WILD BO.vn.] 



A^D TilElii VAIilOL'S BltEEDS. 



[wild boab. 



Part of it is in verse: it runs tliU3, with no 

 inapt achnouitioa against a lifo of idleuesa : — 



" ' All such ilysport as voyileth ydlenesso 

 It syltytli every gentlfinnu to knowc, 

 Far inyrth annexed is to genlKncssc. 

 ***** 

 Anil for to sette yonge huntcrys in the way 

 Of N'encry, I rnst nie fyrste to goc 

 Of wliieh foiire beastes be — that is to say, 

 The Hare, the Uerte, the Wulf, the Boor also. 

 And thare bon other bestis five of chase 

 The Ikick the liist, the scconde the Do, 

 The Fox the thyrdc, whiclj oft has hardc grace. 

 The forthe the Marty n, and the last the Hoc.' 



" The boor," say the authors of tlie book 

 referred to, " is first a, pi j as long as he is witli 

 his damme ; and wlien tlie damme levjeth 

 him, tlien he is a gorgeant ; and iu the thirde 

 yeare he is called an hoggast ; and when they 

 be foure yeares of age, they shall depart from 

 the sounde for aye ; and when he goeth soolc, 

 then he is called a boor." 



At what precise period the wild boar became 

 extinct in our island cannot be exactly deter- 

 mined ; it is evident, however, that as popu- 

 lation increased, and the vast woods which 

 spread over many parts of the country were 

 cut down and the land cleared, that the range 

 of the boar would become more and more 

 limited, and its numbers decrease, till at 

 length its extirpation would be complete. "We 

 look iu vain for the forest which, iu the twelfth 

 century, covered the country to the north of 

 Loudon ; and of wliicli Fitzstepheu, in the reign 

 of Henry II., writes, observing that, " on the 

 north are corn-fields and delightful meadows, 

 intermixed with pleasant streams, on which 

 stands many a mill, whose clack is so grateful 

 to the ear ; beyond them an immense forest 

 extends itself, beautified with woods and groves, 

 and full of the lairs and coverts of beast and 

 game, stags, bucks, boars, and wild bulls." 

 Banished, however, as the wild boar is from 

 among our native mammalia, " its name is 

 immortalised," as Mr. Bell observes, " by 

 having given origin to the appellation of many 

 places in difl"ereut parts of the country, and 

 by its introduction into the armorial bearings 

 of many distinguished families of every division 

 of the kingdom." 



The special haunts of the wild boar in ancient 

 times, are distinguished by such still-existing 

 names as " "Wild Boar's Fell," iu Cumberland ; 



"Barlow," or "Boar's Field;" Byro lliiia, 

 formerly " Buar's Hills," near St. Andrew'u, 

 iu Scotland ; Mucros, near Killarney, in tho 

 county of Kerry, in Ireland ; and Mucross, in 

 Fifeshire, Scotland — meaning literally, " Boar'a 

 Promontory." This last designation origi- 

 nated in commemoration of the slaughter 

 of an enormous boar, which had previously 

 committed terrible ravages throughout tbo 

 surrounding country. " The village of Brancc- 

 [)etli," says I\Ir. Bell, in bin History of British 

 (2ucidritj>L'ils, " and the adjoining iiill of Bran- 

 don, in the county of Durham, took their names 

 from a wild boar or Irawn, which is recorded 

 to have been a terrilic beast, and tho dread 

 of the whole neighbourhood ; his deu being 

 on Brandon (brawn's den) hill, aud his usual 

 path or tract leading through tho woods of 

 Braucepetli (brawn's path). Tradition states, 

 that one Eoger Hodge, or Iloodge, valiantly 

 slew the monster, and delivered the district 

 from his ravages. The seal of this illustrious 

 lioger still remains, and represents a boar 

 passant." 



Fitzstcplien, who wrote in the latter part of 

 the twelfth century, states that boars, wolves, 

 wild bulls, aud other game, abounded iu the 

 great forests surrounding Loudon ; aud Scot- 

 tish writers have not failed to meution those of 



" Caledonia, stern and wild." 



And it is known, that so recently as the date 

 of Charles I., that monarch endeavoured to 

 introduce the wild boar to the Xew Forest, 

 Hampshire, They were, however, all destroyed 

 during the time of the civil wars. 



Formerly the boar's head was held as a 

 trophy of victory won in single combat between 

 the hunter and the enraged beast. AVoe to 

 the former, if, either froni want of skill or 

 weakness of nerve, he missed his aim. The 

 attack of the roused animal, like that of the 

 Spanish bull iu the arena, was both sudden 

 and impetuous, ripping up with his formidable 

 tusks whatever came in his way, whether man 

 or horse ! Shakspeare's description of an en- 

 raged boar is as true as it is graphic. 



" On his bow-back he hath a battle set. 



Of bristly i)ikes that ever threat his foes ; 

 His eyes like glowworms shine when he doth fret ; 



His snout digs sepulchres where'er he goes. 

 Being moved, he strikes whate'er is in his way, 

 And whom he strikes his cruel tushes slay.'' 



To7 



