couRSixG. 775 



son was nominated to take command of the field, if there were 

 many greyhounds out ; he gave orders that such dogs should 

 be slipped, according to the course which the hares might 

 take, and these orders were strictly obeyed. 



It was sometimes the practice of the Gauls to mix finders 

 with their greyhounds, and while they were searching for a 

 hare, the greyhounds were led at a short distance, and gene- 

 rally in the direction which the hare was most likely to take. 

 This, however, was considered an irregular mode of coursing 

 by true sportsmen, as the stoutest hares were so frightened 

 by the cries of finders, that if they had not the advantage of 

 a considerable start they were certain to be killed. In some 

 parts of Great Britain, this method is still practised by such 

 spurious sportsmen as consider no course worth looking at 

 unless there is a hare at the end of it. 



The greyhound, in ancient times, was considered as a very 

 handsome present, and more especially by ladies, who looked 

 upon it as a compliment of the most gratifying description. 

 So far back as the time of King Canute, it was enacted by 

 the Forest Laws, that no person under the degree of a gen- 

 tleman should presume to keep a greyhound, that dog being 

 regarded by the sovereign as a companion peculiarly suited 

 to elevated rank. In the reign of King Charles the First 

 greyhounds were held in very high estimation ; and that 

 monarch was devotedly attached to them, as well as to 

 cockers. 



The Isle of Dogs, now converted into the reservoir for 

 West India shipping, derived its name from being the recep- 

 tacle of the greyhounds and spaniels of Edward the Third ; 

 and this spot was selected from its contiguity to Walthara 

 and other royal forests. That monarch frequently took up 

 his residence at Greenwich during the sporting season, as 

 being contiguous to a game country. In Britain, during the 

 middle ages, coursing was confined to deer ; and Queen Eli- 



