ANTLER AND FERN. 71 



smiths, who speak of raising a ' burr ' on a 

 rivet by hammering it — the ' burr ' is the 

 bulging caused by the blows. Above the 

 ' burr ' came the brow-antlier, now the brow- 

 point ; next the bez-antlier, now the bay (bez 

 doubtless was pronounced bay). The third 

 point, now called the tray — French tres, hunt- 

 ing terms, are derived from Norman-French 

 — was then the royal, and the top-points or 

 crown was the sur-royal-top. The gutters 

 were the seams or grooves in the main stem 

 or beam ; the pearls appear to have been 

 the little knobs about the 'burr.' Some- 

 times the brow-point was called simply the 

 antlier, and the bay the sur-antlier, and the 

 top the croche. There was a complete 

 science of reckoning an antlier : the meaning: 

 of some of the terms seems to have varied 

 with the number of points, and there were 

 many other minutise. Those now in use on 

 Exmoor are distinct enough, and are given 

 above as plainly as possible. 



It is characteristic of the English red deer 



