neget. vs. 124. reclaimed, be derived, through such intermediate links, from the same parent source? The coarser varieties of the North, and of the sister Isle, are rarely seen in South Britain; and though at first closely connected with the Celt, and amongst his earliest descendants, are now considered farther removed from the genuine type of Celtica, the ovéprpayos kúwv of the Greek manual, in consequence of commixture with the canes bellicosi and sagaces. The strongest evidence we possess of the greyhound's existence in Britain, in the reigns of Carus, his sons, and Diocletian, is afforded by the Cynegeticon of the African poet. For although I deny that this hound can be entitled to the local epithet Britannicus, bestowed on him by Spelman, to the superseding his usual titles, I readily grant, at the same time, that the exported veloces of Britain, of the Nemesian. Cy Cynegeticon alluded to, were greyhounds. Nemesian must be considered almost entirely the poet of the pedibus celeres ;—at least, in that portion of his hunting-poem which has survived the ravages of time. But the usual terms by which the greyhound is designated in Ovid, Gratius, Martial, and Arrian, are no where found in the poet of Carthage; in place of which invariably occur the terms catuli veloces. That by these terms the latter author intends hounds of the Celtic type, I have, on a careful re-perusal of his work, not the least doubt; though, when writing the note to the Preface, p. 11, I was inclined to view the veloces, particularly specified by Nemesian as of British export, as nimble harriers, rather than genuine greyhounds; and did not in consequence adduce the passage alluded to, when there endeavouring to fix the period of the latter's introduction into Britain. Indeed, J. Vlitius, himself sceptical at first as to the nature of these swift-footed hounds, (see his remarks on Nemesian vs. 124.,) comes round to my conclusion in the progress of his annotations, (see his notes on vs. 233.). Nearly the whole of Nemesian's instructions have reference to canes cursores, beginning with their exportation from our own island-where, doubtless, they had been previously imported from Gaul Nemesian. Cyneget. vs. 124. divisa Britannia mittit Veloces, nostrique orbis venatibus aptos; and pursuing the subject in the departments of breeding, feeding, and entering of puppies to their game,1 (his remarks on these subjects being essentially applicable to hounds of the Celtic type,?) he adds, Sic tibi veloces catulos reparare memento Semper, et in parvos iterùm protendere curas; and then speaking of Tuscan dogs of scent, sagacious Inductores, he contrasts their form with that of the hounds in question, Quin et Tuscorum non est extrema voluptas at which point he suddenly arrests his pen, and changes his subject, deferring till a subsequent part of his poem, unfortunately lost, the qualities of this keen-nosed tribe of hounds, Horum animos, moresque simul, naresque sagaces The latter subjects completed, he again takes up the catuli veloces, and slips them on the sporting field, at the period of the year usual with modern coursers for the commencement of their diversion, viz. the beginning of winter; Nemesian. Cyneg. vs. 200. Ejusdem vs. 230. Ejusdem vs. 235. hiemis sub tempus aquosæ Incipe veloces catulos immittere pratis, Ejusdem vs. 321. 1. Wernsdorf, who does not in general attempt to apply his poet's instructions to any particular variety of hound, admits the Canis tiro, entered to the hare, vs. 186. seqq., to be of the Vertragus type. 2. It is worthy of notice that, whereas the earlier Greek and Latin Cynegetica recommend heterogeneous commixture in breeding for the chase-crossing the canine families of different countries with each other, under the hope of improving the pure indigena-Nemesian contends for parity of sort, and purity of blood, to supply the greyhound kennel, (" huic parilem submitte parem," &c.); as if aware, with the modern courser, that the essential attributes of the Celtic type would necessarily be impaired, if not annihilated, by the admixture of alien blood. Arrian's silence too, on the subject of omnifarious copulation, indicates a conviction of its inapplicability to breeding for the leash. Poetæ Latini Minores. Tom. I. p. 107. Symmachi Epist. L. 11. Ep. 77. Claudian. de Laud. Stilic. From the view, then, here taken of the identity of these veloces catuli of Nemesian with the Vertragi of Arrian, we may conclude that greyhounds had been exported from the British Isles to some more southern state, Rome or Carthage, when the native poet of the latter place sung their praises in his Cynegeticon. And from the same source, a supply of these rare and valuable dogs was kept up at Rome, in the reign of Theodosius, by the instrumentality of Flavian. Inmates, therefore, of Celto-Britannic kennels, they must have been, on the twofold evidence of Nemesian and Symmachus, at this early period of our dark and semi-fabulous annals. Whether the dogs transported from these isles, as rarities, by Flavian," solennium rerum largus, et novarum repertor," to grace with their "incredible force and boldnesse," the Quæstorate of his brother Symmachus at Rome, "quos prælusionis