EXTIXCT IX DUITAIN WITHIN HISTORIC TIMES. 23 



animals was killed iu Ireland, acconliu^ to Eicliardson, in 1770, 

 or according to Sir James Emmerson Tenncnt, subsequently to 17GG. 



Conclusion'. 



In considering the causes, besides those already referred to, 

 which have led to their extinction, it should be borne in mind that 

 for some centuries after the Norman Conquest these wild animals 

 were not hunted down and destroyed by everybody and anybody, 

 as they would be if they existed at the present day, but were 

 strictly preserved, under very severe penalties, by the kings and 

 powerful noblemen of the day for their own particular sport and 

 recreation. William the Conqueror punished with the loss of eyes 

 those convicted of killing a wild boar, stag, or roebuck ; and 

 wolves and foxes, although reckoned neither as beasts of the 

 forest nor of venery, could not be killed within the limits of the 

 forest without a breach of the royal chase, for which offenders had 

 to yield a recompense.* 



The inveterate love of the chase possessed by William Rufus, 

 which prompted him to enforce during his tragical reign the most 

 stringent and cruel forest laws, is too well known to readers of 

 history to require comment. 



In his passion for hunting wild animals Henry the First excelled 

 even his brother William, and, not content with encountering and 

 slaying those which, like the wolf and the wild boar, were at that 

 time indigenous to this country, he "cherished of set purpose 

 sundrie kinds of wild beasts, as bears, libards, ounces, lions, at 

 Woodstocke and one or two other places in England, which he 

 walled about with hard stone, An. 1120, and where he would often 

 fight with some one of them hand to hand." f 



Henry the Second, and John, were both great preservers of wild 

 animals, and monopolised large tracts of country wherein to indulge 

 their passion for hunting. Perocious animals were in consequence 

 long suffered to remain at large against the will of the people, and 

 hence survived to a much later period in this country than would 

 have been the case had the subjects of these monarchs dared sooner 

 to assert their independence. But at length came the repeal of the 

 forest laws. The operation of the Charter of the Forests, which 

 was signed by John at the same time with Magna Charta, re- 

 strained the worst abuses of the feudal tenure ; all lands which 

 had been converted into woods or parks since the commencement 

 of this reign were disafforested, and the tenants bordering on the 

 royal forests secured against spoliation ; in a word, the laws made 

 for the protection of the game and wild animals were either re- 

 pealed or considerably mitigated. 



From this time it may be said that the presence of ferocious 

 animals in the country was no longer tolerated. They were slain 



* Manwood's ' Forest Laws,' ^ 27. 



t Harrison's " Description of England," prefixed to Holinshed's ' Chronicles,' 

 p. 226. 



