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Three sortes of them, | The first bred of a bytch and a wolfe, The second of a bytche and a foxe, The third of a beare and a bandogge, | In Latine Lyciscus. In Latine Lacæna. In Latine Vrcanus. |
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.
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.
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 ye 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? 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, yt many tymes it doth reconcile enimyes, set foes at freendship, vnanimitie, & atonement, as Moria mencioneth. 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.