8 GRIFFINS AND UNICOENS 



England. ' The unicorn and the lion heing enemies by 

 nature,' says a man who wrote three hundred and fifty 

 years ago, ' as soon as the lion sees the unicorn, he 

 betakes himself to a tree ; whereupon the unicorn, in his 

 fury, and with all the swiftness of his course, running at 

 him, sticks his horn fast in the tree, and then the lion 

 falls upon him and kills him.' The same story is told by 

 other people, and this is what Shakespeare means when 

 he says in one of his plays that unicorns may be betrayed 

 with trees. There was only one way by which a uni- 

 corn could be taken alive, for ' the greatness of his mind 

 is such that he chooseth rather to die,' one writer tells 

 us ; but this was a way which has been tried ever since 

 the days of Samson, and even before him ! 



A beautiful young lady was dressed in her best clothes, 

 covered with jewels, and seated in a lonely place in the 

 middle of a forest to wait till the unicorn passed by ; the 

 hunters meanwhile lying hidden in a neighbouring thicket. 

 By^and-bye a crackling would be heard among the 

 branches, and after a little while the unicorn would come 

 in sight, his sharp horn thrust out from his nose. Directly 

 he saw the young lady he always went straight up to her, 

 and laying his head on her lap, fell fast asleep. Then 

 the hunters would steal out very softly, and throw ropes 

 round the sleeping unicorn, and carry him off to the 

 king's palace, sure of receiving much gold for their prize. 



Living or dead the unicorn was held to be of great 

 value for many reasons, but chiefly because his horn was 

 used for drinking cups, and showed at once if any poison 

 mingled with the wine. This was an excellent quality in 

 times when people thought nothing of poisoning their 

 nearest relations, and after the tiniest quarrel both parties 

 went about in fear of their lives. The power of the 

 unicorn's horn sometimes went even further, and dis- 

 pelled the poison, for we read in an old chronicle of what 

 happened in the waters of Marah, which Moses made 

 sweet by striking them with his staff. ' Evil and unclean 



