124 WILD ANIMALS. 



In the reign of Edward I. tlie following mandamus was 



issued, — 



" The King to all BailiflFs, &c.,— 

 /- " Know je that we have enjoined our beloved and faithful Peter 

 Corbet, that in all forests and parks and other places, within our 

 counties of Gloucester, Worcester, Hereford, Salop, and Stafford, 

 in which wolves may be found, he may take wolves with his men, 

 dogs, and engines, and may destroy them by all methods that may 

 seem to him expedient. 



" And we therefore command you that, in all things which relate 

 to the capture of wolves in the aforesaid counties, ye be aiding 

 and assisting, as often as it shall be needful, and the aforesaid 

 Peter shall make it known to you on our part. 



" In the possession of which privilege he is to remain as long as 

 it shall be our pleasure, 



" "Witness the King at Westminster. " 



" 14th May, 1281, of Edward I." ' 



This appointment, and the rewards given for a wolf's hgad by 

 the monarch, soon caused a very perceptible and welcome diminu- 

 tion in their numbers, 

 z' In the reign of Edward II. certai];:^ lands in Derbyshire were held 

 by tenants, on condition that they " should hunt the wolves that 

 harboured in that county ; " and in the following reign many other 

 estates were so held, notably certain lands in Pitchleyor Pytchley, 

 called then Pightesle, in Northamptonshire, which, according to 

 Blount, were given to Thomas Engaine on the stipulation that he 

 was to find at his own proper cost certain dogs for the destruction 

 of wolves, foxes, martins, cats, and other vermin within the 

 counties of Northampton, Eutland, Oxford, Essex, and Bucking- 

 ham. On this tenure the manor, built on the^e lands, appears to 

 have been held down to the time of Queen Eli^iabeth's reign, and 

 became the origin of the well-known Pytchley Hunt. 



The date that wolves ceased to exist in a wild state in England 

 has not been ascertained exactly, but the last one is said to have been 

 killed at Pytchley. 



In Scotland they continued to commit serious ravages until the 

 5 "Eymer," vol, i. part ii., page 192. 



L 



