Part 16

+Ælian. de Natura Animalium, Præfat.+

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 subjoined.

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 of 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 Venaticâ which the present writer has never seen. They are admitted on the authority of earlier compilers, in whose bibliothecæ they appear: but their importance to the θήρης κλυτὰ δήνεα (Oppian. Cyneg. +i.+ 16.) is assumed rather than established. Remoteness of residence from public libraries 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 attempted by Rittershusius in his Prolegomena to Oppian, imperfectly executed by Lallemant in his Bibliotheca Historica et Critica Thereuticographῶn, 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 Cynegetica, Somerville’s Chace is alone admitted, the doggrel of the Book of St. Alban’s possessing insufficient 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 metricè hanc materiam persecuti sunt.” Proleg. in Oppian. p. +xvi.+ Ed. 4to.

[Sidenote: +i.+ Xenophon.]

Xenophontis Opuscula Politica, Equestria, et Venatica, cum Arriani Libello De Venatione, &c. J. G. Schneider. Oxonii, +mdcccxvii.+

Xenophontis Scripta Minora, &c. L. Dindorf. Lipsiæ, +mdcccxxiv.+

On Hare Hunting, from Xenophon, by W. Blane, Esq. London, 1788.

[Sidenote: +ii.+ Gratius.]

Gratii, qui Augusto principe floruit, de Venatione Lib. i. This edition of the Faliscian is contained in the rare little Aldine volume, entitled Poetæ tres egregii, &c. Aldus, +mdxxxiiii.+ Republished by Sig. Feyerabendius, ad calcem Venatûs et Aucupii J. A. Loniceri. Francoforti, +mdlxxxii.+

Gratii Falisci Cynegeticon, &c. Th. Johnson, A.M. Londini, +mdcxcix.+

Poetæ Latini Rei Venaticæ Scriptores, &c. G. Kempheri. Lugdun. Batav. +mdccxxviii.+

Poetæ Latini Minores. J. C. Wernsdorf. Altenburgi, +mdcclxxx.+

A Poem of Hunting, by Gratius the Faliscian. Englished and Illustrated by Christopher Wase, Gent. London, 1654.

[Sidenote: +iii.+ Arrianus.]

Arrianus De Venatione, ex interpretatione L. Holstenii. Paris, +mdcxliv.+

Arriani Tactica, Peripli, Cynegeticus, et Epicteti Stoici Euchiridion, ex Recensione Nicolai Blancardi. Amstelodami, 1683.

ΑΡΡΙΑΝΟΥ ΤΑ ΣΩΖΟΜΕΝΑ κ. τ. λ. Ἐπεξεργασθέντα καὶ Ἐκδοθέντα ὑπὸ ΝΕΟΦΥΤΟΥ ΔΟΥΚΑ εἰς τόμους ἑπτά. ΕΝ ΒΙΕΝΝΗι ΤΗΣ ΑΟΥΣΤΡΙΑΣ, 1809.

Xenophontis Opuscula Politica, &c. cum Arriani Libello de Venatione. J. G. Schneider. Oxonii, +mdcccxvii.+

[Sidenote: +iv.+ Pollux.]

Julii Pollucis Onomasticum. Hemsterhuis. Amst. +mdccvi.+ The fifth book, addressed to the Emperor Commodus, affords much valuable information on the technicalities of classical venation.

[Sidenote: +v.+ Oppianus.]

Oppiani Poetæ Cilicis De Venatione Lib. +iiii.+ &c. Conrad. Rittershusii. Lugduni Batav. +mdxcv.+

Oppiani Poetæ Cilicis De Venatione Libri +iv.+ &c. Joh. Gottlob Schneider. Argentorati, +mdcclxxvi.+

Oppiani Poema De Venatione, &c. Jac. Nic. Belin De Ballu. Argentor. 1786.

J. Brodæi Turonensis Annotationes in Oppiani Cyneg. L. +iiii.+ &c. Basileæ. +mdlii.+

Oppiani De Venatione Libri +iiii.+ Joan. Bodino interprete, &c. Lutetiæ, +mdlv.+

The First Book of Oppian’s Cynegetics translated into English Verse, &c. by John Mawer, A.M. London, 1736.

[Sidenote: +vi.+ Nemesianus.]

M. Aurelii Olympii Nemesiani Cynegeticôn Lib. +i.+ Aldus, +mdxxxiiii.+ (The same Aldine volume as before referred to, entitled Poetæ tres egregii, &c.) Nemesian also occurs in the collections of Poetæ Venatici of Feyerabendius, Johnson, Kempher, and Wernsdorf.

