THE NEW FOREST DEER 79 



posed on the unfortunate Walter was one that 

 no subject except one of the highest magnates of 

 the kingdom could be expected to raise. Cer- 

 tainly it was not then, or now, one that a salaried 

 Forest official was likely to be able to produce. 

 Therefore the very best prospect before poor 

 Walter de Kane* was that of rotting in a dungeon 

 for the rest of his life, and reflecting how meanly 

 all his Forest friends and associates had rounded 

 on him when the day of trouble came and they 

 began to tremble for their own skins. 



But I quote these old records to show how 

 very high was the value and importance set on 

 the deer, and how it was still a matter of life or 

 death to take liberties with them. The fine im- 

 posed of 10 per head can only have been a 

 vindictive one. Even in those days, when venison 

 may have been of much greater value than it is 

 now (for most people despise it, if compared with 

 ordinary butcher's meat), no deer could possibly 

 have been worth a fifth part of the value put 

 upon it. It was the estimation in which the 

 " venison" of the Forest, comprising a good deal 

 more than mere deer's flesh, was held that caused 

 these tremendous penalties to be fixed. 



I have not come across any particular records 

 about the deer in Tudor times. Doubtless there are 

 such records, interesting enough, but they require 



