S8 NATURAL HISTORY OF THE PHEASANT 



I thought to crush him in an equal force 



True sword to sword, I'll poach at him some way 



Or wrath or craft may get him. 



Coriolanus, act i. scene x. 



Carew employs the y^'ord poche in a kindred sense. 

 ' The flowk, sole and plaice follow the tide up into 

 the fresh rivers, where at low water the country people 

 poche them with an instrument something like a 

 salmon's spear.' Of course poachers 7nay sometimes 

 destroy pheasants by spearing them while the birds 

 are at roost ; an old village blacksmith assured me 

 that, when a working apprentice, he was once required 

 to make some small spears, which he believed to be 

 intended for the purpose of ' chcking ' or spearing 

 pheasants. The probability, however, is that the word 

 ' poacher ' is akin to the French poche, a pocket, and 

 was suggested in its English dress by the capacious 

 inside pockets which poachers find it necessary to 

 provide to their coats or jackets. 



But our French neighbours are strangers to this 

 enlargement of the term which their language has lent 

 to us. The word they use is braconnier, and it 

 carries with it a full share of obloquy. Its etymology 

 is simple enough. It is derived from the substantive 

 braque, a sporting dog. The diminutive of braque is 

 bracon, and the servant who took charge of his 

 master's dogs was, therefore, dubbed the braconnier. 



