B.

BABBLER—is a hound upon whose tongue no firm reliance is to be made,

either in _drag_, upon _trail_, or the recovery of a fault during the

_chase_; so strictly true is the well known adage, that "a liar is not

to be believed although he speaks the truth."

BABRAHAM—was one of the best racers of his time; he was bred by LORD

GODOLPHIN; foaled in 1740; was got by the Goldophin Arabian out of the

large Hartley mare, got by Mr. Hartley's blind horse; her dam Flying

Wig, by Williams's Woodstock Arabian; grand-dam by the St. Victor Barb,

out of a daughter of Whynot, son of the Fenwick Barb. He became a

STALLION of much celebrity, having been the sire of Sir Isaac Lowther's

Babraham, Mr. Leedes's Young Babraham, Babraham Blank, Jack of Newbury,

Traplin, Aimwell, Louisa, Molly Long Legs, Harry Long Legs, Fop, Lovely,

Americus, and many other excellent runners.

BACK—of a horse, the very part upon which the centrical point of beauty

principally depends. If he is long in the back, narrow across the loins,

flat in the ribs, and light in the carcase, (however well he may be

otherways furnished with _good_ _points_,) he will never be considered

either a handsome or strong horse. Horses of this description are in

general good goers as to _speed_, but very little to be relied on in

_hard_ service, or _long_ journies.

BACKING—is the term used for the first time of mounting a colt (or

taking seat upon the saddle) after he has been previously _handled_,

_quieted_, _stabled_, and accustomed to the mouthing-bit, the cavezon,

martingal, lunging-rein, saddle, and the whole of the apparatus with

which he has been led his different paces in _the ring_: all this he

should be brought to submit to most quietly, as well as to the being

_saddled_, and every part of liable discipline, before any attempt is

made to _back_ him; if not, it cannot be termed a systematic completion

of the business. As _backing_ a _colt_ (after every precaution) requires

a certain degree of cool and steady fortitude appertaining principally

to the _breaker_, whose province it is, (and is but little attempted by

others,) a minute description of the means and ceremony could prove but

of little utility here, and is of course for that reason dispensed with.

Opinion and practice have very much varied in respect to the age most

proper for backing a colt, or even taking him in hand. Not more than

half a century past, colts were never touched (upon the score of

_handling_) till rising _four_, backed and brought into very gentle use

when rising _five_, and never seen in constant work till nearly or _full

six years old_. But so wonderfully has fashionable refinement operated

upon the human mind, and so constantly is it agitated by the fascinating

effusions of novelty and innovation, that we now find colts handled at

_two_, broke (and racing) at _three_, and in constant work at _four_, in

every part of the kingdom; in consequence of which impatient and

premature _improvement_ upon the judgment and practice of our

forefathers, we now daily observe horses at five, six, and seven years

old, more impaired in their powers, than they formerly were at double

that age, to the evident production of strained sinews, swelled legs,

splents, sprains, wind-galls, and the long list of ills so admirably

calculated for the support of the new generation of veterinarians, who

are daily emerging from obscurity, and for whom employment must

necessarily be obtained.

BACK SINEWS,—so called in a horse, are the tendons extending from the

junction of the knee, at the back of the shank-bone to the fetlock

joint, where they are inserted. These parts are so much acted upon, and

partake so palpably of the labour in which the animal is constantly

engaged, that they are eternally liable to injury from over work,

rolling stones, deep ground, or projecting prominences in the pavement

of large towns. When injuries of this kind are severe, and threaten, by

_swelling_ and _inflammation_, some duration, a repetition of work

should be by all means avoided. A speedy and permanent cure principally

depends upon the first steps taken for relief, to which mild treatment,

attention, unremitting care, and rest, will conjunctively contribute. In

most cases _too much_ is done in _too short_ a time, to gratify either

the impatience of the owner, or the pecuniary sensations of his medical

monitor; burning applications (increasing the original inflammation) of

what they term _hot oils_, followed up by _blisters_ of extra strength,

and lastly, the humane (and frequently ineffectual) operation of the

_firing irons_, constitute the routine of professional practice, to the

utter rejection of milder means, and the indications of nature, who,

with the assistance of rest, would frequently effect her own purpose,

and complete a cure.

