THE BLOODHOUND 



And hark ! and hark ! the deep-mouthed barl^ 



Comes nigher stilly and nigher ; 

 Bursts on the path a dark bloodhound. 

 His tawny muzzle tracked the ground. 

 And his red eye shot fire. 



Scott. 



OF all the Saints in the calendar the sportsman has most reason 

 to remember the goodly Abbot of the Ardennes, St. 

 Hubert, after whom were named two strains of mighty hounds, the 

 black and the white. Devotion to the memory of the founder of 

 the Abbey induced successive Abbots to cherish the hounds, from 

 which are descended the line varieties found in France and Great 

 Britain unto this day. William the Conqueror had the honour of 

 introducing the bloodhound into this country, where he has remained 

 ever since under several styles — lyme hound, sleuth hound, etc. 

 Right down the pages of history we hnd him popping up, some- 

 times with sinister import, as when he nearly succeeded in bringing 

 Robert Bruce into the hands of his pursuers. The fugitive escaped 

 by the familiar device of wading along a burn : 



