244 THE RED DEER OF EXMOOR. 



From them and from the text we can efain some 

 ideas as to the " raches," or running hounds which 

 were then used for hunting at force. 



In the frontispiece we see Gaston de Foix seated, 

 surrounded by all kinds of sporting dogs, grey- 

 hounds, alaunts, prick-eared brutes whose looks 

 justify all the bad things the Duke of York had to 

 say for them, the obvious ancestors of the coarse 

 butchers' dogs shown in old pictures of bull-baiting 

 and bear-baiting ; there are also heavy round-headed 

 dogs which may represent the ancestors of the 

 present mastiffs, and one which probably is intended 

 for a bloodhound, in addition to which are dogs 

 which are obviously hounds, in the modern accepta- 

 tion of the word, of two sizes which no doubt 

 represent the raches and kennets or harriers. The 

 rache is represented by the artist as mostly white, 

 with various markings which differ somewhat in 

 colour, though the writer of the text says tan is the 

 best colour ; they are fairly deep through the heart, 

 but are leggy and light of bone, with moderately 

 good necks and heads, but with ridiculously short 

 noses and the upper lip hanging down in an exagge- 

 rated manner. Their loins and flanks are weak, and 

 the whole of the hindquarters reminds one strongly 

 of a pointer. The raches are all represented as 

 smooth-coated hounds. This type of hound is, with 

 some variations, reproduced in all the other pictures 

 illustrating the various scenes in hunting described 

 in the MS. On reading the text one cannot help 



