NORTHUMBERLAND AND DURHAM. 119 
therein stated that he had an ancestor, holding an estate under the 
Karl of Rutland and Belvoir, “ commonly called Ambrose Roast- 
Wolf, from the many wolves he hunted down and destroyed in 
the time of Henry VII.” Henry reigned from 1485 to 1509; 
and if wolves were numerous when he wore the crown, we may 
doubt if they were extinct in England before the sixteenth 
century closed. The wolf of the Tower, ‘exceedingly old,” 
seen by Paul Hentzner in 1589, was possibly English, and caught 
in Harrison’s time. It may, however, have been Scotch or 
foreign. “ Diverse wolves,” says the old historian, “ have been 
brought over from beyond the seas for greediness of gain, and to 
make money only by the gazing and gaping of our people upon 
them, who covet oft to see them, being strange beasts in their 
eyes, and seldom seen (as I have said) in England.” 
In the Proceedings of the Berwickshire Club, will be found 
an interesting paper on the ‘“ Wolf in Scotland,” containing 
evidence of its existence at a time much later than is generally 
supposed, as well as a collection of legends and folk-lore on the 
subject well worth perusal. We glean from this paper the 
following :— 
A French writer, in 1538, says that though it was commonly 
reported that there were then no wolves in England, he was well 
assured of one having been seen on this side of Berwick. “ Jay 
ouy dire vulgairement, que en Angleterre ny ayoit poinct loups 
mais il puis bien asseurer den avoir yeu pardeca Beruic.”* 
2. C. ramiuiaris, Linn. Doe. 
Although the dog cannot be included in the wild fauna of 
this, or any other district of England, its origin and history are 
sufficiently interesting to claim from us a few passing remarks. 
Bell, in his “‘ History of the British Mammalia,” argues with 
much reason and probability that we must look to the Wolf as 
the parent-stock of all our races of dogs. The osseous struc- 
ture, and general anatomy, the period of gestation, and other 
important points, are identical in the two animals. They have 
* Les Sommaire des Antiquitez et Mervielles Descosse redige, et mys par Jehan de 
Moustier, escuyer. Paris, 1538, 
