aut auras acer persentit odoras,
Pergit iter, rostrum et pressa vix tollit ab herb^.
Hue illuc volvens oculos, et singula solers
Scrutatur : donee subter virgulta latentem
Conspexit leporem, et constrata cubilia fronde.
Turn vero gressum caudi blanditus, et ore
Accelerat, montemque omnem latratibus implet.
Etymolog.
Ling. Anglic.
De Canibus
Britannicis
Libellus.
Vcnatioius
Cervina; Leges
L. H.
P. A. Bargjei
Cyneg. L. v.
He is the " Praevius it loro catulus devinctus " of Vaniere's Praediura Rusticuni,
L. XVI. Great, however, as was his celebrity in the sporting field of the classic and
middle ages, and even till a century and a half ago, —
syrchand to and fra.
To hunt the harte, the bare, the da, the ra, —
the Limier, in a state of pure blood, is considered almost extinct.
2 M
G. Douglas's
Palace of
Honour.
274
APPENDIX.
Gratii Cyneg.
V8. 199.
Ejusdem
vs. 207.
Hitherto we have said nothing of the race of sagacious hunting-
dogs, most commonly known by the name of hounds,^ the Petronius
of Gratius,2 the 'Ayao-trevs of Oppian, and the Segusian of Arrian,'
The Petronius belongs to the family of fleet sagacious hounds ;
at te leve si qua
Tangit opus, pavidosque juvat compellere dorcas,
Aut versuta sequi leporis vestigia parvi :
Petronios (sic faraa) canes, volucresque Sicambros,
Et pictam macula. Vertraham delige falsa.
Ocyor aifectu mentis piunaque cucurrit,
Sed premit inventas, non inventura latentes
Ilia feras ; quas Petroniis bene gloria constat.
We here see the distinction between the harrier and greyhound, the
former running on scent, the latter on sight.* That the Petronii
opened as soon as they hit upon the trail of their game, before it was
roused, is much regretted by the poet —
Quod si maturo pressantes gaudia lusu
Dissimulare feras tacitique accedere possent :
Minsli?ei
Emend, in
voce.
Hist. Nat.
L. 1.255.
Gloss. Arch.
p. 114.
Ejusd. p. 7.
Wase's illus-
trations.
Arrian. de Van.
c. III. in not.
The Countrey
Farme, by
G. Markhara.
1. Hound is sometimes applied to all dogs, as if Minsliew's and Junius's derivation
of the term were correct — a kvu'iSiov dim. a kvcov : but in England the term most
commonly signifies a hunting-dog, to which sense the A. S. huntian, hent-an, to pur-
sue, to search after, affords a more probable root.
2. The etymology of the term Petronius is not of easy solution. By critics it has
been fancifully derived from the firnmess, strength, and hardness of the feet of this
variety of dog ; in consequence of which he was enabled to run over rough and rocky
ground without injury — kvuv tvirovs. Gesner mentions a tributary stream of the
Tiber called Petronia, " quod per petras fluat." Spelman, in his Glossary, gives
Peirunculus as a synonym of Petronius, citing the above passage of Gratius ; and
under Acceptor, explains Petrunculus in a marginal note by " a bracket." The
Spanish use Perro, says Wase, as their common appellation of a dog.
3. Schneider substitutes 'Eyovcriai for 'Eyovfflat, (spirilu tnutato) — the Latin term
being Segusii, as e|, sex. ^.eyovclai, Blancard.
4. " Greyhounds are onely for the coursing of all sorts of wilde beasts by main
Bwiftnesse of foot ; they doe not any thing more than their eies govern them unto,
being led by a natural instinct or hatred which they beare to all sorts of wilde
beasts." — " Hounds are tliose which by vertue of their scents, smells, or noses, do
find out all manner of wilde beasts," &c. — See the distinctions of the two races ad-
mirably drawn by G. Markham, p. 673. of Surflet's version of La Maison Rustique.
APPENDIX.
275
lllis omnc docus, quod nunc, Metagontes, liabetis,
Constaret sylvis ; sed virtus irrita damno est !
Herein, however, they strikingly resemble their modern representa-
tives ; for, with Ducange, I readily grant that the Canes Petronii
" ii sunt quos vulgfk chiens courans appellamus." Whoever has
heard the din of the fox or hare-chase,
— whilst the babbling echo mocks the hounds, Titus Androni-
Repljing shrilly to the well-tuned horns, '^ A ^ '
As if a double hunt were heard at once,
will grant that no Petronian pack could have been more noisy on
the trail than their modern representatives.
The Britannus sagax, " the hound sagacious on the tainted Pope's
, • ^/^ , « . , „• Essay on Man.
green, next clamis our attention. Of the Britannus bellicosus we
have already spoken under the first class. The earlier cynegetical
writers are silent on the subject of British hounds : nor do they
appear to have been known in Italy till towards the decline of the
Roman empire ; when, having been introduced into Celtic Gaul,
their merits became gradually known in southern Europe. And
here, in spite of the French encyclopedists, (the copyists of Messieurs Encyclop6die
D'Yauville and Le Verrier de la Conterie,) who gratuitously assume sur les Cbasses,
" qu'en general les chiens Anglois n'ont pas autant de noblesse que P* ^'^^'
les beaux chiens Francois, " — and that where the breed is improved,
as they allow it to be in some cases, the amelioration is attributable
to Norman crosses, — we must, with our native poet, claim the palm
for Britain ;
In thee alone, fair land of liberty! Somervilie.
Is bred the perfect hound, in scent and speed Chace, B. i.
As yet unrivall'd, while in other climes
Their virtue fails, a weak degenerate race !
By name, British hunting-dogs (as distinct from the pugnacious
class) are mentioned by the poets of Carthage and Anazarbus alone;
by the former, where singing the praises of difterent canine breeds, '
the merits of the blood of distant countries ;
276 APPENDIX.
Nemesian. Sednon Spartanos tantucn, tantumve Molossos
Cyneg. vs. 123. Pascendum catulos : divisa Britannia mittit
Veloces,' uostrisque orbis venatibus aptos ;
— by the latter, in the conclusion of his first cynegetic, vs. 467, here-
after cited. Of Nemesian's " veloces," probably not of the saga-
cious class, I shall, in the sequel, speak. In the absence of any
assigned habitat for the Petronius, may we not consider him indi-
genous of Britain 1~ Our happy isle has ever been famous for excel-
lent breeds of hunting-dogs, for skilful sportsmen, and horses both
fleet and patient of the chase. All the Celtic nations indeed, and
our ancestors among the rest, were passionately addicted to the
diversions of the field, considering the prosecution of such laborious
callings a kind of apprenticeship and initiation for war. Thence the
superiority of the Celtic breeds of sporting-dogs, and more especially
of the Britannus sagax and Britannus bellicosus. With the latter,
perhaps, the former may have been sent to Italy by the resident
Procurator Cynegii, as worthy of admission into Roman kennels ;
for at this early period I believe there were only these two native
varieties of the canine race in Britain. In the field of battle, in
public spectacles, and in the wolf and boar-chases, the bellicosus,
the rival of the truculent Epirote, stood pre-eminent : and in the
ordinary hunting of timid and fugacious quarry, the hound *' naribus
1. It is mj opinion that these veloces were greyhounds, — which iiaving been ex-
ported from Gaul, their native soil, into Britain, were thence again sent to Italy ; —
and therefore I have notliing to say ahout them here. The passage is not of easy
apphcation — some commentators interpreting it as having reference to one variety
of hound, and some to another : —
Ovid. Metam. pars invetiit utraque causas.
L, III. vs. 255.
See some further remarks under the Vertragus of Class III.
2. Of what country were the Canes Petronii indigenous? — Vlitius claims them,
without proof, for Belgium — denies all knowledge of them to Italy, beyond mere re-
port — unceremoniously dissalluws the pretensions of Gaul — and, for reasons equally
inade<iuale, those of Britain. But the latter, in my opinion, has as well-founded a
claim to the breed as Belgium.
A 1> 1' E N I) 1 X .
277
utilis," acquired an oarly name and character.' For hideousness of
aspect, and ugliness of shape, both were remarkable ;
Si non ad speciera, mentiturosquc decores
Protiniis : biTc una est catulis jactura Britannis :
— a notification of Ovid's contemporary, which may be interpreted
of the sagacious with as much truth as of the pugnacious sorts.
Modern ingenuity has taught British hounds of chase to pursue
many varieties of prey. " Alius leporis, alius vulpis, alius cervi,
alius platycerotis, alius taxi, alius lutraj, alius mustelae, alius cuni-
culi tantum odore gaudet." The dog does not himself necessarily
differ, for adaptation to different game ; and possibly, the old
English Talbot was the parent stock, whence all the sub-varieties, at
present found in the kennels of Great Britain, originally sprung,"
modified in shape and character by judicious breeding, and careful
management as to quarry : 3
Graiii Cyneg.
vs. 177.
J. Caii de Ca-
uibus Britau.
Libellus.
1. Under the Canis veiiaticus sagax, ferarum indugator et sectator, the primary
definition of Ray, we may place the modern sub-varieties; tbe Sanguinarius stu
furum deprchensor of Ray, tbe Leverarius of Caius, and Venaticus minor of Ray.
The Sanguinarius, or blood-hound, is tbe Canis Scoticus, ane Sleuth-hound, of
Gesner's Appendix ; briefly therein described from Hector Boethius ; Jind answering
to the Inductor of the Classical ages more nearly tban to any other ancient type.
He is beautifully described by Somerville, and faithfully by Cains, and Holinslied ;
nor is Tickell's sketch, in his fragment on hunting, unworthy of perusal.
The second sub-variety of the British hound of chase, the Leverarius, harrier or
fox-hound, (" sunt ex his," says Caius, "qui duos, ut vulpera atque leporem, variatis
vicibus sequi student,") is the Canis Scoticus sagax, vulgb dictus ane Rache of
Gesner's Appendix ; " the racche the whiche that men clepen the Rennyng hounde "
of the iHagsttr of (TJamc, c. xim. fo. 62.
Of the third sub-variety I shall presently speak under the Agasseeus.
For further particulars the reader is referred to Gervase Markham's clear, accurate,
and entertaining portraits of" the slow," "the middle-sized," and "nimble hounds,"
copied by this laborious compiler from the earlier work of Duke Edmund of York,
above cited. He may also consult Ducange's Canis liitrnhilis.
2. I am happy to refer to the Historian of Manchester, in corroboration of this
opinion. Skinner derives the name of the Talbot from the position of his tail —
" Canis caud& reflex^ prasditus, credo ab A. S, Tagl, nobis Tail, cauda, et Buiun
extra, ultra, foras ! "
3. Ancient sportsmen were equally aware with their modem descendants of the
Synopsis Me-
thodica Anima-
lium Quadru-
pedum.
Coiintrey
Contentments,
Booke r. c. i.
Glossar. in
voce.
JOtyniolog.
Liug. Anglic.
278
APPENDIX.
Somerville's
Chace, B. i.
Midsummer
Night's Dream.
Somerville's
Cliace, B. i.
strong, heavy, slow, but sure,
Whose ears down-hanging from his thick round head.
Shall sweep the morning dew ; whose clanging voice
Awake the mountain echo in lier cell,
And shake the forest : the bold Talbot kind
Of these the prime, &c.
The hounds of Theseus would be correctly placed, from the de-
scription of our great dramatic poet, under the old English breed.
With it they have more points in common than with their fabled
progenitors ;
My hounds are bred out of the Spartan kind,
So flew'd, so sanded, and their heads are hung
With ears that sweep away the morning dew ;
Crook-knee 'd, and dew-lap'd, like Thessalian bulls;
Slow in pursuit ; but match'd in mouth like bells,
Each under each. A cry more tuneable
Was never halloo'd to, nor cheer'd with kom,
In Crete, in Sparta, nor in Thessaly.
The vigorous and fleet Leverarius being a supposed representative
of some ancient types, I cite the masterly picture of Somerville for
the purpose of comparison with the classic poets of the Chase :
See there with countenance blithe,
And with a courtly grin, the fawning hound
Salutes thee cowering ; his wide opening nose
Upwards he curls, and his large sloe-black eyes
Melt in soft blandishments, and humble J03' ;
His glossy skin, or yellow-pied, or blue,
In lights or shades by nature's pencil drawn,
Reflects the various tints ; his ears and legs
Xenophon
De Venat.
C. VI.
necessity of keeping hounds, when once entered, steady to their particular game.
Plutarch (ir«pl iroKvirpayixoavvTis) alludes to the attention they paid to this point of
field discipline : ol Kwrjyol Toits c/cvAa/cas ovk itcaiv iKxpetreffOai ko2 StdKeiv iracrav
oS/AT/f, aWa Tois pyrripcriv 'd\Kov(n Kal avaKpovovai, KaQaphv aiiToiv koX &KpaTov (pvKar-
Tovies th ala6r}pLov (Trlrh uiKelov epyov, Xenophon, passionately enamoured of the
hare-chase, would not allow his harriers to turn aside, and run riot, after foxes —
Sia<p6opa yap ^eyiWij, Kal iv T<f ^i6vTi 06 ttots irdpiiaiv — it is fatal to their steadi-
ness.
APPENDIX.
279
p. A. Bargnei
Cyneg. v.
Fleckt here and tlicre, in gay enamell'd pride,
Rival the speckled pard ; his rush-grown tail
OVr his broad back bends in an ample arch ;
On shoulders clean, upright and firm he stands ;
His round cat-foot, straight hams, and wide-spread thighs,
And his low-dropping chest, confess his speed,
His strength, his wind, or on the stecpy hill,
Or far-extended plain ; in every part
So well-proportion'd, that the nicer skill
Of Phidias himself can't blame thy choice.
The Talbot, whose portrait is also sketched by the Latin poet of
Barga, as well as by the authors cited, is at present fallen into dis-
repute — his slowness of foot being scarce compensated by his keen-
ness of scent. The fleeter Leverarius, whose consimilarity with the
Gratian Petronius almost approaches to identity, was apparently
unknown to M. A. Biondi ; for he holds it quite impossible (like
the elder Xenophon in regard to the fair capture of the hare with his
aXuTreKibes at forct) that any hounds should have speed sufficient to De Canibus et
run down a fox, without the aid of wily instruments of destruction. ^ bellus.
