NORTHUMBERLAND AND DURHAM. 121 
space of time revert to a state of wildness, the following anec- 
dote, which we extract from Bewick,* will testify :— 
‘‘In December, 1784, a dog was left by a smuggling vessel, 
near Boulmer, on the coast of Northumberland. Finding him- 
self deserted, he began to worry sheep; and did so much damage, 
that he became the terror of the country within a circuit of about 
twenty miles. We are assured that when he caught a sheep he 
bit a hole in its right side, and, after eating the tallow about the 
kidneys, left it. Several of them, thus lacerated, were found 
alive by the shepherds; and being taken proper care of, some of 
them recovered, and afterwards had lambs. From his delicacy 
in this respect, the destruction he made may in some measure 
be conceived; as it may be supposed that the fat of one sheep 
in a day would hardly satisfy his hunger. The farmers were so 
much alarmed by his depredations, that various means were 
used for his destruction. They frequently pursued him with 
hounds, greyhounds, &c.; but when the dogs came up with him 
he laid down on his back, as if supplicating for mercy; and in 
this position they never hurt him: he therefore laid quietly 
taking his rest till the hunters approached, when he made off 
without being followed by the hounds, till they were again 
excited to the pursuit, which always terminated unsuccessfully. 
It is worthy of notice that he was one day pursued from Howick 
to upwards of thirty miles distance, but returned thither and 
killed sheep the same evening. His constant residence, during 
the day, was upon a rock on the Heugh-hill, near Howick, where 
he had a view of four roads that approached it; and in March, 
1785, after many fruitless attempts, he was at last shot there.” 
A very similar circumstance occurred during last year in the 
neighbourhood of Shields. A large dog, having no owners, took 
to a wild life, and committed great depredation among the sheep. 
3. C. Vutres, Linn. Fox. Top. Female Vixen. 
Abundant in both counties. 
The Scotch name of this animal, Tod, is also used in North- 
umberland, and occurs as an element in the names of places 
* Bewick's History of Quadrupeds. 1824, p. 333. 
