THE BEAR. ii 



once " refertissimam," full of them.* , Camden, too, 

 writing of Perthshire, observes : " This Athole is 

 a country fruitful enough, having woody vallies, 

 where once the Caledonian forest (dreadful for its 

 dark intricate windings and for its dens of Bears, and 

 its huge wild thick-maned bulls) extended itself far 

 and near in these parts, "t 



After the occupation of Britain by the Eomans, 

 Caledonian Bears seem to have been perfectly well 

 •known in Rome. We learn from Martial that they 

 were used for the purpose of tormenting male- 

 factors, of which we have an instance in the fate 

 of Laureolus : J 



Nuda Oaledonio sic pectora prsebuit urso, 

 Non falsa pendens in cruce, Laureolus. 



Which may be Englished : 



Tinas Laureolus, on no ideal cross suspended, 

 Presents his nude body to the Caledonian bear. 



Camden, quoting Plutarch, assures us " that they 

 transported Bears from Britain to Rome, where they 

 held them in great admiration. "§ How these Bears 

 were captured, and in what way they were trans- 

 ported to the coast and shipped on board the Roman 



* "De origine, moribus, &c, Scotorum," 1578. 



f " Britannia," ed. Gibson, vol. ii. p. 293 ; ed. Phil. Holland, ii. 

 p. 40. See also " Old Statist. Ace. Scotl.," vol. xii. p. 449 (1794). 



J Martial, " De Spect.," vii. 3, 4. 



§ Camden, ed. Holland, ii. p. 31. Gough, in his edition (vol. iii. 

 p. 367), says that neither he nor Pennant could discover the passage 

 referred to, nor have we been more successful. The passage from 

 Martial, however, is thus commented on in the Delphin edition: — 

 " Caledonia, regio Britannia, ubi sylvcb densissimce uncle ecevi wsi 

 Bomam mittebantur." 



C 2 



