THE BEAR. 17 



Many places in "Wales, says Pennant, still re- 

 tain the name of Penarth, or "the bear's head," 

 another evidence of their former existence in our. 

 country.* 



Our illustrious countryman, John Ray, in his 

 "Synopsis Methodica Animalium" (a small octavo 

 volume, published in 1693), tells us (pp. 213, 214) 

 that his friend Mr. Edward Llwyd, in an old Welsh 

 MS. on British laws and customs, discovered cer- 

 tain statutes and regulations relating to hunting, 

 from which it appeared that the Bear was formerly 

 reckoned amongst the beasts of chase (E novem quae 

 venantur ferarum generibus tria tantum latrabilia t 

 esse, ursum, scandentia,\ et phasianum, and its 

 flesh was esteemed equally with that of the Hare 

 and the Wild Boar: " Summam seu prcecipuce cestima- 

 tionis ferinam esse, ursi, leporis et apri."\ 



* "British Zoology," vol. i. p. 91 (ed. 1812).* 



t Latrabilia, " baitable animals." The term is thus explained by 

 Ray. (op. oit.) : " Ursus fera latrabiUs [baitable] dicitur, quia cum 

 tardigradus sit, nee velociter currere possit, canes eum facile asse- 

 quuntur, contra quos deinde corpore in clunes erecto aliquandiu se 

 defendit ; canes autem initio timidi nee propius accedere aut eum 

 allatrant antequam aggrediantur et occidant." See also Stuart, 

 " Lays of the Deer Forest," vol. ii. p. 441. 



J Scandentia, sc, " climbers," the marten and wild cat, perhaps also 

 the squirrel. The mention of the pheasant here is remarkable, and 

 we should be curious to discover the date of this MS., if still preserved, 

 and the Welsh equivalent, in Llwyd's opinion, for " phasianum." We 

 know from another source (a MS. dated about 1 177) that this bird 

 was to be found here in 1059, since it is included in a bill of fare of 

 that date prescribed by Harold for the household of the canons at 

 Waltham Abbey. It would be interesting to know whether the Welsh 

 MS. referred to was an earlier document or otherwise. 



§ In " a letter (dated Sept. 14, 1696) from the late Mr. Edward 

 Llwyd, Keeper of the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford, to Dr. Tancred 

 Eobinson, F.K.S., containing several observations in Natural History, 



