THE EXTINCT BKITISH WOLF. 
397 
In the “ Polychronicon ” of Ranulphus Higden, the monk of 
Chester, who died about 1360, we have a later account of the 
Irish fauna, and in this also the wolf figures. Thus he says : — 
“ Terra hcec magis vaccis quam bobus , pascuis quamfrugibus , 
gramine quam grano fecunda. Abundat tamen salmonibus , 
murcenis , anguillis , et cceteris marinis piscibus; aquilisquoque , 
gruibus , pavonibus , coturnicibus , mso, falcone et accipitre 
generoso . Lupos quoque habet , mures nocentissimos ; sed et 
araneas , sanguisugas , lacertas habet innocuas. Mustelas 
quoqu parvi corporis sed valde animosas possidet .” * This 
passage is thus rendered by his translator, John Trevisa (a.d. 
1357-1387), and adopted by Caxton in his “ Cronycles of Eng- 
land,” 1480 : — “ In this lond beeth mo kyn than oxen, more 
pasture than corne, more grass than seed. There is grete plente 
of samon, of lampreyes, of eles, and of other see fisch : of egles, 
of cranes, ofi pekokes, of corlewes, of sparhaukes, of goshaukes, 
and of gentil faucouns, and of wolfes, and of wel shrewed mys. 
There beeth attercoppes, blood-soukers, and enettes that dooth 
noon harm,” &c.f Some translators and later copyists have 
here and there singularly perverted the original meaning of 
this passage by blunders and mistranslations. Amongst these 
may be mentioned the author or authors of “The Book of 
Howth,” a small folio in vellum of the sixteenth century, written 
in different hands, and preserved amongst the Carew MSS. 
(vol. 623), in the Lambeth Library 4 
Campion, whose “ History of Ireland ” was published in 1570, 
refers to the chase of the wolf there with wolf-hounds. “ The 
* “ Polychronicon Ranulphi Higden, Monachi Cestrensis.” Ed. Babington 
(Master of the Rolls Series), vol. i. pp. 334, 335. 
t Some little interest attaches to this passage from the curious assem- 
blage of animals named in it. At the period referred to 11 Cranes ” seem to 
have been common enough in Ireland : “ in tanta vero numerositate se grues 
ingerunt , ut uno in grege centum , et circiter hunc numerum frequenter in - 
venias ” (Topog. Hibern. Ed. Dimock, v. 46). By “ pekokes ” ( pavonibus ), 
it would seem the Capercaillie is intended, “pavones silvestres hie abundant 
says Giraldus (tom. cit. p. 47). “ Coturnicibus ” should be rendered “ quails,” 
not “ curlews.” “ Mures nocentissimos ” are not necessarily shrew-mice, 
which are insectivorous. In all probability that destructive field-mouse, the 
short-tailed Vole, Ai'vicola agrestis , is referred to. By reading 11 araneos ” 
(shrews) for “ araneas ” (spiders), some confusion is accounted for. “ Atter- 
coppes ”is the translation of araneas. Jamieson, in his “ Scottish Dictionary,” 
gives 11 Atter-cap,” “ Attircop,” spider, with two variants — Northumberland, 
te Attercop,” and Cumberland, “ Attercob,” a cobweb. A. S. atter coppe, 
from atter, venenum , and copp, calix ; receiving its denomination partly 
from its form, and partly from its character ; q. a cup of venom. By 
“ Bloodsuckers,” of course, leeches are meant : for “ enettes ” laceHas , we 
may read “ euettes ” or u evettes,” i.e. efts, that do no harm. 
X cf. Brewer and Bullen, Calendar Carew MSS., “ The Book of Howth,” p.31. 