BACK RAKING—is an operation of which confident grooms, and indolent

farriers, are too frequently fond. It is introducing the hand at the

sphincter ani, to extract the indurated fæces, or hardened dung, from

the rectum, in which the horse must experience considerable pain, that

would be better avoided by the more humane and considerate

administration of _a clyster_. By this a repetition of the more slovenly

and less efficacious operation would be rendered unnecessary, as well as

the original intent more expeditiously promoted. There can be but little

doubt, under the present improved practice, that means of relief so

singular and unnatural, will soon give place to, and be totally

superseded by, methods of greater neatness and humanity in their

operation, and greater certainty in the effect.

BADGER.—Though this animal cannot be said to afford sport to the

superior classes, he is entitled to notice here, in conformity with the

original intent and title of the Work. Former writers have, with a

greater attention to the fertility of invention, than any respect to

truth, held forth a seemingly plausible description of BADGERS of two

_distinct_ and _separate_ kinds, under the different appellation of a

dog-badger and hog-badger; the former having feet resembling _a dog_;

the feet of the latter _cloven_, exactly similar to those of _the hog_.

To strengthen this assertion, they tell you they subsist on different

food; that the one eats with eagerness any kind of flesh and carrion as

a dog; the other, roots, fruits, and vegetables, as a hog. This,

however, may be justly considered the effect of fiction, or of a too

_enlarged imagination_, as the existence of only one kind of badger is

admitted amongst us, with such trifling difference in size or colour, as

may happen from age, the peculiar soil of any particular county, or

other such collateral circumstance as may add something to the size in

one part of the kingdom, or vary a shade or two in the colours of

another.

HUNTING the badger is no more than an occasional sport with rustics of

the lower order, and can only be enjoyed by moonlight; the badger, from

his natural habits, being never to be found above ground by day. In this

sport they are obliged to oppose _art_ to _cunning_, and obtain by

stratagem what they cannot effect by strength. At a late hour in the

evening, when the badger is naturally concluded to have left his

_kennel_ or his _castle_, in search of prey, some of the party (as

previously adjusted) proceed to place a sack _at length_ within the

burrow, so constructed that the mouth of the sack directly corresponds

with the mouth of the earth, and is secured in that position by means of

a willow hoop, which, from its pliability, readily submits to the form

required. This part of the business being completed, the parties

withdrawn, and the _signal whistle_ given, their distant companions lay

on the dogs, (either hounds, terriers, lurchers, or spaniels,)

encouraging them through the neighbouring woods, coppices, and hedge

rows, which the badgers abroad no sooner find, than being alarmed, and

well knowing their inability to continue a state of warfare so much out

of their own element, they instantly make to the earth for shelter,

where, for want of an alternative, and oppressed with fear, they rush

into certain destruction, by entering the sack, where being entangled,

(by the rapidity with which they enter,) they are soon secured by those

who are fixed near the spot for that purpose.

If he escapes by the ill construction or accidental falling of the sack,

(which is sometimes the case,) and enters the earth with safety,

_digging him out_ is not only a certain laborious attempt, but with a

very _precarious_ termination; for the badger possessing instinctively

much art, ingenuity, and perseverance, has generally formed his retreat

with no small strength resulting from natural fortification; to render

which the more probably tenable against the premeditated attacks of

constant and implacable enemies, it is most frequently formed amongst

the roots of some old pollard, in the banks of moors, or unfrequented

ground, or underneath a hollow tree, from amidst the large and spreading

roots of which the burrows run in such remote and ramified directions,

that his assailants are compelled, by loss of time and labour, (after

digging fifteen or twenty feet,) to relinquish the pursuit, and abandon

the contest: corroborating the opinion of countrymen in general, that,

in a light or sandy soil, badgers can make way as fast from their

pursuers, as the latter erroneously _conceive_ they are gaining ground

upon them, and to this perhaps it is owing that there are so many _drawn

battles_ between the pursuers and the pursued.

