VENERIE AND THE V A LOIS 247 



fears. After having made a great fuss about holding the 

 castle at all hazards with men at arms, and as many of the 

 gentlemen of their party as they could get together, here is 

 the King off hunting and hawking again, and with him as 

 many of the Court as have got large horses to ride. As for 

 his own suite, he has only two or three pages mounted on 

 Spanish horses.' ' 



Moralists may admonish us of the vanity of human 

 pleasures, but the composing and helpful influences of sheer 

 amusement cannot be overrated. Years before Amboise, 

 as Sir Walter Scott tells us, the strained relations between 

 Charles the Bold and Louis XI. were eased, and the whole 

 ' trame des affaires ' changed, by the chevy after the Rouge 

 Sanglier. As the false herald flew for his life in front of the 

 Snyders-like ' Talbot ' and ' Beaumont,' and doubled here 

 and twisted there in a manner greatly approved by the spec- 

 tators, both kings laughed till the cordial tears ran down their 

 faces, and forgot all about their differences. I dare say that 

 this is not founded on fact, but Sir Walter Scott always 

 knows what would have happened, and it is quite as satis- 

 factory to me as if it had happened. 



Evidently from Chantonnay's letter, the Court was short 

 of horses. Then, as now, hunting was dependent on the 

 grim qualification, with which all who hunt are conversant, 

 of having something to ride. In the preceding reign hardly 

 any seasoned and mettled horses were to be had in France. 

 In February 1557, a capital hunting month, and, I suppose, 

 in open weather, the Connetable de Montmorency writes 

 to M. d'Humieres : '^ 'I've spoken to the King [Henri II.] 



' Archives de Vienne, Lettres de Chantonnay. 



' ' J'ay parl6 au Eoy [Henri II] pour vous donner ung cheval ; il ni'a diet 

 qu'il vous donnera bien un poulain, mais de cheval fait il n'en a pas ; mesmes 

 des turcs que lui a amenes dernierement Morangea il ne s'en est pas trouv6 

 ung seul de service ' (le 11 fevrier 1.557, Bihlioth. Imp., Fonds ClerambauU 

 vol. 61). 



