GREYHOUNDS AND THEIR MASTERS 227 



them as fines. Edward III. kept large numbers of them 

 near his palace at Waltham, not far from Epping Forest, 

 so that they might always be handy when he wished 

 to hunt. The greyhounds have disappeared, but they 

 have left their name behind them, and the place of the 

 royal kennels is still known as the Isle of Dogs. 



In the reign of Queen Elizabeth a set of rules for the 

 sport was drawn up by the Duke of Norfolk, and by 

 these rules any doubtful question is still judged. The 

 Queen delighted in coursing, which in those days meant 

 the chasing of deer as well as of hares, and even when she 

 did not care to follow herself, used to sit on some high 

 place and look on from afar. The Stuarts, too, always 

 had greyhounds about them, and of course the courtiers 

 shared their taste ; and many are the pictures of the 

 seventeenth century where greyhounds have had, like 

 their mistresses, their portraits painted by the most 

 famous artists. 



Froissart, the chronicler, tells a curious story of a grey- 

 hound that belonged to Eichard II., and was so fond of 

 his master that he did not seem to know there was any 

 one else in the world. It was the only friend the king 

 had when he was imprisoned in the Castle of Flint, and 

 Eichard believed that it was clever enough to understand 

 things that had not yet come to pass. ' It was informed 

 me,' says Froissart, ' that Kyng Eichard had a grayhound 

 called Mathe, who always waited upon the Kynge, and 

 would know no one else. For whensoever the Kynge did 

 ryde, he that kept the grayhound, did let him lose, and 

 he wolde streyght runne to the Kynge and fawne upon 

 him, and leap with his fore fete upon the Kynge's 

 shoulders. And as the Kynge and the Erie of Derby 

 talked togyder in the courte, the Grayhounde, who was 

 wont to leape upon the Kynge, left the Kynge, and came 

 to the Erie of Derby, Duke of Lancaster, and made to him 

 the same friendly countinuance and chere as he was 

 wont to do to the Kynge. The Duke, who knew not 



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