Kitabı oku: «The Master of Game: The Oldest English Book on Hunting», sayfa 7

CHAPTER XIV
OF RUNNING HOUNDS AND OF THEIR NATURE

A running hound is a kind of hound there be few men that have not seen some of them. Nevertheless I shall devise how a running hound shall be held for good and fair, and also shall I devise of their manners. Of all hues of running hounds, there are some which be good, and some which be bad or evil as of greyhounds. But the best hue of running hounds and most common for to be good, is called brown tan. Also the goodness of running hounds, and of all other kinds of good hounds, cometh of true courage and of the good nature of their good father and of their good mother. And also as touching greyhounds, men may well help to make them good by teaching as by leading them to the wood and to fields, and to be always near them, in making of many good curées when they have done well, and of rating at and beating them when they have done amiss, for they are beasts, and therefore have they need to learn that which men will they should do. A running hound should be well born, and well grown of body, and should have great nostrils and open, and a long snout, but not small, and great lips and well hanging down, and great eyes red or black, and a great forehead and great head, and large ears, well long and well hanging down, broad and near the head, a great neck, and a great breast and great shoulders, and great legs and strong, and not too long, and great feet, round and great claws, and the foot a little low, small flanks and long sides, a little pintel not long, small hanging ballocks and well trussed together, a good chine bone and great back, good thighs, and great hind legs and the hocks straight and not bowed, the tail great and high, and not cromping up on the back, but straight and a little cromping upward. Nevertheless I have seen some running hounds with great hairy tails the which were very good. Running hounds hunt in divers manners, for some followeth the hart fast at the first, for they go lightly and fast and when they have run so awhile, they have hied them so fast that they be relaxed and all breathless, and stop still and leave the hart when they should chase him. This kind of running hounds men should find usually in the land of Basco and Spain. They are right good for the wild boar, but are not good for the hart, for they be not good to enchase at a long flight, but only for to press him, for they seek not well, and they run not well nor they hunt not (well) from a distance, for they be accustomed to hunt close.

