Chapter 11

Nec minor erat fides in eo cane qui domino profundam foveam per venatum incidenti nunquam abfuit, dum sui unius indicio sublatus is per funem fuit: in quem, cum oris cavernæ proximus esset, insiliebat canis, tanquam ulnis amplexurus revertentem herum, impatiens longioris moræ.

There was no faynting faith in that Dogge, which when his Master by a mischaunce in hunting stumbled and fell toppling downe a deepe dytche beyng vnable to recouer of himselfe, the Dogge signifying his masters mishappe, reskue came, and he was hayled up by a rope, whom the Dogge seeyng almost drawne up to the edge of the dytche, cheerefully saluted, leaping and skipping vpon his master as though he woulde haue imbraced hym, beyng glad of his presence, whose longer absence he was lothe to lacke.

[Canum ingenia.] Sunt qui focum non patiuntur dissipari, sed prunas in focum pede removent, prius cogitabundi aspicientes qua ratione id possit à se fieri. Quod si pruna ardentior fuerit, cinere obruunt, ac dein nare in locum promovent. Sunt quoque qui noctu villici officium præstant.

Some Dogges there be, which will not suffer fyery coales to lye skattered about the hearthe, but with their pawes wil rake up the burnyng coales, musying and studying fyrst with themselues how it myght conueniently be done. And if so bee that the coales cast to great a heate then will they buyry them in ashes and so remoue them forwarde to a fyt place wyth theyr noses. Other Dogges bee there which exequute the office of a Farmer in the nyghte tyme.

Cum enim lectum petit herus, & omnia centum ærei claudunt vectes, æternaque ferri robora, nec custos absistit limine Janus (ut scribit Virgilius) tum si prodire jubeat herus canem, is per fundos omnes oberrat, quovis villico diligentior, & si alienum quid invenerit sive hominem, sive bestiam, abigit, domesticis relictis animalibus atque servis.

For when his master goeth to bedde to take his naturall sleepe, And when,

A hundred barres of brasse and yron boltes, Make all things safe from startes and from reuoltes. VVhen Ianus keepes the gate with Argos eye, That daungers none approch, ne mischiefes nye.

As Virgill vaunteth in his verses, Then if his master byddeth him go abroade, he lingereth not, but raungeth ouer all his lands lying there about, more diligently, I wys, then any farmer himselfe. And if he finde anything their that is straunge and pertaining to other persons besides his master, whether it be man, woman, or beast, he driueth them out of the ground, not medling with any thing which doth belong to the possession and vse of his master.

Sed quanta in his fidelitas, tanta varietas in ingeniis.

But how much faythfulnes, so much diuersitie there is in their natures,

Nam sunt qui ore infræno latrent tantum nullo morsu; verum hi minus tremendi, quòd timidiores sunt. Canes enim timidi vehementius latrant, ut est in proverbio. Sunt qui latrent atque mordeant.

For there be some,

{ Which barcke only with free and open throate but will not bite, { Which doe both barcke and byte, { Which bite bitterly before they barcke,

The first are not greatly to be feared, because they themselues are fearefull, and fearefull dogges (as the prouerbe importeth) barcke most vehemently.

Ab his cavendum quidem, quia admonent futuræ injuriæ, sed non lacessendum, quoniam ira concitantur ad dentem, ipsi etiam natura acerbiores.

The second are daungerous, it is wisedome to take heede of them because they sounde, as it were, an _Alarum_ of an afterclappe, and these dogges must not be ouer much moued or prouoked, for then they take on outragiously as if they were madde, watching to set the print of their teeth in the fleshe. And these kinde of dogges are fearce and eager by nature.

Sunt qui sine voce prosiliunt, impetu involant, jugulum petunt, & crudelius lacerant. Hos formidato, quia ammosiores sunt, & incautos opprimunt.

The thirde are deadly, for they flye upon a man, without vtteraunce of voyce, snatch at him, and catche him by the throate, and most cruelly byte out colloppes of fleashe. Feare these kind of Curres, (if thou be wise and circumspect about thine owne safetie) for they bee stoute and stubberne dogges, and set vpon a man at a sodden vnwares.

[Notæ ignaviæ aut audaciæ.] Istis notis ignavum genus a strenuo, audax a timido discernunt nostri. Etenim ex malo genere, ne catulum quidem habendum existimant, quòd nullum necessariis usibus humanis commodiorem canem isto putent.

