248 THE RED DEER OF EXMOOR. 



is well known. A poor Norman gentleman presented 

 King Louise XII. (1482 to 1498) with a white St. 

 Hubert hound, but the King preferred his kennel of 

 " chiens gris " and passt d on the gift to his 

 seneschal, who passed it on again to Jacques de 

 Breze, Seneschal of Normandy, who appreciated his 

 superlative excellence, for this was the famous hound 

 Souillard from whom it was said no stag could 

 escape. He was crossed with an Italian bitch 

 belonging to the King's greffier or secretary, and 

 bred thirteen puppies, all as good as himself, and 

 Charles IX. says that by the time of Francis I., 

 which would be 15 15, the breed of greffiers, as they 

 were called, was thoroughly established. These and 

 the Normandy hounds seem to have practically 

 superseded the St. Huberts as hunting hounds 

 altogether. 



They must have been of immense size, as the St. 

 Huberts stood from 27 in. to '^\\ in. high, though 

 possibly their stature may have been reduced by the 

 Italian cross, as we find the Normandy hounds^ also 

 a cross breed, are stated to have been 26 in. to 30 in. 

 in height, whether that were so or not they seem to 

 have merited the specific title of " grands." 



What essential differences there may have been 

 between the Normandy hounds and the greffiers, or 

 as they were afterwards called the Vendeens, is not 

 clear, except that the former had more colour 

 marking, the latter having nothing but a very little 

 lemon colour or hare-pied marking. 



