54 NATURAL HISTORY OF THE HARE 



and buy a nice hare, and git a bill for it, and ha' the 

 bill reseated ; be sure, bor, yow take care o' that.' 

 Next da', up come the police, kind o' smilin'. ' I'a 

 got a hare for ye,' ses I. 'How much is it, bor?' 

 ses he. ' Two shillin's,' ses I. ' Tha's tu much,' ses 

 he. ' Don't sin golderin about no sech nonsense,' 

 ses I ; ' there's the hare, and I 'on't take no less. If 

 you don't like it, you may lump it.' So off he go 

 over that there midder, with the hare in his pocket. 

 In a da' or two, he come agin, with his hat cocked o' 

 one side, and sa', ' Yow must go along o' me to the 

 magistrate's, Setten, about that there hare. Yow'll 

 hear further about that.' ' Very well,' ses I, ' I ha'n't 

 no objections. Other folks can see jest as far into a 

 millstone as yow, with all your know.' So when the 

 gen'lmen were a goin' to hear my case, I pulled out 

 the bill riddy reseated, and pruvved that I'd sold 

 the hare agin at a loss, all to oblige the nice-lookin' 

 police." ' • 



In mediaeval days the hare claimed the protection 

 of the law no less than the red deer or the wild boar. 

 In England, as also upon the Continent, the chase of 

 the hare was held in high esteem. A special breed 

 of fleet greyhounds, termed leporarii, was maintained 

 both in England and in France. King John, for 



' The Dovecote mid Aviaiy, p. 448. 