But the largest varieties of Somerville's last picture are found a
match for the arch-felon, " vulpem captare dolosam," — the only
approach to the modern mode of pursuing whom, which the classics
afford, is in the fourth book of Oppian's Cynegetics, where the Kvves
aoWkes are evidently a pack of hounds, though we look in vain for
the well-mounted hunters ;
KepZii 5' ovre \6xoi(nv aXdifftfios, ovre fipSxoiffiv,
ovre \lt>ois' Setvi] yap iirtcppoffwiytn vorjffai,
Cyneg. iv
vs. 448.
1. The difficulty of capturing the fox is indicated, according to Bochart, by mylho-
loo-ists, in the fable of the Teumesian fox, the " altera pestis" of Bceotian Thebes,
which, in the song of Sir Arthur Gelding,
— wrought the bane of many a wight. The countrie folke did feed
Him with their cattle and themselves, untill (as was agreed)
That all the youthful! gentlemen that dwelled thereabout
Assembling, pitcht their corded toyles the champion fields throughout.
But net, ne toyle was none so hie that could his wightnesse stop,
He mounted over at his ease the highest of the top.
Then every man let slip their grewnds, but he them all oustript
And even as nimbly as a bird in daliance from them whipt, &c.
Hierozoicon
L. III. c. XIII.
Ovid. Met.
L. VII. 763.
Golding's
Ovid's Metam.
Booke seventh.
280
APPENDIX,
Seiv^ S' avre Kd\ua Ta/xeiv, virh S' (ifjifiara Kvaai,
Ktxi irvKiVolffi ^6\ui(rti' oAkt^tJcoi Oavdrow
aWa Kvves iiiv &eipav ao\\4es, oi/S' ap' eKeivoi
KOI Kparepoi wep idvres avainaneL Safida-avro.
Ill no case does he fall an easy prey to the disturbers of hiscunningly-
wrouaht latibulum :
C^neg. III.
vs. 450.
Martial. Epigr.
L. X. Ep. 37.
juaA.' apri'ios iv irpairiSecrai,
Kol irivvri] vaiet itvudrois ivl (paiXeioiatv,
fTTTaTTvAovs ol^affa SSfiovs, TprjTds t6 KaKias
rr]\6d' air' aW7]\cov, ixi] fjLiv BripiiTopes &vdpes
a/xcpl OvpTj KoxSciii'Tes vnh .Gpox'SefftriJ' dyoovrai'
apyaXir] yevveffcri Kal avria Sriplffaadai
Qjiptxi t' apeiorepoiffi, Kal aypevrfipffi Kvviaaiv. *
Even when, with the din of huntsmen and hounds, driven into nets,
the entangled felon, according to Martial, still fights it out, to the
no little discomfiture and injury of his canine antagonists;
Hie olidam clamosus ages in retia vulpem,
Mordebitque tuos sordida prajda canes ... *
Identical with the least of the hound tribe of the British isles, the
Canis venaticus minor of Ray's Synopsis, and Charleton's Onomas-
ticon, is the Oppianic Agassaeus ; the derivation of whose name has
iHagstrr of
©antf.
c. VIII. fo. 43.
1. " Men taken hem withe boundes," says De Langley, "withe greihoundes,
withe haies and withe pursnettis, but he kitteth hem withe his teethe as the mascles
of the wolf dooth but nat so sone."
2. Lonicer's ratio vulpinandi in his ' venatus et aucupium' shows in its accom-
panying most spirited engraving the foxchase of three cenluries ago :
Venatus et
Aucupium per
J. A. Lonicer.
Callida versuto capitur stratagemate vuipes :
Novit enim dubias mille dolosa vias, &c.
For the merits of the fox-chase, and its " commoditie of exercise," see Sir Thomas
Elyot's ' The Governour,' Book i. c. xviii. and for " the flying of this chase," see
a Sliort Treatise of Hunting, compyled for the Delight of Noblemen and Gentlemen,
by Sir Thomas Cockaine, Knight — wherein be states " that the author hereof
hath killed a foxe distant from the covert where hee was found foureteene miles aloft
the ground with hounds," — a run that would be deemed pretty good, I suppose, even
by the modern descendants of any Nimrod knight.
AIM'F. NDIX. 281
puzzled Brodajus and ofhor classic commentators not a little.' With Hmdit^ns in
the hint that 'Aya(T(Tfi)s may ho connected with As;assa of Macodo- p. 4o.
nia, Agasus a port of Apulia, the Tliraciau /Igessus, and Agalhia a
city of Phocis, no reason is alleged why a British doj^ should deduce
his name from countries and places so remote. Of the existence of
such a tiny hound of chase in this country, Rittershusius seems not Ritteralmsius
to have been aware. British dogs, he remarks, are exceedingly ii. 4-*.' ' "'
keen-scented, but he cannot divine why called small, fiawv yeros,
being, in his days at least, of great size. Brodasus, too, ignorant of
any other than the Britannus of Claudian, cannot reconcile the
** Anglici canes prodigiosee statura; " of this poet, and his own
experience, with the portrait of the Oppianic 'Ayaaffevs."
It is scarce necessary to observe that the dog in question has no
affinity with the Agasajus of Dr. Caius, who very absurdly borrows,
for his gazehound, a name previously engaged by a totally different
dog ; as if to gratify his etymological mania by connecting the terms
Agaszeus, a gaze, a gazehound — " neque enim odoratu, sed pro-
spectu attento et diligenti feram persequitur iste canis — (Agasaius, a
gazehound) — etsi non sum nescius etiam apud Latinos Agasa^i voca-
bulum inter canum nomina reperiri" — " Agasa^um nostri abs re qudd J. Caii de Can,
hitento sit in feram oculo vocant."
Camden has fallen into the same error with Caius, and confounded
1. Nor is the etymology of the English terra Beagle of more easy solution. Skin-
ner derives it from the French bugler, mugire ; and Menage thinks, as the hounds
were sent from Britain into Gaul, the name may be of British origin. A second Skinner Ftv-
derivation is proposed by the former philologist, founded on the diminutive molog. Angli-
stHture of the dogs — cani piccoU — Ital. Canes miuores. May not a third possible *'^"*
source of the name be found in the barbarous root bigla, vigilia, excubiae, from the
Greek Bi'yAa, a Latino vigilia—? The watchful tricks of some of our terrier-beagles
in a rabbit-warren, and Oppian's grapliic sketch of the 'Ayatrffeus, his wiles, &c.
favour the notion.
2. Janus Vlitius, who, as Wase remarks, "owns England to have been the school
from which he took the dictates of his learned commentaries," relates the following
anecdote of the tiny beagles of his day : " Sunt enim agassa.>i illi adeo aliquando Venatio No-
exiles, et parvi, ut tres simul leporem in cubili suo invadentes viderim invitos ii prsedl vautiqua.
su^, cui mordicus inha;rebant, nihilominus eluctante relinqui. Et ipse binos nutrivi
adeo delicatos et tenellos, ut manu un;-. totos circuniambirem. Sed hi commcnsales
potius, et lusui magis, quam ad venatum idonei habentur."
2 N
282 APPENDIX.
the Agasseus of Oppian with the gazehound of Britain ; and even
Ray has made the gazehound a variety of the Canis venaticus sagax,
distinguished from his supposed consimilars of the same family by
Synopsis Ani- running on sight of his game — " qui aspectu feras insequitur."
malium. " i • , ■ i i T»/f i
Coiintrey Con- From the following portrait, compared with that drawn by Mark-
tentnients, B. I. y^^^^ ^^, ^^^^ decide the identity of the Agassaeus and Beagle :
Oppian. Cyneg. tan 5e' ri aKvKaKwv ytvos &\Ktfj.ov Ixvevriipuv,
' '* *®* Pathv, arap fieydXris avrd^iov efifiev' ootSTjj"
Tous rpdcpev &ypLa cpvXa Bperavwv alo\ovwTuv,
avTap iiriKXifiriv <T<pas ^kyaaaaiovs 6v6/irivav
rwv ^T0( fityedos jxfu o/xoiiov ovridavolai
KIx^ois oiKiSioun Tpairf^riecrffi KVPttrffi,
yvphv, a.(rapK6TaTov, XaffiSrpixov, ofj-fiacri vwOiS'
a\\' ouixf(Tffi TtSSas KeKopvdfievov apya\eotffi,
Koi Ba/xivo'is KwoSovcrii' aKax/J-efov lo(j)6poi(n.
{i'lveai S' aZre fiaKicrTa ■rravf^ox^s iffriv ^Ayacrtrehs,
Kol (TTifiiT) iravdpiffTos, eVel Kara ya7av Uvtwv
IfX''""' fvpffJ'Cai iJ.4ya 5r) ffocphs, dXAct Ka\ outt/i'
XSfio)V rjepiTjf fji.d\a cTTjjujf faffflai ivrpiiiv.
Let the reader compare these little pet-like, weakly, crooked, lank,
wire-haired, dull-looking creatures, keen however, and excellent of
nose, with his own experience of the beagle's type and properties,
and the representations of authors.^
The poet gives some amusing instructions for breaking in the
puppy of the Agassaeus ;
EJHsd. V8. 489. avTap Sy' o7i|/a
wpivdjj, (ppt/xda T6 Xayoof'iTjs vir' avTfjirjs,
Txria /LiacTTe'iiei re Karb, x^ovhs, k. t. \.
1. A clever representation of a pack of small, long-eared, beagle terriers at their
wonted sport of rabbit-catching is given by J. Stradanus, in his 38lh plate, with an
explanatory quatrain by K. Dufflaeus :
Venationes Callidus effossis latitare cuniculus antris
Ferarum. -£x generare solet. Verum persaepe catelli
Anglorum celeres fallunt pecus : ore prehendunt
Illusum: prsdam venatorique niinistrant.
A V P F, N U 1 X . 283
comparing his restlessness to that of a young woman in travail with
her first child,
0)1 8* Sre Tis Kovprf ZiKarov irepi ju^i/a <Tf\i\vrii Ejusd. vs. 493.
irporroTdKOS \oxill(riv iir' wSli>e<T(Ti rinrfiffa, k. t. \,
The praises of the little beagle have been celebrated in Greek and
Latin, verse and prose. Amongst the modern poets, he is found in
the Album Dian^e Leporicidae of Jac. Savary, under the title of
" ululatorum ordo minorum" — "gens parvis devota feris;" and I-'b. n. p. 18.
placed in the kennels of Britain — still sufficiently marked by her
insular, geographical position, and the staunchness of her canine
breed, but, unfortunately for the loyalty of Savary 's own country-
men, no longer exclusively/ characterized by the traitorous, regicide
spirit of her inhabitants :
Insula quos gignit septein vicina trioni,
Terra canum laudata fide, damnata virorum
Perfidi^, Regisque sui execranda cruore, &c.
He is also mentioned by Angelinas Gazaeus — see the Lagographia
Curiosa of Paullini. Of the Greek portrait of Arrian we shall pre-
sently speak, under the Segusian dog.
It is to Gervase Markham, our " English master of economical
philosophy," as Wase calls him, that we are indebted for the fullest
description of *' the little beagle, which may be carried in a man's
glove;" — " bred," says Gervase, " for delight only, being of cu-
rious scents, and passing cunning in their hunting, for the most part
tiring, but seldome killing the prey, except at some strange advan-
tage." " Their musicke is very smalle, like reeds, and their pace Countrey Con-
like their body, onely for exercise, and not for slaughter." J"^" ^^. *^'
The Segusian dog mentioned by Arrian, in the third chapter of his
Treatise on Coursing, as a sorry brute, quick-scented, with a pitiful
and dolorous whine, instead of bark — rough and unsightly, and the
more high-bred the more ugly — I believe to be identical with the
last variety. The Bithynian has devoted an entire chapter of his
entertaining and original manual to a description of the 'Eyovalat
Kvvei : whose name, he tells us, is derived from a Celtic people,^
1. Cesar places the Segusiani in Gallia Celtica — " Hi sunt extra provinciani trans Cspsar de B. G.
Rhodanum priiui." Wljy, then, may we not suppose these hounds correctly deno-
L. I. 10.
284
APPENDIX.
amongst whom they were first bred, and held in repute for their
nasal sagacity. For a full description of these smaller hounds of
Gaul, the reader is referred to the cited chapter ; and attached to
luy translation of the same, he will find a few illustrative notes.
The remarks of Belin de Ballu, in his Animadversiones in Oppia-
nuni, show strange misapprehension of the ancient distinctions in the
Aniinadvers. in Celtic kennels. The chiens courans of modern France are not the
Oppian.Lj'neg.
1. 373. vveprpayoi Kvres of the younger Xenophon ; nor are the latter's
'Ej-yovmai the *' genus canum, quorum pili instar velleris ovium
crispantur," as incorrectly stated by this most learned editor of the
Greek poet of the chase. The Segusians are rather the highs of the
present day — perhaps the bassets, a small variety of terrier-beagle,
used in rabbit-huntina:.!
Seell.Sleplian,
Scliediasm.
IV. 2.
Du Gauge
Glossal', ill
A preface to
tlie Reader.
minated by Arrian ? — wliy may not their title be of local origin, as affirmed by him,
rather than connected with tlieir sagacious qualities, as supposed by Vlitius ? who
would view them as Canes Seg^usii vel Secutii — the latter term being applied to the
Canes Inductores — " quia hominera sequentcmducit Inductor," with which the Dutch
annotator hulds the Segusian to be identical. Spelman enumerates the synonyms
oi segutius, as seusis, sensius, &c. &c. — See Gloss. Arch. p. 114. and derives them a
sequendo. Eccard more correctly, I think, refers to the German suchen, or rather
Saxon seuken investigare, whence sucker, seuker investigator, and with a Latin
termination, suehius, seucius, seusius, secusius, segusius, &c. The Spaniards,
according to Wase, '' have a blood-hound which is called un podenco" of small
stature, with which they "prick through the woods, or follow any chase." Possibly
Vlitius may have had this hound in his eye when he interpreted the Canes Segusii
as Inductores.
