DEER- LEAPS 71 



doubt that any deer entering by the " deer-leap " 

 came in from Cannock Chase, lying to the south 

 of it. 



The red deer, we may presume, have long been 

 extinct there, or they would have been noticed by 

 Garner ; but it would be interesting to know 

 whether any wild fallow deer still roam the Chase 

 as they do in Epping Forest. 



Thus far, it will be seen, I have adverted to the 

 use of the term "deer-leap" only in what I con- 

 ceive to be its original sense. In some parts of 

 the country it has a different signification, and is 

 employed to denote a certain space on the boundary 

 of an ancient forest, intervening between the forest 

 and the land adjoining. The exact width of this 

 strip, or leap, is variously estimated in different 

 parts of the country. In a communication, signed 

 " Eboracum," in The Field of December 8, 1883, the 

 writer says : "It bears different names in different 

 localities, as 'bow rake' and "pale dyke,' and is 

 supposed to be nine yards, or as far as a deer can 

 leap or an arrow be shot — hence ' bow rake.' " 

 There must be some mistake however in this in- 

 terpretation of the term "bow rake," for to shoot 

 an arrow only nine yards would be mere child's 

 play. It is more probable that "bow rake" is 

 equivalent to a bow's length. The forester of old, 

 habitually carrying his bow, would always have a 

 convenient measure at hand, and, instead of step- 

 ping out yards as we do now, he would lay down 

 his bow, scratching or "raking" the soil (A.S. 

 racian) with the horn tip of the bow at the end of 



