APPENDIX. 



295 



to endeavour to trace its connexion with Gallia Ccltica. The mo- 

 dern sub-varieties of our systematic writers on natural history arc 



Dr. Caius's derivation of the term, as spelt by R. Brunne, and the Sopewell Prioress, 

 is fanciful enough : — " a grt quoque greliound apud nostros invenit nomen, quod 

 pr.Tcipui gradus inter canes sit, et prima; gcnerositatis. Gre enim apud nostros 

 gradum denotat." Wlience also grebyclie of the (fflirontron IJilotJUnfllSf. §. 222.* 

 " Hym tliought that his grcbyche lay hym besyde." The gre-hound and grehound 

 bitch being first in degree, or rank, among dogs ; and no one under the dignity of a 

 gentleman being allowed by the forest laws of Canute to keep such titled hounds. 

 In support of the Doctor's notion, it may be stated that Gawin Douglas uses gre for 

 degree in bis translation of the iEneid, and so also tlie prophet of Ercildoun, and the 

 author of the metrical romance of Morte Arthur. In the complaynt of Bagsche by 

 Sir David Lyndsay of the Mount, a satirical poem of the ' Lion King,' on court 

 favouritism, we have a farther example peculiarly apposite ; — for the hounds, speci- 

 fied by name as " doggis of the hyest gre," were probably highland deer greyhounds, 

 AVliimsical therefore as Caius's tracing of the term may be, we cannot view it as 

 utterly untenable. 



By Skinner, 'greyhound' is derived from the Anglo-Saxon grighund; and he farther 

 remarks "Minsevus dictum putat quasi Gra;cus canis, quia sc. Grseci omnium primi 

 hoc genus canura ad venatum adhibebant, quod facile crediderim si authorem laudas- 

 set." I know of no authority for so bold an assertion, except the doubtful tales of 

 Hector Boethius, Fordun, andHolinshed, and therefore discredit the fact. Dr. Hickes 

 says: "Grey canis, extat in nostro greyhund. Comp. ex grey et liunta, venator." 

 q. d. a hunting dog. And Junius notes "quod Islandis §■?■£?/ est canis." Skinner, 

 on the contrary, hints that the dog may be a badger-hunter, " a grey taxus et htind 

 canis, q. d. taxi insectator." Thus Hickes and Junius bestow on him double dog- 

 ship, and Skinner degrades him to a badger-hound. Well may we exclaim with 

 Brodaeus, " Vide quo procedat etymologiarum licentia ! — 6 joculares ineptias !" 



The terms grewhound, grewnd, graihound, grayhound, Canis Grcecvs, and Grains, 

 all indicate a supposed connexion with Greece. Grew is often used for Greek by 

 Douglas and Lyndsay — (see the Bishop's Preface to his Virgil, and the Knight's 

 apology for " The Maternal Language.") Slill I cannot believe the genuine Celtic 

 hound to have been known to anrient Greece. I would, therefore, rather seek the 

 origin of the English name in the predominant colour of the dog ; — Grey, gray, grai. 



De Canibiis 



Britannicis 



Libelius. 



M. S. Cotton. 



Faustina, 

 B. III. fol. 194. 



Lyndsay's 

 Poems, by 

 Chalmers, 



Etymolog. 

 Anglican. 



Dictionar. 

 Island. 



Etymolog. 

 Anglican. 



Broda!us in 

 Oppian. 

 p. ]23. 



The Monarciiie. 



* A curious remnant of antiquity in the British Museum, lately committed to the 

 press, (for private distribution, to the extent of one hundred copies,) by that liberal 

 and enlightened promoter of classical and British antiquarian research, both with 

 his pen and purse. Sir Richard Colt Hoare, Bart., aided in the editorial department 

 by Mr. William Henry Black ; — to whom also the present writer is indebted for 

 an accurate transcript of the fflagStcr 0( ffiaillC, copied and collated in the same 

 national repository. 



