A HISTORY OF LEICESTERSHIRE 



Asylum, wrote : ' On 20 January, 1889, coming from 

 Granville Road to my daily service here by the path 

 on the north-west side of the old racecourse about 

 10.30 a.m., I saw a hare coming from Knighton way 

 at top speed. She crossed my path within easy shot, 

 and went down away to the allotments by the railway 

 in the direction of the Gaol.' Mr. W. J. Horn con- 

 siders them rare near Market Harborough, as he says 

 that during a residence of ten years in that district he 

 does not remember having seen more than ten hares 

 in the immediate neighbourhood. 



29. Common Rabbit. Lepus cunlculus, Linn. 



Resident and common. Introduced by some means 

 into the Abbey Park, Leicester, these pests became so 

 numerous in 1887, that it was necessary to extermi- 

 nate them, and hence resulted the novel spectacle of 

 small shooting parties in the heart of Leicester ; and 

 as, through the existence of brushwood and the 

 presence of onlookers chiefly street arabs the 

 rabbits were not very easy to hit, the unsuccessful 

 gunners were considerably cheered and refreshed by the 

 running fire of criticisms indulged in by the spectators. 



Malformations and varieties constantly occur, and 

 the museum donation-book records the presentation, 

 on 18 October, 1851, by Mr. J. Knight, of Ayle- 



stone, of the head of a wild rabbit killed at Blaby, 

 showing a remarkable development of the incisors. 

 Harley mentioned that in Bradgate Park, ' where it 

 abounds, black and parti-coloured varieties are met 

 with.' I received a white one in the autumn of 

 1 88 1 from there, and in the spring of 1884 I saw a 

 black one run out from a little spinney at Knighton, 

 on land farmed by Mr. Lander. On 17 April, 1885, 

 I was with Mr. John Hunt, at Thurnby, on land in 

 his possession, and amongst a great number of rabbits 

 which were feeding out, we saw several white and 

 parti-coloured ones, no less than five being seen at 

 one time. So near were they, that we were able to 

 see that two or three had sandy patches on their ears 

 and other parts of their bodies, whilst others were 

 pure white. Being in close proximity to dwelling- 

 houses, it is, of course, possible, nay probable, that 

 these varieties may have been produced by crossing 

 with tame ones. A specimen with the incisor teeth 

 abnormally prolonged was presented to the Leicester 

 Museum in 1902 by Mr. J. H. Cave. Mr. Horn, 

 writing from Market Harborough in 1907, tells me 

 that black, white and parti-coloured ones are numerous 

 in that vicinity ; he saw a young rabbit leave an island 

 in a small pond, swim to the side and commence to 

 feed. Upon his approach it swam back again. 



UNGULATA 



30. Red Deer. Cervus eiaphus, Linn. 



Locally, Stag, Hart (male), Hind (female), Calf 

 (young). 



Of early Pleistocene Age, and has survived as a 

 species until the present time, being semi-domesticated 

 in a few parks in the county ; nowhere more 

 numerous than at Bradgate Park, where it breeds. 

 Nothing apparently is known of its introduction, and 

 it is extremely probable that the deer now to be seen 

 there may be the descendants of ancient herds. 

 Some interesting figures of these deer are given 

 in a book written about 1 840 by a Mr. John 

 Martin of Steward's Hay. 15 A fine specimen of a 

 'Royal Stag' was shot at Bradgate in 1881, expressly 

 for the Leicester Museum, for which it was subse- 

 quently mounted. 



31. Fallow-Deer. Cerviu Jama, Linn. 



Locally, Buck (male), Doe (female), Fawn 

 (young). 



Resident and breeding in semi-confinement in the 



15 Sketches of Deer in Bradgate Park, by an Amateur . 



deer-parks of Beaumanor, Bosworth, Bradgate, Crox- 

 ton, Gopsall, Staunton Harold, &c. The dark race, 

 common at Bradgate and Gopsall Parks, is stated by 

 Bell 16 to have been introduced from Norway by 

 James I ; but Mr. Harting has shown" that this 

 statement, which has been repeatedly copied, is with- 

 out foundation, and that a dark race of fallow-deer 

 existed in England long before, and was, in fact, noted 

 as early as 1465. An old deed, dated 1247, quoted 

 by Potter (pp. 117-19), relates to the hunting and 

 taking of deer in Bradgate Forest, and is interesting as 

 being the earliest known hunting agreement in existence. 

 A young buck or brocket with budding snags was 

 shot close to Leicester, at Knighton, on 1 1 Novem- 

 ber, 1887. It was of the dark race, and Mr. Thomas 

 Lander, who presented the skull to the Leicester 

 Museum for the Index Collection, thinks it had probably 

 strayed from Bradgate or Bosworth Park. Col. F. Palmer 

 wrote from Withcote : ' Occasionally one has been 

 seen in the neighbourhood ; probably escaped from 

 some park.' 



16 British Quadrupeds. 



W Essays on Sport and Natural History, 



166 



