INTRODUCTION. 



of the King : " Sir William Pykering received forty-five 

 shillings for a course that he won of the king's grase in 

 Eltham Park against his dog; and another person twenty- 

 two and sixpence for bets that he won of the king in 

 Eltham Park. Also the Lord Rochford forty-five shil- 

 lings for a wager he won with a brace of Greyhounds at 

 Mote Park." 



In the reign of Elizabeth, Dr. Johannes Caius wrote his 

 ft Englishe Dogges,"* in which the Greyhound is described, 

 but not with that accuracy of detail which we find in the 

 writings of Gervase Markham, who followed a generation 

 later, or of Edmund de Langley, who preceded him by 

 about two centuries. 



Caius recognises the distinction in size, coat, and the 

 purposes to which the dogs were put which answer to our 

 Deerhounds and Greyhounds of to-day. " Some," he 

 remarks, "are of a greater sorte, and some of a lesser; 

 some are smooth skynned, and some are curled ; the bigger, 

 therefore, are appoynted to hunt the bigger beasts, and 

 the smaller serve to hunte the lesser accordingly." 



The Gazehound, one of this group, used to single out 

 and pursue the wounded or selected deer by sight alone, 

 is also mentioned by Caius, but by him wrongly termed 

 "AgaseuSj" which really represents the Beagle, and had been 

 applied to that dog for centuries previous to his time. 



In Elizabeth's reign the diversion of coursing became 

 more fashionable than it had ever been previously, and 

 Her Majesty personally enjoyed the sport of coursing 

 stags with Greyhounds. It is recorded that, on a visit to 



* A yerbatim reprint of this book has been published by L. Upcott Gill, 

 170, Strand, London. 



