HARE-HUNTING 113 



always reckoned among the beasts of chase, 

 and sometimes as the " king of beasts " ; 

 her order amongst beasts of venery came 

 third or first, according to the fancy of the 

 period, but always far ahead of the fox, 

 which was vermin. Here is one list of the 

 " Beasts of venery." " Hart, hinde, hare, wild 

 boar, wolf. Beasts for hunting : ye hare, 

 hart, wolf, wild boar. Beasts for the chase : 

 ye buck, ye doe, fox, marten, roe. Beasts 

 which afford greate dysporte : badger, wild 

 cat, otter." 



It is interesting, I mean for a fox-hunter, 

 -to try and discover why the hare was so 

 much preferred to the fox by the sportsmen 

 of two hundred years ago. One of them 

 gives this reason : " The Fox never flies far 



before the Hounds, trusting not on his Legs, 

 8 



