138 Appendix B 



the most conspicuous later use of the word is perhaps that by 

 Scott in the Talisman (chap. 6), where he is describing the tent 

 of Richard Coeur de Lion : 



Skins of animals slain in the chase were stretched on the ground, 

 or extended along the sides of the pavilion, and upon a heap of 

 these silvan spoils lay three alans, as they were then called (wolf- 

 greyhounds, that is), of the largest size, and as white as snow. Their 

 faces, marked with many a scar from clutch and fang, showed their 

 share in collecting the trophies upon which they reposed, and their 

 eyes, fixed from time to time with an expressive stretch and yawn 

 upon the bed of Richard, evinced how much they marvelled at and 

 regretted the unwonted inactivity which they were compelled to share. 



We have endeavored to show what were the alaunts mentioned 

 by Chaucer. There remains the question, Whence did Chaucer 

 derive his acquaintance with them? 



Bailhe-Grohman (p. 116) thinks that Chaucer may have seen 

 some alaunts 'recently imported from Spain or France.' But 

 we have no indication that there ever was an alaunt in England. 

 Again he suggests that Chaucer 'may possibly have gone for his 

 models to the court of King John of France (1350- 1364), who 

 possessed some of these huge Alans.' Certainly Chaucer can not 

 have gone to Paris before the end of 1360,^'^ and we have no 

 ground whatever for assuming that he was on the Continent in 

 the years 1 361-3, by the end of which year King John was on 

 his way back to England. If the poet saw the court of France 

 at all, the earliest date we can assign to the visit is 1368, when 

 King John had been dead four years, and then it must have 

 been in the train of Lionel.^* 



It seems much more likely that the alaunts which he delineated 

 in the Knight's Tale were those that he saw at the wedding- 

 feast in Milan.-'" He has undoubtedly heightened the descrip- 



^' See Hist. Background, p. 179. 



^ See Hist. Background, pp. 182 ff. ; above, pp. 30 ff. 

 ^"They are thus described in the chronicles of Montferrat, Milan, and 

 Mantua, respectively {M. H. P., p. 1226; R. I. S. 16. 739; Alip., p. 1188) : 

 'Sei cani alani, et sei gran striveri cum collari de velluto, et fibie 

 dorati, et lassi de seta.' 



'Sex cani allani, et sei grandi striveri cum collari de velluto forniti 

 de ricalcho dorato, et cum lassi de seta.' 



E sei cani alani fur presentati, 

 Ancora sei stivieri [.«V] in una schiera. 



The other two chronicles refer to them merely as 'cani.' See p. 6~. 