And at the beginning they have shown their best. Other manners of running hounds there are which hunt a good deal more slowly and heavily, but as they begin, so they hold on all the day. These hounds force not so soon a hart as the other, but they bring him best by mastery and strength to his end, for they retrieve and scent the line better and farther, because they are somewhat slow. They must hunt the hart from farther off, and therefore they scent the fues better than the other that goes so hastily without stopping until the time that they be weary. A bold hound should never complain or howl, unless if he were out of the rights. And also he should again seek the rights, for a hart flieth and ruseth. Commonly a bold hound hunteth with the wind when he seeth his time. He dreads his master and understands him and does as he bids him. A bold hound should not leave the hart neither for rain, nor for heat, nor for cold, nor for any evil weather, but at this time there be few such, and also should he hunt the hart well by himself without help of man, as if the man were always with him. But alas! I know not now any such hounds. Hounds there are which be bold and brave; and be called bold for they are bold and good for the hart, for when the hart comes in danger¹⁴⁵ they will chase him, but they will not open¹⁴⁶ nor quest while he is among the change, for dread to envoyse¹⁴⁷ and do amiss, but when they have dissevered¹⁴⁸ him, then they will open and hunt him and should overcome the hart well, and perfectly and masterfully throughout all the change. These hounds be not so good nor so perfect as be the bold hounds before said to most men for two reasons¹⁴⁹, that one reason is for they hunt not at men's best pleasure for they hunt nought but the hart, and the first bold hound hunts all manner of beasts that his master will uncouple him to. He opens always through all the changes, and a bold hound for the hart opens not for the hart, as I have said when the hart is amid the changes. He dreadeth where he goeth that men see him lest he do amiss or envoise, but men cannot always see him¹⁵⁰. Of this kind of hound have I seen many a one. There be other kinds of hounds which men beyond the sea call hart hounds, good and restrained hart hounds.¹⁵¹ They hunt no other beast but the hart, and therefore they are called hart hounds and bold hounds, for they be bold and good and wise for the hart; they be called restrained, because if the hart fall among the change they should abide still¹⁵² until the hunter come, and when they see their master they make him welcome, and wag their tails upon him, and will by-piss the way and the bushes, but in England men make them not so. These be good hounds of our land, but not so good as the bold hounds aforesaid. They be well wise, for they know well that they should not hunt the change, and they are not so wise as to dissever the hart from the change, for they abide still and restive. These hounds I hold full good, for the hunter that knows them may well help them to slay the hart. None of all these three kinds of hounds hunt at the hart in rutting time, unless it be the good bold hound,¹⁵³ which is the best of all other hounds. The best sport that men can have is running with hounds, for if he hunt at hare or at the roe or at buck or at the hart, or at any other beast without greyhound¹⁵⁴ it is a fair thing, and pleasant to him that loveth them; the seeking and the finding is also a fair thing, and a great liking to slay them with strength, and for to see the wit and the knowledge that God hath given to good hounds, and for to see good recovering and retrieving, and the mastery and the subtleties that be in good hounds. For with greyhounds and with other kinds of hounds whatever they be, the sport lasteth not, for anon a good greyhound or a good alaunte taketh or faileth a beast, and so do all manner of hounds save running hounds, the which must hunt all the day questeying and making great melody in their language and saying great villainy and chiding the beasts that they chase. And therefore I prefer them to all other kinds of hounds, for they have more virtue it seems to me than any other beast. Other kind of hounds there be the which open and jangle when they are uncoupled, as well when they be not in her fues (on their line), and when they be in her fues they questey¹⁵⁵ too much in seeking their chase whatever it be, and if they learn the habit when they are young and are not chastised thereof, they will evermore be noisy and wild, and namely when they seek their chase, for when the chase is found, the hounds cannot questey too much so that they be in the fues¹⁵⁶. And to rente and make hounds there are many remedies. There be also many kinds of running hounds, some small and some big, and the small be called kenets, and these hounds run well to all manner of game, and they (that) serve for all game men call them harriers.¹⁵⁷ And every hound that hath that courage will come to be a harrier by nature with little making. But they need great nature and making in youth, and great labour to make a hound run boldly to a chase where there is great change, or other chases. Hounds which are not perfectly wise take the change commonly from May until St. John's tide (June 24th), for then they find the change of hinds. The hinds will not fly far before the hounds, but they turn about and the hound sees them very often, and therefore they run to them with a better will, because they keep near their calves the which cannot fly, therefore they hunt them gladly; and commonly when the harts go to rut, hounds hunt the change, for the harts and the hinds be commonly standing in herds together, and so they find them and run to them sooner than at any other time of the year. Also the hounds scent worse from May until St. John's time than in any other time of all the year, for as I shall say the burnt heath and the burning of fields taketh away the scent from the hounds of the beasts that they hunt. Also in that time the herbs be best and flowers in their smelling, each one in their kind, and when the hounds hope to scent the beast that they hunt, the sweet-smelling of the herbs takes the scent of the beast from them.

CHAPTER XV
OF GREYHOUNDS AND OF THEIR NATURE

The greyhound is a kind of hound there be few which have not seen some. Nevertheless for to devise how a greyhound should be held for good and fair, I shall devise their manner. Of all manner of greyhounds there be both good and bad, nevertheless the best hue is red fallow with a black muzzle. The goodness of greyhounds comes of right courage, and of the good nature of their father and their mother. And also men may well help to make them good in the encharning¹⁵⁸ of them with other good greyhounds, and feed them well with the best that he taketh. The good greyhound should be of middle size, neither too big nor too little, and then he is good for all beasts. If he were too big he is nought for small beasts, and if he were too little he were nought for the great beasts. Nevertheless whoso can maintain both, it is good that he have both of the great and of the small, and of the middle size. A greyhound should have a long head and somewhat large made, resembling the making of a bace¹⁵⁹ (pike). A good large mouth and good seizers the one against the other, so that the nether jaw pass not the upper, nor that the upper pass not the nether. Their eyes are red or black as those of a sparrow hawk, the ears small and high in the manner of a serpent, the neck great and long bowed like a swan's neck, his chest great and open, the hair under his chyn hanging down in the manner of a lion.¹⁶⁰ His shoulders as a roebuck, the forelegs straight and great enough and not too high in the legs, the feet straight and round as a cat, great claws, long head as cow¹⁶¹ hanging down.