1. 'there is no variety of sagacious dog, no style of hunting, to which the prefatory
encomiums of Wase are more strict!}' applicable, (however quaint the language in
whicli they are conveyed,) than the beagle tribe, and their various chases. " It is
admirable," says this friend of Edmund Waller, " to observe the naturall instinct of
enmity and cunning, whereby one beast being, as it were, confederate with man, by
whom he is maintained, serves bim in his designes upon others. A curious mind is
exceedingly satisfy'd to see the game fly before him, and after that hath withdrawn
itselfe from his sight, to see the whole line where it hatii pass'd over with all the
doublings and cross-works, which the amazed beast hath made, recover'd again, and
all that maze wrought out by the intelligence wliich he holds with dogs : this is most
pleasant, and, as it were, a master-piece of natural magique," &c. See also Gervase
Markham's Countrey Contentments, 15. i. c. iv.
A 1* !• E N D I X .
285
CANES VENATICI. Class III.
CANES CELERES.
H<E pedibus celeres.
This class, 1 by far the least numerous of the three, contains only
the Vertragusor Vertraha,- and possibly the Sicamber ; — of the latter
of whom I have nothing to communicate — being neither mentioned
by Xenophon, Pollux, Oppian, nor Neraesian. If he be, as has
been supposed, a Belgic hound, he cannot be the boar-hound of Silius
Italicus, without losing his claim to admission on our present file.
No Can is Venaticus can be enrolled here, who runs otherwise than
on sight of his game ; — it is his characteristic property — ^
Claudian. de
laud. Stilicou.
L. III.
1. The swift-footed dogs of our tliird class are included, we may suppose, in
M. F. Cuvier's first division ; having the head much elongated, the parietal bones
insensibly approaching each other, and the condyles of the lower jaw placed in a
horizontal line with the upper cheek teeth.
2. Having had an opportunity of consulting Conrad Heresbach's "Thereutice" Thereutices
since the earlier part of this work was printed off, I may here subjoin the learned l^orapendium,
epitomizer's description of the greyhound type : — " aliud genus Venaticorum, quos
leporarios et emissarios vocant ac vertagos; — hos quserimus, qui sint corpore procero,
ag^li et expedite, cruribus prioribus excelsioribus, capite longiusculo, neque carnoso
sed levi, cruribus brevibus atque erectis, oculis niicantibus, pectore toroso, casteria
expeditis membris, nisi quod clunes latiusculos habentes raagis probantur, et caud^
long^ et levi, non hirsuta. Vidimus tamen e Norwegia et insult Thulje adductos
pemicitate non vulgari, qui etcauda et corpore toto villosi erant. Veriim hi non ad
sagacitatem sed ad velocitatem usurpantur. Ejus generis sunt Britannici, siuiul et
pernicitate et robore valentes, nisi quod corpore vasto, cervis persequendis magis
idonei." The latter are doubtless Caledonian deer greyhounds.
3. This property, I allow, is impaired in certain modern individuals of the Celtic
family, hereafter mentioned, in whom the admixture of nasal sagacity indicates im-
purity of blood, and degeneracy from the parent stock. The lines of Gratius,
descriptive of the greyhound's speed, and keenness of vision, have been already cited
under the Sagacious class : Englished by Wase, (totidem versibui, the good man's
only poetical merit) they run thus :
— chuse the grayhound py'd with black and white,
He runs more swift then thought or winged flight;
But courseth yet in view, not hunts in traile,
In which the quick Petronians never faile.
A Poem of
Hunting, &c.
Enf;li'>hed by
C. Wase, Gent.
1054.
286 APPENDIX.
Gratii Cyneget. premit inventas, non inventura latentes
^'- ^0^- Ilia feras.
and therefore the Belgian — Canis occultos agitat cum Belgicus apros
— must be banished from hence to the sagacious class : amongst the
inductores of which division, I have already placed him as a lime-
hound.
The best description of the type of the present class will be found
in the copious Manual of Arrian, c. iv. v. and vi. — introduced by the
memorable summary at the conclusion of c. ill. — r?/r ^e Ibeav, kuXov
Ti "^ij7]hu. etai, Kara, re tovs 6(j)daXfiovs ai yeyraioTarai avTwv k"a< Kara to
auifxa anap Kal rt]V Tpi^a Ka\ Ti]v ypoaV ovtid tois re TroiKiXais eirardel
TO TroiictXoy, Kai ocrais olttX^ f] XP^*^ ecriv a7ro(TriX/3et Kai avTi], Kai kaTiv
i\hi(TTov deafta avbpi dnpevTiK^. And the following of Nemesian, who
may be designated the poet of the pedibus celeres, as Gratius of the
bellicosi, is correct as far as it goes ;
Nemesian. Elige tunc cursu facilem, faciiemque recursu,
Cyneget. jjon humili de gente canem. Sit cruribus altis,
vs. lOG. „...,.,
Sit rigidis, multamque gerat sub pectore lato
Costarum sub fine decenter prona carinam,
QuEe sensim rursus sicc&. se coiligat alvo,
Renibus ampla satis vadis, diductaque coxas,
Cuique nimis molles fluitent incursibus aures.
Nor must I omit the beautiful and minutely faithful portrait of the
Greek poetof Anazarbus, though aware that it has been appropriated
to a variety of the ware sagaces, and that Rittershusius does not
allude to any supposed resemblance to the Celtic dog in his commen-
tary on Oppian. Bearing in mind, however, that this erudite
scholar had only the writings of Xenophon and Pollux, and the
scanty lines of the Faliscian and African poets, to aid his attempt to
give name and place to a doubtful animal ; — had no authorities to
consult, particularly dedicated to the pedibus celeres in opposition to
the nare sagaces, to whose cause, and that of the bellicosi, the
Greek Cynegetica were exclusively, and the Latin principally con-
fined, (for the treatise of Arrian was at that period undiscovered in
the Vatican,) — and therefore could not assimilate the Oppianic
hound to the Celtic type ; — I am not at all surprised that he has left
this resemblance unnoticed. Subsequent commentators following in
his footsteps, the Celtic dog has been as entirely disregarded on Op-
pian 's page, as if he had been never admitted on his muster-roll.
APPrNDIX.
287
The courser, I am confident, will recognize many of the features, as
well as the wonted quarry, of l)is favourite hound, in the following
extract; — which, if it cannot be exclusively appropriated to the Ver-
tragus of Celtica, will assuredly admit only the swiftest of the saga-
cious class to a participation of its type ;
fir^KeSauhv Kparephv Sf/xas, &pKiov ijSe Ka.pr]vov,
Kov(pov ivykr)uov, Kvaval (niX^oiev OTrdnrai'
Kapxapov, iKTobiov re\4doi (TTdfjia, ^aia S' vrripBev
uijara \eiTTa\4oi(n iripKTreWoipB^ vfievecrcn'
Seip^ fir]Kfdavi], koI ari]Qea vepOe KpaTUia,
ei/pfa' TO! Trpoadev 5e t' oM^orepai irJSe taroiv,
bpQoreviis kuKcov ravaol SoAiXT^pees idrol,
cupees wfioirXaTai, irKevpwv iiriKcipcna rapah.^
ocr(j>ies fSffapKoi, fiij irloves' avrhp Sriade
ffrpicpv^ t' iicrdStSs re tt4Koi dokix^ffKios ovpi].
Toloi fxev Tavao'uTLU i(poir\i^oivTO SpSfioicri
SSpKois, r)5' i\d<poi(Tiv, a,e?<A6iroSl re Xa7Cii^.
The advocate of the Celtic hound may allege, in support of his in-
terpretation, that such ancient dogs as ran on scent were more or less
long-eared, 1 — being so represented on the monuments of antiquity ;
— and may ask how the small ears of Oppian's dog, if interpreted of
the sagacious class, are to be reconciled with the representations of
Tempesta, Montfaucon, and others, and the down-hanging ears of
modern Canes Venatici of the keen-nosed class? Again — astheCili-
cian was a perfect adept at versifying with the materials furnished by
his predecessors, and certainly made the best use of their labours, is
it not improbable that he should have altogether omitted the Celtic
greyhound, so faithfully portrayed by the younger Xenophon, (with
whose description that of the poet in no essential point differs,) and
have mentioned two varieties of sagaces and one of bellicosi, to the
entire neglect of the Vertragus type ?
The deficiencies, if any, of his classical predecessors have been
judiciously and tastefully supplied by the elaborate pen of Bargaeus :
Oppian.
Cyneget. i,
vs. 401.
1. Xenophon's foxite has small ears, (unless with Vlitius we read 5to fiaKph,) and
Arrian's Celt large, down-falliug ears, as if broken — small and stiff ones being deemed
a blemish in the greyhound. But iu other respects the ears of the Oppianic houud
closely resemble Arrian's type, and also Nemesian's — both confessedly Celtic. See
Arriau de Veaat. c. v. 7. aud Nemesiao. Cyneg. vs. 112«
288 APPENDIX.
P. A. Bargffi Sin autem tete oblectant, qui prEeniia cursu
Cynegel. L. v. Certa petunt, celerique fug^ lata a^quora verrunt :
Elige quos vultus tristes, demissa(jue cervix
Oruat, et argutum supra slant lumina rostrum
Nigra quidetn, sed quee multo splendore coruscant.
OUis OS ingens ad tempora pene dehiscit,
Lataque frons tenues consurgere suspicit aures.
Ac veluti coluber frigus perpessus in altis
Terrarum latebris hyemes effugit aquosas,
Moxque adeo sub vera novo jam sole calente
Exiit, et multo se suscitat improbus sestu,
Ac si forte aliquem propius persensit euntem,
Explicat iuimensos orbes, atque arduus eifert
Cervicem, et rigido summum capite aera findit.
Vergat humi propior stomachus, lateque patescat
Pectus : et baud longis insistant cruribus armi'
Sublimes : tum prona suis extantia costis
Et latei°a, et lumbis qua jungitur alvus obesis,
Pressa animis calidum ostendant, et viribus acrem.
PrsBcipue clunes inter si stricta supremos
Ilia demittant caudam, quae currat ad imum
Tenuis, ubi extrema vix tandem in parte residat :
Et parvuni sese sinuans deflectat in orbem.
At vero tereti pronat vestigia planta.
Quae spatiis digitos nusquara discludat apertis,
Et multucn solidos paulatim curvet in ungues.
Leelapis baud aliam formaru mirata vetustas
Esse refert, &c.
Let the kvcjv KcXtikos of Anian be the classic prototype of the
modern greyhound — the Canis Gallicus of Ovid ^ — whose style of
1. For a beautiful image of the Celtic greyhound the reader is referred to Pere
Montfaucon, L'Antiquile expliquee. Tom. iii. Liv. iv. pi. 176. A medallion from the
arch of Constantine exhibits the Emperor Trajan with his huntsmen, accompanied by
a type of this dog, the most elegant which antiquity has transmitted to us. It has
been copied on stone for the preceding work by Messrs. Day and Haghe ; who have
added to our embellishments Chrysis and Aura from an ancient gem — Lajlaps from
Tempesta — and some spirited outlines from the antique. But I have most pleasure
in referring my readers to the genuine Celtic exemplars — the veloces catuli — of the
Townley collection of the British Museum, faithfully lithographed by the same artists.
This beautiful group of greyhound puppies, in white marble, was found by Mr. Gavin
Hamilton in the year 1774, at Monle Cagnolo, part of the villa of Antoninus Pius,
near the ancient Lanuvium, beyond the " lucus et ara Dianfe," of the A'^ia Appia. A
second, nearly similar, was discovered at the same place, and purchased by Visconti
A P P E N 1) 1 \ .
289
coursing is sketched to tlio life in the well-known, and often-cited
simile ;
Ui canis in vacuo leporem cum Gallicus arvo
Viiiit ; et hie prsedam pedibus petit, ille salutem :
Alter inhajsuro similis, jam jamiiue tenere
Sperat, et extento stringit vestigia rostro ;
Alter in ambiguo est, an sit deprensus, et ipsis
IMorsibus eripitur; tangentiaque ora relinquit.
As when th' impatient greyhound, slipp'd from far,
Bounds o'er the glebe to course the fearful hare,
She in her speed does all her safetj lay.
And he with double speed pursues the prey;
Ovid. Metam.
L. I. vs. 533.
Dry den's
Ovid's Metara.
B. I.
for the Vatican Museum. Of an earlier date, however, than these most interesting
groupes, is the medallion selected as the frontispiece of the present work. For
although the triumphal arch, whence it it was originally copied, was not erected till
about A. D. 300. that arch was a piece of architectural patch-work, made up of the
spoils of earlier structures — its medallions and principal ornaments being derived from
one 200 years older, commeraorative of Trajan's victories over the Dacians and Par-
thians, — amongst the former of whom, on the authority of Arrian, deer-coursing was
ao established sport in the beginning of the second century. About the latter period,
or at the very close of the first century, the medallion of the frontispiece was probably
wrought ; whereas the Monte Cagnolo groupes, if executed expressly for the decora-
tion of Antoninus's villa, were half a century later.
I know of few other authentic representations of the oviprpayos Kvoiv , — unless the
varying type of Dian's canine attendant, on antique gems, lamps, coins, relievos,
&c. (the most beautiful o^whicii is on the Sicilian coins of Augustus Cajsar);
— — KVUV
'ApT€/xt5os, 7]T(ST6 0oT)s 2x6 iroMffiTai iyptis,
'l^ei 6i}p-l]Teipa Trap' txviaiv, ovara 5' avrrj^
dp6a iJ.d\\ altu krotixa Oe^s i;7ro5e'x0at 6^oKXi)v . ..
JMorell. T. xv.
20. 21. &c.
Callimach.
II. iu Delum.
vs. 228.
approach, in any instance, near enougli to the courser's hound to be deemed a like-
ness — sometimes a beagle, sometimes a foxite, at other times a greyhound, let the
reader compare the outlines of Beger and La Chausse, seemingly of the Celtic type,
with the lop-eared harrier of Visconti and Guattani, (^Dlana ed Ecate combatlono coi Museo Chiara
Giganti,) and the prick-eared lurcher of the same authors, {Diana ed Apollo,) and
then decide on the admissibility of the effigy in this place.