By these signes and tokens, by these notes and argumentes our men discerne the cowardly curre from the couragious dogge the bolde from the fearefull, the butcherly from the gentle and tractable. Moreouer they coniecture that a whelpe of an yll kinde is not worthe the keeping and that no dogge can serue the sundry vses of men so aptly and so conueniently as this sort of whom we haue so largely written already.

Nam si quis commemoratos eorum usus ad summas velit revocare, quis hominum clarius aut tanta vociferatione bestiam vel furem prædicat, quam iste latratu? quis domitor ferarum potentior? quis famulus amantior domini? quis fidelior comes? quis custos incorruptior? quis excubitor vigilantior? quis ultor aut vindex constantior? quis nuncius expeditior? quis aquarius laboriosior? quis denique sarctor ærarius gestandis sarcinis tolerantior?

For if any be disposed to drawe the aboue named seruices into a table, what mã more clearely, and with more vehemency of voyce giueth warning eyther of a wastefull beast, or of a spoiling theefe then this? who by his barcking (as good as a burning beacon) foreshoweth hassards at hand? What maner of beast stronger? what serua[un]t to his master more louing? what companion more trustie? what watchman more vigilant? what reuenger more constant? what messinger more speedie? what water bearer more painefull? Finally what packhorse more patient?

Atque hæc quidem de canibus Britannicis generosis atque rusticis, qui genus suum servant, diximus.

And thus much concerning English Dogges, first of the gentle kinde, secondly of the courser kinde. Nowe it remaineth that we deliuer vnto you the Dogges of a mungrell or a currishe kinde, and then will wee perfourme our taske.

¶ A Diall pertaining to the _fourth Section_.

Dogs comprehended in y^e fourth section are these

{ The shepherds dogge { The Mastiue or Bandogge,

which hath sundry names diriued frõ sundry circ[um]stances as

{ The keeper or watch man { The butchers dogge { The messinger or carrier { The Mooner { The water drawer { The Tinckers curr { The fencer,

called in Latine _Canes Rustici_.

The fifth Section of this _treatise_.

Containing Curres of the mungrell and rascall sort and first of the Dogge called in Latine, _Admonitor_, and of vs in Englishe VVappe or VVarner.

[Ex degeneribus.] De degeneribus, & ex horum diverso genere mixtis, quòd nullam insignem veri generis qualitatem formamque referant, non est quod velim plura scribere, sed ut inutiles ablegare, nisi quòd vel advenas latratu excipiant, etiam luce, & eorum adventus domesticos commonefaciant,

Of such dogges as keepe not their kinde, of such as are mingled out of sundry sortes not imitating the conditions of some one certaine spice, because they res[em]ble no notable shape, nor exercise any worthy property of the true perfect and gentle kind, it is not necessarye that I write any more of them, but to banishe them as vnprofitable implements, out of the boundes of my Booke, vnprofitable I say for any vse that is commendable, except to intertaine stra[un]gers with their barcking in the day time, giuyng warnyng to them of the house, that such & such be newly come,

[Admonitor.] unde canes admonitores appellamus:

wherevpon we call them admonishing Dogges, because in that point they performe theyr office.

Of the Dogge called Turnespete in Latine _Veruuersator_.

vel quòd in officio culinario, cum assandum est, inserviant, & rota minore gradiendo, verua circumagant, pondereque suo æquabiliter versent, ut ne calo aut lixa quidem artificiosius;

There is comprehended, vnder the curres of the coursest kinde, a certaine dogge in kytchen seruice excellent. For wh[en] any meate is to bee roasted they go into a wheele which they turning rounde about with the waight of their bodies, so diligently looke to their businesse, that no drudge nor skullion can doe the feate more cunningly.

[Versator.] quos hinc canes versatores, seu veruversatores nostrum vulgus nominat: postremos omnium generum, quæ primo memoravimus.

Whom the popular sort herevpon call Turnespets, being the last of all those which wee haue first mencioned.

Of the Dogge called the Daunser, in Latine _Saltator_ or _Tympanista_.

[Tympanista.] Sunt etiam canes nostri degeneres & ad tympanum saltare, & ad lyræ modos se movere docti, multaque alia erecti pronique facere, quæ à vagis quæstuosisque heris exequi didicerunt.

There be also dogges among vs of a mungrell kind which are taught and exercised to daunce in measure at the musicall sounde of an instrument, as, at the iust stroke of the drombe, at the sweete accent of the Cyterne, & tuned strings of the harmonious Harpe showing many pretty trickes by the gesture of their bodies. As to stand bolte upright, to lye flat vpon the grounde, to turne rounde as a ringe holding their tailes in their teeth, to begge for theyr meate, and sundry such properties, which they learne of theyr vagabundicall masters, whose instrumentes they are to gather gaine, withall in Citie, Country, Towne, and Village. As some which carry olde apes on their shoulders in coloured iackets to moue men to laughter for a litle lucre.

