HISTORICAL NOTICES OF THE GREYHOUND. 237 



Syded lyke a teme, 



And chynyd lyke a beme. 



The fyrst yere he must lerne to fede ; 



The second yere to felde him lede ; 



The thyrde yere he is felowe lyke ; 



The fourth yere there is none syke ; 



The fyfth yere he is good enough ; 



The syxte yere he shall hold the plough ; 



The seventh yere he woll avaylle 



Crete bytches for to assaylle ; 



The eygthe yere licke ladyll ; 



The nynthe yere cartsadyll, 



And when he is comyn to that yere 



Have him to the tannere ; 



For the best hounde that ever bytche had 



At nynthe yere he is full badde." 



From this it appears that the fair authoress had no faith in breeding from very old sires, an 

 opinion which is generally shared in the present day by practical men. 



All writers on the breed seem to be unanimous in denouncing thick, heavy-headed dogs. 

 Arrian describes Greyhounds as bad who " are heavy-headed . . . with a blunt instead of a 

 pointed termination" (to the muzzle). In the "Mayster of Game," by Edmund de Langley, 

 which has been before alluded to, it is said that " The Greihound should have a long hede and 

 some dele grete ... a good large mouth, and good sessours, the one again the other, so that 

 the nether jaws passe not them above." This certainly is an important remark in connection 

 with the breed, and one which should not be lost sight of, as it would seem to imply that an under- 

 hung dog or, in plain words, one possessing too much Bull blood was objected to in the days 

 of the writer. It is only natural, however, to conjecture that the Bull, or rather Bandog cross 

 had not had a fair trial at that period, for, as we have before endeavoured to show, there can be 

 little doubt that the Greyhounds were, several centuries ago, of necessity a stouter dog than 

 the modern hound, and therefore the introduction of a Bull cross was scarcely necessary. 



Dr. John Caius thus alludes to the " Grehounde " in his book : 



" There is another kind of dogge which for his incredible swiftness is called Leporarius or 

 Grehounde, because the principall service of them dependeth and consisteth in starting and 

 hunting the hare, which dogges likewyse are indued with no less strength than lightness in 

 maintenance of the game, in serving the chase, in taking the bucke, the harte, the dowe, the 

 foxe, and other beastes ordained for the game of hunting. . . . For it is a spare and bare 

 kinde of dogge (of fleshe but not of bone) ; some are of a greater sorte, and some of a lesser, 

 some are smooth skynned, and some are curled ; the bigger are therefore appoynted to hunt the 

 bigger beasts, and the smaller serve to hunt the smaller accordingly." 



Dr. Caius also alludes to another variety of dog, the description of which contains several 

 points which are identical with the peculiarities of the Greyhound. The following is the manner in 

 which it is alluded to by Dr. John Caius : 



" This kinde of dogge, which pursueth by the eye, prevayleth little, or never a whit, by any 

 benefite of the nose that is by smelling, but excelleth in perspicuitie and sharpnesse of sight 

 altogether, by the vertue whereof, being singular and notable, it hunteth the foxe and the hare. 

 . . . . Our countrymen call this dogge Agaseum, a Gazehounde, because the beames of his 