To the medallion of Vaillant, of small dimensions, but of singular beauty, exhibiting Goltzii Numis
a brace of greyhounds in the act of seizing a deer — copied here in outline as a vignette
— may be added four impressions of the same hound, in four different attitudes, most
elegant and characleristic, on coins or medals of the isle of Cythnus, one of the Cy-
clades; and a stag pursued by a greyhound, in Recueil d'Antiquites, Tom. i. p. 219.
2 o
monti. T. xvii.
T. xviii.
mata Grsciae.
T. xviii.
f. 7. 8. 9. 10.
290
APPENDIX,
O'erruns her at the sitting tura, and licks
His chaps in vain, and blows upon the flix :
She 'scapes, and for the neighbouring covert strives.
And gaining shelter, doubts if yet she lives.
Pausanias in And again, in the fable of Laelaps, the far-famed " grewnd " of
Boeoticis.
c. XIX. Bceotia ;
Ovid. JMetani.
L. VII. vs. 781.
Golding's
Ovid's Metain.
Seventh booke.
J. Darcii Ve-
nusini Canes.
Toiler 60 capioque novi spectacula cursus :
Qua modo deprendi, modo se subducere ab ipso
Vulnere visa fera est : nee liniite callida recto.
In spatiumque fugit; sed decipit ora sequentis,
Et redit in gyrum, ne sit suus impetus hosti.
Imminet hie, sequiturque pareiu : similisque tenenti
Non tenet, et vacuos exercet in a'era morsus.
I gat me to the knap
Of this same hill, and there beheld of this strange course the hap.
In which the beaste seemes one while caught, and ere a man would thinke.
Doth quickely give the grewnd the slip, and from his biting s^hrinke.
And like a wilie foxe he runs not forth directly out,
Nor makes a winlas over all the champion fields about,
But doubling and indenting still avoydes his enmies lips,
And turning short, as swift about as spinning wheele he wips,
To disappoint the snatch. The grewnd pursuing at a inch
Doth cote him, never loosing ground ; but likely still to pinch,
Is at the sudden shifted off : continually he snatches
In vaine : for nothing in his mouth save onely aire he catches.
Nor will the reader of modern Cynegetica forget the vivid sketch of
Pterelas's course by the Latin poet of Venusium :
Ocyiis insequitur Pterelas, cursuque citato
Intervalla facit lati decrescere campi.
Jam propior propiorque rnicat, jam captat hianti
Surama pedum rostro, jam terga fugacia stringit.
lUe pavet, flesoque obliquat tramite cursus,
Et dubia trepidans formidine, jamque teneri
Se putat, et rursiim tangentis ab ore recedit,
Fataque momento sibi prorogat, jemula donee
Rostra levis mergat miserando in corpore victor,
Fulmineus victor, gemino cui tramite lumbos
Spina subit graciles, &c.
The many portraits of these classical and semi-classical Cynege-
tica will be fitly closed with the following elegiac verses on a Canis
APPENDIX.
291
Venatrix, whose characteristic attributes, pathetically written on a
nionumontal stone by an unknown hand, but at once aj)plied by us
to the Celtic type, exemplify in the entombed a few of the anecdotes
of Arrian's Horme :
Epitaphium Canis Venatricis.
Gallia me genuit, nomen mihi divitis undae
Conclia dedit, formw noniinis aptus honos»
Docta perincertas audax discurrere silvas,
Collibus hirsutas atque agitare feras.
Non gravibus vinclis unquam consueta teneri,
Verbcra nee niveo corpore sasva pati.
IMoUi namque sinu dumiui dorninajque jacebam,
Et noram in strato lassa cubare toro.
Et plus, quam licuit muto, canis ore loquebar, ^
Nulii latratus pertirauere meos.
Et jam fata subi, partu jactata sinistro,
Quam nunc sub parvo marmore terra teget.
The early history of the greyhound is confounded with the Epi-
rote, as if they had a common lineage — a mistake which has arisen
from their being considered equally of Grecian origin — whereas the
greyhound has no connexion with ancient Greece. Fable, however,
assigns them a common descent from the L^laps of Boeotia,i — from
whom also sprung other dogs of classic fame. The history of this
celebrated hound, and the lineage and geographical distribution of
his descendants, are particularized in the Cynegeticon of Bargaeus :
Ilium autem specie, preestantem animisque saperbum
Cynthia dilectee dederat pro munere Nympba:
Ipsaque mox juveni JEoMdss : genialia postquain
Fulcra tori, et dulceis iterum conjunxit amores,
Jucundumque sinu fovit coraplexa niaritum.
Cujus ope innunieras sylvis praedatus, et agris
Poeta; Latini
Minores.
Wernsdorf.
Tom. 1. p. 121.
P. A. Bargiei
Cyneget. L. v.
1. " The first greyhound," says Topsel, (translating what Pollux had related of the History of Four-
Molossian,) " was that of Cephalus, fashioned by Vulcan in Monesian brass, and f"Otea Beasts,
when he liked his proportion, he also quickened him with a soul, and gave hira to Ju- f. } ,
piter for a gift, who gave him away again to Europa, she also to JNIinos, Minos to Pro- others, p. 115.
cris, and Procris to Cephalus, 6cc.
292 APPENDIX.
Ille feras, ne tanta olim sublata periret
Aiit morte, aut sterili mox accedente senect&,
Et caderet simul extincto cum Lselape virtus :
Subjecitque canem, sobolemque e matre recepit
Optalam, Cretseque ultro concessit habendam.
Inde autem vobis auct^ jam prole nepotes
AUatosGraiffi primum accepislis Amyclas,
Tempore quo gemini fidissima pectora fratres
Nunc lepores canibus, cursu nunc dorcadas acreis,
Et nunc Tsenario cervas in littore agebant ;
iEripedes cervas, quibus baud velocior unquara
Evolat JEoliis aquilo dimissus ab antris.
Nee fuit ipsa diu tarn magni rauneris expers
Epirus. Miscere genus monstravit : at oUis
Ingentes animi, solersque industria crevit.
Arrian, from whose Manual of Coursing I purposely abstain to
quote at length, because the reader can refer to my translation with
De Venatione. little trouble, calls the greyhound by the barbarous title of ovep-
rpayos kvuiv,^ expressly stating that he is so denominated in the Celtic
H. Stepbani !• The etymology of tbis harsh-sounding terra is more readily elucidated by
Scliediasm. tracing it in the Celtic, than in the Latin language ; from the latter of which Henry
* ^^* * Stephens, on the authority of Turnebus, attempts a fanciful derivation. " Vertragus —
Fertragus — Ferlrahus — ex eo nimirum quod feram trahat ad dominum, litera g lo-
cum litersB h accipiente, sicut tragulam nomen j\ trahendo habere grammatici affir-
mant." He does not, however, attach much faith to the derivation, though favoured
by Martial's Epigram,
Martial. Epig. 'Non sibi sed domino venatur Vertragus acer,
* ^ * * IllEesura leporem qui tibi dente feret ;
Adr. Turnebi and Turnebus himself, when proposing it, says " Scio ego jocularem istam visum iri
Adversar. audaciam, et risus excitaturam." Ridiculous enough assuredly it is ! The greyhoulid
very rarely brings the hare to his keeper, often devours it — besides, the bearing of
his game to his master is not peculiar to this dog, Oppian mentioning the same
quality in the 'Ayaixffevs —
Cyneg. L. i. Koi 'yevvaraiv k\(iiv ^SpTov ixiyav avTidcrmv ,
vs. aH. g^£, <p4poi fj-oytoiv re, ySapuffJ/xecos re ireXd^ui.
Seeing that this derivation could not be upheld, young Gerard Vossius endeavours
to adapt his etymology to the little light which Arrian himself throws upon the name,
deriving it from veertigh or veerdigh, nimble. But we shall approach nearer to the
APPENDIX.
293
tongue, not from any particular people, like the Cretan, Carian, and
S[)ar(an hounds, but from his quality of speed, as son»e of the Cre-
tans are distinguished by certain peculiarities of character. Here,
however, our author's ignorance of the Celtic language has led him
into an error. Being unable, probably, to explain a term which
had reached him in a corrupt form, he falsely derived it from the
dog's most characteristic property, utto tFjs <1)kvtt)tos : whereas in
truth it is compounded of Veil, a plain or open country ,i the " ar-
vum vacuum " of Ovid, and racha, a hound of chase ; - and conse-
J. Vlitii
Venat. Novant.
true root by referring to the passage of Gratius, in which the same dog is mentioned
under the title of Vertraha ;
At te leve si qua
Tangit opus, pavidosque juvat compellere dorcas,
Aut versuta sequi leporis vestigia parvi :
Petronios, scit fama, canes, volucresque Sicambros,
Et pictam maculi Vertraham delige fals:l.
Ocyor affectu mentis pinn^que cucurrit,
Sed premit inventas, non inventura latentes
Ilia feias.
Gratii Cyneg.
vs. 191).
Spelman, citing this passage, reads Veltrahnm, and gives many synonyms of the same
in the column of his Gloss. Arch. ' de Canibus Veterum' — but all more or less cor-
rupt. The correct term would be Veltracha, which has been changed to Velti-achus,
Vcrtrachus, Vertragus, in which last form it is found in our readings of Arrian Oiiep-
Tpayos. Du Cange suggests Velt-jaghere, campestris Venator, ex velt campus, and
jaghere venator, as another probable source of Veltragus or Vertragus. See his
Glossary, in voce.
The reader need not be informed, that in the term Oviprpayos Arrian employs the
Greek oh, as the nearest approach to the initial V — whether using the digamma (the
V of Dionysius of Halicarnassus, the F of Dr. Marsh) as his prefixture, I leave to
others to determine.
1. From the term Veltris or Fc/fra/ius is derived the class of huntsmen denomi-
nated Veltrarii of the court of Charles the Great, "qui veltres custodiebant :" of
•which class, at a later period, were the masters of the leash whom the lords of the
manor of Setene, in Kent, furnished as the condition of their tenure to Edward I.
and II. to lead three greyhounds when the king went into Gascony ; " so long as a
pair of shoes of four-pence price should last" — " donee perusus fuit pari solutarum
pretii iiij d." Neither Blount nor Strutt appear to have been aware of the origin of
the term Vellrarius.
2. The Saxons used racha, and our oldest writers rache and braclie. Thomas the
Spelman
Gloss. Arch.
Ancient
Tenures.
pp. y and 35-
294
APPENDIX.
Encyc.Method. quently signifies a champaign-dog, un levrier de plaine, a hound
^* Vao**^' adapted for coursing over an open country.
The Vertagus, or Tumbler, (" quod se, dum praedatur, vertat,"
&c.) I scarce need observe, has no affinity whatever with the ovep-
rpayos kvwv of Arrian. By Dr. Caius, in his Libellus de Canibus
Britannicis, he is fully described ; nor are his tricks forgotten by
the Latin poet of Caen ;
Jac. Savary
Alb. Dianas
Leporicid^.
p. 5.
Seque volutantes, ludisque cuniculum aroicis
Fallentes, prasdae colluHentesque futurae,
Informal catulos Angli solertia nanos.
The files of classical antiquity afford no counterpart to the British
Tumbler, unless it be in the Vertagus of Martial — a dog already
allotted to the Celtic family, as, in some copies of the epigramma-
tist, written Vertragus.
It remains for me to mention the distinctions which have been
made by naturalists in the greyhound type of our own islands, i and
Propliesia
Tboriiae de
Erseldoun.
Rhymer, the earliest of Scottish poets, has ruches in the retinue of his elfin queen —
" and raches cowpled by her ran" — and again in Sir Tristrem (Fytte 3rd.). " Raches
with hem thai lede." See Scott's Glossary, in loco.
The old metrical charter, granted by the Confessor to Cholmer and Dancing in
Essex, reads —
Four greyhounds, and six braches
For hare, fox, and wild cattes.
Book of
St. Albar.'s.
The Prologue.
vs. 1<J0.
Booke I.
And the words rache and brache are of frequent occurrence in the jMagStcr of ffiatHC,
the Book of St. Alban's, and our early poets. See Blount's Ancient Tenures, pp. 2.
26. and 104.
1. The term greyhound has confounded English etymologists as much as that of
Vertragus has puzzled Latin commentators. It is variously spelt by our old
English writers : as grehounde by Juliana Berners, " a grehounde sholde be heeded
lykeasnake" — greihounde hy Chaucet, " greihoundes be hadde as swift as foul of
flight." Lord Berners writes ^' gray hound e ;" Junius, "graihound;" Gesner,
" grewhownd ;" Harrington, " grewnd ;" and the latter contraction is of frequent
occurrence in Golding's translation of Ovid's Metamorphoses,
And even as when the greedy grewnde doth course the sillie hare,
Amiddes the plaine and champion fielde without all covert bare.
APPENDIX.
295
to endeavour to trace its connexion with Gallia Ccltica. The mo-
dern sub-varieties of our systematic writers on natural history arc
Dr. Caius's derivation of the term, as spelt by R. Brunne, and the Sopewell Prioress,
is fanciful enough : — " a grt quoque greliound apud nostros invenit nomen, quod
pr.Tcipui gradus inter canes sit, et prima; gcnerositatis. Gre enim apud nostros
gradum denotat." Wlience also grebyclie of the (fflirontron IJilotJUnfllSf. §. 222.*
" Hym tliought that his grcbyche lay hym besyde." The gre-hound and grehound
bitch being first in degree, or rank, among dogs ; and no one under the dignity of a
gentleman being allowed by the forest laws of Canute to keep such titled hounds.
In support of the Doctor's notion, it may be stated that Gawin Douglas uses gre for
degree in bis translation of the iEneid, and so also tlie prophet of Ercildoun, and the
author of the metrical romance of Morte Arthur. In the complaynt of Bagsche by
Sir David Lyndsay of the Mount, a satirical poem of the ' Lion King,' on court
favouritism, we have a farther example peculiarly apposite ; — for the hounds, speci-
fied by name as " doggis of the hyest gre," were probably highland deer greyhounds,
AVliimsical therefore as Caius's tracing of the term may be, we cannot view it as
utterly untenable.
