OF THE TAKING OF THE STAG. loi 



and have been known to pursue a hound, striking 

 and lunging at it. Then it is no easy task to handle 

 the stag, and none but the strongest and most 

 experienced should think of attempting it. When 

 once cast on his side a stag is, for so large an 

 animal, extremely easy to manage, as his antlers 

 give an immense leverage by which he can be held 

 down. 



As a rule the stag is lassoed, both whip and hunts- 

 man carrying a stout, light hemp rope for the purpose. 

 The quickest death a stag can die is if the pack can 

 reach him in deep water, when they will drown him 

 directly. An exhausted deer dies in a moment if his 

 head goes under water. 



In ancient times great precautions were taken at 

 the " pryse " of a stag. Generally one of the hunt 

 servants ran in behind and hamstrung him, or stabbed 

 him to the heart behind the shoulder with his sword, 

 receiving head and skin as his fee. If the head were 

 now the acknowledged perquisite of the first who 

 "handled'' the stag there would indeed be a wild 

 rush at the finish. As it is, the huntsman can always 

 rely on plenty of skilled assistance, though there are 

 f^w who would care to emulate the prowess of John 

 Selwyn, the keeper at Oatlands Park, as depicted on 

 his brass monument in the church at Walton. It is 

 recorded of him that on one of the occasions when 

 Queen Elizabeth went there to witness a hunt he 

 vaulted from his horse on to the back of the deer 

 and steered him with his drawn sword to where the 



