THOMAS B LUND EVIL ON SHOEING. 457 



shoe unto the horse's foot, in making nails of good stuff, 

 and well fashioning the same, and finally in well driving 

 of the said nails, and clenching of the same. But as 

 neither paring nor shoeing is no absolute thing of itself, 

 but hath respect unto the foot or hoof (for the shoe is to 

 be fitted to the foot, and not the foot to the shoe), and that 

 there be diverse kinds of hoofs both good and bad, re- 

 quiring great diversity as well of paring as shoeing, it is 

 meet, therefore, that we first talk of the diversity of hoofs, 

 and then show you how they ought to be pared and 

 shod.' 



After describing the hoofs in a very quaint manner, 

 and showing us, unwittingly, how much disease and de- 

 fective form prevailed, and which arose, no doubt, from bad 

 shoeing, paring the hoofs is next commented upon, when 

 he talks about the ' butter.' This is the ungainly weapon 

 or instrument long wielded with such fatal effect on 

 horses' feet in England, and still in use on the continent. 

 It appears to have been introduced into this country and 

 P\ance from Germany, the authors of the ' Origines de 

 la langue Franqaise ' deriving it from dozeii or botzen, to 

 push, in Old German. In France, from an early period, it 

 has been named boiUoir, from whence Blundevil, who is 

 the first to import it into our language, terms it ' butter.' 

 Up to a recent date it was in use in England, and was 

 known as ' butress.' Contemporaneously with its men- 

 tion in the writings of the old farriers, do we find serious 

 diseases of the feet noticed, and particularly contraction 

 of the hoofs at the heels. 



While Blundevil is advising that the heels of the fore 

 feet should be gently pared, he recommends that ' the 