The bones and the joints of the chine great and hard like the chine of a hart. And if his chine be a little high it is better than if it were flat. A little pintel and little ballocks, and well trussed near the ars, small womb,¹⁶² the hocks straight and not bent as of an ox, a cat's tail making a ring at the end and not too high, the two bones of the chine behind broad of a large palm's breadth or more. Also there are many good greyhounds with long tails right swift. A good greyhound should go so fast that if he be well slipped he should overtake any beast, and there where he overtakes it he should seize it where he can get at it the soonest, nevertheless he shall last longer if he bite in front or by the side.¹⁶³ He should be courteous and not too fierce, following well his master and doing whatever he command him. He shall be good and kindly and clean, glad and joyful and playful, well willing and goodly to all manner of folks save to the wild beasts to whom he should be fierce, spiteful and eager.

CHAPTER XVI
OF ALAUNTES AND OF THEIR NATURE

An alaunte is of the manner and nature of hounds. And the good alauntes be those which men call alauntes gentle. Others there be that men call alauntes veutreres, others be alauntes of the butcheries. They that be gentle should be made and shaped as a greyhound, even of all things save of the head, the which should be great and short. And though there be alauntes of all hues, the true hue of a good alaunte, and that which is most common should be white with black spots about the ears, small eyes and white standing ears and sharp above. Men should teach alauntes better, and to be of better custom than any other beasts, for he is better shaped and stronger for to do harm than any other beast. And also commonly alauntes are stordy¹⁶⁴ (giddy) of their own nature and have not such good sense as many other hounds have, for if a man prick¹⁶⁵ a horse the alauntes will run gladly and bite the horse. Also they run at oxen and sheep, and swine, and at all other beasts, or at men or at other hounds. For men have seen alauntes slay their masters. In all manner of ways alauntes are treacherous and evil understanding, and more foolish and more harebrained than any other kind of hound. And no one ever saw three well conditioned and good. For the good alaunte should run as fast as a greyhound, and any beast that he can catch he should hold with his seizers and not leave it. For an alaunte of his nature holds faster of his biting than can three greyhounds the best any man can find. And therefore it is the best hound to hold and to nyme (seize) all manner of beasts and hold them fast. And when he is well conditioned and perfect, men hold that he is good among all other hounds. But men find few that be perfect. A good alaunte should love his master and follow him, and help him in all cases, and do what his master commands him. A good alaunte should go fast and be hardy to take all kinds of beasts without turning, and hold fast and not leave it, and be well conditioned, and well at his master's command, and when he is such, men hold, as I have said, that he is the best hound that can be to take all manner of beasts. That other kind of alaunte is called veutreres. They are almost shaped as a greyhound of full shape, they have a great head, great lips and great ears, and with such men help themselves at the baiting of the bull and at hunting of a wild boar, for it is their nature to hold fast, but they be (heavy) and foul (ugly) that if they be slain by the wild boar or by the bull, it is not very great loss. And when they can overtake a beast they bite it and hold it still, but by themselves they could never take a beast unless greyhounds were with them to make the beast tarry. That other kind of alauntes of the butcheries is such as you may always see in good towns, that are called great butchers' hounds, the which the butchers keep to help them to bring their beasts that they buy in the country, for if an ox escape from the butchers that lead him, his hounds would go and take him and hold him until his master has come, and should help him to bring him again to the town. They cost little to keep as they eat the foul things in the butcher's row. Also they keep their master's house, they be good for bull baiting and for hunting wild boar, whether it be with greyhounds at the tryst or with running hounds at bay within the covert. For when a wild boar is within a strong hatte of wood (thicket), perhaps all day the running hounds will not make him come out. And when men let such mastiffs run at the boar they take him in the thick spires (wood) so that any man can slay him, or they make him come out of his strength, so that he shall not remain long at bay.

