VARIETIES OF THE DOG. 31 



It will be evident, however, from the story of the noble hound whose 

 history is just related, that the greyhounds of the time were very different 

 from those which are used at the present day. There are no Glerts now 

 to combat successfully with the wolf, if these ferocious animals were yet 

 to be met with in our forests. The greyhound of this early period must 

 have resembled the Irish wolf-dog of the present day, a larger, stronger, 

 fiercer dog than we are accustomed to see. 



The owner of Gelert lived in the time of John, in the early part of the 

 thirteenth century ; but, at the latter part of the fifteenth century, the 

 following singular description is given of the greyhound of that period. 

 It is extracted from a very curious work entitled " The Treatise per- 

 teynynge to Hawkynge, Huntynge, &c., emprynted at Westmestre, by 

 Wynkyn de Werde, 1496." 



A greyhounde should be headed lyke a snake, 



And neckyd lyke a drake, 



Fotyd lyke a cat, 



Tayled lyke a ratte, 



Syded like a teme 



And chyned like a bream. 



The fyrste yere he must lerne to fede, 



The seconde yere to feld him lede. 



The thyrde yere he is felow lyke. 



The fourth yere there is none syke. 



The fifth yere he is good ynough. 



The syxth yere he shall hold the plough, 



The seventh yere he will avaylle 



Grete bytches for assayle. 



But when he is come to the ninth yere 



Have him then to the tannere ; 



For the best hounde that ever bytch had 



At the ninth yere is full bad. 



As to the destiny of the poor animal in his ninth year, we differ from 

 the author ; but it cannot be denied that few dogs retain their speed be- 

 yond the eighth or ninth year. 



There can scarcely be a better description of the greyhound of the 

 present day ; but it would not do for the antagonist of the wolf. The 

 breed had probably begun to degenerate, and that process would seem to 

 have slowly progressed. Towards the close of the last century Lord 

 Orford, a nobleman enthusiastically devoted to coursing, imagined, and 

 rightly, that the greyhound of his day was deficient in courage and per- 

 severance. He bethought himself how this could best be rectified, and he 

 adopted a plan which brought upon him much ridicule at the time, but 

 ultimately redounded to his credit. He selected a bull-dog, one of the 

 smooth rat-tailed species, and he crossed one of his greyhound bitches 

 with him. He kept the female whelps and crossed them with some of 

 his fleetest dogs, and the consequence was, that, after the sixth or seventh 

 generation, there was not a vestige left of the form of the bull-dog; but 

 his courage and his indomitable perseverance remained, and, having once 

 started after his game, he did not relinquish chase until he fell exhausted 

 or perhaps died. This cross is now almost universally adopted. It is 

 one of the secrets in the breeding of the greyhound. 



Of the stanchness of the well-bred greyhound, the following is a satis- 

 factory example. A hare was started before a brace of greyhounds, and 

 ran by them for several miles. When they were found, both the dogs 

 and the hare lay dead within a few yards of the each other. A labouring 