Of other Dogges, a short conclusion, wonderfully ingendred within the coastes of this country.

Three sortes of them,

{ The first bred of a bytch and a wolfe, } In Latine _Lyciscus_. { The second of a bytche and a foxe, } In Latine _Lacæna_. { The third of a beare and a bandogge, } In Latine _Vrcanus_.

[Lyciscus.] Lyciscum nullum istic in Anglia habemus nativum, ut ne lupum quidem ut est ante comprehensum, nec aliud genus ullum præter Lacænam & Urcanum:

Of the first we haue none naturally bred within the borders of England. The reason is for the want of wolfes, without whom no such kinde of Dogge can bee ingendred. Againe it is deliuered vnto thee in this discourse, how and by what meanes, by whose benefite, and within what circuite of tyme, this country was cleerely discharged of rauenyng wolfes, and none at all left, no, not to the least number, or the beginnyng of a number, which is an _Vnari_.

[Lacæna.] illam ex cane & vulpe (quam multam habet Anglia, & domi inter canes vel animi vel morbi causa sæpè alit)

Of the second sort we are not vtterly voyde of some, because this our Englishe soyle is not free from foxes (for in deede we are not without a multitude of them in so much as diuerse keepe, foster, and feede them in their houses among their houndes and dogges, eyther for some maladie of mind, or for some sicknesse of body,) which peraduenture the savour of that subtill beast would eyther mitigate or expell.

[Urcanus.] hunc ex urso & cane catenario; quos licet inimicos, pruriens tamen libido sæpè ita hic conjungit, ut alibi solet.

The thirde kinde which is bred of a Beare and a Bandogge we want not heare in England, (A straunge & wonderfull effect, that cruell enimyes should enter into y^e worke of copulation & bring forth so sauage a curre.) Undoubtedly it is euen so as we haue reported, for the fyery heate of theyr fleshe, or rather the pricking thorne, or most of all, the tyckling lust of lechery, beareth such swinge and sway in them, that there is no contrairietie for the time, but of constraint they must ioyne to ingender. And why should not this bee consonant to truth? why shoulde not these beastes breede in this lande, as well as in other forreigne nations?

Nam cum tigride Hircanos, cum leone Arcadicos, cum lupo Gallicos commiscuisse legimus. In hominibus quoque quibus ratio est, inimicos animos conciliat stulta illa res & naturalis, ut Moria loquitur.

For wee reede that Tigers and dogges in _Hircania_, that Lyons and Dogges in _Arcadia_, and that wolfes and dogges in _Francia_, couple and procreate. In men and women also lyghtened with the lantarne of reason (but vtterly voide of vertue) that foolishe, frantique, and fleshely action, (yet naturally sealed in vs) worketh so effectuously, y^t many tymes it doth reconcile enimyes, set foes at freendship, vnanimitie, & atonement, as _Moria_ mencioneth.

Est hic urcanus, sæva bestia, & intractabilis iræ (ut Gratii poetæ verbis utar) cæteros canes nostros omnes feroci crudelitate superans, vel aspectus torvitate terribilis, in pugna acris & vehemens, tantaque mordacitate, ut citius discerpas quàm dissolvas; nec lupum nec taurum, ursum aut leonem reformidat: vel cum cane illo Alexandri Indico certe conferendus. Sed de his hactenus ut de Britannicis verba fecimus.

The _Vrcane_ which is bred of a beare and a dogge,

Is fearce, is fell, is stoute and stronge, And byteth sore to fleshe and bone, His furious force indureth longe In rage he will be rul'de of none.

That I may vse the wordes of the Poet _Gratius_, This dogge exceedeth all other in cruell conditions, his leering and fleering lookes, his stearne and sauage vissage, maketh him in sight feareful and terrible, he is violent in fighting, & wheresoeuer he setteth his tenterhooke teeth, he taketh such sure & fast hold that a man may sooner teare and rende him in sunder, then lose him and seperate his chappes. He passeth not for the Wolfe, the Beare, the Lyon, nor the Bull, and may wortherly (as I thinke) be companiõ with _Alexanders_ dogge which came out of _India_. But of these, thus much, and thus farre may seeme sufficient.

A starte to outlandishe Dogges in this conclusion, not impertinent to the Authors purpose.

