5.5. Of hawkes and rauenous foules. Chap. 5.
Of hawkes and rauenous foules. Chap. 5.
Compare 1577 edition: 1 _I Can not make (as yet) anie iust report how manie sorts of hawkes are bred within this relame. Howbeit which of those that are vsuallie had among vs are disclosed with in this land, I thinke it more easie and losse difficult to set downe. First of all therefore that we haue the egle, common experience dooth euidentlie confirme, and diuerse of our rockes whereon they bréed, if speach did serue, could well declare the same. But the most ex|cellent aierie of all is not much from Chester, at a castell called Dinas Bren, sometime builded by Brennus, as our writers doo remember. Certes this castell is no great thing, but yet a pile sometime ve|rie strong and inaccessible for enimies, though now all ruinous as manie other are. It standeth vpon an hard rocke, in the side whereof an eagle bréedeth eue|rie yeare. This also is notable in the ouerthrow of hir nest (a thing oft attempted) that he which goeth thither must be sure of two large baskets, and so pro|uide to be let downe thereto, that he may sit in the one and be couered with the other: for otherwise the eagle would kill him, and teare the flesh from his bones with hir sharpe talons though his apparell were neuer so good. The common people call this foule an erne, but as I am ignorant whither the word eagle and erne doo shew anie difference of sexe, I meane betwéene the male and female, so we haue great store of them. And néere to the places where they bréed, the commons complaine of great harme to be doone by them in thier fields: for they are able to beare a yoong lambe or kid vnto their neasts, ther|with to féed their yoong and come againe for more. I was once of the opinion that there was a diuersitie of kind betwéene the eagle and the erne, till I percei|ued that our nation vsed the word erne in most pla|ces for the eagle. We haue also the lanner and the lanneret: the tersell and the gosehawke: the musket and the sparhawke: the tacke and the hobbie: and fi|nallie some (though verie few) marlions. And these are all the hawkes that I doo heare as yet to be bred within this Iland. Howbeit as these are not wan|ting with vs, so as they not verie plentifull: where|fore such as delite in hawking doo make their chiefe purueiance & prouision for the same out of Danske, Germanie, and the Eastcountries, from whence we haue them in great abundance, and at excessiue pri|ces, whereas at home and where they be bred they are sold for almost right naught, and vsuallie brought to the markets as chickins, pullets and pigeons are with vs, and there bought vp to be eaten (as we doo the aforesaid foules) almost of euerie man. It is said that the sparhawke preieth not vpon the foule in the morning that she taketh ouer euen, but as loth to haue double benefit by one seelie foule, dooth let it go to make some shift for it selfe. But hereof as I stand in some doubt, so this I find among the writers wor|thie the noting, that the sparhawke is enimie to yoong children, as is also the ape; but of the pecocke she is maruellouslie afraid & so appalled, that all cou|rage & stomach for a time is taken from hir vpon the sight thereof. But to proceed with the rest. Of other rauenous birds we haue also verie great plentie, as the bussard, the kite, the ringtaile, dunkite, & such as often annoie our countrie dames by spoiling of their yoong bréeds of chickens, duckes and goslings, wherevnto our verie rauens and crowes haue lear|ned also the waie: and so much are our rauens gi|uen to this kind of spoile, that some idle and curious heads of set purpose haue manned, reclaimed, and v|sed them in stéed of hawkes, when other could not be had. Some doo imagine that the rauen should be the vulture, and I was almost persuaded in times past to beleeue the same: but finding of late a description of the vulture, which better agreeth with the forme of a second kind of eagle, I fréelie surcease to be lon|ger of that opinion: for as it hath after a sort the shape, colour, and quantitie of an eagle, so are the legs and feet more hairie and rough, their sides vn|der their wings better couered with thicke downe (wherewith also their gorge or a part of their brest vn|der their throtes is armed, and not with fethers) than are the like parts of the eagle, and vnto which portrai|ture there is no member of the rauen (who is also verie blacke of colour) that can haue anie resem|blance: we haue none of them in England to my knowledge, if we haue, they go generallie vnder the name of eagle or erne. Neither haue we the pygar|gus or gripe, wherefore I haue no occasion to intreat further. I haue séene the carren crowes so cunning also by their owne industrie of late, that they haue vsed to soare ouer great riuers (as the Thames for example) & suddenlie comming downe haue caught a small fish in their féet & gone awaie withall with|out wetting of their wings. And euen at this present the aforesaid riuer is not without some of them, a thing (in my opinion) not a little to be wondered at. We haue also ospraies which bréed with vs in parks and woods, wherby the kéepers of the same doo reape in bréeding time no small commoditie: for so soone al|most as the yoong are hatched, they tie them to the but ends or ground ends of sundrie trees, where the old ones finding them, doo neuer cease to bring fish vnto them, which the keepers take & eat from them, and commonlie is such as is well fed, or not of the worst sort. It hath not béene my hap hitherto to see anie of these foules, & partlie through mine owne ne|gligence: but I heare that it hath one foot like an hawke to catch hold withall, and another resembling a goose wherewith to swim; but whether it be so or not so, I refer the further search and triall thereof vnto some other. This neuertheles is certeine that both a|liue and dead, yea euen hir verie oile is a deadlie ter|rour to such fish as come within the wind of it. There is no cause wherefore I should describe the cormo|rant amongst hawkes, of which some be blacke and manie pied chiefelie about the Ile of Elie, where they are taken for the night rauen, except I should call him a water hawke. But sith such dealing is not con|uenient, let vs now sée what may be said of our ve|nemous wormes, and how manie kinds we haue of them within our realme and countrie.
