252 STAG-HUNTING RECOLLECTIONS 



had been noticed and appreciated ; so one day the Seneschal 

 de Gaston asked the king to let him have the dog. The 

 king, who was not a cheerful giver, asked why and for whom 

 he wanted him. The seneschal replied that it was for ' la 

 plus sage dame ' in the kingdom. Louis, who had a poor 

 opinion of women, was curious to know who the lady might 

 be. On hearing that it was his own daughter, Anne of 

 Bourbon, he only said, ' Dites moins folle que les autres, 

 car de sage femme il n'y en a point au monde,' and, recom- 

 pensed by the epigram, made no further objection to Souillard 

 being drafted to her kennel. 



Anne of Bourbon knew what she was about, and a bitch 

 called Baude was mated with Souillard. Baude's litter by 

 Souillard vindicated her selection. In France a good tufter 

 to this day is always supposed to go back to Souillard. He 

 is Corbet's Trojan and the Beaufort Justice rolled into 

 one. Souillard should always be pointedly referred to some- 

 how at the meet, or, better still, at the brisee, by the 

 intelligent sporting tourist. 



In the footnote I have given, with the late Due 

 d'Aumale's permission, a list of French books on Venerie, 

 which his Koyal Highness very kindly sent me, in his 

 own handwriting, from Chantilly in December 1895.' The 



' Le plus ancien des traites de venerie est celui de Gaston-Phebus, comte de 

 Poix, mort en 1390, mon ancetre et celui de tous les veneurs. L'ddition 

 imprim6e par V6rard a la fin du xv"= si^cle n'en donne qu'une faible idee. II 

 faut se reporter aux nianuscrits et surtout aux enluminures qui les decorent. 

 J'en ai un fort beau. II y en a plusieurs a la Bibliotheque Nationale. — Inte- 

 ressant. 



Presque contemporain, mais moins important, le ' Livre du Eoy Nodus et de 

 laReyne Racio,' imprime aChamberyen 1486, avec de curieux bois.et plusieurs 

 fois reimprinie depuis. J'en ai un joli manuscrit et la tres rai'e premiere 

 edition. — Plus curieux qu'instructif. 



Signalons encore le ' Livre des Deduitz,' i^ar Gace de la Buigne, 6crit en 

 Angleterre pendant la captivite du roi Jean pour enseigner la venerie et la 

 fauconnerie au jeune due de Bourgogne. J'en ai un manuscrit original et j'en 

 ai parl6 dans un ' Essai ' ins6re au tome II des ' Philobiblon Society's Miscel- 

 lanies,' tire a part sous le titre ' Notes et Documents relatifs au Hoi Jean,' etc. 