CHAPTER XVII
OF SPANIELS AND OF THEIR NATURE

Another kind of hound there is that be called hounds for the hawk and spaniels, for their kind cometh from Spain, notwithstanding that there are many in other countries. And such hounds have many good customs and evil. Also a fair hound for the hawk should have a great head, a great body and be of fair hue, white or tawny, for they be the fairest, and of such hue they be commonly best. A good spaniel should not be too rough, but his tail should be rough. The good qualities that such hounds have are these: they love well their masters and follow them without losing, although they be in a great crowd of men, and commonly they go before their master, running and wagging their tail, and raise or start fowl and wild beasts. But their right craft is of the partridge and of the quail. It is a good thing to a man that hath a noble goshawk or a tiercel or a sparrow hawk for partridge, to have such hounds. And also when they be taught to be couchers,¹⁶⁶ they be good to take partridges and quail with a net. And also they be good when they are taught to swim and to be good for the river, and for fowls when they have dived, but on the other hand they have many bad qualities like the country that they come from. For a country draweth to two natures of men, of beasts, and of fowls, and as men call greyhounds of Scotland and of Britain,¹⁶⁷ so the alauntes and the hounds for the hawk come out of Spain, and they take after the nature of the generation of which they come. Hounds for the hawk are fighters and great barkers if you lead them a hunting among running hounds, whatever beasts they hunt to they will make them lose the line, for they will go before now hither now thither, as much when they are at fault as when they go right, and lead the hounds about and make them overshoot and fail. Also if you lead greyhounds with you, and there be a hound for the hawk, that is to say a spaniel, if he see geese or kine, or horses, or hens, or oxen or other beasts, he will run anon and begin to bark at them, and because of him all the greyhounds will run to take the beast through his egging on, for he will make all the riot and all the harm. The hounds for the hawk have so many other evil habits that unless I had a goshawk or falcon or hawks for the river, or sparrow hawk, or the net, I would never have any, especially there where I would hunt.

CHAPTER XVIII
OF THE MASTIFF AND OF HIS NATURE

A mastiff is a manner of hound. The mastiff's nature and his office is to keep his master's beasts and his master's house, and it is a good kind of hound, for they keep and defend with all their power all their master's goods. They be of a churlish nature and ugly shape. Nevertheless there are some that come to be berslettis,¹⁶⁸ and also to bring well and fast and wanlace (range) about.¹⁶⁹ Sometimes there be many good, especially for men who hunt for profit of the household to get flesh. Also of mastiffs and alaunts there be (bred) many good for the wild boar. Also from mastiffs and hounds for the hawk (there be bred) hounds that men should not make much mention of, therefore I will no more speak of them, for there is no great mastery nor great readiness in the hunting that they do, for their nature is not to be tenderly nosed.

CHAPTER XIX
WHAT MANNER AND CONDITION A GOOD HUNTER SHOULD HAVE

Thou, Sir, whatever you be, great or little, that would teach a man to be a good hunter, first he must be a child past seven or eight years of age or little older, and if any man would say that I take a child in too tender age for to put him to work, I answer that all nature shortens and descends. For every man knoweth well that a child of seven years of age is more capable in these times of such things that he liketh to learn than was a child of twelve years of age (in times that I have seen). And therefore I put him so young thereto, for a craft requires all a man's life ere he be perfect thereof. And also men say that which a man learns in youth he will hold best in his age. And furthermore from this child many things are required, first that he love his master, and that his heart and his business be with the hounds, and he must take¹⁷⁰ him, and beat him when he will not do what his master commands him, until the time that the child dreads to fail. And first I shall take and teach him for to take in writing all the names of the hounds and of the hues of the hounds, until the time that the child knoweth them both by the hue and by the name. After I will teach him to make clean every day in the morning the hounds' kennel of all foul things. After I will learn him to put before them twice a day fresh water and clean, from a well, in a vessel there where the hound drinks, or fair running water, in the morning and the evening. After I will teach him that once in the day he empty the kennel and make all clean, and renew their straw, and put again fresh new straw a great deal and right thick. And there where he layeth it the hounds should lie, and the place where they should lie should be made of trees a foot high from the earth, and then straw should be laid thereupon, because the moisture of the earth should not make them morfounder nor engender other sicknesses by the which they might be worse for hunting. Also that he be both at field and at wood delivered (active) and well eyed and well advised of his speech and of his terms, and ever glad to learn and that he be no boaster nor jangler.