5.6. Of venemous beasts. Chap. 6.
Of venemous beasts. Chap. 6.
Compare 1577 edition: 1 _IF I should go about to make anie long discourse of vene|mous beasts or wormes bred in England, I should at|tempt more than occasion it selfe would readilie offer, sith we haue verie few worms, but no beasts at all, that are thought by their naturall qualities to be either vene|mous or hurtfull. First of all therefore we haue the adder (in our old Saxon toong called an atter) which EEBO page image 228 some men doo not rashlie take to be the viper. Cer|tes if it be so, then is it not the viper author of the death of hirGalenus de Theriaca ad Pisonem, parents, as some histories affirme; and thereto Encelius a late writer in his De re metallica, lib. 3. cap. 38.Plin. lib. 10. cap. 62. where he maketh mention of a she adder which he saw in Sala, whose wombe (as he saith) was eaten out after a like fashion, hir yoong ones lieng by hir in the sunne shine, as if they had béene earth worms. Neuerthelesse as he nameth them Viperas, so he calleth the male Echis, and the female Echidna, concluding in the end that Echis is the same serpent which his countrimen to this daie call Ein atter, as I haue also noted before out of a Saxon dictionarie. For my part I am persuaded that the slaughter of their parents is either not true at all, or not alwaies (although I doubt not but that nature hath right well prouided to inhibit their superfluous increase by some meanes or other) and so much the rather am I led herevnto, for that I gather by Nicander, that of all venemous worms the viper onelie bringeth out hir yoong aliue, and therefore is called in Latine Vipera quasi viuipara: but of hir owne death he dooth not (to my remembrance) saie any thing. It is testi|fied also by other in other words, & to the like sense, that Echis id est vipera sola exserpentibus non ouased ani|malia parit. And it may well be, for I remember that I haue read in Philostratus De vita Appollonij, Adder or viper. how he saw a viper licking hir yoong. I did see an adder once my selfe that laie (as I thought) sléeping on a moule|hill, out of whose mouth came eleuen yoong adders of twelue or thirtéene inches in length a péece, which plaied to and fro in the grasse one with another, till some of them espied me. Sée Aristotle, Animalium lib. 5. cap. vl|timo, & Theo|phrast. lib. 7. cap. 13. So soone therefore as they saw my face, they ran againe into the mouth of their dam, whome I killed, and then found each of them shrowded in a distinct cell or pannicle in hir bellie, much like vnto a soft white iellie, which maketh me to be of the opinion that our adder is the viper in|déed. The colour of their skin is for the most part like rustie iron or iron graie: but such as be verie old re|semble a ruddie blew, & as once in the yeare, to wit, in Aprill or about the beginning of Maie they cast their old skins (whereby as it is thought their age re|neweth) so their stinging bringeth death without pre|sent remedie be at hand, the wounded neuer ceasing to swell, neither the venem to worke till the skin of the one breake, and the other ascend vpward to the hart, where it finisheth the naturall effect, except the iuico of dragons (in Latine called Dracunculus minor) he spéedilie ministred and dronke in strong ale, or else some other medicine taken of like force, that may counteruaile and ouercome the venem of the same. The length of them is most commonlie two foot and somwhat more, but seldome dooth it extend vnto two foot six inches, except it be in some rare and monste|rous one:Snakes. whereas our snakes are much longer; and séene sometimes to surmount a yard, or thrée foot, al|though their poison be nothing so grieuous and dead|lie as the others. Our adders lie in winter vnder stones, as Aristotle also saith of the viper Lib. 8. cap. 15. and in holes of the earth, rotten stubs of trees, and amongst the dead leaues: but in the heat of the summer they come abroad, and lie either round on beapes, or at length von some hillocke, or elsewhere in the grasse. They are found onelie in our woodland countries and highest grounds, where sometimes (though seldome) a speckled stone called Echites, in dutch Ein atter stein, is gotten out of their dried car|cases, which diuers report to be good against their poi|son. As for our snakes, which in Latine are proper|lie named Angues, Sol. cap. 40. they commonlie are seene in moores,Plin. lib. 37. cap. 11. fens, lomie wals, and low bottoms.
