AND AMERICAN RURAL SPORTS. 
Ah! what was then Llewelyn’s pain, 
For now the truth was clear; 
His gallant hound the wolf had slain, 
To save Llewelyn’s heir. é 
To mitigate his offence, Llewelyn built this chapel, and 
raised a tomb to poor Gelert; and the spot to this day is 
called Beth Gelert; or, the Grave of Gelert, “‘ where 
never could the spearmen pass or forester unmoved.”” 
A further instance of the attachment of the Greyhound 
is to be found among the specimens of early English Me- 
trical Romance, by George Ellis, Esq., under the article 
Sir Friamous; 
“The good Greyhound, for weal ne wo, 
Would not fro the knight go; 
But lay and licked his wound: 
He weened to have heald him again, 
And thereto he did his pain ; 
Lo! such love is in a hound! 
“He even scraped a pit for the dead body, covered it 
with moss and leaves, and guarded it with constant atten- 
tion, except during the times when he was employed in 
securing his own subsistence. 
‘¢ As his prey diminished, the length of his chase gra- 
dually increased; and at the close of the seventh year, at 
the festival of Christmas, he suddenly appeared, gaunt 
with hunger, an unexpected visitor in the hall of King 
Arragon. Such an apparition excited general surprise, 
and particularly attracted the attention of Aradas; but the 
animal, with a gentleness of demeanour, which belied his 
savage appearance, made the round of the tables and dis- 
appeared. He returned on the second day, again survey- 
ed the company, received his pittance, and retreated. The 
king now recollected the dog, and gave orders to his at- 
tendants, that, if he should return, they should follow 
without loss of time, in the confidence that he would lead 
them to the place where Sir Roger and the Queen were 
secreted. On the third day of the festival, the hall was 
filled at an early hour, and Sir Marrack for the first time 
took his seat amongst the guests. The Greyhound did not 
fail to repeat his visits, and with the rapidity of lightning, 
instantly sprung upon the murderer of his master:— 
“He took the steward by the throat, 
And asunder he it bote; 
But then he would not ’bide: 
For to his grave he ran. 
Then followed him many a man, 
Some on horse, and some beside, 
And when he came where his master was, 
He laid him down upon the grass, 
And barked at the man again, 
Qe 
153 
«<The crowd who had followed him, being unable to 
drive him from the spot, returned with the tidings to the 
king, who instantly comprehended the whole mystery. 
He directed them to dig for the body, which they readily 
found, and which had been miraculously preserved in 
such a state of preservation as to be easily recognized. It 
was then buried in holy ground with all due solemnity, 
and the faithful dog shortly after expired on the tomb 
which was raised in memory of his master.”’ 
The Greyhounds, however, of these early days, were, 
in all probability, something similar to the Irish wolf dog, 
or large rough Greyhound, from which the modern Grey- 
hound was bred no doubt, but, in the progress of what was 
considered improvement, very much altered in appear- 
ance, and became less powerful and less courageous. The 
modern Greyhound exhibits a striking instance of what 
may be accomplished by attention in the way of speed and 
beauty; but this has been obtained at the expense of 
strength, of courage, and of sagacity. We have many re- 
corded instances of the striking sagacity of the Greyhound 
of old; but it is an incontrovertible fact, that the modern 
high-bred Greyhound, on the score of sagacity, is inferior 
to every other variety of the dog tribe. But to pro- 
ceed— 
In former days, such was the esteem in which Grey- 
hounds were held, that even their collars were composed 
of the most valuable materials. In Hawes’ Pastime of 
Pleasure, written in the time of Henry VII. Fame is at- 
tended with two Greyhounds; in whose golden collars, 
Grace and Governance are inscribed in golden letters. 
These ornaments are often mentioned in the inventory of 
furniture, in the royal palaces of Henry VIII. In the 
Castle of Windsor, under the article Collars, may be 
found the following entries:— 
“Two Greyhounds’ coliars of crimson velvet and cloth 
of gold, lacking torretes.”” 
‘¢Two other collars with the king’s arms, and at the 
ende portcullis and rose.” 
“‘Item.—A collar, embrowdered with pomegranates 
and roses, with torretes of silver and gilte.”—‘* A collar 
garnished with stole work, with one shallop shelle of silver 
and gilte.”’ 
In Henry the Eighth’s reign, the Greyhound was dis- 
tinguished as one of the king’s beasts:—we read that at 
the siege of Tournay, in the year of 1513, instead of a tent, 
Henry had a timber house with an iron chimney, and 
several pavilions, on the top of which stood ‘the king’s 
beastes, viz. the lion, the dragon, the antelope, the Grey- 
hound, and the dun cow.”’ 
The old couplets that describe the Greyhound are very 
