COUk'SJNG THE HAKE 



CHAPTER II 



PUBLIC COURSING 



Purj.ic roiirsint;- has l)ccn in existence for at least 

 1 20 years, as all the records tell us that Lord Orford 

 founded the Swaffhani Club, in Norfolk, in the year 

 1776. This Lord Orford was a most eccentric man 

 according to all accounts, but he was a thorough 

 sportsman, and no doubt he did much to improve the 

 breed of greyhounds. My own opinion is that before 

 his time no very great amount of attention had been 

 paid to pace, and that in consequence it was found 

 that the hare was more than a match for any dog that 

 ran by sight and not by scent. This may be mere 

 conjecture on my part ; but I remember reading many 

 years ago, in an old book which I have lost, and the 

 name of which I have quite forgotten, that all sorts of 

 endeavours were made in Yorkshire (the names of 

 places in the North and li^ast Riding were given) to 

 improve the pace of the greyhound, so that he might 

 be a match for the hare. Then Lord Orford's historian 



