72 THE NEW FOREST 



peditated," or to have his three front toes cut 

 off with an axe, so as to debar him for ever from 

 running fast enough to chase anything let alone 

 a deer. 



And the test was whether he would pass 

 through a certain large stirrup which hung in the 

 Verderers' Hall at the King's House at Lyndhurst, 

 where the Forest courts were held. If the dog would 

 pass through the stirrup he was a little dog, only fit 

 to guard house and chattels, and free of all risks ; 

 if he would not pass, he was liable to the penalty. 



The ancient stirrup used as this test still hangs 

 in the hall, and though it has not the antiquity 

 popularly assigned to it, being probably of Tudor 

 date, yet it was no doubt used for the practical 

 purpose I have described. 



Such stirrups were not very uncommon, though, 

 I believe, this one is the last in existence. Such 

 an one is referred to in the records of the Forest 

 of Exmoor also, I believe, in those of the Forest 

 of Pickering but this I cannot verify. But the 

 actual lawing seems not to have been carried 

 out after the earliest times. The "jingling of 

 the guinea healed the hurt," that the dog never 

 felt. For this lawing or expeditation was a sub- 

 stantial source of income to the Crown, and 

 those who desired to keep big dogs must pay 

 for them or get rid of them. 



