M 



THE BOOK OF THE OTTER 



faint and not unpleasant odour, very different to 

 the rank scent of a fox. 



As previously mentioned, there appears to be 

 considerable uncertainty as to how long the bitch 

 otter goes with young. In the " Master of 

 Game/' the oldest and most important work on 

 the chase in the English language, written between 

 the years 1406 and 1413 by Edward III.'s grand- 

 son Edward, second Duke of York, there is a short 

 chapter on " The Otter and His Nature," in which 

 it says that the otter bears her young as long as 

 the ferret does. This chapter is of great interest, 

 both as regards the knowledge of venery possessed 

 by mediaeval hunters, and the quaint wording of 

 the letterpress. For this reason we take the 

 liberty of quoting it in full. It says, " An otter is 

 a common beast enough and therefore I need not 

 tell of his^naking. She liveth with (on?) fish and 

 dwelleth by rivers and by ponds and stanks (pools). 

 And sometimes she feedeth on grass of the 

 meadows and hideth gladly under the roots of trees 



near the rivers, and goeth to her feeding as doth 



34 



