THE GREYHOUND. 



igi 



in the respective stakes. The Waterloo 

 Cup holds the same position in coursing 

 circles as the Derby does in horse racing. 



The National Coursing Club was estab- 

 lished in 1858, when a stud book was com- 

 menced, and a code of laws drawn up for 

 the regulation of coursing meetings. This 

 is recognised in Australia and other parts of 

 the world where coursing meetings are held. 

 The Stud Book, of which Mr. W. F. Lamonby 

 is the keeper, contains particulars of all 

 the best-known Greyhounds in the United 

 Kingdom, and a dog is not allowed to 

 compete at any of the large meetings held 

 under Coursing Club Rules unless it has 

 been duly entered with its pedigree com- 

 plete. In fact, the National Coursing Club 

 is more particular in connection with the 

 pedigrees of Greyhounds being correctly 

 given, than the Kennel Club is about dogs 

 that are exhibited ; and that is saying a 

 great deal, for whereas the latter allows a 

 dog to be registered whose pedigree is un- 

 known, a Greyhound without a pedigree is 

 not allowed to compete at all. The National 

 Coursing Club is conducted on somewhat the 

 same lines as the American Kennel Club, 

 the council being partly composed of repre- 

 sentatives from the less important clubs, 

 provided the latter are of more than one 

 year's standing, and have more than twenty 

 members. It holds the same position in 

 coursing matters as the Jockey Club does 

 in racing. It is, in fact, the supreme au- 

 thority on all matters connected with 

 coursing. All disputes are arbitrated upon 

 by the Council, which has power to disqualify 

 any person who has disregarded the rules 

 or dog about which there is any suspicion. 



For the benefit of the uninitiated in cours- 

 ing lore I give the value of the points when 

 a brace of Greyhounds leaves the slips : 



Speed is necessarily the important point, 

 for although stakes are sometimes won by 

 Greyhounds that are not remarkable for 

 great pace, but are clever workers, and have 

 plenty of stamina, the fastest dogs are those 

 that get more often to the end of the stake. 

 The points that are allowed for the " run 

 up " may be one, two, or three, according 

 to the length of the lead, and the conditions 



upon which it is obtained. The " run up " 

 which is followed by a " turn " or " wrench " 

 may give a Greyhound five points to start 

 with. _The "go-bye " is valued at two points, 

 or three if it is on the outer side. The 

 " turn " at one point is when the hare, 

 being pressed by the leading dogs, turns at 

 a right angle from the line that she is 

 running. The " wrench," valued at half a 

 point, is when the hare only bends from the 

 line that is being taken. If, however, the 

 hare alters its course without being pressed 

 nothing is allowed. The " trip," for which 

 one point is allowed, is an unsuccessful 

 effort to kill, the hare being thrown off its 

 legs or flecked by the Greyhound in the 

 attempt. Then there is the " kill," value 



PHILIPPE LE ROY. 



FROM THE PAINTING BY VAN DYCK IN THE WALLACE COLLECTION. 



Photograph by Manscll, Oxford Street. 



