311 



CHAP. XL 



" Syr, yf you be on huntynge found, 

 I shall you gyve a good greyhounde, 



That is dunne as a doo ; 

 For as I am a trewe gentylwoman, 

 There never was deer that he at ran, 

 That myght y scape him fro'." 



SIR EGLAMORE. Metrical Romance. 



THE best sort of dog for chasing the deer would un- 

 questionably be the original Scotch or Irish greyhound ; 

 but of this noble animal I shall myself say nothing, being 

 enabled through the kindness of Mr. Macneill of Colonsay 

 to introduce amongst these pages, a dissertation on their 

 race and qualities, put together by him with great research 

 and ability, and accompanied by a recital of a day's deer 

 coursing in the island of Jura. All accounts I have re- 

 ceived from Scotland represent these dogs as very scarce 

 at the present day ; and I am informed that in Sutherland 

 the last of the race in that particular district was a very 

 powerful animal belonging to the late Mr. Gordon of 

 Achness. He was killed by a stag about forty years ago, 

 who transfixed him with the antlers against a rock, leaving 

 three deadly wounds on his body. 



The traditions of that country have handed down stories 

 to us, that prove the great estimation which dogs were 

 held in at very remote periods. One of these traditions, 



x 4 