BADGER BAITING is a different sport, and exceedingly prevalent in both

town and country, particularly with the butchers, and lower orders in

the environs of the metropolis, for whom a constant supply of badgers,

from the woods of Essex, Kent, and Surry, were sure to be obtained. To

so great a pitch of celebrity had this _sublime amusement_ attained in

the neighbourhood of Tottenham Court and Islington, that the magistrates

most laudably exerted themselves to put an end to a _pleasurable

business_, which brought together an infinity of the most abandoned

miscreants, with their _bull dogs_ and _terriers_, from every extremity

of the town. To the dreadful and inhuman scene of baiting _bears_ and

_badgers_ (with the most ferocious dogs) till nature was quite

exhausted, succeeded _dog fights_, _boxing matches_, and every species

of the most incredible infamy under sanction of the _knights_ of the

_cleaver_; till, by the persevering efforts of the more humane

inhabitants, and the spirited determination of magistracy, the practice

seems totally abolished, and likely to be buried in a much-wished-for

oblivion.

BALLS,—medicines so called when prepared in that form, as they now

mostly are, for the mitigation and cure of almost every disease to which

the horse is incident. There are purging balls of various kinds,

prepared of proportional strengths, and compounded of different

ingredients, with or without the impregnation of mercury, according to

the _state_, _disease_, or _condition_ of the subject. Mild and strong

diuretic balls, for cracked heels, swelled legs, fluctuating humours,

and grease. Pectoral cordial balls, for colds, as well as to be given

after severe chases, or long journeys: they are also useful when a horse

is off his appetite, as well as an excellent preventative to cold when a

horse has been long out of the stable, in sharp winds or chilling rains.

Pectoral detergent balls, for obstinate coughs, and thick-winded horses.

Likewise balls for flatulent and inflammatory cholic, as well as for

strangury and other disorders. Articles of this description are usually

prepared from the prescriptions of those authors who have written upon

farriery and veterinary medicine; but, for the accommodation of the

public at large, and to prevent the _abuses_ sometimes attendant upon

the casual preparation in shops, by the inattention of servants, or the

privilege and _practice_ of substituting _one_ article for _another_,

the Author, immediately after the publication and success of his

"_Stable Directory_" prepared his own advertised medicines, which have

now been fourteen years honoured with public patronage, a list of which,

with the prices, will be found annexed to this Work.

BALSAMICS,—in medicine, is a kind of indefinite term, upon which the

most eminent writers have hardly agreed: but however they may have

differed in respect to derivation, there can be no doubt but the true

sense of the word must appertain to such nutritive emollients, and

gelatinous restoratives, as heal without, and invigorate within. The

term is more generally applied to medicines administered in disorders of

the _chest_ and _lungs_.

BARBS—are horses brought from the coast of Barbary, and mostly consigned

as presents to His Majesty, or some other branch of the royal family.

Those arriving under such distinction, are to be considered the true

MOUNTAIN BARB, the _pedigree_ of whose _blood_ has been recorded with as

much tenacity and care as the genealogy of our most ancient nobility.

BARBS (as they are called) are to be found in the possession of many

people of fashion and fortune in England, but they are in general of

inferior degree, and thought to be only the _common_ horses of the

country from whence they came: such there are at all times to be

obtained through the intervening medium of _Provence_ and _Languedoc_ in

France; but in this kingdom they are held in very slender estimation;

not more for their deficiency in _growth_ and _strength_, than the

aukwardness of their _action_.

BARBS were formerly in great request here; and neither trouble or

expence was spared to obtain them, for the sole purpose of improving the

speed of our own _breed_ for the TURF, where, upon the various events in

RACING at NEWMARKET, and in the _north_, immense sums are frequently

depending; and from the various _crosses_ in _blood_, the breeding _in

and in_, with the different fancied _interlineations_ by different

individuals, it is affirmed, by some of those best versed in racing

pedigree, that there are at this time a very few (if any) thorough bred

ENGLISH HORSES, but what have a cross of _foreign blood_ in their

composition. To elucidate or justify this opinion, reference may be made

to the well authenticated list of BARBS and ARABIANS, who have

contributed, as _stallions_, more or less, to the increase of the most

select and valuable studs in every part of the kingdom.

The HELMSLEY TURK (one of the first we can go back to) was the property

of an old Duke of Buckingham, and afterwards of Mr. Place, (studmaster

to Oliver Cromwell when Protector,) in whose possession he got

_Bustler_, &c. Mr. Place had also a stallion, called PLACE'S WHITE TURK,

who was the sire of _Wormwood_, _Commoner_, and other good horses.

