BOAE-nUNTING.] 



PIGS, 



[BOAE-HUNTIXa. 



flogs 

 javelins 



and men — transfixed by spears and 

 Our Saxon forefathers, in the middle 

 n^es, deemed the wild boar one of the noble 

 "beastes of venery," and kept a powerful 

 breed of hounds for the chase. The weapons 

 used by the huntsmen were spears, and a sort 

 of short sword, or couteau de chasse. The spears 

 were used when the boar was brought to bay, 

 aud the attack gave abundant opportunities to 

 the hunters of showing their skill and courage. 

 Tlie loud blast of the horn, mingled with the 

 ehouts of men and the baying of the hounds, 

 proclaimed the vigorous home-thrust which 

 brought the savage lifeless to the ground. The 

 hunters were always mounted on horseback; 

 and, instead of meeting the animal with spears, 

 attacked him with javelins, which were launched 

 Qt him as he fled, or as he rushed to the charge, 

 which was often so determined that the horses 

 could not be brought to stand the shock, or, if 

 they did, were thrown down and gored. Serious 

 accidents sometimes occurred. Mr. Johnson 

 relates an Indian instance, in which a large 

 and resolute boar, after being driven by the 

 hunters into a plain, stood at bay, and chal- 

 lenged the whole party. He charged every 

 horse that advanced within fifty yards of him, 

 with great ferocity, causing them to rear and 

 plunge, and throw oft' their riders, whose lives 

 were in jeopardy. Though many of the horses 

 were accustomed to the sport, none would 

 stand his charges, or bring the rider within 

 javelin distance; and at last, he fairly drove 

 the party from the field ; and then, gnashing 

 his tusks and foaming, made his way to the 

 iungle, where it was useless to attempt to 

 follow him. 



The wild hog was once common in Britain ; 

 and it is surprising, considering the passion for 

 the chase, which seems to be part and parcel 

 of our English temperament, that this animal 

 is not re-established in some of its old haunts, 

 the parks and forests of nobility. Englishmen 

 in India are enthusiastically fond of chasing 

 the wild boar ; but, as tliere is greater room in 

 that country than in this, for such a ferocious 

 monster to play his gambols, it may bo as well 

 to leave him there. Perhaps the revival of 

 boar-hunting in England would not be attended 

 with that success which some enthusiasts may 

 anticipate. When that animal tenanted our 

 glens and forests, however, he was by no means 

 756 



held in slight estimation. He enjoyed royal 

 protection ; and there are in existence various 

 records, which principally consist of edicts or 

 proclamations issued, announcing sundry pains 

 and penalties as the consequence of its illegal 

 destruction. Howel Dha, or Howel the Good, 

 gave permission to his grand huntsman to hunt 

 the boar from the riiiddle of November to the 

 beginning of December ; and AYilliam the Con- 

 queror inflicted, as a punishment, the loss of 

 sight on those who illegally killed the boar. 

 In the old forest laws, the season laid down 

 when the animal might be hunted, was from 

 Christmas to Candlemas. 



In the History of the Anglo-Saxons, by 

 Sharon Turner, we are informed, that " among 

 the drawings in the Saxon Calendar, in the 

 Cottonian Library (Table vi. 4), the month of 

 September represents a boar-hunt. A wood 

 appears, containing boars. A man is on foot 

 vi'ith a spear ; another appears with a horn 

 slung, and applied to his mouth ; he also has a 

 spear, and dogs are following." And in the 

 Saxon Decalogue, we have this conversation : — 

 " I am a hunter to one of our kings !" *' How 

 do you exercise your art?" "I spread my 

 nets, and set them in a fit place, and instruct 

 my hounds to pursue the wild deer till they 

 come to the nets and are entangled, and I slay 

 them in the nets." " Cannot you hunt with- 

 out nets ?" " Yes ; with swift hounds I follow 

 the wild deer." "What wild deer do you 

 chiefly take?" "Harts, boars, and fallow 

 deer." "Did you hunt to-day ?" "No, be- 

 cause it was Sunday ; but yesterday I did. I 

 took two harts and a wild boar." " How ?" 

 " The harts in the nets, and the boar I slew." 

 " How dared you slay him ?" " The hounds 

 drew him to me, and I, standing opposite to 

 him, slew him. Such was his fate — one of 

 the most handsome animals I ever beheld of 

 his kind, and such as few have ever seen the 

 like. His size was very great ; whilst his 

 enormous tusks added a formidable fierce- 

 ness to his appearance, which I shall never 

 forget." 



Strutt thus mentions the wild boar in the 

 days of Edward the Second : — 



" Master John Gyftbrd and William Twety, 

 that were with King Edward the Second, com- 

 posed a book on the craft of hunting, the which 

 book is now preserved in the Cottonian Library. 



