Under this heading we include all such dogs as hunted by scent in packs, whatever the game they pursued might be. They appear in the early records of our kings as Canes de Mota, Canes currentes, and as Sousos (scenting hounds) (Close Rolls 7 John; Mag. Rot. 4, John Rot. 10; 4 Henry III.), and are mentioned specifically as cervericiis, deimericiis, as Heyrectorum (harriers) or canes heirettes, and foxhounds as gupillerettis or wulpericiis (Close Rolls, 15 John).
The Anglo-Saxon word Hundas, hound, was a general name for any dog; the dog for the chase in Anglo-Saxon times being distinguished by the prefix Ren, making ren hund.
Gradually the word dog superseded the word hound, and the latter was only retained to designate a "scenting" dog. Dr. Caius, writing to Dr. Gesner, remarks in his book: "Thus much also understand, that as in your language Hunde is the common word, so in our naturall tounge dogge is the universall, but Hunde is perticular and a speciall, for it signifieth such a dogge onely as serveth to hunt" (Caius, p. 40). (See Appendix: Raches.) Running hounds was a very literal translation of the French chiens courants, and as the descriptive chapter given in our text is as literal a rendering from G. de F. there is no information that helps us to piece together the ancestry of the modern English hound. We do not know what breed were in the royal kennels in the reign of Henry IV., but probably some descendants of those brought to this country by the Normans, about the origin of which breed nothing seems known.
Keep of Hounds. The usual cost of the keep of a hound at the time of our MS. was a halfpenny a day, of a greyhound three farthings, and of a limer or bloodhound one penny a day.
However for the royal harthounds an allowance of three farthings a day was made for each hound (Q. R. Acc. 1407), and we also find occasionally that only a halfpenny a day was made for the keep of a greyhound. In Edward I.'s reign a halfpenny a day was the allowance made for fox- and otter-hounds (14, 15, 31, 32, 34, Edward I. Ward. Acc.), and sometimes three farthings and sometimes a halfpenny a day for a greyhound. The Master of Buckhounds was allowed a halfpenny a day each for his hounds and greyhounds.
In the reign of Richard III. the Master of Harthounds was allowed 3s. 3d. a day "for the mete of forty dogs and twelve greyhounds and threepence a day for three limers" (Rolls of Parl., vol. v. p. 16).
The "Boke of Curtasye" (fourteenth century, Percy Society, iv. p. 26), gives us information which quite agrees with the payments entered in the Wardrobe and other accounts of the King's hunting establishment. And under the head of De Pistore we find the baker is told to make loaves for the hounds:
"Manchet and chet to make brom bred hard
ffor chaundeler and grehoundes and huntes reward."
Chet, a word not in use since the seventeenth century, meant wheaten bread of the second quality, made of flour more coarsely sifted than that used for manchet, which was the finest quality.
Brom bread was oaten bread, and probably was very much the same as a modern dog biscuit.