[Sidenote: +vii.+ Demetrius.]

ΚΥΝΟϹΟΦΙΟΝ. Liber De Curâ Canum. This work of Demetrius of Constantinople, written about A.D. 1270, was first published by Aurifaber. Wittembergæ, +mdxlv.+ The author’s editions are those of Rigaltius in the Rei Accipitrariæ Scriptores. Lutetiæ. +mdcxii.+ and of Johnson, attached to his Latin Poets of the Chace. Londini, +mdcxcix.+

[Sidenote: +viii.+ =Guillame Twici.=]

=Le Art de Venerie le quel Maistre Guillame Twici Venour le Roy d’Angleterre fist en son temps per aprandre autres.= This Ms. is reported by the Historian of English Poetry, Vol. +ii.+ p. 221. note m. to have been formerly among the Mss. of Mr. Fermor, of Tusmore in Oxfordshire.

[Sidenote: =Gyfford and Twety.=]

=The Craft of Hontyng of Mayster John Gyfford and Willm Twety that were with King Edward the Secunde.= It is also denominated =Le Venery de Twety and of Maystr John Giffarde=. Ms. Cotton. Vespas. B. +xii.+ The French work is unknown to the writer: but of =The Craft of Hontyng= a faithful transcript is in his possession.

[Sidenote: +ix.+ Gaston Phebus.]

Des Deduitz de la Chasse de Bestes Sauvaiges et des Oyseaux de Proye. The celebrated work of Gaston Phebus, Comte de Foix, and Vicomte de Bearn, 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.

[Sidenote: +x.+ =Edmund de Langley.=]

=The Book of Huntyng the which is clepyd Mayster of the Game.= Ms. Cotton. Vesp. B. +xii.+ =Mayster of Game.= Ms. Harl. 5086. The author’s copy is a transcript of the Cottonian text, corrected by collation with the Harleian.

[Sidenote: +xi.+ Juliana Berners, or Julyans Barnes.]

The Boke of St. Albans. The first and second editions (1486 and 1496.) being exceedingly rare, the author is satisfied to quote from Mr. Haslewood’s elegant reprint of Wynkyn de Worde’s edition of the latter date. London, +mdcccx.+

Hawking, Hunting, and Fishing, with the True Measures of Blowing. At London, printed by Edward Allde, 1586.

[Sidenote: +xii.+ Hercules Stroza.]

Cæsaris Borgiæ Ducis Epicedium, per Herculem Strozam ad divam Lucretiam Borgiam Ferrariæ Ducem. Francoforti, +mdlxxxii.+

[Sidenote: +xiii.+ Adrianus.]

Adriani Cardinalis S. Chrysogoni ad Ascanium Cardinalem S. Viti, Vicecancellarium Venatio. Aldus, +mdxxxiiii.+ (Poetæ tres egregii anteà citati). Francoforti, +mdlxxxii.+

[Sidenote: +xiv.+ Lonicerus.]

Venatus et Aucupium Iconibus artificiosiss. ad vivum expressa, et succinctis versibus illustrata per Joan. Adam. Lonicerum, Francfortanum. Francoforti, +mdlxxxii.+

[Sidenote: +xv.+ Stradanus, Gallæus, et Dufflæus.]

Venatus et Aucupia Johan. Stradensis et Philip. Galle. 1578. Venationes Ferarum, Avium, Piscium, Pugnæ Bestiariorum; et Mutuæ Bestiarum, depictæ à Joanne Stradano; editæ à Joanne Gallæo: carmine Illustratæ à C. Kiliano Dufflæo.

[Sidenote: +xvi.+ Belisarius.]

Belisarius Aquaviva de Venatione, Aucupio, &c. Nap. 1519. Basil. 1571. apud Conrad. Gesner. Histor. Quadrupedum.

[Sidenote: +xvii.+ Blondus.]

Ad Christianissimum Regem Galliæ de Canibus et Venatione Libellus. Authore Michaele Angelo Blondo. In quo omnia ad canes spectantia, morbi, et medicamina continentur, Prisca et Neoterica etiam exempla, à nemine hactenùs accuratiùs scripta, insidiæ ferarum, et proprietates, cum quibusdam venationibus nostri sæculi maximorum principum cognitu dignissimis, Romæ, +mdxliiii.+ 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.

[Sidenote: +xviii.+ Tardivus.]

Gulielmus Tardivus de Accipitribus et Canibus Venaticis, apud Conrad. Gesner. Histor. Quadrupedum. (Auctores Gallici.)

[Sidenote: +xix.+ Heresbachius.]