The STRADLING or LISTER TURK was brought into England by the Duke of

Berwick, from the siege of Buda, in the reign of James the Second. He

got _Snake_, _Brisk_, _Piping Peg_, _Coneyskins_, &c.

The BYERLEY TURK was Captain Byerley's charger in Ireland in King

William's wars, 1689, and was afterwards the sire of many good runners.

GREYHOUND was got in Barbary by a white Barb, out of Slugey, a natural

Barb mare. After the _leap_, both sire and dam were purchased and

brought to England by Mr. Marshall, where the sire became one of King

William's stud, and was called the "White Barb Chillaby." Greyhound was

the sire of _Othello_, _Whitefoot_, _Osmyn_, _Rake_, _Sampson_,

_Goliah_, _Favorite_, _Desdemona_, and others.

D'ARCY WHITE TURK got old _Hautboy_, _Grey Royal_, _Cannon_, &c.

D'ARCY YELLOW TURK was the sire of _Spanker_, _Brimmer_, and the great

great grand-dam of _Cartouch_.

CURWEN'S BAY BARB was a present from Muly Ishmael, Emperor of Morocco,

to Lewis the Fourteenth, and was brought to England by Mr. Curwen, who

procured from Count Byram and Count Thoulouse (natural sons of the

French King) the two horses afterwards called the _Curwen Bay Barb_ and

_Thoulouse Barb_, both which proved excellent stallions, getting a great

number of winners, and transmitting their blood through the sisters of

_Mixbury_ to _Partner_, _Little Scar_, _Soreheels_, and the dam of

_Crab_; as well as to _Bagpiper_, _Blacklegs_, Panton's _Molly_, and the

dam of _Cinnamon_.

DARLEY'S ARABIAN was brought over by a brother of Mr. Darley in

Yorkshire, who being a commercial agent abroad, exerted his interest to

procure the horse. He was sire of the famous horse _Childers_, (who was

said to have ran a _mile_ in a _minute_,) _Dædalus_, _Dart_, _Skipjack_,

_Aleppo_, and other good horses.

SIR J. WILLIAMS'S TURK got Mr. Honeywood's _two True Blues_, out of the

only thorough-bred mare he was ever known to cover; though he got some

middling racers out of common mares, whose pedigrees were not known.

The BELGRADE TURK was taken at the siege of Belgrade, and, after passing

through the hands of General Merci, the Prince de Craon, and the Prince

of Lorrain, became the property of Sir Marmaduke Wyvill, in whose

possession he died about 1740.

CROFT'S BAY BARB was got by _Chillaby_ out of the Moonah Barb Mare.

The GODOLPHIN ARABIAN was the property of Lord Godolphin, and thought so

little of as a stallion, and so little likely to get racers, that he was

for some years _teazer_ to _Hobgoblin_; but, upon his refusing to cover

_Roxana_, the Arabian had the _leap_, which produced _Lath_, the first

horse he ever got. To Lath succeeded _Cade_, _Regulus_, _Blank_,

_Babraham_, _Bajazet_, &c. &c. and there can be no doubt, from the

success of the progeny of each, but that he contributed more to the

value and speed of horses for the turf, than any other foreign stallion

ever brought into this kingdom.

The CULLEN ARABIAN was sire of _Camillus_, _Sour Face_, the _dam_ of

_Regulator_, &c. &c.

The COOMBE ARABIAN, called also the _Pigot Arabian_, was sire of

_Methodist_, the _dam_ of _Cross_, &c.

The COMPTON BARB, or _Sedley Arabian_, was sire of _Coquette_,

_Greyling_, &c.

The ARCOT ARABIAN has been covering a few years in the neighbourhood of

the metropolis, but has not produced any thing of note. This may

probably happen from a want of interest in procuring _thorough-bred

mares_, without which a stallion for racing blood can acquire no

celebrity.

KING CHARLES the Second sent over his master of the horse to procure a

number of foreign horses and mares for breeding; and the mares brought

over by him, as well as many of their produce, have since been called

_Royal Mares_. DODSWORTH, though foaled in England, was a natural Barb;

his dam was imported _in foal_ during the time of Charles the Second,

and was sold for forty guineas at twenty years old, (after the King's

death,) then in foal (by the Helmsley Turk) of _Vixen_, afterwards dam

of the old Child Mare.