By Skinner, 'greyhound' is derived from the Anglo-Saxon grighund; and he farther
remarks "Minsevus dictum putat quasi Gra;cus canis, quia sc. Grseci omnium primi
hoc genus canura ad venatum adhibebant, quod facile crediderim si authorem laudas-
set." I know of no authority for so bold an assertion, except the doubtful tales of
Hector Boethius, Fordun, andHolinshed, and therefore discredit the fact. Dr. Hickes
says: "Grey canis, extat in nostro greyhund. Comp. ex grey et liunta, venator."
q. d. a hunting dog. And Junius notes "quod Islandis §■?■£?/ est canis." Skinner,
on the contrary, hints that the dog may be a badger-hunter, " a grey taxus et htind
canis, q. d. taxi insectator." Thus Hickes and Junius bestow on him double dog-
ship, and Skinner degrades him to a badger-hound. Well may we exclaim with
Brodaeus, " Vide quo procedat etymologiarum licentia ! — 6 joculares ineptias !"
The terms grewhound, grewnd, graihound, grayhound, Canis Grcecvs, and Grains,
all indicate a supposed connexion with Greece. Grew is often used for Greek by
Douglas and Lyndsay — (see the Bishop's Preface to his Virgil, and the Knight's
apology for " The Maternal Language.") Slill I cannot believe the genuine Celtic
hound to have been known to anrient Greece. I would, therefore, rather seek the
origin of the English name in the predominant colour of the dog ; — Grey, gray, grai.
De Canibiis
Britannicis
Libelius.
M. S. Cotton.
Faustina,
B. III. fol. 194.
Lyndsay's
Poems, by
Chalmers,
Etymolog.
Anglican.
Dictionar.
Island.
Etymolog.
Anglican.
Broda!us in
Oppian.
p. ]23.
The Monarciiie.
* A curious remnant of antiquity in the British Museum, lately committed to the
press, (for private distribution, to the extent of one hundred copies,) by that liberal
and enlightened promoter of classical and British antiquarian research, both with
his pen and purse. Sir Richard Colt Hoare, Bart., aided in the editorial department
by Mr. William Henry Black ; — to whom also the present writer is indebted for
an accurate transcript of the fflagStcr 0( ffiaillC, copied and collated in the same
national repository.
296
APPENDIX.
Gloss. A roll,
p. 113.
De bello
Gallico.
L. IV. 12.
Symmaclii
Epist. L. ri.
Ep. 77.
named from the countries in which the respective sorts most abound,
English, Scotch, and Irish greyhounds. Spelman, whose authority
is entitled to weight, in his remarks " De Canibus Veterum," speak-
ing of the " Leporarius levipes, qui ex visu praidara appetit arripit-
que, a greyhound, Ovidio Canis Gallicus," subjoins, " sed pro-
prie magis Britannicus ;" as if he deemed him of British origin,^ a
native of our isle, like the inhabitants of the interior mentioned by
Caesar, " quos natos in insult ips^, memori^ proditum dicunt ;" — but
he cites no testimony in support of his opinion. I do not believe
either of the three sub-varieties of the dog in question indigenous of
Great Britain ; but rather that all our insular sorts originally sprang
from the Celtic Vertragus : — the probability of which is supported
by the history of the distribution of the Celts themselves, and the
name under which the dogs were seut by Flavian to his brother
F. Junii
Etymolog.
Anglican.
Etymolog.
Anglican.
grei, caesius, leucophasus, canus. A, S. grcrg ; which last, says Junius, might be
referred " ad colorem Greecis yepdvetov gruinum dictum ; propterea quod Threiciam.
gruem siniulet vel imitetur, ut loquitur Ovidius," &c. — " Quid si deflecterem gray,"
says Skinner, " a nom. Grcecus, q. d. color Greecus, ut color Baeticus ab Hispania
Bastic^, &c. Teut. Gruw." — The varieties of the grey colour, of which Werner's
nomenclature of colours gives us between twenty and thirty shades suited to our pur-
pose, predominate in the greyhound tribe, and more especially the bluish-grey and
blackish-grey, (almost peculiar to this race and the great Danish dog of Buffon,) and
all the dingy tints which under the epithet dun are found to prevail. Indeed it has
been suggested that the line of Gratius, " Et pictara macuM Vertraham delige
fals&," may allude to the doubtful tint of colour, denominated grey, (compounded of
two colours variously commixed in the Vertraha). — " Videntur Angli canes hos
grnt/hounds vocare," says Vlitius, " id est subfuscos, vel nigro et albo mixtos quod
nos graw dicimus."
Description of 1. '< The Greihounde of King Cranthlynth's dayes," says Holinshed, " was not
Irelande, p. 8. fetched so far as out of Grecia, but rather bred in Scotland."
From Hector Boethius it is clear that the Canes Scotici (qu. Canes Celtici) were
superior to the native dogs of the isle : " Ut Picti suos canes Scoticis, pulchritu-
dine, velocitate, laburis patientia, simul atque audacia longe inferiores animadvertis-
sent : hujusmodi generis canum cupidi, ut penes se essent, e quibus nascerentur,
quosdam utriusque sexus a Scotis nobilibus dono accepere : alios finite venatu, rege
abeunte in Atholiam, a custodibus clam abstraxere, et inter eos venaticum quendam
candore nivali, eximia pernicitate, formS. eleganti, audentiaque supra, communem
canum facultatera, quern Crathlintus habuit in deliciis, insignera," &c. See also
Fordun. Scotichron. L. ii. c, xlii. (Regnanie Diocletiano).
Venatio
Novaiiiiqua.
APPF.NDIX. 297
Syniniachus at Rome. Tlio Scots, a Celtic tribe, previously inha-
biting; some part of Western Europe, emigrated into Ireland during
the third century, and gave to that isle, pro tempore, the name of
Scotland. Thence they spread over the Western islands, and took
possession of the neighbouring district of Argyle, the land of the
Gael or Gaul — giving eventually their name to the Northern part of
Britain generally. May we not suppose the Irish and Scotch grey-
hounds to have been primevally derived from the same Celtic stock,
accompanying these emigrants of Celtic Europe to Ireland, and
thence to Scotland ; in one or other of which territories they re-
ceived the name of Canes Scotici, from the Scotish emigrants of
Celtica, who accompanied them ? ^ and may not the English grey-
hound, improved in speed by careful management and judicious
breeding, as his master increased in civilization and became more
1. Julius Caasar says of Britain, " Maritiraa pars ab iis incolitur qui prffidfe ac De bello
belli inferendi causa ex Belgis Iransierant." Ptolemy and Tacitus confirm the sup- trallico L. iv.
posed connexion of the Britons and Gauls ; " Proximi Gallis et similes sunt," says Geogr. L. ii.
the latter, " seu durante origiiiis vi ; seu procurrentibus in diversa terris, positio coeli Taciti
corporibus habitum dedit. In universum tainen jestimanti, Gallos vicinum solum Agricola.
occupasse credibile est." And Juvenal tells us, in Hadrian's reign, that British
lawyers learned Greek and Roman eloquence of their Gallic neighbours —
Gallia causidicos docuit facunda Britannos. Sat. xv. vs. 111.
Indeed, from the coast of Kent to the extremity of Caithness and Ulster, the memory
of a Celtic origin was for centuries distinctly preserved in the perpetual resemblance
of language, religious rites, and domestic customs and manners. As an example of
similarity of habits in the insular and continental Celtaj, it may be noted that Arrian De Venatione
records the marked adoration paid by the latter to Diana Agrotera ; and Holinslied, c. xxxiii.
on the authority of earlier historians, observes, " Amongst other the Goddes also, gee Note 12.
whiche the Scottishmen had in most reverence, Diana was chiefe, whom they ac- o/ the Transla-
compted as their peculiar patronesse, for that she was taken to be the Goddesse of ' *
hunting, wherein consisted their chiefest exercise, pastime and delite." Not being
able to fix with accuracy the date of their irruption into Britain in the dark ages of
our early annals, tliis laborious chronicler is inclined to consider the Celtic Scoti
" such as by obscure invasion have nestled in this islande ;" but subsequently, in his Description of
" Historie of Irelande," he suggests a date later than the birth of Christ for the " <"iie> t. t
inhabitancy of the Scoti on British soil (circiter A. D. 300.), though previously in
occupation of Ireland and the Hebrides.
2 p
298 APPENDIX.
reclaimed, be derived, through such intermediate links, from the
same parent source ? The coarser varieties of the North, and of the
sister Isle, are rarely seen in South Britain ; and though at first
closely connected with the Celt, and amongst his earliest descen-
dants, are now considered farther removed from the genuine type of
Celtica, the oveprpayos kvwv of the Greek manual, in consequence of
commixture with the canes bellicosi and sagaces.
The strongest evidence we possess of the greyhound's existence in
Britain, in the reigns of Carus, his sons, and Diocletian, is afforded
by the Cynegeticon of the African poet. For although I deny that
this hound can be entitled to the local epithet Britannicus, bestowed
on him by Spelman, to the superseding his usual titles, I readily
grant, at the same time, that the exported veloces of Britain, of the
Nemesian. Cy- Cynegeticon alluded to, were greyhounds. Nemesian must be con-
neget. vs. 124. gj^j^j-^^j almost entirely the poet of the pedibus celeres ;— at least, in
that portion of his hunting-poem which has survived the ravages of
time. But the usual terms by which the greyhound is designated in
Ovid, Gratius, Martial, and Arrian, are no where found in the poet
of Carthage ; in place of which invariably occur the terms caluli
veloces. That by these terms the latter author intends hounds of the
Celtic type, I have, on a careful re- perusal of his work, not the least
doubt ; though, when writing the note to the Preface, p. 11, I was
inclined to view the veloces, particularly specified by Nemesian as of
British export, as nimble harriers, rather than genuine greyhounds ;
and did not in consequence adduce the passage alluded to, when
there endeavouring to fix the period of the latter's introduction into
Britain. Indeed, J. Vlitius, himself sceptical at first as to the na-
ture of these swift-footed hounds, (see his remarks on Nemesian
vs. 124.,) comes round to my conclusion in the progress of his anno-
tations, (see his notes on vs. 233.). Nearly the whole of Nemesian 's
instructions have reference to canes cursores, beginning with their
exportation from our own island — where, doubtless, they had been
previously imported from Gaul —
Nemesian. Cy- , ^''}'^ Britannia mitlit
neget. vs. 124. Veloces, nostrique orbis venatlbus aptos ;
and pursuing the subject in the departments of breeding, feeding.
APPENDIX. 299
and entering of puppies to thoir game/ (his remarks on those subjects
being essentially applicable to hounds of the Celtic type,-) he adds,
Sic tibi vcloces catulos reparare memento Nemesian,
Semper, et in parvos iterum protendere curas ; ^J'^^'g- vs. 200.
and then speaking of Tuscan dogs of scent, sagacious Inductorcs, he
contrasts their form with that of the hounds in question,
Quin et Tuscorum non est extrema voluptas Ejusdem
Saepe canum : sit forma illis licet obsita villo,
Dissimilesque habeant catulis velocibus artus....
at which point he suddenly arrests his pen, and changes his subject,
deferring till a subsequent part of his poem, unfortunately lost, the
qualities of this keen-nosed tribe of hounds,
Horum animos, moresque simul, naresque sagaces Ejusdem
vs. 235
Mox referam : nunc omnis adhuc narranda supellex
Venandi, cultusque milii dicendus equorum.
The latter subjects completed, he again takes up the cattili veldces,
and slips them on the sporting field, at the period of the year usual
with modern coursers for the commencement of their diversion, viz.
the beginning of winter ;
hiemis sub tempus aquosre Ejusdem
Incipe veloces catulos immittere pratis, ^^* ■'•^**
Incipe coruipedes latos agitare per agros.
1. Wernsdorf, who does not in general attempt to apply liis poet's instructions to Poela; Latini
any particular variety of hound, admits the Canis tiro, entered to the hare, vs. 186. „ Mmores.
seqq., to be of the Vertragus type.
2. It is worthy of notice that, whereas the earlier Greek and Latin Cynegetica
recommend heterogeneous commixture in breeding for the chase — crossing the canine
families of diflferent countries with each other, under the hope of improving the pure
indigente — jVemesian contends for parity of sort, and purity of blood, to supply the
greyhound kennel, (" huic parilem submitte parem," &c.) ; as if aware, with the
modern courser, that the essential attributes of the Celtic type would necessarily be
impaired, if not annihilated, by the admixture of alien blood. Arrian's silence too,
on the subject of omnifarious copulation, indicates a conviction of its inapplicability
to breeding for the leash.
300
APPENDIX.
Symmachi
Epist. L. II.
Ep. 77.
From the view, then, here taken of the identity of these veloces
catuli of Nemesian with the Verlragi of Arrian, we may conclude
that greyhounds had been exported from the British Isles to some
more southern state, Rome or Carthage, when the native poet of the
latter place sung their praises in his Cynegeticon. And from the
same source, a supply of these rare and valuable dogs was kept up
at Rome, in the reign of Theodosius, by the instrumentality of Fla-
vian. Inmates, therefore, of Celto-Britannic kennels, they must
have been, on the twofold evidence of Nemesian and Syramachus,
at this early period of our dark and semi-fabulous annals. Whether
the dogs transported from these isles, as rarities, by Flavian, " so-
lennium rerum largus, et novarum repertor," to grace with their
" incredible force and boldnesse," the Quaestorate of his brother Sym-
machus at Rome, " quos prtelusionis die ita Roma mirata est ut
ferreis caveis putaret advectos," are to be considered Irish or Scotch,
according to modern distinctions, is quite unimportant ; for probably
at the period of the " oblatio " both were included under the same
name. Indeed, it is well known, the inhabitant of Ireland bore the
name of Scotus in the age of Claudian, who wrote, as well as Sym-
machus, in the reigns of Theodosius and Honorius,
Claudian. de
Laud. Stilic.
L. II.
Claudian. de
IV. Cons.
Honor, vs. 32.
and again,
Me quoque vicinis pereuntem gentibus, inquit,
Me juvit Stilico, totam cum Scotus lernen
Movit, et infesto spumavit reinige Tethys.
maduerunt sanguine fuso
Orcades : incaluit Pictorura sanguine Thule :
Scotorum cumulos flevit glacialis lerne.