Conrad. Heresbachii Rei Rusticæ L. +iv.+ item de Venatione, Aucupio, et Piscatione Compendium, in usum Heroum et Patrumfamilias ruri agentium concinnatum. The latter part is noticed in the preface to Arrian’s Cynegeticus under the name of Compendium Thereuticæ Universæ, a title given it by Rittershusius in his Oppianic 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 original (Spiræ Nemetum +CIↃ.IↃ.XCIV+). As an Epitome of Xenophon and Oppian, the appendix has merit—containing brief notices of many varieties of ancient and modern hounds, their style of hunting, quarry, &c. Part of the third book De Re Rusticâ treats of dogs connected with rural economy, the Œcurus, Villaticus, &c.

[Sidenote: +xx.+ Fracastorius.]

Hier. Fracastorii Alcon, sive de Cura Canum Venaticorum. Venet. +mdlv.+ Fracastor’s poem is appended to the Poetæ Venatici of Johnson. Lond. +mdcxcix.+ and of Kempher. Lugd. Bat. +mdccxxviii.+

[Sidenote: +xxi.+ Lotichius.]

Petri Lotichii Secundi Eclogæ. The author’s citations are from the Poemata Omnia Petri Lotichii Secundi à P. Burmanno Secundo. Amstel. +mdccliv.+

[Sidenote: +xxii.+ Natalis Comes.]

Natalis Comitum Veneti de Venatione, Libri +iiii.+ Ald. Fil. Venet. +mdli.+ also attached to his Mythologiæ Libri Decem. Lugduni. +mdcv.+

[Sidenote: +xxiii.+ Bargæus.]

Petri Angelii Bargæi Cynegeticon. Poemata Omnia, &c. Florent. apud Juntas, +mdlxviii.+ The poem De Aucupio is also cited in a separate form apud Juntas, +mdlxvi.+

[Sidenote: +xxiv.+ Darcius.]

Joannis Darcii Venusini Canes. Paris, +mdxliii.+ Francofort. +mdlxxxii.+

[Sidenote: +xxv.+ Caius.]

Joannis Caii Britanni De Canibus Britannicis Liber Unus. Londini, +mdlxx.+ This Libellus is also annexed to Johnson’s Edition of Gratius and Nemesian, and to Kempher’s Poetæ Venatici, Holinshed’s Account of British Dogs is a translation from Caius’s work.

[Sidenote: +xxvi.+ Jaques Du Fouilloux.]

La Vénerie de Jaques Du Fouilloux, &c. Paris, +mdlxxxv.+ +mdcxiiii.+ The author’s references are to the latter edition, wherein are contained Adjonctions à la Vénerie de Jacques Du Fouilloux. La Chasse du Loup (by Jean de Clamorgan): La Chasse du Connin: and an additional Essay on Cyniatrics, entitled Autres Remèdes 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 Treatise.

[Sidenote: +xxvii.+ Tubervile, Gascoigne, Burke.]

The Noble Art of Venerie or Hunting, &c. London, 1575. 1611. The authorship of this version of Fouilloux is much disputed:—by some it is given to Turbervile, the undoubted translator of the Booke of Falconrie; by others to Gascoigne; and by a third party to C. Burke. The citations are from the edition of 1611, and generally under the name of the first-mentioned author.

[Sidenote: +xxviii.+ Cockaine.]

A Short Treatise of Hunting, compyled for the delyght of Noblemen and Gentlemen, by Sir Thomas Cockaine, Knight. London, 1591. The writer has never seen the rare tract of this “professed hunter, and not a schollar.”

[Sidenote: +xxix.+ Markham and others.]

The Gentleman’s Academie; or, The Booke of St. Albans, &c. by G. M. London, 1595.

Maison Rustique; or, The Countrie Farme, &c. translated into English by Richard Surflet. London, 1600.

The Countrey Farme, &c. (as the last,) by Gervase Markham. London, 1616.

A Jewell for Gentrie, &c. London, 1614.

Countrey Contentments; or, The Husbandman’s Recreations, &c. by G. M. London, 1633.

[Sidenote: +xxx.+ Micyllus.]

Jacobi Micylli Κυνολόγιον. A Latin poem mentioned by Paullini in his Cynographia Curiosa: where also occur Angelinus Gazæus, Ronsæus, and others; the Venatio Medica of the latter being rather above the ordinary stamp of the muse of Æsculapius.

[Sidenote: +xxxi.+ Isachius.]

De Venatione Tractatus, in quo de Piscatione, Aucupio, Sylvestriumque insectatione agitur. Auctore Alfonso Isachio. Regii, 1625. 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 description, by Fritsch.