However largely this description of horses may have contributed to the

improvement of blood in this country, and however grand and majestic

they may appear in competition with our more settled, steady, and

well-broke studs; yet, when the _uniformity_ of _parts_ which constitute

_the whole_ come to be judiciously examined, and every _point_ of

_perfection_ precisely ascertained, no doubt can or need be entertained,

but the best bred horses in Britain, as _Highflyer_, _Escape_,

_Rockingham_, _Hambletonian_, _Diamond_, and many others, must stand

firmly entitled to the palm of priority. The most accurate must have

observed, that the major part of the horses brought to this country as

Barbs and Arabians, being submitted to public inspection, are very much

inferior in height to our own, few reaching, and _none exceeding_,

fifteen hands: they have mostly a curvilinear hollowness of the back, a

narrowness of the chest, (indicative of _speed_, but the reverse of

_strength_,) and a palpable deficiency in the arm or _fore thigh_,

seemingly disproportioned to their own weight. Their apparent powers are

entirely appropriate to the purposes of _speed_, and not to the common

services of the people of this country; being, in general, bad, uneven

walkers; and once exerted to _a trot_, their legs are thrown about in

the clambering manner of the German cavalry, much more adapted to the

gratification of pompous parade, than the neatness or utility of

expeditious action.

BARS—are the fleshy ridges at the upper part of a horse's mouth. These

ridges are always more prominent in _young_ horses than in _old_. When

they are luxuriant towards the front teeth, and, with a kind of elastic

puffiness, project and prevent mastication, they are called LAMPAS,

(which see.) In all cases of emergency where bleeding is necessary, and

the apparatus not at hand, particularly _in the night_, an incision or

two across the bars with the fleam, instantly answers the purpose, and

prevents farther ceremony.

BAT FOWLING—is a favorite sport with farmer's servants on a winter's

evening, and can only be enjoyed with a degree of success proportioned

by the darkness of the night. The party should not consist of less than

four; two of whom are provided with long flimsey hazel sticks or hurdle

rods; the third carries and manages the flap, (or folding net;) and the

fourth a candle and lanthorn, suspended to the end of _a pole_ seven or

eight feet long. Upon the net being spread, by separating the side rods

to their utmost extent, before the _corn-rick_, _out-houses_, _eaves_ of

_stable thatch_, _yew hedge_, or whatever spot it is intended to try,

the candle and lanthorn is then to be held up as nearly the centre of

the net as possible, but at about three or four feet distance, just

before the assistants begin to beat the _rick_, _thatch_, or _hedge_,

with their poles; when the birds being thus suddenly alarmed from their

resting-place, make instantly for the light, when the net being directly

closed (if by a skilful practitioner) the success is beyond description;

it being no uncommon thing, in large remote farms, and in severe

winters, to take twenty or thirty dozen of sparrows, and other small

birds, in one evening's diversion.

BATTLE ROYAL—was formerly (much more than at present) a favorite mode of

fighting amongst COCKERS of the _lower order_, who, upon the old maxim

of "the more danger the more honor," became practical advocates for

general destruction in the following way. A battle royal may consist of

any number of cocks, but is hardly ever known to exceed _eight_. The

owner of each having made good his _stake_, or previously contributed

his share of the _prize_ or _purse_ for which they fight, and all

parties being ready, the cocks are most _inhumanly_ pitted at the same

moment, when a long and distressing scene ensues, to which there is no

termination so long as a _second_ cock is left alive, and the victory

can only be obtained by the last survivor. This species of sport is but

little practised now, and that in the most distant and remote corners of

the kingdom.

BAY—the colour of a horse so called, and is the most esteemed of any

other in constituting the beauty of the horse. They have invariably

black manes and tails, are many shades lighter than a brown horse, and

were originally called _bay_ from their affinity to the leaf of the bay

tree. There are, however, some degrees of difference and variations in

those so termed: for instance, there is the light or yellow bay, the

brown bay, and the mottled bay. Bay horses with black legs have the

preference of all other colours, and now almost wholly constitute the

racing breed of this country.