Compare 1577 edition: 1 And as we haue greats store of todes where adders commonlie are found,Todes. so doo frogs abound where snakes doo kéepe their residence.Frogs. We haue also the sloworme,Sloworme. which is blacke and graieth of colour, and somewhat shorter than an adder. I was at the killing once of one of them, and there by perceiued that she was not so called of anie want of nimble motion, but rather of the contrarie. Neuerthelesse we haue a blind worme to be found vnder logs in woods, and timber that hath lien long in a place, which some also doo call (and vpon better ground) by the name of flow worms, and they are knowen easilie by their more or lesse varietie of striped colours, drawen long waies from their heads, their whole bodies little excéeding a foot in length, & yet is there venem deadlie. This al|so is not to be omitted, that now an then in our fen|nie countries, other kinds of serpents are found of greater quantitie than either our adder or our snake: but as these are not ordinarie and oft to be séene, so I meane not to intreat of them among our com|mon annoiances. Neither haue we the scorpion, a plague of God sent not long since into Italie, and whose poison (as Apollodorus saith) is white, neither the tarantula or Neopolitane spider, whose poison bringeth death, except musike be at hand. Wherfore I suppose our countrie to be the more happie (I meane in part) for that it is void of these two grieuous an|noiances, wherewith other nations are plagued.
Compare 1577 edition: 1 We haue also efts, both of the land and water,Efts. and likewise the noisome swifts,Swifts. whereof to saie anie more it should be but losse of time, sith they are well knowne; and no region to my knowledge found to be void of manie of them.Flies. As for flies (sith it shall not be amisse a little to touch them also) we haue none that can doo hurt or hinderance naturallie vn|to anie: for whether they be cut wasted,Cutwasted whole bodied. or whole bo|died,Hornets. they are void of poison and all venemous incli|nation.Waspes. The cut or girt wasted (for so I English the word Insecta) are the hornets, waspes, bées, and such like, whereof we haue great store, and of which an o|pinion is conceiued, that the first doo bréed of the cor|ruption of dead horsses, the second of peares and ap|ples corrupted, and the last of kine and oxen: which may be true, especiallie the first and latter in some parts of the beast, and not their whole substances, as also in the second, sith we haue neuer waspes, but when our fruit beginneth to wax ripe. In déed Vir|gil and others speake of a generation of bées, by kil|ling or smoothering of a brused bullocke or calfe, and laieng his bowles or his flesh wrapped vp in his hide in a close house for a certeine season; but how true it is hitherto I haue not tried. Yet sure I am of this, that no one liuing creature corrupteth without the production of another; as we may see by our selues, whose flesh dooth alter into lice; and also in shéepe for excessiue numbers of flesh flies, if they be suffered to lie vnburi [...] or vneaten by the dogs and swine, who often and happilie preuent such néedlesse generations.
Compare 1577 edition: 1 As concerning bées, I thinke it good to remember, that wheras some ancient writers affirme it to be a commoditie wanting in our Iland, it is now found to be nothing so. In old time peraduenture we had none in déed, but in my daies there is such plentie of them in maner euerie where, that in some vplandish townes there are one hundred, or two hundred hiues of them, although the said hiues are not so huge as those of the east countrie, but far lesse, as not able to conteine aboue one bushell of corne, or fiue pecks at the most. Plinie (a man that of set pur|pose deliteth to write of woonders) speaking of honie noteth that in the north regions the hiues in his time were of such quantitie, that some one combe contei|ned eight foot in length, & yet (as it should séeme) he speketh not of the greatest. For in Podolia, which is now subiect to the king of Poland, their hiues are so EEBO page image 226 great and combes so abundant, that huge bores o|uerturning and falling into them, are drowned in the honie, before they can recouer & find the meanes to come out.