Arrian. de
Venat. c. vi.
That these Canes Scotici were our Canes bellicosi seems highly im-
probable ; for the latter had been known in Rome for several centu-
ries, and could not have been deemed rarities in the days of Syrama-
chus. I am inclined, then, to view them as high-bred Celtic hounds,
e'lTE Tov baereos yei'ovs, eire rov \pi\ov, naturalized in these isles, and
thence again exported to Rome by Flavian. From the earliest date
of their existence, there have ever been two varieties of fleet Gallic
hounds. As at this time we have greyhounds with rough, and others
with smooth hair, so in the days of Arrian were they distinguished
in the same way. In the sixth chapter of his Cynegeticus, on the
APPEND IX.
301
colour of houiicls/ and its little importance to their merits, he ob-
serves that the hair, whether the dog be of the rough or smooth sort,
should be fine, close, and soft : — ^by which I understand that, though
the dog be what is termed wire-haired, the hair must not be coarse of
texture, nor loose and shaggy. And from these sources we may
derive the existing races of England, Scotland, and Ireland, without
any necessary commixture with other blood, to account for the wire-
haired skin. But the extraordinary sagacity of nose, superinduced
on swiftness of foot, in certain varieties of modern Celtic hounds
with rough coats, favours the notion of BufFon and others, that a
cross has taken place with some alien, sagacious breed, at a remote
period. Be this, however, as it may, we will consider the coarse-
haired and more powerful varieties of Arrian's Celt, the representa-
tives of the wolf-hounds of Ireland and Scotland ; -' and the fabulous
Lailaps, " the goodly grewnd" of Golding, presented by Dian to
Procris,
quem cum sua traderet illi
Cynthia, currendo superabit, dixerat, omnes, —
a poetical picture of an individual, whose counterpart the author had
seen, or heard of, in Celtic Gaul, or some Celtic colony, and whose
eagerness in the wolf or fox chase is fully supported by his high-
mettled descendants;
Jaradudura vincula pugnat
Exuere ipse sibi, colloque morantia tendit.
Vix bene missus erat ; nee jam poteramus, ubi esset.
Ovid. Mefam.
L. VII. 754.
Ejusdem
vs. 772.
1. There are some curious remarks on the colour of huuting-dogs " fit for to
coarse withall," in chasing of the stag, in The Countrie Farme, B. vii. c. 22. p. 837.
edit. IGOO, — the reference to which is omitted in my annotations on Arrian.
2. Under the title of le levrier d'attache, the French Encyclopedia unites the Irish
and Scotch varieties. " C'eit le plus rohuste et le plus courageux des levriers ; en Encvclop6die
Scythie on I'emploie ii garder le betail, qui n'est jamais enferrae. On en trouve en Methodique :
Ecosse, en Irlande, en Tartaric, et chez presque tons les peuples du Nord : il pour- „„„
suit le loup, le sanglier, quelquefois nieme le bufl3e et le taureau sauvage." The
common English greyhound is le levrier de plaine of France. The former sorts are
the LycisccE of Savary,
Enormesque, animis pedis et levitate Lydscee
Pra'Stantes, apris certare lupisque paratae, &c.
Venatio
Lupifba.
302
APPENDIX.
Scire ; pedum calidus vestigia pulvis liabebat :
Ipse oculis ereptus erat. Non ocior illo
Hasta, nee excussa; contorto verbere glandes,
Nee Gortjniaco calamus levis exit ab arcu, &c.
Golding's
Ovid's Metam.
Booke Seventh.
He struggling for to wrest his necke already from tlie band
Did stretch his collar. Scarcely had we let him off from hand,
But that where Lselaps was become we could not understand ;
The print remained of his feete upon the parched sand,
But lie was clearely out of sight. Was never dart I trow.
Nor pellet from enforced sling, nor shaft from Creetish bow.
That flew more swift then he did run.
Fleming's
British
Animals.
p. 12.
The modern Scotch greyhound differs from the Irish in many re-
spects. i The former is rough and wiry, has a bearded snout, and
ears half-pricked ; the latter has short smooth hair and pendent ears;
the Scotch is sharp, swift, and sagacious ; the Irish dull-looking,
harmless, indolent. The former is still common in North Britain,
the latter is become exceedingly rare everywhere. From Mr. Lam-
bert's description of a modern specimen, the Irish wolf-greyhound
seems to have degenerated much in size.^
Historia
Animalium ex
Boethio.
Spencer's
Beth Gelert, or
The Grave of
the Greyhound.
De Venatione
1. Gesner has introduced into his Appendix a representation of the " Canis Seo-
ticus Venaticus, quem Scoti vocant tnie grewhownd , id est canera Grsecum :" and
calls it " genus venaticum cum celerrimum turn audacissiraura : nee modo in feras,
sed in hostes etiam latronesque praesertim si dorainum ductoremve injuria aflSci cer-
nat, aut in eos concitetur." See " the Complaynt of Bagsche, the Kingis auld
hound," by Lyndsay, for a quaint description of some of the qualities of the highland
breed. Poor Cilhart, too, the luckless wolf-hound of the precipitate Llewellyn, will
furnish an early example of the mountain sort. Nor should the Ossianic Maida —
KaAbs fjLiv Sffxas iarlv — by Landseer, be overlooked, as a splendid type of the race on
canvass ; though not quite Celtic in his blood.
A breed of Sagaci-celeres is at present preserved in Scotland, between the English
greyhound and Leicestershire fox-hound : the first cross of which is represented to be
remarkably handsome, fleet, and courageous. This race is employed for the deer-
chase in the forest of Alhol and elsewhere.
2. The hound described in the Linnean Society's Transactions is stated to have
been only Gl inches in length — a size surpassed by an example of the Canis Grains
of the purest blood and greatest speed, (" facilis cui plurima palma,") 62 inches
long, now in my possession — en yap (loi ?iv, as Arrian says of his much -loved Horme,
oTTiJre rama eypa<pov. But it is probable that the beautifully-majestic animal, which
A P P E N 1) I X .
:3()3
The genuine Celtic greylioinul, siicli as ho is represented on the
Arch of Constantine, is the " Canis venaticus (iniius sen Grviecus"
assisted in extirpating the wolf from the sylvan fastnesses of our islands, was Iiereto-
fore of far greater size than the writer's &^l>riv Kvtuv ry a\ri6ii(} yivvalos—oi whom he De Venatione
might farther say in the words of Ovid, c. xxxii.
non dicere posses
Laudc pedum forma?ne bono prasstantior esset.
Ovid. Metam.
L. X. 562.
Animal.
Indeed jMr. Ray's definition of the C&nis Grains Hibernicus makes him of the greatest
size of the whole canine race ; " Canis omnium quos hacteniis vidimus mnximus, Raii Synopsis
INIolossum ipsum magnitudine superans — quod ad formam corporis et mores attinet,
cani Grasco vulgari per omnia similis. Horum usus est ad lupos capiendos."
If the reader be interested in the arcana of wolf-catching, he will find illustrations,
and anecdotes thereof, in Oppian. Cyneg. iv. vs. 212. — in the Venationes Ferarum of
Strada and Galle (pi. 49.) — Lupos Venandi Ratio of J, A. Lonicer — La Chasse du
Loup of Jean de Glamorgan — iilagstci' of (Same, c. vii. fo. 40. — Turbervile's Art
of Venerie, p. 208. — Venationis Lupinae Leges of Savary, &c. The latter author
turns out his whole kennel and armoury for the annihilation of this " fera bellua " —
even the anathematized Uvrier is now admitted :
Non hanc, quae lepori, nee qua indulgentia cervo
Debetur, meruere lupi : fera bellua nullo
Non stemenda modo : non illam sexus et JEtas,
Nullaque tempestas violento a funere servet.
Non hic Spartani canis interdicitur usu ;
Lina placent, catapultajuvat, venabula, cippus,
Decipulae, fovete, atque podostraba, pardalianclies,
Et concurrentis vaga vociferatio plebis.
Derived from the Irish greyhound, and not very far removed from the original
stock, was the gazehound of past days :
Seest thou the gazehound, how with glance severe
From the close herd he marks the destined deer ;
How every nerve the greyhound's stretch displays,
The hare preventing in her airy maze, &c.
By Dr. Cains, he is supposed to he faithfully portrayed in the following extract :
" Quod visu lacessit, nare nihil agit, sed oculo : oculo vulpem leporemque persequi-
tur, oculo seligit medio de grege feram, et earn non nisi bene saginatam et opimam :
oculo insequitur : oculo perditara requirit : oculo, si quando in gregem redeat, secer-
nit, csEteris relictis omnibus, secretamque cursu denuo fatigat ad mortem. Agasceum
nostri abs re quod intento sit in feram oculo, vocant," &c. To this portrait I can
assimilate no dog at present known in this country, (though, it is probable, such
Jac. Savary
Venatio
Lupina.
Tickell's
Miscellanies.
De Canibus
Brit. Libel.
L. I. 27.
304 APPENDrx.
Synopsis Qf j^^y ; — " qui aspectu feras venatur, cursu velocissiraus, form^
Animaliiim. "^ ' '
corporis et incessu decorus ;" ^ — a definition strictly harmonizing with
Arrian's more copious description, in c. ill. c. viii. sub fine, and
other parts of his manual. The genuine quarry of this hound is the
little fugacious hare ; of which the historian of the Celtic chase
Arrian. de supplies us with many illustrative anecdotes. That such was " the
c. XV. XVI XVII. startled quarry" whereat " the gallant greyhounds," Horme, Bon-
nas, Cirras,2 were wont to " strain," over the champaign fields of
might be produced between the Irish greyhound and blood-hound,) nor do the classic
ages afford any counterpart to it.
Hor. Od. I. For Dacier's explanation of the '' catuli fideles" of Horace — " seu visa est catulis
cerva fidelibus " — as des cliiens qui suivent bien la bete, qui ne prennent jamais le
change, so readily acceded to by the Delphin annotator, as portraying the English
gazehound, is far too fanciful to establish a race of these " chasseurs u vue " in an-
cient Italy. Horace merely gives sagacity and steadiness to deer-hounds, or possibly
the negative quality of not opening in pursuit of their game.
1. To this definition Ray subjoins, " nonnullis Scoticus," as if he considered the
Scotch greyhound of the same type — that there was, in short, only one variety — the
English and Scotch being identical. The additional words would of course include
the supplementary hound of Gesner's Appendix, and probably were added with
that intent.
Arrian's work was unknown to the great German naturalist — not having been dis-
covered in the Vatican library, when he compiled his celebrated Historia Animalium,
nor indeed till a century later. That Ray, too, was unacquainted with the Greek
Manual, seems equally clear. Thence the strong points of resemblance in the ancient
and modern descriptions of a dog, hypothetically the same, impart the more interest,
and obtain the more credence, from the impossibility of a collusive adaptation of the
one to the other, and from both portraits corresponding with the images of the Celtic
hound, which have come down to us on ancient monuments, the Arch of Constantine,
gems, numismata, &c. &c.
2. See Arrian. de Venatione, c. xviir. eSye S> Kippa., evye Si B6vva, kuXms ye S>
'Opfiij. These we may suppose to have been some of the names of the favourite
archetypes of the Celtic kennel ; but of the particular scene of their exertions we
have- no evidence to adduce. Born at Nicoraedia, and occupied for the most part
with civil and military engagements in the East, at a distance from Celtica, properly
so called, (within the boundaries of the Pyrenees, the Alps, the Rhine, and the
Ocean,) we know not when or where Arrian became acquainted with the Vertragus.
Was the hound existing in Asia INlinor in the second century, seeing that he is no-
ticed at a later period by the Greek poet of Cilicia, and the Platonic philosopher of
Paphlagonia ? The Celts themselves are found tliere, as colonists, at an early date —
even in the very district of which Nicomedia was the metropolis. Stephanus of
A p p I". N 1) I \ . 305
Cisalpine or Transalpine Gaul, or wherever the father of the leash
slipped the " proavoruni atavi " of the courser's hound,' can admit,
I think, of no doubt. Indeed, the field-instructions of the Cynoge-
ticus refer almost exclusively to hare-coursing : nor does it appear
that the author himself, sensible, as he confessedly was, of the pecu-
liar physical adaptation of the greyhound to the hare-course, was
ever guilty of misapplying the dog to inappropriate quarry. The
red-deer, however, is noticed by him, in his 23rd chapter, as a chase
of the Vertragus, fraught with imminent danger, and needing high-
mettled hounds." And, subsequently, the same animal is pursued
with Scythian and lUyrian galloways on the open plains of Moesia,
Dacia, Scythia, and Illyria : ^ — and, in the following chapter, we De Venat.
find the like diversions practised in Africa with barbs ; * whereby c. xxiv.
Byzantium mentions tlie Tolistoboii — tdvos raXaruiv kffirepiojv fieroiK-rjaduTuu e'/c rris
KeXroyaXarias is BtOvviav. (See also Strabo Geogr. L. iv.) And other colonies
are recorded by Strabo among the Thraciaiis and Illyrians, KeKrovs tovs avafieniy/xi-
vovs rois re ®pa^'^ koI tois 'lK\vpio7s — the descendants of whom are perhaps the deer-
coursers of Arrian's 23rd chapter, whom I have there called Celto-Scythians : note 4.
sub fine.
1. Although it is clear, almost to demonstration, that the greyhound was utterly
unknown to ancient Greece in the days of tlie elder Xenophon, I readily allow that
Greece may have been Arrian's coursing-field, with the hound of Celtica, at a later
period — an opinion supported by Janus Vlitius ; — for into the south of Europe the dog
had been introduced as a prodigy of speed — " ocyor affectu mentis pinnaque" — pro- Gratii Cyneg.
bably direct from the country of which lie was indigenous, viz. Transalpine Gaul, ^^' ■^"^*
TTJs KfKriKTJs Ta\arias of Stephanus, (the Gallia Celtica of my annotations, without De Venatione
reference to Cffisar's more limited appropriation of the term Celtica,) about the com- ^' ^^^ '•
menceraent of the Christian asra.
