i go 



THE NEW BOOK OF THE DOG. 



THE VISION OF ST. HUBERT. 



PAINTED BY ALBERT DURER EARLY IN THE FIFTEENTH CENTURY. 



(The Greyhound in front of the horse should be particularly studied.) 



a good idea of a course is given in the lines 

 of Ovid, translated by Dryden. 



" As when the impatient Greyhound, slipped 



from far, 

 Bounds o'er the glade to course the fearful 



hare, 



She in her speed does all her safety lie, 

 And he \vith double speed pursues his prey, 

 O'erruns her at the sitting turn ; but licks 

 His chaps in vain ; yet blows upon the flix, 

 She seeks the shelter which the neighbouring 



'covert gives, 

 And, gaining it, she doubts if yet she lives." 



All writings in connection with Greyhounds 

 point to the high estimation in which the 

 dog has always been held. Dr. Caius, 

 when referring to the name, says " The Grey- 

 hound hath his name of this word gre ; 

 which word soundeth gradus in Latin, in 

 Englishe degree, because among all dogges 



these are the most principall, 

 occupying the chiefest place, and 

 being simply and absolutely the 

 best of the gentle kinde of 

 Houndes." 



It was not, however, until the 

 reign of Queen Elizabeth that 

 coursing in England was con- 

 ducted under established rules. 

 These were drawn up by the 

 then Duke of Norfolk. The sport 

 quickly grew in favour, and con- 

 tinued to increase in popularity 

 until the first coursing club was 

 established at Swaffham in 1776. 

 Then in 1780 the Ashdown Park 

 Meeting came into existence, and 

 for several years was quite at 

 the top of the tree. The New- 

 market Meeting in 1805 was the 

 next fixture that was inaugu- 

 rated, and this now remains 

 with the champion stakes as its 

 most important event. After- 

 wards came the Amesbury Meet- 

 ing in 1822, but Amesbury, like 

 Ashdown, although for many 

 years one of the most celebrated 

 institutions of the description, has 

 fallen from its high estate. Three 

 years later came the Altcar Club. But it 

 was not until eleven years after this period 

 that the Waterloo Cup was instituted (in 

 1836), to win which is the highest ambition 

 of followers of the leash. 



At the present time the run for the Water- 

 loo Cup, which at the commencement was an 

 eight dog stake, is composed of sixty-four 

 nominations, the entry fee for which is 25. 

 The winner takes 500, and the cup, value 

 100, presented by the Earl of Sefton, the 

 runner up 200, the third and fourth 50 

 each, four dogs 36 each, eight dogs 20 each, 

 and sixteen dogs 10 each. The thirty-two 

 dogs beaten in the first round of the Cup 

 compete for the Waterloo Purse, value 215, 

 and the sixteen dogs run out in the second 

 round for the Waterloo Plate, value 145. 

 The winner in each case taking 75, and 

 the runner up 30, the remainder being 

 divided amongst the most forward runners 



