CHASE OF THE WILD RED DEER 8i 



him, saying, Ware, Ware ! or, take heede, and you 

 shall see him turne backe for doubt of the voyce 

 which he heard. He loveth to hear instruments, 

 and assureth himself, when he heareth a flute, or 

 any other sweete noyse. He heareth verie perfecdy 

 when his heade and his eares are set upright, but 

 when he holdeth them down, not so well. When 

 he is on foote and is not afrayde, he marvelleth at 

 all things which he seeth, and taketh a pleasure to 

 gaze at them, as a carter and his cart or any beast 

 loden with anything.'* 



The belief that the deer was capable of enjoyinp- 

 the melody of music was popular among the 

 ancients, and we read that the hunter used to lure 

 the deer to destruction by the agency of the 

 shepherd's pipe. In ancient Greece this practice 

 is said to have obtained — two hunters would repair 

 to the neighbourhood of the stag's lair, and while 

 one of them charmed him with sweet music, the 

 other was enabled to advance sufficiendy near to 

 kill him with an arrow. This may be true, but I 

 venture to think that I could kill more stags in one 

 week with a pack of hounds than I could in the 

 course of my life with an oaten reed and a dart. 



Art of Venerie,' p. 42. 

 F 