2. Tcts Kvvas tos yevvaias, — possibly the coarser and fiercer varieties of tl;e Celtic
hound — for Arrian seems to distinguish these noble-spirited dogs from the Kvva
aya6r]v, who, he says, may be destroyed by a stag.
3. The Celtae with their colonies overran almost all Europe. We trace them from
the pillars of Hercules to the extreme wilds of Scythia ; the colonists of tlie latter
territory alone being, correctly speaking, Celto-Scy ths ; — but in consequence of the
ignorance of the ancient Greek geographers as to the exact limits of either Celtica or
Scythia, (as already remarked in my annotations on the second chapter of the Cyne-
geticus,) the term Celto-Scythians has been indefinitely applied to all the inhabitants
of mid-Europe, from Celtica to Scythia.
4. It was Xenophon's want of acquaintance with these African barbs, along with
the Scythian galloways, and Celtic greyhounds, which led to the omission of them all, j v t
in his Cynegeticus : and to the lacunee, thereby occasioned, in the older hunting- ,;, j.
2 Q
306
APPENDIX.
red and roe deer, and wild asses of extraordinary agility and en-
durance, are captured by mere boys — a style of chase resembling the
Arabian onager-hunting of the elder Xenophon's Anabasis. But
whatever innovations upon the established field-sport of the mother
country may have been effected in remote Celtic colonies, by the
substitution of other larger quarry in lieu of the hare, the latter is
alone to be viewed as the legitimate prey of the Vertragus.
treatise, is to be attributed the supplementary one, written by the younger Athenian.
But it is quite problematical whether hounds were employed at all in the Cello-
Scythian and Libyan chases — indeed, it is my opinion, they were not : — for, though
it be true, that Arrian recommends picked dogs, of high courage, for the stag-course,
at the commencement of chapter 23, we hear nothing of hounds in the stag-chase,
immediately following, on the ireSia fvr]\aTa of Moesia, Dacia, Scythia, &c. ; where
long-winded, and scrubby nags supply their place. And again, in the onager-chase
of the Nomadic tribes of Libya, barbs alone are the pursuers, with boys upon their
naked backs, continuing at full speed till the game be run down. So that ovroi roi
6r)poi(nv, Scrois Kvves re aya6a\ koI 'lirirot, k.t.X. with wiiich the author commences the
period immediately following the description of the vanquished onager, must in part
have a more remote reference than to the hunters spoken of in the same and prece-
ding chapters — Scrois Kvvfs re ayaOal referring to the Celts of Western Europe, per-
haps, and'/TrTToi to the equestriansjust before mentioned — the former class of sportsmen
using swift-footed hounds, the latter horses alone. This interpretation harraonizea
with Oppian's description of the horses and hunters of Libya and Mauritania, and
their chases, as already cited c. zxiv. note 8.
Oppian. Cyneg.
L. IV. 51.
Totv€Keu lirTeXdrai Kelvuv iirtfiriTopes 'liriruv
•^5e Kvvas helirovffi (plKovs, irlawoi t' i\6aiaiv
jViroiy, TjeXiov re jSoXp, /coi v6cr<piv ipwyuy.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PLATES AND VIGNETTES.
The Emperor Trajan with hunters and a Celtic greyhound : Medallion
from the Arch of Constantine. L'Antiquile E.vpliqu6e par Mortt-
faucon. Tom. in, Liv. nr. Tab. 175. Frontispiece.
Apollo and Diana — Twin-deities of the Chace : Silver coin of Delos.
GoUzii Numism. Grcec. his. T. xviii. fol. iii. . . . Title-page.
The Author's greyhound — &^p7]u kvwv ttJ aATjdeia yevvaios. Arrian. de
Venal, c. xxxii Dedication page.
Procris presenting Lfelaps and the fatal dart to Cephalus. Metamorphos.
Ovid. L. XV. ^neisformis ab Antonio Tempesta Florentino i7icisi. Back of do.
Ancient implements of writing; — picture from Herculaneum. Antiqiiites
d'Herculanum gravees par F. A. David. PI. xxxiv. p. 50. . . Page 1
\
308 DESCRIPTIOiM OF THE PLATES AND VIGNETTES.
Hunter bearing spoils of the Cliace : Ancient gem. Le Gemme Antiche
figurate di Michel Angela Caiiseo de la Cliaiisse. Cacciatore. T. 135.
p. 54 • 48
Diana Aricina seu Nemorensis : Ancient gem. Begeri Thesaur. Bran-l
denb. T. i. GemmcB p. 64 ( 49
Diana in her usual hunting attire : Ancient gem of La Chuusse. Dianj^JI
Cacciatrice. T.61. p. 21 -f "^^
Ganvmede. Pierres Gravies d' Orleans, Tome i. T. xii. p. 49. . *_ ^ J
Celtic greyhound : Brass coin of Cythnus. Goltzii N. G. Ins. T. xviii.
fol. VII. 51
Celtic greyhound : Brass coin of Cythnus. Goltzii N. G. Ins. T. xviii.
fol. viii. 54
Diana Venatrix: a beautiful Cameo of La C/musse. Diana. T. 8. p. 4. 63
Equestrian Courser : Ancient gem of Muffei. Gemme Antiche. T. iv.
Caccia. T. lxxi. p. 116 64
Celtic greyhound : Silver coin of Cythnus. Goltzii N. G. Ins. T. xviii.
fol. IX 65
Greyhound puppies — a groups in white marhle in the British Museum ;
from the ruins of Antoninus's Villa at Monte Cagnolo ... 66
Celtic greyhound killing a hare : Ancient ring. Gorlcei Dactyliotheca.
fol. 120 67
Diana Pergka : Silver coin of Perga in Pamphylia. Begeri Thesaur.
Brandenb. T. i. p. 506. 175
VoTUM seu Donarium Dian^e Venatrici. In Hortis Mediceis. Admi-
randa Romanarum Antiguitatum ac Veteris SculpturcB Vestigia, fyc, d
Petro Sancti Bartolo. Tab. 33 176
Celtic greyhounds and deer from Vaillant. Montfaucon L'Antiq. Expliq.
T. III. 177
Genii hunting from Mq^ei : Gemme Antiche. T. iv. Caccia di Genii.
T. Liv. p. 86. 178
Diana Venatrix : Silver coin of Syracuse. Begeri Thesaur. Brandenb.
T. I. Numism. Siciliae, p. 384 179
Celtic greyhound : Silver coin of Cythnus. Goltzii N. G. Ins. T. xviii.
fol. X. 306
FuNEKALis PoMPA. In jEdibus Barberinis. Admiranda Romanarum
Antiquitalum ac Veteris Sculpture' Vestigia, Sfc. d Petro Sancti
Bartolo. Tab. 70. 307
^ /Porter or Watch-dog — Canis Custos : Ancient gem of Maffei : Gemme
u7. i Antiche. T. IV. Cane, T. lxxxviii. p. 137 315
[The Plates and Vignettes are executed by Messrs. Day and Ilaghe, Lithographers
to the King, 17, Gate Street, Lincoln's Inn Fields.]
BIBLIOTHECA CYNEGETICA.
'Oti jUfi/ ovv Kol fTtpois VTrtp TovTwv iairoi^aaTai, Ka\ws oTSa' ijui Se (fiavTw
ravra, Saa olov re -^c, adpotcras, Koi irfpiPaXciiv axiTols Tip' avvi)ST) Ae'^ii', Kftfii^Kiov oiiK
cuTwovSaaTou iKnnvrjcrai n€Trl<n€VKa. Ei Se Ttji Kal itAAif) (pavurai ravra AvcmfXTJ,
XpvffSa! ahrois' 0x9:1 Se ov (pavurai, earco T<j5 irarpX Od\weiv re Kal irfpiiTteif ov "yap
ttavra vucri Ka\ct,y ouSe &|ia Soku aTtov^daai Traai irdvTa.
/Elian, de Natuua Animalium, Pii/f.fat.
For the amusement of such as may be desirous of consulting the
Cynegetical works cited in the preceding annotations on Arrian and
the Appendix, a list of their respective titles and editions is sub-
joined.
The author does not pretend to enumerate all the known editions of
each Cynegeticon, but only those of his own library. Where two or
more ot the same work are mentioned, the copy made use of is either
pointed out by specification, or the name of the editor and place of
publication are printed in italics. In cases of disputed text, different
editions have been collated, and the most approved readings selected
for use.
Enrolled in the catalogue are a few treatises de re Venatica which
the present writer has never seen. They are admitted on the authority
of earlier compilers, in whose bibliothecaj they appear : but their im-
portance to the 6>ipr]s kXvto. hijvea (Oppian. Cyneg. I. 16.) is assumed
rather than established. Remoteness of residence from public libra-
ries must plead for the author's unavoidable ignorance. He could
not certify by actual examination the admissibility of any book not
on his own shelves. The works in question are distinguished by the
prefixture of an asterisk.
A Bibliotheca Cynegetica upon the following plan was first at-
tempted by Rittershusius in his Prolegomena to Oppian, imperfectly
executed by Lallemant in his Bihliotheea Historica et Critica The-
renticograpiiQn, and subsequently, but still far short of perfection, by
Belin de Ballu in his prefatory matter to the poet of Anazarbus. The
latter's catalogue professedly excludes all prosaic works, save those
of the classic ages — departing from its rule in the solitary instance
of Conrad Heresbach's Compendium. Of the English Cynege-
tica, Somerville's Chace is alone admitted, the doggrel of the Book
of St. Alban's possessing insufiicient poetical pretensions, perhaps,
in the eyes of a foreigner, to place Dame Juliana Berners, or the
" one sumtyme scole mayster of seynt Albons," or whoever be the
author of these antique canons, amongst those " qui metriee banc
materiam persecuti sunt." Proleg. in Oppian. p. xvi. Ed. 4to.
Xenophontis Opuscula Politica, Equestria, et Venatica, cum i.
Arriani Libello De Venatior.e, ^c. J. G. Schneider. Oxoiiii, Xcnophon.
MDCCCXVII.
Xenophontis Scripta Minora, <Src. L. Dindorf. Lipsiae,
MDCCCXXIV,
On Hare Hunting, from Xenophon, by W. Blane, Esq.
London, 17i3B.
310
BIBLIOTHECA CYNEGETICA.
II.
Giatius.
III.
Anianiis.
Tollux.
Oppiaiius.
Ncmtsianus.
VII.
Deiuetrius.
Gralii, qui Au^usto principe floruit, de Venatione Lib. I.
This edition of the Faliscian is contained in the rare little Aldine
vohime, entitled Poetaj tres egregii, &c. Aldus, MDXxxiiii. Re-
published by Sig. Feyerabendius, ad calcem Venatiis et Aucupii J.
A. Loniceri. Francoforti, mdlxxxii.
Gratii Falisci Cynegeticon, &c. Th. Johnson, A.M.
Loudini, mdcxcix.
Poetee Latini Rei Venaticai Scriptores, &c. G. Kempheri.
Lugdun. Batav. MDCCXxviii,
Poetie Latini Minores. J. C. Wernsdorf. Altenburgi,
MDCCLXXX.
A Poem of Hunting, by Gratius the Faliscian, Englished
and Illustrated by Christopher Wase, Gent. London, 1G54.
Arrianus De Venatione, ex interpretatione L. Holstenii.
Paris, MDCXLIV.
Arriani Tactica, Peripli, Cynegeticus, et Epicteti Stoici En-
chiridion, ex Recensione Nicolai Blancardi. Amstelodami, 1683.
• APPIANOT TA 2JIZ0MENA k. t. \. 'ETrelepyacrdevra
K(n 'RKboderra vno NEO^PTTOT AOTKA ets TVfxovs eirTa. EN
BlENNHt TH2 AOTITPL^I, 1B09.
Xenophontis Opuscula Politica, &c. cum Arriani Libello de
Venatione. J. G. Schneider. Oxou'ii, mdcccxvii.
Julii Pollucis Onomasticura. Hemsterhuis. Amst. mdccvi.
The fifth book, addressed to the Emperor Commodus, afltbrds much
valuable information on the technicalities of classical venation.
Oppiani Poetai Cilicis De Venatione Lib. nil. &c. Conrad.
Rittershusii. Lugduni Batav. MDXCV.
Oppiani Poette Cilicis De Venatione Libri iv. &c. Joh.
Gottlob Schneider. Argentorati, mdcclxxvi.
Oppiani Poeraa De Venatione, &c. Jac. Nic. Belin De
Ballu. Argentor. 1786.
J. Brodeei Turonensis Annotationes in Oppiani Cyneg. L. Illl.
&:c. Basileaj. mdlii,
Oppiani De Venatione Libri mi. Joan. Bodino interprete,
&c. Lutetiae, MDLV.
* l^he First Book of Oppian's Cyuegetics translated into
English Verse, &c. by John Mawer, A.M. London, 1736.
M. Aurelii Olympii Nemesiani Cynegeticon Lib. I. Aldus,
MDXXXIIII. (The same Aldine volume as before referred to, enti-
tled Poeta^ tres egregii, &c.) Nemesian also occurs in the collections
of Poetic Venatici of Feyerabendius, Johnson, Kempher, and Werns-'
dorf.
KYNOCO(I>ION. Liber De Cura Canum. This work of
1. The Cynegeticus is contained in the third volume of this uncommon edition ;
which tlie writer regrets not to liave seen till his translation was printed off. Its
principal attraction is the novel annexation of some Greek Scholia by the editor,
ingenious and explanatory. Those of tlie Cynegeticus, in a few instanc<s, give a
ditl'ercnt inieipretation of the text to what is given by the translator; but these are
not very important.
lU B L I f ) T 1 1 F. C A C Y N F. O E T 1 C A .
311
Demetrius of Constantinople, written about A.D. 1270. was first
])ublisheil by Aurifaber. AVittenibergw, mdxi.v. Tlie autlior's edi-
tions are those ot' Rigaltius in tlie llci Accipitrariie Scriptores. Lu-
tvt'uc. MDcxil. and of Johnson, attached to his Latin Poets of the
Chace. Loudini, mdcxcix.
