4 INTRODUCTION. 



His forte lay more in hunting and fowling than in 

 fishing,* and in all that relates to deer-stalking (as prac- 

 tised in his day, when the deer was killed with cross-bow 

 or bow and arrow), to deer-hunting with hounds, and to 

 coursing, we find him fully informed. 



In the less noble art of bird-catching f he was probably 

 no mean adept, while the knowledge which he displays of 

 the habits of our wild animals, as the fox, the badger, the 

 weasel, and the wild cat, could only have been acquired by 

 one accustomed to much observation by flood and field. 



On each of these subjects a chapter might be written, 

 but it will suffice for our present purpose to draw attention 

 only to some of the more remarkable passages in support 

 of the assertions above made. 



Deer-shooting was a favourite sport of both sexes in 

 Shakespeare's day, and to enable the ladies to enjoy it in 

 safety, "stands," or "standings," were erected in many 

 parks, and concealed with boughs. From these the 

 ladies with bow and arrow, or cross-bow, shot at 

 the deer as they were driven past them by the keepers. 



any strange beast there makes a man : when they will not give a doit to relieve a 

 lame beggar, they will lay out ten to see a dead Indian !" Tempest, Act ii. 

 Sc. 2. 



* The author of "The Treatyse of Fysshynge wyth an Angle, 1496," makes the 

 following quaint remarks on the superiority of " Fysshynge" over " Huntynge" : 

 "For huntynge, as to myn entent, is too laboryous, for the hunter must alvvaye 

 renne and followe his houndes : traueyllynge and swetynge full sore. He blowyth 

 tyll his lyppes blyster. And when he weenyth it be an hare, full oft it is an hegge 

 hogge. Thus he chasyth and wote not what." 



f The subject of Bird-catching will be fully discussed in a subsequent chapter. 