[Sidenote: +xxxii.+ Savary.]

Album Dianæ Leporicidæ, sive Venationis Leporinæ Leges. Auctore Jac. Savary, Cadomæo. Cadomi, +mdclv.+ To some editions of this poem is annexed Venatio Vulpina et Melina of the same author; but the writer’s copy has it not.

Venationis Cervinæ, Capreolinæ, Aprugnæ, et Lupinæ Leges. Autore Jac. Savary Cadomensi. Cadomi, +mdclix.+

[Sidenote: +xxxiii.+ Vanierius.]

Jacobi Vanierii, &c. Prædium Rusticum. Tolosæ, +mdccxxx.+ +mdccxlii.+ The author’s citations are from the latter edition.

The Gentleman’s Recreation: in four parts. London, 1706.

[Sidenote: +xxxiv.+ Blome.]

The Gentleman’s Recreations: in three parts. By R. Blome. London, 1710.

[Sidenote: +xxxv.+ Somerville.]

The Chace. A poem by William Somerville, Esq.

To this list might be added the French Cynegetica of Gauchet, Pomey, Passerat, De Salnove, De Serey, Du Sable, Gaffet, De la Conterie, D’Yauville, and others; the Encyclopédie Méthodique, Dictionnaire de toutes les espèces de Chasses; and the Italian Cynegetica of Scandianese, Valvasone, Raimondi, Poggesi, Gatti, and others; to some of which the author is beholden for a few remarks. The catalogue might be amplified, 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 Pegge, in the Archæologia; 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 Hunting by Mr. Smedley, in the Encyclopædia 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:

[Sidenote: Aristoteles.]

Aristotelis Historia de Animalibus à J. C. Scaligero. Tolosæ, +mdcxix.+

[Sidenote: Scriptores Rei Rusticæ.]

Scriptores Rei Rusticæ Veteres Latini. J. M. Gesner. Lipsiæ, +mdcclxxiii.+

[Sidenote: ΓΕΩΠΟΝΙΚΑ.]

ΓΕΩΠΟΝΙΚΑ. Geoponicorum sive De Re Rusticâ Libri +xx.+ Petr. Needham, A.M. Cantabrigiæ, +mdcciv.+

[Sidenote: Plutarchus.]

Plutarchi Opera Omnia (De Solertiâ Animalium, &c.) Paris, +mdcxxiv.+

[Sidenote: Ælianus.]

Æliani De Naturâ Animalium Libri +xvii.+ J. G. Schneider. Lipsiæ, +mdcclxxxiv.+

[Sidenote: Plinius.]

C. Plinii Secundi Historiæ Mundi Libri +xxxvii.+ J. Dalecampii. Lugduni, +mdlxxxvii.+

[Sidenote: Solinus.]

C. Julii Solini Polyhistor ex edit. C. Salmasii. M. Andr. Goezio. Lipsiæ, +mdcclxxvii.+

[Sidenote: Phile.]

Phile De Animalium Proprietate à J. C. de Pauw. Trajecti ad Rhenum, +mdccxxx.+

[Sidenote: Gesnerus.]

C. Gesneri Historiæ Animalium Liber primus, de Quadrupedibus Viviparis. Tiguri, +mdlix.+

[Sidenote: Aldrovandus.]

U. Aldrovandi Opera. Bononiæ, +mdcxxxii.+

[Sidenote: Bochartus.]

S. Bocharti Hierozoicon, seu de Animalibus Sacræ Scripturæ. Londini, +mdclxiii.+

[Sidenote: Paullini.]

Cynographia Curiosa, &c. à Christ. Franc. Paullini. Norimbergæ, +mdclxxxv.+

Lagographia Curiosa, &c. à Christ. Franc. Paullini. Aug. Vind. +mdcxci.+

[Sidenote: Raius.]

Synopsis Methodica Animalium Quadrupedum, &c. Auctore Joanne Raio. S. R. S. Londini, 1693.

ERRATA.

P. 15. l. 8. for general, read genuine. 108. n. 3. l. 2. τάχος. 5. ἔχει. 117. n. 4. for Bruyer, read Bruyerinus. 126. n. 7. l. 2. obtruncant. 145. Quotation from Gratius, v. 299. read leveis. 148. Quotation from Nemesian, v. 162. read complere.

The author craves forgiveness for unnoticed σφάλματα, errors of punctuation, accentuation, &c. whether chargeable on himself or the typothetæ.

FOOTNOTES:

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.

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.

[Sidenote: Bocharti Hierozoic. L. +ii.+ c. +lvi.+]

[Sidenote: Ejusdem Præfat. ad Lectorem.]

