10' HUNTING DIRECTORY. 



Ancient British Sportsmen. 



civilized man ; and no doubt can be entertained, that the 

 inhabitants of this island, prior to the invasion of Julius 

 Caesar, followed the chase, as well for amusement, as for 

 the means of subsistence ; but, as we are ignorant of the 

 means which they adopted to accomplish their purpose, 

 we must be content with the slender knowledge we pos- 

 sess on the subject, and proceed for further information 

 to periods when the chase was followed under what may 

 be called a regular and well-authenticated form. 



When the Saxons visited this country, hunting as- 

 sumed an organized character ; and no sooner had the 

 Danes attained the mastery, than they instituted laws 

 for the protection of game, the increased severity of 

 which marked the imperious sway of the Normans, and 

 fixed an indelible stigma on the memory of William I. 

 The Saxons were undoubtedly much attached to hunting 

 — the same remark will equally apply to the Danes ; 

 while the Normans manifested such an invincible passion 

 for field sports, that the business of the chase was re- 

 garded as one of the most important duties of life by the 

 monarch and all the great men of the kingdom. Hence 

 it is not surprising, that the science of hunting should 

 have made considerable progress under such ardent 

 sportsmen ; the services of that noblest of quadrupeds, 

 the horse,* were called in to enhance the pleasures of the 

 chase ; and the breeding of hounds seems, at this period, 

 to have been well understood, and pursued upon syste- 

 matic principles. It is true, the hounds used by the 



• It is doubtful if the horse was used in the chase prior to the Norman 

 Conquest. 



