58 



As the mandate is a curiosity, it is given here, precisely as it appears 

 in the "Foedera": — 



" Rex onniibus Ballivis etc: Sciatisquod injunx- 



A.D. 1281. imus dilecto & fideli nostro Petro Corbet, quod 



A71 : 9 Edwd I. in omnibus forestis & parcis, & aliis locis, infra 



Pat 9 Edwd I. comitatus nostros Gloucestr' Wigorn' Hereford' 



m 20 Salop' & Stafford' in quibus lupi poterunt inve- 



inTurr:Lond: niri, lupos, cum hominibus, canibus & ingeniis 



suis, oapiat, & destruat, raodis omnibus quibus 



viderit expedire. 



" Et ideo vobis mandamus quod eidem Petro in omnibus, qu£e ad 

 captionem luporum in comitatibus preedictis, pertinet, intendentes sitis 

 & auxiliantes, quotiens opus fuerit, & prasdictus Petrus vobis scire 

 faeiet ex parte nostra. 



" In cujus &c, duratur' quandiu nobis placuerit. Teste Rege apud 

 Westm' decimo quarto die Maii."* 



[translation.] 



" The King to all Bailiffs, &c. Know ye that we have enjoined our 

 dear and faithful Peter Corbet, that in all forests, parks, and other 

 places, within our counties of Gloucester, Worcester, Hereford, Salop, 

 and Stafford, in which wolves may be found, that he take and destroy 

 wolves, with his men, dogs, and engines, in all ways in which it shall 

 seem expedient. And we command you, therefore, that you be aiding 

 and assisting the said Peter, in all things that relate to the capture of 

 wolves, in the aforesaid counties, as often as occasion may require, and 

 the said Peter may make known to you on our part. 



" In witness, &c., so long as it shall be our pleasure. Witness the 

 King, at Westminster, the 14th day of May." 



Enough has now been stated, for the purpose of showing that it -was 

 an idle tale to assert that the extinction of these animals occurred in 

 the reign of Edgar. Evidence has been already adduced to show that 

 they existed here in a wild state a considerable period after the con- 

 quest ; but it is the intention of the author of this paper to go very 

 much further, and some proofs will be brought forward of their being 

 in existence for centuries after that event, and some conjectures will be 

 hazarded, I'especting the probable period of their final extinction in 

 England. 



In the 25th year of Edward I. (1296) John de Engaine, Lord of 

 Blatherwic, died seized of lands in Pightesse, or Pytessc, in Northamp- 



' " Foedera" (modern edition) Ton^e 1, pt. 2, ]>. 501. 

 Ibid, fulio edilioE of 1706, Tome 2, p, 168. 