Compare 1577 edition: 1 Our honie also is taken and reputed to be the best,Honie. bicause it is harder, better wrought, and clenlier ves|selled vp, than that which commeth from beyond the sea, where they stampe and streine their combs, bées, and yoong blowings altogither into the stuffe, as I haue béene informed. In vse also of medicine our physicians and apothecaries eschew the forren, espe|ciallie that of Spaine and Ponthus, by reason of a venemous qualitie naturallie planted in the same, as some write, and choose the home made: not onelie by reason of our soile, which hath no lesse plentie of wild thime growing therein than in Sicilia, & about Athens, and makth the best stuffe; as also for that it bréedeth (being gotten in haruest time) lesse choler, and which is oftentimes (as I haue séene by experience) so white as sugar, and corned as if it were salt. Our hiues are made commonlie of rie straw, and wadled about with bramble quarters: but some make the same of wicker, and cast them ouer with claie. Wée cherish none in trées, but set our hiues somewhere on the warmest side of the house, prouiding that they may stand drie and without danger both of the mouse and moth. This furthermore is to be noted, that wher|as in vessels of oile, that which is néerest the top is counted the finest, and of wine that in the middest: so of honie the best which is heauiest and moistes is al|waies next the bottome, and euermore casteth and driueth his dregs vpward toward the verie top, con|trarie to the nature of other liquid substances, whose groonds and léeze doo generallie settle downewards. And thus much as by the waie of our bées and Eng|lish honie.
Compare 1577 edition: 1 As for the whole bodied, as the cantharides, and such venemous creatures of the same kind, to be a|bundantlie found in other countries, we heare not of them: yet haue we béetles, horseflies, turdbugs or dorres (called in Latine Scarabei) the locust or the gras|hoppers (which to me doo séeme to be one thing, as I will anon declare) and such like, whereof let other in|treat that make an exercise in catching of flies, but a far greater sport in offering them to spiders. As did Domitian sometime, and an other prince yet liuing, who delited so much to sée the iollie combats betwixt a stout flie and an old spider, that diuerse men haue had great rewards giuen them for their painfull pro|uision of flies made onelie for this purpose. Some parasites also in the time of the aforesaid emperour, (when they were disposed to laugh at his follie, and yet would seeme in appearance to gratifie his fanta|sticall head with some shew of dutifull demenour) could deuise to set their lord on worke, by letting a flesh flie priuilie into his chamber, which he foorthwith would egerlie haue hunted (all other businesse set a|part) and neuer ceased till he had caught hir into his fingers: wherevpon arose the prouerbe, Ne musca qui|dem, vttered first by Vibius Priscus, who being asked whether anie bodie was with Domitian, answered, Nemusca quidem, wherby he noted his follie. There are some cockescombs here and there in England, lear|ning it abroad as men transregionate, which make account also of this pastime, as of a notable matter, telling what a fight is séene betwene them, if either of them be lustie and couragious in his kind. One also hath made a booke of the spider and the flie, where|in he dealeth so profoundlie, and beyond all measure of skill, that neither he himselfe that made it, neither anie one that readeth it, can reach vnto the meaning therof. But if those iollie fellows in stéed of the straw that they thrust into the flies tale (a great iniurie no doubt to such a noble champion) would bestow the cost to set a fooles cap vpon their owne heads: then might they with more securitie and lesse reprehen|sion behold these notable battels.
Now as concerning the locust, I am led by di|uerse of my countrie, who (as they say) were either in Germanie, Italie, or Pannonia, 1542, when those nations were greatly annoied with that kind of flie, and affirme verie constantlie, that they saw none o|ther creature than the grashopper, during the time of that annoiance, which was said to come to them from the Meotides. In most of our translations also of the bible, the word Locusta is Englished a grashopper, and therevnto Leuit. 11. it is reputed among the cleane food, otherwise Iohn the Baptist would neuer haue liued with them in the wildernesse. In Barbarie, Numidia, Sée Diodorus Siculus. and sundrie other places of Affrica, as they haue beene, so are they eaten to this daie powdred in barels, and therefore the people of those parts are cal|led Acedophagi: neuertheles they shorten the life of the eaters by the production at the last of an irkesome and filthie disease. In India they are thrée foot long, in Ethiopia much shorter, but in England seldome a|boue an inch. As for the cricket called in Latin Cicada, he hath some likelihood, but not verie great, with the grashopper, and therefore he is not to be brought in as an vmpier in this case. Finallie Matthiolus, and so manie as describe the locust, doo set downe none o|ther forme than that of our grashopper, which maketh me so much the more to rest vpon my former imagi|nation, which is, that the locust and grashopper are one.
