The Hound Family 599 



sleuth hounds being given to them on the Scottish border. Naturally, in the 

 case of wounded animals breaking away and trace of them being lost, these 

 good-nosed dogs found further employment in tracking the quarry by the 

 blood trail, and here we have the bloodhound name. It was ability, not 

 breeding, that caused a dog to be drafted as a limer or bloodhound, and we 

 cannot show this more conclusively, perhaps, than by jumping to the "Sporting 

 Tour" of Colonel Thornton in France in 1802. In describing wild boar hunt- 

 ing he says: "A huntsman sets his bloodhound upon the scent and follows 

 iiim till he has reared the game." He purchased one of these hounds, 

 which had been bred at Trois Fontaines and illustrated it in his book and it 

 proves to be a basset. Here we have the name applied, as it always had been, 

 to the use the dog was put to and not to the specific breed of the dog. Col- 

 onel Thornton, in speak,ing more particularly of this special dog, said that 

 the breed name was briquet. 



The prevalent opinion is that the bloodhound is a descendant from 

 what has been called the St. Hubert hound, and in support of this contention 

 the favourite piece of evidence is Sir Walter Scott's lines: 



"Two dogs of black St. Hubert's breed. 

 Unmatched for courage, breath, and speed." 



The legend is that in the sixth century, St. Hubert brought black hounds 

 from the South of France to the Ardennes, and it is supposed that these 

 hounds came from the East. It was also said that some white hounds were 

 brought from Constantinople, by pilgrims who had visited Palestine, and on 

 their return they offered these dogs at the shrine of St. Roch, the protecting 

 saint from hydrophobia. These dogs were also called St. Hubert hounds 

 and it is stated that the white dogs were the larger and more prized of the 

 two. The Abbots of St. Hubert gave six hounds annually to the king and 

 it was from these hounds that the best limers were said to be obtained. 



If we are to accept later-day poetical descriptions as conclusive evidence, 

 then the St. Hubert hounds were magnificent animals, with all the character- 

 istics of the modern show bloodhound, and with a deep, resounding voice. 

 Records are not made in that fanciful way and what evidence we have is to 

 the effect that the St. Hubert was a heavy, low, short-legged dog, running 

 almost mute and particularly slow in movements. In fact, we are very much 

 of the opinion that the basset is the descendant of the St. Hubert breed. As 