[Sidenote: Ovid. Metam. L. +iii.+]

This statement is limited to classical authors alone; the Biblical scholar might possibly arraign its accuracy, if made more general; though it scarce needs qualification to suit the doubtful interpretation of the Hebrew text 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 uncommon of the canine tribe, the canis Leporarius, Gallicus, or Vertragus. The Hebrew expression, however, for “accinctus lumbis,” “girt in the loins,” as explained in the margin of the English version, is understood by Jewish lexicographers to designate the greyhound, and is so rendered in the English text. But with the learned Bochart (Præfat. 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—“equum intelligi malim, qui non solùm expeditè, sed et superbè, et cura pompâ quâdam incedit: et lumbos habet cingulâ vel zonâ verè succinctos. Quod an de cane dici possit valdè ambigo.” 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 the passage in question is not found in the Septuagint; indeed the Greek version of the LXX. terminates with the 29th chapter.

[Sidenote: Themistii Orat. +xxvii.+]

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 citation—ὅστις δὲ ἀγαπᾷ κύνας, τούτῳ προσφιλὲς μὲν κτῆμα, καὶ Κέλται, καὶ Λάκαιναι σκύλακες δάκνει δὲ αὐτὸν καὶ τὸ Καστορίδων φύλον, καὶ τὸ Ἀρκαδικὸν αὐτὸ, καὶ τὸ Κρητικὸν, αἷς φύσις τῶν θηρίων ἐλέγχειν τὰς εὐνὰς κατὰ τὴν ὁδὸν ἐπισπομέναις. οὐ παρόψεται δὲ οὐδὲ τὰς οἴκοι σκυλακευθείσας, εἰ μήτε κάλλους ἐκείνων μήτε ὠκύτητος λείποιντο. In favour of the greyhound being here cited, it may be remarked that the Bithynian courser calls the Celtic dog μέγα κτῆμα (cap. +xxxii.+) and his shape καλόν τι χρῆμα, and derives his name ἀπὸ τῆς ὠκύτητος, as the characteristic distinction of the race. See some remarks on the “Canes Scotici” of Symmachus hereafter.

The Cynosophium alone, a Greek work “de Curâ Canum,” 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 Accipitrariâ,” and physician to the Emperor Michael Palæologus. 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 therapeutics. 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 Accipitrariæ Scriptores” of Rigaltius (Lutetiæ +mdcxii.+) and to the “Poetæ Venatici” of Johnson (Londini +mdcxcix.+).

[Sidenote: Warton’s Engl. Poetry, V. +ii.+ 221.]

The =Crafte of Hontyng= 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 is mentioned fol. 4. =of blowing=. “Whañ a mañ hath set up archerys and greyhoundes, and the beest be founde and passe out the boundys, and myne houndes aftir,” &c.

These instructions were written for Henry Prince of Wales, afterwards Henry V.

[Sidenote: Scott’s Sir Tristrem.]

The “Morte Arthur” tells us, that “Tristrem laboured ever in hunting and hawking, so that we never read of no gentleman more that so used himself therein,” &c. and in the rich poetry of Spenser, the knight informs Sir Calidore,

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.

[Sidenote: Biograph. Brit. note, Caxton, p. 367.]

The Biographia Britannica is amusingly severe in its strictures on the renowned Mrs. Barnes, and her incongruous occupations in the field and cloister. “There appears such a motley masquerade—such an indistinctness of petticoat and breeches,—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.’”

Should the reader meet with any extracts from the Compendium in the subsequent annotations, they are to be received on the authority of Conrad Gesner, from whose “Historia Quadrupedum” they are selected. The same learned work has afforded the few parallel passages adduced from Albertus Magnus, Belisarius, and Tardif. For all others the translator is himself answerable, having culled them from the original sources, and generally from the most approved editions.

[Sidenote: Alb. Dianæ &c. L. +iv.+ p. 52.]

Innuba, qui pariter cœlebs, duo numina cultu Assiduo colit, Artemidem junxitque Minervæ, Carus utrique Deæ Savary, quem sedula semper Investigandi leporis tenet ultima cura.

[Sidenote: Symmachi Epist. L. +ii.+ Epist. 77.]

[Sidenote: See the Appendix Class +iii.+]

[Sidenote: Cotton. Mss. Tiber. B. +v.+]

The date of the greyhound’s introduction into these islands is with difficulty ascertained. If the “septem Scoticorum canum oblatio” of Flavian, wherewith he graced the Quæstor’s spectacle of his brother Symmachus at Rome, be really coarse varieties of the Celtic type, as supposed by Christopher Wase, this hound must have 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.