[Externi canes.] Externos aliquos & eos majusculos, Islandicos dico & Littuanicos, usus dudum recepit: quibus toto corpore hirtis, ob promissum longumque pilum, nec vultus est, nec figura corporis.

Vse and custome hath intertained other dogges of an outlandishe kinde, but a fewe and the same beyng of a pretty bygnesse, I meane Iseland, dogges curled & rough al ouer, which by reason of the lenght of their heare make showe neither of face nor of body.

[Externa prælata.] Multis tamen quòd peregrini sunt, & grati sunt, & in Melitæorum locum assumpti sunt: usque adeo deditum est humanum genus etiam sine ratione novitatibus. #erômen allotriôn, parorômen sungeneis#, miramur aliena, nostra non diligimus.

And yet these curres, forsoothe, because they are so straunge are greatly set by, esteemed, taken vp, and made of many times in the roome of the Spaniell gentle or comforter. The natures of men is so moued, nay rather marryed to nouelties without all reason, wyt, iudgement or perseueraunce. #Erômen allotriôn, parorômen sungeneis#.

Outlandishe toyes we take with delight, Things of our owne nation we haue in despight.

Neque hoc in canibus solum, sed in artificibus quoque usu venit. Nostros enim licet doctos & peritos fastidimus, belluam è longinqua barbarie alienoque solo profectam tanquam asinum Cumani, aut hominem Thalem, nostri suspiciunt.

Which fault remaineth not in vs concerning dogges only, but for artificers also. And why? it is to manyfest that wee disdayne and contempne our owne workmen, be they neuer so skilfull, be they neuer so cunning, be they neuer so excellent. A beggerly beast brought out of barbarous borders, frõ the vttermost countryes Northward, &c., we stare at, we gase at, we muse, we maruaile at, like an asse of _Cumanum_, like Thales with the brasen shancks, like the man in the Moone.

Id quod Hippocrates sub initio libri sui #peri agmôn# recte sua ætate observavit, & nos libello nostro seu consilio de Ephemera Britannica ad populum Britannicum copiosius explicuimus.

The which default _Hippocrates_ marcked when he was alyue, as euidently appeareth in the beginnyng of his booke #peri agmôn#, so intituled and named:

And we in our worcke entituled _De Ephemera Britanica_, to the people of England haue more plentifully expressed.

Atque in hoc genere quo quisque indoctior, audacior, incogitantior, hoc pluris fit apud nostros, atque etiam apud torquatos istos principes atque proceres. Cæterum de externis canibus nihil dico, quòd de Britannicis tantum voto tuo satisfacere studeo, Conrade vir doctissime.

In this kinde looke which is most blockishe, and yet most waspishe, the same is most esteemed, and not amonge Citizens onely and iolly gentlemen, but among lustie Lordes also, and noble men, and daintie courtier ruffling in their ryotous ragges. Further I am not to wade in the foorde of this discourse, because it was my purpose to satisfie your expectation with a short treatise (most learned _Conrade_) not wearysome for me to wryte, nor tedious for you to peruse.

[Canis Getulus.] Inter ea tamen quæ aliàs ad te dedi, de cane Getulo seorsum scripsi, quòd rara species ejus videbatur. De cætero genere, ipse plenissimè scribis. Verum cum longius jam produximus hunc libellum quàm priorem ad te, brevius tamen quam pro natura rei, quòd habuimus rationem studiorum tuorum, memoriæ causa quæ de canibus Britannicis diximus, in diagramma reducemus.

Among other things which you haue receaued at my handes heretofore, I remember that I wrote a seuerall description of the Getulian Dogge, because there are but a fewe of them and therefore very seldome scene. As touching Dogges of other kyndes you your selfe haue taken earnest paine, in writing of them both lyuely, learnedly and largely. But because wee haue drawne this libell more at length then the former which I sent you (and yet briefer than the nature of the thing myght well beare) regardyng your more earnest and necessary studdies. I will conclude makyng a rehearsall notwithstanding (for memoryes sake) of certaine specialties contayned in the whole body of this my breuiary.

Et quia vulgaribus nominibus delectaris, ut ex literis tuis didici, ea quoque Latinis apponemus, & singulorum rationes exponemus, quo nihil tibi sit incognitum aut desideratum.

And because you participate principall pleasure in the knowledge of the common and vsuall names of Dogges (as I gather by the course of your letters) I suppose it not amysse to deliuer vnto you a shorte table contayning as well the Latine as the Englishe names, and to render a reason of euery particular appellation, to th'intent that no scruple may remaine in this point, but that euery thing may bee sifted to the bare bottome.

