88 FOREST CREATURES. 



others, ivlio had the same devotion to it as themselves, 

 such partial, such irritating concessions. "WTien enclo- 

 sures were made by the nobles round their fields or 

 young plantations, they were not to be too high, in order 

 that the deer might pass ; nor was it permitted for the 

 palings to have points to them, lest the game should do 

 itself an injury in leaping over. Although the right of 

 chase belonged exclusively to the possessor of the forest, 

 still exception was made in favour of the sovereign. 

 Thus, in an old code it is written, " and no one shall 

 hunt in the deer forest without the Bishop of Maury's 

 sanction. But if a knight shall come with many-coloured 

 clothes, with an ermine bonnet and a yewen bow with a 

 silken string, with arrows whose shafts are feathered 

 with peacocks' feathers, and with a snoAV-white hound 

 with long pendent ears, led in a silken leash, such an one 

 shall be aided to do his will, and without let or hin- 

 drance." 



We know that the chase was a recreation sought ex- 

 clusively by the high and powerful of the land. It was 

 their chief delight, and they followed it passionately, 

 sacrificing everything to its pursuit. It was natural 

 therefore that their dependents, who ministered to this 

 pleasure, should endeavour by every means possible to 

 procure for their master the greatest amount of enjoy- 

 ment. * It was necessary to know where, at certain times, 



* When stalking, the Duke of Hesse Darmstadt was accustomed to 