* He 3rt DC lilcncric \t quel itlaistrc »i3inl(amc aTtotcl Wt*
noiir \t iioy DMiiQlctriTC fi.^t en son tt\\\x\i per apranDue autuc.^.
This Ms. is reported by the Historian of l'iUa,hsh Poetry, Vol. 1 1,
p. '221. note m. to have been formerly amon^,' the Mss. of Mr. Fer-
mor, of Tusmore in Oxfordshire.
<Elje Craft of ij^ontyng of jllan^'ter giotin *iPyfforD atiD
llDilhu *£;uietn tljat lucre un;ti) iltimg €tivbarD tijc ;f).?cuntic. It is
also denominated Jfc HcnCCy DC CtBCtli ailD Of cttiaiU'tr ^Q\)W Ojtfo
farDC. Ms. Cotton. Vespas. B. xil. The French work is unknown
to the writer : but of CljC Craft Of CjOntjilig a faithful transcript is
in his possession.
* Des Deduitz de la Chasse de Bestes Sauvaioes et des Oy-
seaux de Proye. 'I'he celebrated work of Gaston Phebus, Corate de
Foix, and Vicomte de Beam, written about the year 1347; first
printed by Anthoine Verard ; secondly, by Jehan Treperel ; and,
subsequently, by Philippe Le Noir, under the title of Le Miroye de
Phebus. The author has no copy of this work.
ijlje 33ocfi Of t^untyng tlje toi^iclj \i clcpjiD iilajiiSter of tlje
■Jpame. Ms. Cotton. Vesp. B. xii. Jli)ap.^ter of vJ3ame. Ms. llarl.
5()tU). The author's copy is a transcript of the Cottonian text, cor-
rected by collation with the Harleian.
The Boke of St. Albans. The first and second editions (148G
and 149G.) being exceedingly rare, the author is satisfied to quote
from Mr. Haslewood's elegant reprint of Wynkyn de Worde's edi-
tion of the latter date. London, mdcccx.
Hawking-, Hunting, and Fishing, with the True Measures of
Blowing, At London, printed by Edward Allde, 158G.
Caesaris Borgiaj Ducis Epicedium, per Herculem Strozam ad
divam Lucretiam Borgiam Ferrariai Ducera. Francoforti, mdlxxxii.
Adriani Cardinalis S. Chrysogoni ad Ascanium Cardinalem
S. Viti, Vicecancellarium Venatio. Aldus, MDxxxiiii. (Poetse
tres egregii antea citati). FVancoforti, mdlxxxii.
Venatus et Aucupium Iconibus artificiosiss. ad vivum ex-
pressa, et succinctis versibus illustrata per Joan. Adam. Lonicerum,
Francfortanum. Francoforti, mdlxxxii.
Venatus et Aucupia Johan. Stradensis et Philip. Galle.
1578. Venationes Ferarum, Avium, Piscium, Pugnaj Bestiariornm ;
et Mutual Bestiarum, depictai a Joanne Stradano ; editaj a Joanne
(iallaeo: carmine Illustrataj ^ C. Kiliano Dutflaio.
* Belisarius Aquaviva de Venatione, Aucnpio, &c. Nap.
1519. Basil. 1571. apud Conrad. Gesner. Histor. Quadrupe-
dum.
Ad Christianissiraum Regem Gallia- de Canibus et Venatione
Libellns. Authore Michaele Angelo Blondo. Tu (pio omnia ad
VIII.
CJutUainr
ifbtoirt.
Sjjflorti nntr
fftorty.
Gaslonl'hebus.
lE&munt) trc
Hanglfg.
XI.
Juliana
Berneis, or
Julyans Barnes.
XII.
Hercules
Stroza.
XIII.
Adrianus.
xrv.
Lonicerus.
xr.
Stradanus,
Ciallanis, et
DuffliPtis.
XVI.
Belisarius.
XVII.
JSIomlus.
312
BIBLIOTHECA CYNEGETICA.
xviir.
Tardivus.
XIX.
Heresbachius.
XX.
Fracastoiius.
XXI.
Loticbius.
XXII.
Natalis Comes.
XXIIl.
Bargaius.
XXIV.
Darcius.
XXV.
Caius.
XXVI.
Jaqiies Du
Fouilloux.
canes spectantia, morbi, et raedicaraina continentur, Prisca et Neo-
terica etiam exempla, a nemine hacteniis accuratiiis scripta, insidije
ferarum, et propi ietates, cum quibusdam venationibus nostri sa^culi
niaximoium principum cogiiitu digi)issimis. Roraae, mbxliiii. One
of the rarest of the Cynegetica of the 16th century. A small thin
4to of thirty-seven leaves. The passages cited by the author are
principally from Gesner's H. Q.
* Gulieimus Tardivus de Accipitribus et Canibus Venaticis.
apud Conrad. Gesner. Histor. Quadrupedum. (Auctores Gallici.)
Conrad. Heresbachii Rei Tlustica? L. iv. item de Venatione,
Aucupio, et Piscatione Compendium, in usum Heroum et Patrum-
familiasruri agentiura concinnatum. The latter part is noticed in the
preface to Arrian's Cynegeticus under the name of Compendium
Thereutic£e Universte, a title given it by llittershusius in his Oppia-
nic Prolegomena. The author's quotations are principally from
Conrad Gesner's Historia Quadrupedum ; but since the prefatory
remarks have been sent to press, he has examined a copy of the ori-
ginal (Spirte Nemetum cio.io.xciv). As an Epitome of Xeno-
phon and Oppian, the appendix has merit — containing brief notices
of many varieties of ancient and modern hounds, their style of hunt-
ing, quarry, ike. Part of the third book De Re Rustica treats of
dogs connected with rural economy, the 0:!curus, Villaticus, Sec.
Hier. Fracastorii Alcon, sive de Cura Canum Venaticorura.
Venet. mdlv. Fracastors poem is appended to the Poetaj Venatici
of Johnson. Lond. MDCXcix. and of Kempher. Lvgd. Bat.
MDCCXXVIII.
Petri Lotichii Secundi Ecloga?. The author's citations are
from the Poemata Omnia Petri Lotichii Secundi a P. Burmanno
Secundo. Amstel. mdccliv.
Natalis Coniitum Veneti de Venatione, Libri illi. Aid. Fit.
Venet. mdli. also attached to his Mythologiae Libri Decern. Lugduni.
MDCV.
Petri Angelii Bargaei Cynegeticon. Poemata Omnia, &c,
Florent. apud Juntas, mdlxviii. The poem De Aucupio is also cited
in a separate form apud Juntas, mdlxvi.
Joannis Darcii Venusini Canes. Paris, MDXLiii. Francofort.
MDLXXXII.
Joannis Caii Britanni De Canibus Britannicis Liber Ilnus.
Londini, mdlxx. This Libellus is also annexed to Johnson's Edi-
tion of Gratius and Nemesian, and to Kempher's Poeta; Venatici.
Holinshed's Account of British Dogs is a translation from Caius's
work.
La Venerie de Jaques Du Fouilloux, &c. Paris, mdlxxxv.
MDCXilii, The author's references are to the latter edition, where-
in are contained Adjonctions a la Venerie de Jacques Du Fouilloux.
La Chasse du Lou|) (by Jean de Glamorgan) : La Chassedu Connin :
and an additional Essay on Cyniatrics, entitled Autres Remedes
pour guarir les Chiens Malades de Diverses Maladies, &c.
The Compendium of Hunting in La Maison Rustique is
epitomised, according to Christopher Wase, from Fouilloux's Trea-
tise.
Ul in,l () Til V.CA CYNI'.GKTICA.
313
The Noblo Art of Venerio or Kuntini^, tVc. Loiulon, 157 ">.
KJll. Tho authorshi|) of this version of Fotiilloux is nuiclMlispiited :
— by some it is given to Turbervile, the undoubted translator of the
Booke of Falconrie ; by others to (iascoigne ; and by a third party
to C. Burke. The citations are from the edition of Kill, and gene-
rally under the name of the tirst-mentioned author.
* A Short Treatise of JIunting, compyled for tlie dclyght of
Noblemen and (ientlemen, by Sir Thomas Cockaine, Knight. Lon-
don, 15i)l. The writer has never seen the rare tract of this " pro-
fessed hunter, and not a schollar."
The Gentleman's Academic ; or, The Booke of St. Albans,
\c. by G. M. London, 150'>.
Maison Rustique : or. The Countrie Farme, &c, translated
into English by Richard Surflet. London, 1000.
The Countrey Farme, &c. (as the last,) by Gervasc Mark-
ham. London, 101(5.
A Jewell for Gentrie, &c. London, 1014.
Countrey Contentments ; or, The Husbandman's Recrea-
tions, &c. by G. M. London, 1033.
* Jacobi Micylli KvvoXoyior. A Latin poem mentioned by
Paullini in his Cynographia Curiosa : where also occur * Angelinus
Gazeeus, * Ronsseus, and others ; the Venatio Medica of the latter
being rather above the ordinary stamp of the muse of ^sculapius.
De Venatione Tractatus, in quo de Piscatione, Aucupio,
Sylvestriumque insectatione agitur. Auctore Alfonso Isachio. Regii,
1025. A very ridiculous treatise on Piscatorial Licences, &c. of
some rarity, but of no value to practical or literary sportsmen. It
has been re-published, with other Cynegetical tracts of like descrip-
tion, by Fritsch.
Album Diana? Leporicida?, sive Venationis Leporinae Leges.
Auctore Jac. Savary, Cadomaio. Cadomi, mdclv. To some edi-
tions of this poem is annexed Venatio Vulpina et Melina of the same
author; but the writer's copy has it not.
Venationis Cervinai, Capreolina?, Aprugnae, et Lupinse
Leges. Autore Jac. Savary Cadomensi. Cadomi, mdclix.
Jacobi Vanierii, &c. Preedium Rusticum. Tolosa;, MDCCXXX.
MDCCXLli. The author's citations are from the latter edition.
The Gentleman's Recreation : in four parts. London, 1700.
The Gentleman's Recreations : in three parts. By R. Blome.
London, 1710.
The Chace. A poem by William SomervUle, Esq.
To this list might be added the French Cynegetica of Gauchet,
Pomey, Passerat, De Salnove, De Serey, Du Sable, Gaftet, De la
Conterie, D'Yauville, and others ; the Encyclopedic Methodiqne,
Dictionnaire de toutes les especes de Chasses ; and the Italian Cyne-
getica of Scandianese, Valvasone, Raimondi, Poggesi, Gatti, and
others ; to some of which the author is beholden for a few remarks.
The catalogue might be am))lilied, too, by incorporating the numerous
tracts on the laws of the Chase collected by Fritsch and Manwood;
the notices of early British and Anglo-Saxon hunting gathered by
2 R
xxvn.
'I'uljcrvilr, Gas-
coigiif, 13itrke.
XXVllI.
Cockaine.
xxrx.
ftlarkham and
others.
XXX.
Rlic^'llus.
XXXI.
Isacbius.
XXXII.
Savary.
XXXIII.
Vanierius.
XXXIV.
Blomc.
XXXV.
Sonierville.
314
BIBLIOTHECA CYNEGETICA.
Aristoteles.
Scriptores Rei
Rusticae.
FEnnONIKA.
Plutarchus.
^lianus.
Plinius.
Solinus.
Phile.
Gesnerus.
Aldrovandus.
Bochartus.
PauUini.
Raius.
Pegge, in the Archjeologia ; by Strutt, in his Sports and Pastimes ;
and by Turner, in his History of the Anglo-Saxons; and though last,
not least valuable, whether we regard the novelty of such a summary,
or the elegance and classic taste of its execution, the article on Hunt-
ing by Mr. Smedley, in the Encyclopaedia Metropolitana.
Connected with the subject of Venation, the following works on
Natural History are referred to, descriptive of the external characters
and habits of ferine animals, and their quadrupedal pursuers :
-Aristotelis Historiade Animalibus a J. C Scaligero. Tolosae,
MDCXIX.
Scriptores Rei Rusticae Veteres Latini. J. M. Gesner. Lip-
sia^, MDCCLXXiii.
rEfinONlKA. Geoponicorum sive De Re Rustica Libri xx.
Petr. Needham, A.M. Cantabrigiee, MDCCiv.
Plutarchi Opera Omnia (De Solerti^ Animalium, &c.)
Paris, MDCXXiv.
^liani De Natura Animalium Libri xvii. J, G. Schneider.
Lipsia?, MDCCLxxxiv.
C. Plinii Secundi Historiae Mundi Libri xxxvii. J. Dale-
campii. Lugduni, mdlxxxvii.
C. Julii Solini Polyhistor ex edit. C. Salmasii. M. Andr.
Goezio. Lipsiae, mdcclxxvii.
Phile De Animalium Proprietate a J. C. de Pauw. Trajecti
ad Rhenum, mdccxxx.
C. Gesneri Historiae Animalium Liber primus, de Quadrupe-
dibus Viviparis. Tiguri, mdlix.
U. Aldrovandi Opera. Bononiie, mdcxxxii.
S. Bocharti Hierozoicon, seu de Animalibus Sacrae Scripturas.
Londini, mdclxiii. •
Cynographia Curiosa, &c.
bergae, mdclxxxv.
Lagographia Curiosa, &c.
Vind. MDCxci.
Synopsis Methodica Animalium Quadrupedum, &c. Auctore
Joanne Raio. S. R. S. Londini, 1693.
k Christ. Franc. Paullini. Norim-
k Christ. Franc. Paullini. Aug.
ERRATA.
P. 15. 1. 8. for general, read genuine.
108. n. 3. 1. 2. rdxos.
5. ex««-
117. n. 4. /or Biuyer, read Bruyerinus.
126. n. 7. 1. 2. obtruncant.
145. Quotation from Gratius, v. 299. read levels.
148. Quotation from Nemesian, v. 162. read complere.
Tlie autlior craves forgiveness for unnoticed a(pd\fj.aTa, errors of punctuation, accen-
tuation, &c. whether chargeable on himself or the typotheta;.
MAFFi;!
EX yEDIBUS VALPIANIS.
Webster Family Library of Veterinary Medicine
Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine at
Tufts University
200 Westboro Road
North Grafton. MA 01536
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