DOGS OF THE OLDEN TIME. 343 



estimation, that, by the forest laws of Canute the Great, 

 no person under the rank of a gentleman was allowed to 

 keep one. 



At this period, and until after the Norman conquest, 

 the chase was always pursued on foot; the Normans 

 having been the first to introduce the mode of following 

 their game on horseback. 



It is obvious from the rough and uncultivated state of 

 the country, and the nature of the game which was then 

 the object of the chase (viz., deer of all sorts, wolves, and 

 foxes), that the dogs then used would be of a larger, 

 fiercer, and more shaggy description than the greyhounds 

 of the present day, which are bred solely for speed, and 

 have, by modern culture and experimental crosses, been 

 rendered, in all probability a swifter animal, and better 

 suited for coursing the hare in a level country. 



As cultivation increased, the game, for which the deer- 

 hound was particularly suited, gradually diminished, and 

 the improvement in agriculture in England being more 

 rapid than in the sister kingdoms, the diminution of deer 

 and wolves was proportionally great. The deerhound, 

 consequently, in that country, degenerated from want of 

 attention to its peculiar characteristics, and gradually 

 merged into the greyhound of the present day. 



In Scotland, Ireland, and Wales, red deer continued to 

 be the objects of the chase till a much later period than in 

 England ; and as from the rugged and uncultivated state 

 of these countries the game could only be followed on 

 foot, it was necessary to use that species of dog which 

 would enable the sportsman to view and enjoy the chase. 



At an early period, the name by which these dogs were 



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