5.7. Of our English dogs and their qualities. Chap. 7.
Of our English dogs and their qualities. Chap. 7.
Compare 1577 edition: 1 _THere is no countrie that maie (as I take it) compare with ours, in number, excellencie, and diuersitie of dogs. And therefore if Polycrates of Sa|mia were now aliue, he would not send to Epyro for such merchandize: but to his fur|ther cost prouide them out of Britaine, as an orna|ment to his countrie, and péece of husbandrie for his common wealth, which he furnished of set purpose with Molossian and Lacaonian dogs, as he did the same also with shéepe out of Attica and Miletum, gotes from Scyro and Naxus, swine out of Sicilia, and artificers out of other places. Howbeit the lear|ned doctor Caius in his Latine treatise vnto Gesner De canibus Anglicis, bringeth them all into thrée sorts: that is, the gentle kind seruing for game: the home|lie kind apt for sundrie vses: and the currish kind méet for many toies. For my part I can say no more of them than he hath doone alredie. Wherefore I will here set downe onelie a summe of that which he hath written of their names and natures, with the addi|tion of an example or two now latelie had in experi|ence, whereby the courages of our mastiffes shall yet more largelie appeare. As for those of other countries I haue not to deale with them: neither care I to re|port out of Plinie, that dogs were sometime killed in sacrifice, and sometime their whelps eaten as a de|licate dish, Lib. 29. cap. 4. Wherefore if anie man be disposed to read of them, let him resort to Plinie lib. 8. cap. 40. who (among other woonders) telleth of an armie of two hundred dogs, which fetched a king of the Garamantes out of captiuitie, mawgre the resi|stance of his aduersaries: also to Cardan, lib. 10. De animalibus, Aristotle, &c: who write maruels of them, but none further from credit than Cardan, EEBO page image 230 who is not afraid to compare some of them for great|nesse with oxen, and some also for smalnesse vnto the little field mouse. Neither doo I find anie far writer of great antiquitie, that maketh mention of our dogs, Starbo excepted, who saith that the Galles did somtime buy vp all our mastiffes, to serue in the fore|wards of their battles, wherein they resembled the Colophonians, Castabalenses of Calicute and Phe|nicia, of whom Plinie also speaketh, but they had them not from vs.
Compare 1577 edition: 1 The first sort therefore he diuideth either into such as rowse the beast, and continue the chase, or sprin|geth the bird, and bewraieth hir flight by pursute. And as these are commonlie called spaniels, so the other are named hounds, whereof he maketh eight sorts, of which the formost excelleth in perfect smelling, the se|cond in quicke espieng, the third in swiftnesse and quickenesse, the fourth in smelling and nimblenesse, &c: and the last in subtiltie and deceitfulnesse. These (saith Strabo) are most apt for game, and called Sa|gaces by a generall name, not onelie bicause of their skill in hunting, but also for that they know their owne and the names of their fellowes most exactlie. For if the hunter see anie one to follow skilfullie, and with likelihood of good successe, he biddeth the rest to harke and follow such a dog, and they estsoones obeie to soone as they heare his name. The first kind of these are also commonlie called hariers, whose game is the fox, the hare, the woolfe (if we had anie) hart, bucke, badger, otter, polcat, lopstart, wesell, conie, &c: the se|cond hight a terrer, and it hunteth the badger and graie onelie: the third a bloudhound, whose office is to follow the fierce, and now and then to pursue a théefe or beast by his drie foot: the fourth hight a gase|hound, who hunteth by the eie: the fift a greihound, cherished for his strength, swiftnes, and stature, com|mended by Bratius in his De venatione, and not vnre|membred by Hercules Stroza in a like treatise, but aboue all other those of Britaine, where he saith:
—& magna spectandi mole Britanni,also by Nemesianus, libro Cynegeticôn, where he saith:
of which sort also some be smooth, of sundrie colours, and some shake haired: the sixt a liemer, that excelleth in smelling and swift running: the seuenth a tum|bler: and the eight a théefe, whose offices (I meane of the latter two) incline onelie to deceit, wherein they are oft to skilfull, that few men would thinke so mis|chiefous a wit to remaine in such sillie creaturs. Ha|uing made this enumeration of dogs, which are apt for the chase and hunting, he commeth next to such as serue the falcons in their times, whereof he maketh also two sorts. One that findeth his game on the land, an other that putteth vp such foule as keepeth in the water: and of these this is commonlie most vsu|all for the net or traine, the other for the hawke, as he dooth shew at large. Of the first he saith, that they haue no peculiar names assigned to them seueral|lie, but