BAY—is a sporting term, and used in the following sense. When a stag has

been so long pursued that, finding his speed or strength nearly

exhausted, he turns round, (having some protection of building or paling

in his rear,) and facing the hounds, resolutely defends himself with his

_antlers_, keeping the hounds at _bay_, till the sportsmen come up, who

immediately assist in drawing off the hounds, and saving the life of the

deer. When the deer takes _soil_, (that is, takes to the water,) he will

defend himself, and keep the hounds a long time at _bay_, provided he

fathoms the lake or river so well as to keep the hounds _swimming_, and

not go out of his _own_ depth; if he loses which, and is obliged to

_swim_ at the time _he is up_, (in other words, quite tired,) and

surrounded by the hounds, he is inevitably drowned by his numerous and

determined foes, in opposition to every exertion that can be made to

save him.

In fox-hunting, when the fox is supposed to have gone to earth, the fact

can only be ascertained in many cases by the excellence of the terrier

attending the pack, who has in general strength and speed sufficient to

keep him from being far behind. Upon entering the earth, discovery is

soon made of the certainty of his retreat, by the terrier's "_laying

well at him_," provided the fox has not _turned_ in the earth: if he has

so done, and they are face to face, they are both _baying_, or keeping

each other _at bay_, till the controversy ends in _digging out_ the fox,

and letting in the hounds for their _share_ of the entertainment, with

the additional acquisition of _blood_ for the advantage of the pack.

BAY BOLTON—was bred by MR. VERNON; foaled in 1777: he was got by

Matchem, dam by Regulus, out of an own sister to the Ancaster Starling.

He has long been in the possession of his Majesty, and was for many

years the favorite stallion at Hampton Court, from whom most of his

Majesty's present stud were produced.

BAY MALTON—was esteemed the first horse of his year in the kingdom, and

won more prizes of consequence and value than any horse of his time. He

was bred by the then MARQUIS OF ROCKINGHAM; was foaled in 1760; got by

Sampson, dam by Cade, and grand-dam by Old Traveller. It is believed he

never covered as a STALLION: if so, he produced no horses of note.

BAY TREE—The leaves of which are so useful in fomentations, and the

berries in clysters, for horses upon every emergency, particularly

remote from towns, that sporting gentlemen in the country should never

be without a tree of this description upon their premises.

BEAGLES,—in early stages of the sporting world, was an appellation of

much more definite meaning than in the _polish_ of the _present times_,

and was then used to signify a brace or two of the tanned or pied hounds

of small dimensions, with which the country squire or opulent farmer

_picked_ and _chopped_ the trail of a hare to her form for a course with

his greyhounds. As they were, however, so constantly useful in

recovering the hare after the _first_ course, and bringing her to view

for _a second_, it became in a great degree stigmatized by sportsmen in

general, and is now considered neither more or less than _one mode_ of

_poaching_ under the sanction of legal authority. Many packs of these

small beagles (for beagle then implied the _smallest_ kind of hound

known) were formerly kept by country gentlemen at a very trifling

expence, and with no small share of amusement to their rustic

neighbours; for, although those who joined in the chase might be

numerous, yet _two_ or _three horsemen only_ were seen in the field, so

easy was it to keep up with the hounds (alias beagles) on foot. They

were in general so well matched, that they did not exceed eleven inches

in height; and ran so well together, they (to speak technically,) "might

be covered with a sheet." Though they were _slow_, they were _sure_; for

if the scent lay well, a hare could seldom escape them; and this, to the

object of pursuit, mostly proved a lingering as well as a certain death:

for though, in the early parts of the chase, they could never get near

enough to _press_ her, they were frequently _two_ or _three_ hours in

killing.

In proportion to the increasing spirit of the times, _slow hunting_

declined, and beagles of this kind got in disrepute. The numerous

crosses in the breed of both beagles and hounds, according to the wishes

and inclinations of those who keep them, have so diversified the

variety, that a volume might be produced, in a description of the

different sorts and sizes adapted to the soil and surface where they

hunt; from the old _heavy, deep tongued, dew-lapped southern hound_ of

MANCHESTER, (where the huntsman with his long pole goes on foot,) to the

highest crossed harriers of the present day, who kill the stoutest hares

in _thirty_ and _forty_ minutes with a speed not much inferior to

coursing. BEAGLES, when the term is now used, implies hounds who _hunt

hares only_, in contra-distinction to those who hunt either STAG or FOX.

