MAMMALIA 43 



place in a wooden structure something like an old-fashioned 

 clock-case in appearance. It measured in length from 7 to 8 

 feet. The depth and height were about 3 feet. One ex- 

 tremity of this case was partitioned off for the Badger's den. 

 This recess was entered by a hole, either round or square, 

 through which the dog had to seize the Badger and drag it forth. 

 The case was of necessity strongly built, and barred above. 

 The Badger had the palpable advantage that he could present a 

 pair of formidable jaws, strongly articulated to the glenoid 

 cavity, to his opponent, and probably came off best in many of 

 the encounters. Some wily old Badgers got to understand the 

 game, and would allow the dogs to draw them with the least 

 possible show of fight. Such cunning individuals had to be 

 replaced, as circumstances permitted, with fierce, fresh-caught 

 Badgers. One of the best of the local tales of Badger-baiting 

 is that of the long-headed Cumbrian who, having wagered 

 £5 that his cur-dog would draw a Badger, proceeded to win the 

 event by introducing the hind quarters of an astonished sheep- 

 dog to the mouth of the Badger's den, from which the owner 

 rapidly emerged holding on like grim death to the haunch of 

 his soi-disant assailant. 



When Mr. W. Hodgson was a young man, he knew a local 

 worthy named Billy Foster, who lived at Melkinthorpe, and 

 enjoyed nothing more than narrating to his acquaintances his 

 experiences of catching Badgers in the last century. ' The village 

 lads of Lowther and Melkinthorpe/ writes Mr. Hodgson, ' used 

 to go to their haunts provided with empty sacks, the mouths 

 of which were kept open by wooden hoops. The sack's mouth, 

 so extended, was placed over the entrance to the burrow, and 

 steadied between the knees of the holder, means being taken at 

 the same time to drive the Badger from his lair. The dread of 

 a bite from the animal's formidable jaws was so great that my 

 informant's knees ' doddered ' (i.e. trembled) against the rim of 

 the sack. It is sad to think that all this ingenuity was exerted 

 for the cruel purpose of baiting the animals so captured. 1 



The late Mr. W. Dickinson, who must have enjoyed the most 

 ample opportunities for collecting information about Lakeland 

 1 Trans. Cumberland and Westmorland Assoc, No. xi. p. 36. 



