LEGAL PROSECUTIONS OF ANIMALS. 623 



the church of Chuttens, in the Jorat Hills, possessed a miraculous im- 

 age of St. Pancrace. A pig having destroyed a child, this image was 

 Drought out, and the child was restored to life. The pig was cited to 

 appear in the bishop's court, and, being found guilty of willful murder, 

 was sentenced to death. De Ruchat adds that the executioner was a 

 pork-butcher. 



With an abundant share of exorcisms, charms, and enchantments 

 for the extirpation of vermin in olden time, England does not appear 

 to have enjoyed the notoriety of the legal proceedings against animals 

 which we have recorded as prevalent in foreign countries. There is, 

 however, a curious case of the trial of a dog in 1771, near Chichester, 

 which gave rise to a facetious parody, "A Report of the Case of 

 Farmer Carter's Dog, Porter," by Mr. Long, a lawyer, who died in 

 1813. Home, in his " Every-day Book" (vol. ii.), gives an account 

 of this mock trial, somewhat abridged from the original pamphlet in 

 his possession, but without other alteration, together with a portrait 

 of the dog Porter in the dock. The names of the parties engaged in 

 the real trial are given, with those of the nicknames in the parody. 

 The former are Butler, Aldridge, Challen, and Bridger, understood by 

 the names of J. Bottle, A. Noodle, Mat o' th' Mill, and O. Ponser. 



In Lord Fountainhall's " Chronological Notes of Scottish Affairs," 

 a curious affair is mentioned in connection with the boys of Heriot's 

 Hospital in 1681-'82, the year in which the Earl of Argyll was tried and 

 convicted of high treason for refusing the test-oath without certain 

 qualifications. The hospital boys made a mockery of the reasoning of 

 the Crown lawyers on this subject. They resolved among themselves 

 that the house-dog belonging to the establishment held a public office 

 and ought to take the test. The paper being presented to the mastiff, 

 it refused to swallow the same unless it was rubbed over with butter. 

 Being a second time tendered, buttered, the dog swallowed it, and was 

 next accused and condemned for having taken the test, with a quali- 

 fication, as in the case of Argyll ! 



Charms and exorcisms for the dispersion or destruction of noxious 

 animals prevailed from a remote period, and some of the superstitions, 

 in a modified sense, still exist in our own country, and especially 

 abroad. In the middle ages, history makes frequent mention of the 

 calamities caused by plagues of insects. These were the more destruc- 

 tive, as agricultural science, almost in its infancy at that period, offered 

 few remedies for preventing or mitigating the ravages. Recourse was 

 consequently had to the assistance of the clergy, who listened to the 

 complaint, interposed with prayers, and anathematized those enemies 

 of mankind as the work of Satan. Thus St. Mammet, Bishop of Vienne, 

 exorcised certain devils who had taken the figures of wolves and pigs, 

 and had devoured children. Gregory of Tours (573-595) alludes in 

 his "History" to talismans against mice, serpents, and conflagrations. 



The suits against animals not unfrequently led to more serious 



