84 THE BOOK OF THE DOG. 



The antiquity of this breed is indisputable, mention being made oi it by Edmond de 

 Langley, in his work, the " Mayster of Game," the MS. of which we have consulted in the 

 British Museum. It is there alluded to by him under the title of Alaunt, and is subdivided by 

 him into three classes ; but perhaps it may be as well to give the description as contained 

 in the " Mayster of Game : " 



"Alaunt is a maner and natre of houndes, and the good Alauntz ben the which men 

 clepyn Alauntz gentil. Other there byn that men clcpyn Alauntz ventreres. Other byn 

 Alauntz of the bochcrie. The! that ben gentile shuld be made and shape as a greyhounde, 

 evyn of alle thingcs, sauf of the heved, the whiche shuld be greet and sliort" After some 

 further remarks, this same dog is said to gladly " renne and bite the hors." " Also thei renne 

 at oxen and at sheep, at swyne, and to alle othere beestis, or to men, or to othcre houndes, 

 for men hav seyn Alauntz sle her maystir ; " and, furthermore, they are described as being 

 " more sturdy than eny other maner of houndes." 



The second class of this dog is thus noticed : " That other nature of Alauntz is clepid 

 ventreres, almost thei bene shapon as a greyhounde of ful shap, thei hav grete hcdes, and 

 greet lippes, and greet eeris. And with such men helpeth hem at the baityng of a boole, 

 and atte huntynge of a wilde boor. Thei holde fast of here nature . . . ." 



The third division : "The Alauntz of the bocherie is soch as ye may alle day see in good 

 tounes that byn called greet bochers houndis. Thei byn good for the baytyng of the bulle and 

 huntyng of the wilde boore, whedir it be w' greihoundis at the tryste w' rennyng houndis at abbay 

 tvith inne the coverte." 



Whatever distinction there may have been between the above three varieties of Alaunt in the 

 days of Edmund de Langley, and though the anonymous writer on the works of Arrian describes 

 these as above, and only attributes to the first two varieties an admixture of pure Celtic blood, it 

 appears to us that the Alaunt is without a doubt the parent strain from which the present Bull-dog 

 is descended ; and although the Mastiff is alluded to by Edmund de Langley in his work, in 

 addition to the three varieties of Alauntz, we can still discover no cause for altering our previously 

 expressed opinion (see chapter on Mastiffs) that the Bull-dog and Mastiff originally sprang from 

 the same origin viz., the Mastive or Barvdogge, which is alluded to in Dr. Caius' book, and has 

 been before quoted in this work on the article on Mastiffs. Before leaving the subject of the 

 " Mayster of Game " we desire to impress upon our readers three items contained in the extracts 

 we have quoted : first, the dog was s/tort-faced ', secondly, he was used to bait the bull ; and 

 thirdly, when he attacked it or other animals he hung on. The first and third of these 

 characteristics are present to a remarkable extent in the Bull-dog of the present day. 



In the work of Dr. Caius, written in the reign of Queen Elizabeth, mention is made of the 

 Mastive or Bandogge, as being a dog " stubborne, eagre, burthenous of body (and therefore but of 

 little swiftness), terrible and feareful to behold," and which " alone, and wythout anye help at al, 

 he pulled down first an huge beare, then a parde, and last of al a lyon, each after other before the 

 Frenche King in one day." This description of Caius's, relating as it does to the Mastive, which 

 has already been alluded to in the "Mayster of Game" as a peaceable dog, only tends to 

 strengthen our previous conviction that the two breeds, Alaunt and Mastiff, had by some means 

 or other become amalgamated, only to be again separated by the later breeders to suit the 

 requirements of the times in the manner we have before suggested. 