each of them is called after the bird which by naturall appointment he is allotted to hunt or serue, for which consideration some be named dogs for the feasant, some for the falcon, and some for the partrich. Howbeit, the common name for all is spaniell (saith he) and therevpon alludeth, as if these kinds of dogs had bin brought hither out of Spaine. In like sort we haue of water spaniels in their kind. The third sort of dogs of the gentle kind, is the spaniell gentle, or com|forter, or (as the common terme is) the fistinghound, and those are called Melitei, of the Iland Malta, from whence they were brought hither. These are little and prettie, proper and fine, and sought out far and néere to satisfie the nice delicacie of daintie dames, and wanton womens willes; instruments of follie to plaie and dallie withall, in trifling away the treasure of time, to withdraw their minds from more com|mendable exercises, and to content their corrupt con|cupiscences with vaine disport, a sillie poore shift to shun their irkesome idlenes. These Sybariticall pup|pies, the smaller they be (and thereto if they haue an hole in the foreparts of their heads) the better they are accepted, the more pleasure also they prouoke, as méet plaiefellowes for minsing mistresses to beare in their bosoms, to keepe companie withall in their chambers, to succour with sléepe in bed, and nourish with meat at boord, to lie in their laps, and licke their lips as they lie (like yoong Dianaes) in their wagons and coches. And good reason it should be so, for course|nesse with finenesse hath no fellowship, but featnesse with neatnesse hath neighbourhead inough. That plausible prouerbe therefore verefied sometime vpon a tyrant, namelie that he loued his sow better than his sonne, may well be applied to some of this kind of people, who delight more in their dogs, that are de|priued of all possibilitie of reason, than they doo in children that are capable of wisedome & iudgement. Yea, they oft féed them of the best, where the poore mans child at their doores can hardlie come by the woorst. But the former abuse peraduenture reigneth where there hath bene long want of issue, else where barrennesse is the best blossome of beautie: or final|lie, where poore mens children for want of their owne issue are not readie to be had. It is thought of some that it is verie wholesome for a weake stomach to beare such a dog in the bosome, as it is for him that hath the palsie to féele the dailie smell and fauour of a for. But how truelie this is affirmed let the learned iudge: onelie it shall suffice for Doctor Caius to haue said thus much of spaniels and dogs of the gentle kind.Diuisa Britannia mittitVeloces nostrí orbis venatibus aptos,
Compare 1577 edition: 1 Dogs of the homelie kind,Homelie kind of dogs. are either shepheards curs, or mastiffes. The first are so common, that it néedeth me not to speake of them. Their vse also is so well knowne in keeping the heard togither (either when they grase or go before the sheepheard) that it should be but in vaine to spend anie time about them. Wherefore I will leaue this curre vnto his owne kind,Tie dogs. and go in hand with the mastiffe, tie dog, or banddog, so called bicause manie of them are tied vp in chaines and strong bonds, in the daie time, for dooing hurt abroad, which is an huge dog, stubborne, ouglie, eager, burthenous of bodie (& therefore but of little swiftnesse) terrible and fearfull to behold, and oftentimes more fierce and fell than anie Archadian or Corsican cur. Our Englishmen to the intent that these dogs may be more cruell and fierce, assist na|ture with some art, vse and custome. For although this kind of dog be capable of courage, violent, vali|ant, stout and bold: yet will they increase these their stomachs by teaching them to bait the beare, the bull, the lion, and other such like cruell and bloudie beasts, (either brought ouer or kept vp at home, for the same purpose) without anie collar to defend their throats, and oftentimes thereto they traine them vp in figh|ting and wrestling with a man (hauing for the safe|gard of his life either a pike staffe, club, sword, priuie coate) wherby they become the more fierce and cruell vnto strangers. The Caspians made so much ac|count sometime of such great dogs, that euerie a|ble man would nourish sundrie of them in his house of set purpose, to the end they should deuoure their carcases after their deaths, thinking the dogs bellies to be the most honourable sepulchers. The common people also followed the same rate, and therfore there were tie dogs kept vp by publike ordinance, to de|uoure them after their deaths: by means whereof these beasts became the more eger, and with great EEBO page image 231 difficultie after a while restreined from falling vpon the liuing. But whither am I digressed? In return|ing therefore to our owne, I saie that of mastiffes, some barke onelie