Harriers have been produced from the crosses between the beagle and the

fox hound, for the advantage of speed; but _harriers_ are not, in

sporting acceptation, to be considered synonymous with _beagles_, to

whom they are very superior in size. MR. DANIEL, in a recent

publication, called "_Rural Sports_," has given an account of "a cry of

beagles, ten or eleven couple, which were always carried to and from the

field in a large pair of panniers, slung across a horse: small as they

were, they would keep a hare at all her shifts to escape them, and often

worry her to death. The catastrophe (says he) attending this pack of

hounds is laughable, and perhaps is a larceny _unique_ in its attempt. A

small barn was their allotted kennel, the door of which was one night

broke open, and every hound with the panniers stolen; nor could the most

diligent search discover the least trace of the robbers or their booty."

BEAK,—the bill of a bird, more expressively understood in the "setting

too" of a cock; which, according to the articles and fixed rules of

cocking, must be "beak to beak."

BEAM,—in the head of a deer, is the basis, or part bearing the antlers,

royals and tops.

BEAT FOR A HARE,—is a term in hunting, much less known, and much less

used, formerly, than of late years. When the huntsman was mounted at

_day break_, and the hounds were thrown off at the place of meeting, as

soon as the horsemen could _see to ride_, the hounds took trail, and

went to their game in a style much better conceived than described. No

assistance was then required to _beat for hares_, when the hounds were

thus early enabled to find for themselves. A chase (or two) was enjoyed

at that time, and the hounds at home in the kennel, before the hour at

which it is _now_ the custom to reach the field. Hence the custom of

engaging help to _beat for a hare_, the worst method that can be

adopted, and the most destructive of all discipline with the hounds; for

once accustomed to the practice, heads are all up; and they are much

more employed in staring about, and listening for _a view holloa_, than

in putting their noses to the ground.

BEDDING—appertains here only to the bedding of the horse, upon which

there are such a variety of opinions, that there cannot be the least

expectation of all ever centering in one point. While some are profuse

of straw at all seasons, even to a degree of _waste_ and extravagance,

others, from a parsimonious principle, do not (at least readily) admit

the necessity of _any at all_. In extremes, perhaps, the line of

mediocrity may be the most satisfactory, and least liable to

reprehension.

BETTING—is one great gratification of happiness with the people of this

country, who never can be said to be _truly happy_, unless it is blended

with a _chance_ of becoming completely _miserable_. It is that kind of

national _furor_, that no laws, however _penal_, no restrictions,

however _severe_, can have sufficient force to stem the torrent of

popular propensity; particularly when nurtured and encouraged by the

prevalent example, and personal practice, of the first and most exalted

characters in the kingdom. Experience has for ages proved it a privilege

implanted in the very hearts of its devotees, which can only terminate

when sporting propagation ceases, and will of course continue to the

_end of time_. Legislative dictation, and magisterial authority, may

give a temporary check to games of chance at tables of public notoriety,

where the most villainous depredations are in constant practice; but so

long as that excitement to the true spirit of speculation, _a lottery_,

the exhilarating power of _a race_, the infectious clamour of _a

cockpit_, or the greater hobby-horse of John Bull, a _boxing match_, is

open to all minds, and in all directions, so long will _betting_ excite

the attention, and continue to constitute the pleasing, _painful_

anxiety of pecuniary speculation with the people of this country, (and

probably of every other,) from the highest to the lowest classes of

society.