Canes ergo Britannici, aut sunt

{ Nomina { Latina { Anglica

Generosi. Venatici. Sagax. Hunde Terrarius. Terrare. Leverarius. Harier. Sanguinarius. Blud-hunde. Agasæus. Gasehunde. Leporarius. Grehunde. Levinarius seu Lorarius. Leviner, or Lyemmer. Vertagus. Tumbler. Aucupatorii. Hispaniolus. Spainel. Index. Setter. Aquaticus, seu Inquisitor. Water-spainel, or Fynder. Delicati. Melitæus, seu Fotor. Spainel-gentle, or Comforter. Rustici. Pastoralis. Shepherd's Dog. Villaticus, seu Catenarius. Mastive, or Bandedog. Degeneres. Admonitor. Wappe. Versator. Turn-spit. Saltator. Dancer.

A Diall pertaining to the _fifte Section_.

Dogges contained in this last Diall or Table are

{ The wapp or warner, { The Turnespet, { The dauncer,

called in Latine _Canes Rustici_

A Supplement or Addition, containing a demonstration of Dogges names how they had their Originall.

Ista vocabula nostratia cum nihil apud te, hominem peregrinum, loquantur sine interpretatione, ut Latinorum vocabulorum rationem prius reddidimus, ita Anglicorum jam reddemus, quo tibi pateant universa, eo etiam quo prius observato ordine.

The names contayned in the generall table, for so much as they signifie nothing to you being a straunger, and ignoraunt of the Englishe tounge, except they be interpreted: As we haue giuen a reason before of y^e latine words so meane we to doe no lesse of the Englishe that euery thing maye be manyfest vnto your vnderstanding. Wherein I intende to obserue the same order which I haue followed before.

The names of such Dogges as be contained in the first section.

[Sagax.] Hunde igitur (quem inter venaticos sagacem diximus) a verbo nostro hunte, quod apud nostros venari significat, unica tantum immutata litera derivata appellatione, nomen habet. Quod si a vocabulo vestrati hunde, (quod canem in universum apud vos significat) propter vocum similitudinem appellari credas (mi Gesnere) ut non magnopere repugnabo, cum adhuc retinemus multa Germanica vocabula, a Saxonibus cum Angliam occuparunt nobis relicta, ita illud admonebo, commune quidem nomen canis apud nos dogge esse, venatici vero canis hunde.

_Sagax_, in Englishe Hunde, is deriued of our English word hunte. One letter chaunged in another, namely, T, into D, as Hunt, Hunde, whom (if you coniecture to be so named of your country worde _Hunde_ which signifieth the generall name Dogge, because of the similitude and likenesse of the wordes I will not stand in contradiction (friende _Gesner_) for so much as we retaine among vs at this day many Dutche wordes which the _Saxons_ left at such time as they occupyed this country of Britane. Thus much also vnderstand, that as in your language _Hunde_ is the common word, so in our naturall tounge dogge is the vniuersall, but _Hunde_ is perticuler and a speciall, for it signifieth such a dogge onely as serueth to hunt, and therfore it is called a hunde.

Of the Gasehounde.

[Agasæus.] Similiter à verbo nostrati, Gase, (quòd fixius rem aliquam & attentius contueri est) Gasehunde appellatur nostris, quem ante Agasæum nominari diximus. Neque enim odoratu, sed prospectu attento & diligenti feram persequitur iste canis, ut jam ante memoravimus; etsi non sum nescius etiam apud Latinos Agasæi vocabulum inter canum nomina reperiri.

The Gasehounde called in latine _Agasæus_, hath his name of the sharpenesse and stedfastnesse of his eyesight. By which vertue he compasseth that which otherwise he cannot by smelling attaine. As we haue made former relation, for to gase is earnestly to viewe and beholde, from whence floweth the deriuation of this dogges name.

Of the Grehounde.

[Leporarius.] A Gre quoque, Grehunde apud nostros invenit nomen, quod præcipui gradus inter canes sit, & primæ generositatis. Gre enim apud nostros gradum denotat. Hunc latinè Leporarium dicebamus.

The Grehounde called _Leporarius_, hath his name of this word, Gre, which word soundeth, _Gradus_ in latine, in Englishe degree. Because among all dogges these are the most principall, occupying the chiefest place, and being simply and absolutely the best of the gentle kinde of houndes.

Of the Leuyner or the Lyemmer.