OF RUNNING HOUNDS AND OF THEIR NATURE 59

pei byn not good for pe hert for pei byn nott
good to enchace at a longe flight but only for to
athrest hym for pei seche not wel ne pei rennen
not wel ne pei hunte not longe ! for pe be custumed
to hunt nye, and at pe bigynnyng pei han shewed
pe best, Oper maner of rennyng houndis ber byn
pe which hunten somdele moor slowly and heuyli,
but as pei begynne pei holde on all day Thise
houndis athresten not so sone an” as pe othir but
pei bryng hym best bi maystrie and strengthe to
his eende for pei retreue and sentep pe fues better
and ferper for bi cause pat pei byn somdele slowe
pei must hunt the hert from ferper and perfore pei
sentyn better pan other pat goon hastily without
abiding into pe tyme that pei byn wery.’ A bold
hounde shuld neuer pleyn neipere 3o0ule but jit it
were out of pe ryghtes and also he shuld agayn
seche pe rygtes, for an hert flepand rusep, Com-
only a bold hound huntethe wip pe wynde, whan
he seep his tyme,‘ and dredep his maistre and
vnderstondep hym and dop as he biddep hym
a bold hounde shuld not leue pe hert neiper for
wynde neiper for reyn neyper for hete ne for
cold ne for non euyl wedir but in pis tyme per
ben fewe soche and also wel shuld be hunt pe
hert by hym self wipout helpe of man as 3if pe
man were alway wip hym. But al as I know non
soche. Moundis per be pe which ben bold, and
orped ° and beep iclepid bold for pei byn bold and
good for pe hert. For whan pe hert commeth in
daunger ° pei shal enchace hym but pei shall not
opne” neiper questey while pat he is among pe
chaunge * for drede to envoise ® and do amys but
whan pei han disceuered '° hym pan pei shuld open
and hunte hym and shuld ouercome pe hert wel
and perfitly and maisterfully porghout al pe
chaunge hes houndes ben not so good and so
perfite as pe bold houndes to foresaid to meve™ men
by to resonns,” that oon resonn is for they
huntethe not men best to plesaunce, for they
hunte not but to the hert and the firste bolde
hounde huntethe alle maner beestes that his
maystre wol uncouple him to, he opene the
alway thorowe all the chaunges, and the bolde
hounde for the herte he openethe nought for the
hert as I have sayde whanne the hert is amydde

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 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 flies and ruses.
Commonly a bold hound hunts with the wind when
he sees his time.* He dreads his master and under-
stands 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 danger® they will chase him, but
they will not open“ nor quest while he is among the
change, for dread to envoyse® and do amiss, but
when they have dissevered'* 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 reasons,’® 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

* This should be “hunt not well from a distance.” G. de F. p. 107 says: “de fort longe.” See Appendix :

Forlonge.

® The word “hart” has been left out here.

fs ; i :

a G. de F. has here much more about hounds and their manner of hunting which the author of the “ Master
of Game” omits. See pp. 108 and 109. For omission, see Appendix : Running Hounds
g :

G. de F. has here: “And also hunts with his nose on the ground when it is the time

itt,,”” 7D), TH),
® Danger of his being lost to the hounds.

° G. de F. p. rro calls these hounds “ Cerfs bauz mus.”

and place for

" Challenge—i.e., the noise the hounds make on finding the scent of an animal

8 Other deer. See Appendix : Change.

wrote the Vespasian B. XII. MS. having made a mist

; ® Get off the line.  Separat i
™ From here to the end of the r8th line on the next page the text eos shan neon ae

pied from the Shirley MS., the scribe who

ake in his transcript, copying on folio 65 the folio 64, which

therefore appears twice over, to the exclusion of the matter here copied from the Shirley MS