with fierce and open mouth but will not bite,Some [...] some doo both barke and bite, but the cruellest doo either not barke at all, or bite before they barke, and therefore are more to be feared than anie of the other.Some bite and barke not. They take also their name of the word mase and théefe (or master théefe if you will) bicause they often stound and put such persons to their shifts in townes and villages, and are the prin|cipall causes of their apprehension and taking. The force which is in them surmounteth all beleefe, and the fast hold which they take with their téeth excéedeth all credit: for thrée of them against a beare, foure a|gainst a lion are sufficient to trie mastries with them. King Henrie the seauenth, as the report go|eth, commanded all such curres to be hanged, bicause they durst presume to fight against the lion, who is their king and souereigne. The like he did with an excellent falcon, as some saie, bicause he feared not hand to hand to match with an eagle, willing his falconers in his owne presence to pluck off his head after he was taken downe, saieng that it was not méet for anie subiect to offer such wrong vnto his lord and superiour, wherein he had a further mean|ing. But if king Henrie the seauenth had liued in our time, what would he haue doone to one English mastiffe, which alone and without anie helpe at all pulled downe first an huge beare, then a pard, and last of all a lion, each after other before the French king in one daie, when the lord Buckhurst was am|bassador vnto him, and whereof if I should write the circumstances, that is, how he tooke his aduantage being let lose vnto them, and finallie draue them into such excéeding feare, that they were all glad to run awaie when he was taken from them, I should take much paines, and yet reape but small credit: where|fore it shall suffice to haue said thus much thereof. Some of our mastiffes will rage onelie in the night some are to be tied vp both daie and night. Such also as are suffered to go lose about the house and yard, are so gentle in the daie time, that children may ride on their backs, & plaie with them at their pleasures. Diuerse of them likewise are of such gelousie ouer their maister and whosoeuer of his houshold, that if a stranger doo imbrace or touch anie of them, they will fall fiercelie vpon them, vnto their extreame mis|chéefe if their furie be not preuented. Such an one was the dog of Nichomedes king sometime of Bi|thinia, who séeing Consigne the quéene to imbrace and kisse hir husband as they walked togither in a garden, did teare hir all to peeces, mauger his resist|ance, and the present aid of such as attended on them. Some of them moreouer will suffer a stran|ger to come in and walke about the house or yard where him listeth, without giuing ouer to follow him: but if he put foorth his hand to touch anie thing, then will they flie vpon him and kill him if they may. I had one my selfe once, which would not suffer anie man to bring in his weapon further than my gate: neither those that were of my house to be touched in his presence. Or if I had beaten anie of my children, he would gentlie haue assaied to catch the rod in his teeth and take it out of my hand, or else pluck downe their clothes to saue them from the stripes: which in my opinion is not vnworthie to be noted. And thus much of our mastiffes, creatures of no lesse faith and loue towards their maisters than horsses; as may appeare euen by the confidence that Masinissa reposed in them, in so much that mistrusting his houshold seruants he made him a gard of dogs, which manie a time deliuered him from their treasons and conspiracies, euen by thier barking and biting, nor of lesse force than the Molossian race, brought from Epiro into some countries, which the poets feigne to haue originall from the brasen dog that Uulcan made, and gaue to Iupiter, who also deliuered the same to Europa, she to Procris, and Procris to Ce|phalus, as Iulius Pollux noteth, lib. 5. cap. 5: neither vnequall in carefulnesse to the mastiffe of Alex|ander Phereus, who by his onelie courage and at|tendance kept his maister long time from slaughter, till at the last he was remooued by policie, and the ty|rant killed sléeping: the storie goeth thus. The [...]e the wife of the said Phereus and hir three brethren con|spired the death of hir husband, who fearing the dog onelie, she found the means to allure him from his chamber doore by faire means, vnto another house hard by, whilest they should execute their purpose. Neuerthelesse, when they came to the bed where he laie sléeping, they waxed faint harted, till she did put them in choise, either that they should dispatch him at once, or else that she hir selfe would wake hir hus|band, and giue him warning of his enimies, or at the least wise bring in the dog vpon them, which they fea|red most of all: and therefore quicklie dispatched him.