die ita Roma mirata est ut ferreis caveis putaret advectos," are to be considered Irish or Scotch, according to modern distinctions, is quite unimportant; for probably at the period of the "oblatio" both were included under the same Indeed, it is well known, the inhabitant of Ireland bore the name of Scotus in the age of Claudian, who wrote, as well as Symmachus, in the reigns of Theodosius and Honorius, name. Me quoque vicinis pereuntem gentibus, inquit, L. II. and again, Claudian. de IV. Cons. Honor. vs. 32. maduerunt sanguine fuso Arrian. de Venat, c. VI. Orcades incaluit Pictorum sanguine Thule : That these Canes Scotici were our Canes bellicosi seems highly im- colour of hounds,1 and its little importance to their merits, he observes that the hair, whether the dog be of the rough or smooth sort, should be fine, close, and soft :-by which I understand that, though the dog be what is termed wire-haired, the hair must not be coarse of texture, nor loose and shaggy. And from these sources we may derive the existing races of England, Scotland, and Ireland, without any necessary commixture with other blood, to account for the wirehaired skin. But the extraordinary sagacity of nose, superinduced on swiftness of foot, in certain varieties of modern Celtic hounds with rough coats, favours the notion of Buffon and others, that a cross has taken place with some alien, sagacious breed, at a remote period. Be this, however, as it may, we will consider the coarsehaired and more powerful varieties of Arrian's Celt, the representatives of the wolf-hounds of Ireland and Scotland; and the fabulous Lælaps, "the goodly grewnd" of Golding, presented by Dian to Ovid. Metam. Procris, quem cum sua traderet illi Cynthia, currendo superabit, dixerat, omnes,— a poetical picture of an individual, whose counterpart the author had seen, or heard of, in Celtic Gaul, or some Celtic colony, and whose eagerness in the wolf or fox chase is fully supported by his highmettled descendants; Jamdudum vincula pugnat Exuere ipse sibi, colloque morantia tendit. Vix bene missus erat; nec jam poteramus, ubi esset, L. VII. 754. Ejusdem vs. 772. "fit for to 1. There are some curious remarks on the colour of hunting-dogs course withall," in chasing of the stag, in The Countrie Farme, B. vii. c. 22. p. 837. edit. 1600,the reference to which is omitted in my annotations on Arrian. 2. Under the title of le lévrier d'attache, the French Encyclopedia unites the Irish and Scotch varieties. "C'est le plus robuste et le plus courageux des lévriers; en Scythie on l'emploie à garder le bétail, qui n'est jamais enfermé. On en trouve en Ecosse, en Irlande, en Tartarie, et chez presque tous les peuples du Nord: il poursuit le loup, le sanglier, quelquefois même le buffle et le taureau sauvage." The common English greyhound is le lévrier de plaine of France. The former sorts are the Lycisca of Savary, Encyclopédie p. 290. Enormesque, animis pedis et levitate Lycisca Venatio Golding's Ovid's Metam. Booke Seventh. Fleming's Scire; pedum calidus vestigia pulvis habebat : Hasta, nec excussa contorto verbere glandes, He struggling for to wrest his necke already from the band The modern Scotch greyhound differs from the Irish in many respects. The former is rough and wiry, has a bearded snout, and ears half-pricked; the latter has short smooth hair and pendent ears; the Scotch is sharp, swift, and sagacious; the Irish dull-looking, harmless, indolent. The former is still common in North Britain, the latter is become exceedingly rare everywhere. From Mr. Lambert's description of a modern specimen, the Irish wolf-greyhound seems to have degenerated much in size. Historia 1. Gesner bas introduced into his Appendix a representation of the “Canis Scoticus Venaticus, quem Scoti vocant ane grewhownd, id est canem Græcum:" and calls it " genus venaticum cum celerrimum tum audacissimum : nec modò in feras, sed in hostes etiam latronesque præsertim si dominum ductoremve injuriâ affici cernat, aut in eos concitetur." See the Complaynt of Bagsche, the Kingis auld Beth Gélert, or hound," by Lyndsay, for a quaint description of some of the qualities of the highland The Grave of breed. Poor Cilhart, too, the luckless wolf-hound of the precipitate Llewellyn, will the Greyhound. furnish an early example of the mountain sort. Nor should the Ossianic Maida— Animalium ex kaλds μèv déμas éoriv-by Landseer, be overlooked, as a splendid type of the race on canvass; though not quite Celtic in his blood. A breed of Sagaci-celeres is at present preserved in Scotland, between the English greyhound and Leicestershire fox-hound: the first cross of which is represented to be remarkably handsome, fleet, and courageous. This race is employed for the deerchase in the forest of Athol and elsewhere. 2. The hound described in the Linnean Society's Transactions is stated to have been only 61 inches in length-a size surpassed by an example of the Canis Graius of the purest blood and greatest speed, (“ facilis cui plurima palma,”) 62 inches De Venatione long, now in my possession-ĕri yάp μoi hy, as Arrian says of his much-loved Hormé, STÓTE TAÛTA ĕYPAQOv. But it is probable that the beautifully-majestic animal, which C. V. |