158 The Animal-Lore of Shahspeare s Time. 
of some length, has an interest on account of the technical 
terms introduced:— 
“ The man whose vacant mind prepares him to the sport, 
The finder sendeth out, to seek out nimble Wat, 
Which crosseth in the field, each furlong, every flat, 
Till he this pretty beast upon the form hath found. 
Then viewing for the course, which is the fairest ground, 
The greyhounds forth are brought, for coursing them in case, 
And choicely in the slip, each leading forth a brace; 
The finder puts her up, and gives her coursers law, 
And whilst the eager dogs upon the start do draw, 
She riseth from her seat, as though on earth she flew, 
Forc’d by some yelping cur to give the greyhounds view, 
Which are at length let slip, when gunning out they go, 
As in respect of them the swiftest wind were slow. 
When each man runs his horse, with fixed eyes, and notes 
Which dog first turns the hare, which first the other coats, 
They wrench her once or twice, ere she a turn will take, 
What’s offered by the first, the other good will make; 
And turn for turn again with equal speed they ply, 
Bestirring their swift feet with strange agility: 
A harden’d ridge or way, when if the hare do win, 
Then as shot from a bow, she from the dogs doth spin, 
That strive to put her off, but when he cannot reach her, 
This giving him a coat, about again doth fetch her 
To him that comes behind, which seems the hare to bear; 
But with a nimble turn she casts them both arrear: 
Till oft for want of breath, to fall to ground they make her, 
The greyhounds both so spent, that they want strength to take her.” 
( Polyolbion , song xxiii.) 
“ To cote is not simply to overtake, but to surpass; this being the 
distinctive meaning of the term; going beyond is the essential point: so 
Rosencrantz and Guildenstern> having coted the players on their way, 
reach the palace first.” (Edinburgh Review , October, 1872.) 
In Shakspeare’s Venus and Adonis (lines 752-708) “hot 
scent-snuffing hounds” are spoken of as employed in a 
hare-hunt instead of the more usual greyhounds. 
We learn from Fuller that hares were common in 
Cambridgeshire:— 
“ Though these are found in all counties, yet because lately there 
