84. XIV. Century.
This presents to us the resemblance of a stag. The following, from the same MS., pictures a goat walking erectly on his hinder feet.
85. XIV. Century.
Neither of these fictitious animals have any fore legs; but to the first the deficiency is supplied by a staff, upon which the actor might recline at pleasure; his face is seen through an aperture on the breast; and, I doubt not, a person was chosen to play this part with a face susceptible of much grimace, which he had an opportunity of setting forth to great advantage, with a certainty of commanding the plaudits of his beholders. It was also possible to heighten the whimsical appearance of this disguise by a motion communicated to the head; a trick the man might easily enough perform, by putting one of his arms into the hollow of his neck; and probably the neck was made pliable for that purpose. In the subjoined delineation, from the same MS., we find a boy, with a mask resembling the head of a dog, presenting a scroll of parchment to his master.
86. XIV. Century.