Compare 1577 edition: 1 The last sort of dogs consisteth of the currish kind méet for manie toies: of which the whappet or prick|eard curre is one. Some men call them warners, bi|cause they are good for nothing else but to barke and giue warning when anie bodie dooth stirre or lie in wait about the house in the night season. Certes it is vnpossible to describe these curs in anie order, bi|cause they haue no anie one kind proper vnto them|selues, but are a confused companie mixt of all the rest. The second sort of them are called turne spits, whose office is not vnknowne to anie. And as these are onelie reserued for this purpose, so in manie pla|ces our mastiffes (beside the vse which tinkers haue of them in carieng their heauie budgets) are made to draw water in great whéeles out of déepe wels, going much like vnto those which are framed for our turne spits, as is to be séene at Roiston, where this feat is often practised. Besides these also we haue sholts or curs dailie brought out of Iseland, and much made of among vs, bicause of their sawcinesse and quarrelling. Moreouer they bite verie sore, and loue candles excéedinglie, as doo the men and wo|men of their countrie: but I may saie no more of them, bicause they are not bred with vs. Yet this will I make report of by the waie, for pastimes sake, that when a great man of those parts came of late into one of our ships which went thither for fish, to see the forme and fashion of the same, his wife apparrel|led in fine fables, abiding on the decke whilest hir husband was vnder the hatches with the mariners, espied a pound or two of candles hanging at the mast, and being loth to stand there idle alone, she fell to and eat them vp euerie one, supposing hir selfe to haue béene at a iollie banket, and shewing verie ple|sant gesture when hir husband came vp againe vn|to hir.
Compare 1577 edition: 1 The last kind of toiesh curs are named bansers, and those being of a mongrell sort also, are taught & exercised to danse in measure at the musicall sound of an instrument, as at the iust stroke of a drum, sweet accent of the citharne, and pleasant harmonie of the harpe, shewing manie trickes by the gesture of their bodies: as to stand bolt vpright, to lie flat vpon the ground, to turne round as a ring, holding their tailes in their teeth, to saw and beg for meat, to take a mans cap from his head, and sundrie such pro|perties, which they learne of their idle rogish masters whose instruments they are to gather gaine, as old apes clothed in motleie, and coloured short wasted iackets are for the like vagabunds, who séeke no bet|ter EEBO page image 232 liuing, than that which they may get by fond pa|stime and idlenesse. I might here intreat of other dogs, as of those which are bred betwéene a bitch and a woolfe, and called Lycisca: a thing verie often séene in France saith Franciscus Patricius in his common wealth, as procured of set purpose, and learned as I thinke of the Indians, who tie their fault bitches often in woods, that they might be loined by tigers: also betweene a bitch and a fox, or a beare and a ma|stiffe. But as we vtterlie want the first sort, except they be brought vnto vs: so it happeneth sometime, that the other two are ingendered and seene at home amongst vs. But all the rest heretofore remembred in this chapter, there is none more ouglie and odious in sight, cruell and fierce in déed, nor vntractable in hand, than that which is begotten betwéene the beare and the bandog. For whatsoeuer he catcheth hold of, he taketh it so fast, that a man may sooner teare and rend his bodie in sunder, than get open his mouth to separate his chaps. Certes he regardeth neither woolfe, beare, nor lion, and therfore may well be com|pared with those two dogs which were sent to Alex|ander out of India (& procreated as it is thought be|twéene a mastiffe and male tiger, as be those also of Hircania) or to them that are bred in Archadia, where copulation is oft seene betweene lions and bitches, as the like is in France (as I said) betwéene shée woolfes and dogs, whereof let this suffice; sith the fur|ther tractation of them dooth not concerne my pur|pose, more than the confutation of Cardans talke, De subt. lib. 10. who saith, that after manie generati|ons, dogs doo become woolfes, and contrariwise; which if it were true, than could not England be without manie woolfes: but nature hath set a difference be|twéene them, not onelie in outward forme, but also in inward disposition of their bones, wherefore it is vnpossible that his assertion can be sound.