CHAPTER I 



PRIVATE COURSING 



Though coursing is probably the oldest existing 

 sport, it is only of late years that any attention has 

 been paid to it from a literary point of view, and even 

 now authoritative works on coursing are very scarce. 

 The 'Coursing Calendar,' in its present form, was 

 begun in 1857, with ' Stonehenge ' for its editor, and 

 in 1882 the 'Greyhound Stud Book' came into 

 existence. Previously to 1857 some few odd 

 calendars had been issued, but no prnited record of 

 the sport was published before 1828, when 'The 

 Courser's Manual or Stud Book,' by Thomas Good- 

 lake, made its appearance. This work was originated 

 by a Mr. Barnard, of the Malton Coursing Club, 

 who died long before the work was completed, and, 

 leaving his unarranged materials to Mr. Goodlake, 

 that gentleman brought the volume to a successful 

 issue. There was then an interim before ' Thacker's 

 Calendar ' made its intermittent appearances ; but 



