THE BEAR. 
397 
common in the British Islands, as we learn 
from classic authors that British and Cale¬ 
donian bears were much esteemed for the 
sports of the amphitheatre. They were for¬ 
merly imported into England in large num¬ 
bers, that they might he baited with dogs 
in places called bear-gardens; and we find 
constant allusion to this barbarous and cruel 
pastime in the works of Shakspeare and 
other writers of his and later times. It was 
one of the amusements provided for Queen 
Elizabeth during her famous visit to Kenil¬ 
worth ; and a bear-ward was a recognised 
officer in several noble households! At the 
present day the word ‘bear-garden’ has be¬ 
come a name for every thing coarse and 
unrefined. 
“ The brown bear stands erect with ease, 
and assumes that position when at bay, en¬ 
deavouring to suffocate men and animals 
by squeezing, or, as it is called, hugging 
them. They are usually shot with rifles; 
but the peasants of the Korth occasionally 
attack them single-handed, having the left 
arm guarded with several thicknesses of 
bear-skin and the right armed with a very 
keen-edged sharp-bladed knife. As the 
34 
