FERRETING 83 



Frederick II. of Germany in 1245, amongst the 

 animals used for hunting.' 



So long ago as 1390 in Richard II. 's time a statute 

 was passed prohibiting anyone from keeping or using 

 greyhounds and^r«/5 who had not lands or tenements 

 of the annual value of 40^-. Both \hs.jycJiew and the 

 fyret are mentioned in ' Thystorye of Reynard the 

 Foxe,' as printed by Caxton in 1481,^ and in the ' Book 

 of St. Albans ' in i486. In the ' Household Book 

 of Lord William Howard of Naworth,' several entries 

 occur which clearly indicate the employment of ferrets 

 and nets for taking rabbits in Cumberland in 162 1.* 



Many writers have asserted that the ferret is a 

 native of Africa, but the statement lacks confirmation 

 from the fact that the animal has not been met with 

 in a wild state in any part of that continent, where, 

 however, other kinds of weasels exist. The better 

 opinion is that the ferret is merely a domesticated 

 variety of the polecat, with which it is frequently 

 crossed for the purpose of improving the breed. 

 There are positively no cranial, dental, or other struc- 



1 De arte Venandi, ed. Schneider, 1788, tome i. p. 3. 



' Ed. Percy Society, p. 109. 



3 This volume is of much interest not only to antiquaries but 

 also to sportsmen from the numerous allusions which it contains 

 to blackgame, roedeer, woodcock, wild-fowl, salmon, &c. It 

 was printed for the Surtees Society in 1878. 