BETTING is the act of laying a wager, or making a deposit of money, by

two persons of contrary opinions, for one to become the _winner_, upon

the decision of some public or popular event; and that so fashionable a

mode of terminating disputes may meet with but little difficulty or

obstruction, _bets are made_ with as much deliberation, and discharged

by the SPORTING WORLD with as much integrity, as the most important

transactions of the commercial part of society in the first city of the

universe. Betting has of late years been reduced to _a system_, by which

there are now many _professors_ in existence, who were originally of the

_very lowest order_; but, by an indefatigable and persevering _industry_

at Newmarket, the cockpit, and the gaming table, have acquired princely

possessions, by the unexpected honour of being admitted to princely

association. Where two opponents deposit _each_ an _equal_ sum (whether

five pounds or five hundred) upon any event whatever, it is then termed

_an even bet_. An offer of _six_ to _four_, implies the odds in direct

ratio of six pounds to four, twelve to eight, sixty to forty; or in that

proportion to any amount. Betting _two_ to _one_, is laying ten pounds

to five, twenty to ten, and so forth; one depositing exactly _double_

the amount of his adversary's _stake_; three, four and five to one being

regulated in the same way. The latter are all termed _laying the odds_,

which vary according to the predominant opinions of the best judges upon

the _probable_ termination of the event; one rule being invariable, the

person betting _the odds_ (or, in other words, the _larger_ sum against

the _smaller_) has always the privilege of taking _his choice_ in

preference to his adversary, against which no appeal can ever be made

with a decision in its favor.

Any person proposing _a bet_ to another during the running of a horse,

the fighting of a cock, or any other transaction, the party applied to,

saying "done," and the proposer _replying_ "done" also, it then becomes

a confirmed _bet_, and cannot in sporting etiquette and honour _be off_,

or revoked, but by mutual consent. No bet above _ten pounds_ can be sued

for and recovered in our courts of law; the payment of all losings above

that sum must depend entirely upon the _sporting integrity_ of the

parties concerned.

BISHOPING—is an operation performed upon the teeth of a horse, and

supposed to have derived its _modern_ appellation from an _eminent_ and

_distinguished_ dealer of the name of BISHOP; whether from any peculiar

neatness in, or reputed celebrity for, a personal performance of the

deception, it is most probably not possible (or necessary) to ascertain.

The purport of the operation is to furnish horses of _ten_ or _twelve_

years old with a _regeneration_ of _teeth_, bearing the appearance of

_five_ or _six_, and is thus performed. The horse being powerfully

twitched by both the nose and the ears, a cushioned roller (large enough

to keep the jaws extended) is then placed in the mouth; which done, the

teeth of the under jaw are somewhat reduced in their length (according

to their growth) by the friction of a whitesmith's cutting file: an

engraver's tool is then employed in taking away as much from the centre

of the surface of each tooth as will leave a conspicuous cavity in the

middle; this cavity (or rather every individual cavity) is then burned

black with an iron instrument red hot, and adapted to the purpose; a

composition of cement is then insinuated, so well prepared in both

colour and consistence, that it is frequently not discoverable (at least

to slight observers) for many months after its introduction.

BITCH—is the feminine of the canine species, in contra-distinction to

dog. It is sometimes used in a similar sense with respect to foxes,

where the female is termed _a bitch fox_; though a _vixen_ is the more

sportsman-like appellation. Bitches are sometimes _spayed_, to prevent

their farther propagation: it requires judgment and expertness in the

operation, the best time for which is about a week after the heat is

gone off.

BITS—are of different kinds, formed of iron, and constitute the

mouth-part of bridles of every denomination, whether in carriage

harness, or for use on the turf, in the chase, or upon the road. The

single large-mouthed bit, first used with colts in breaking, is known by

the name of _mouthing-bit_: the same shaped bit, but of a much smaller

size, with a small cheek of about three inches long, is called a _piped

cheek snaffle_. A single bit, having _a curb_, and a cheek of five or

six inches long, with one rein only, and that inserted to the bottom of

the cheek, is termed _a hard and sharp_, and with justice; it is one of

the worst inventions ever adopted, never seen in use with a sportsman,

and only calculated for vicious _run-away_ horses, not to be stopped by

any common means. A bit of the same form, having eyes for two reins, one

on each side the mouth-piece, and others at the lower extremity of the

cheek, are called _pelhams_, as a favourite bit of the old Duke of

Newcastle. A _bridoon_ is a small snaffle, or mouth-piece, having no

other cheek than a circular eye to receive the rein into the same

headstall, with which is stitched a roller-mouthed _polished port bit_,

having a cheek of four, five or six inches in length, according to

fancy, or the mouth of the horse: the rein to this bit is affixed to the

lower extremity of the cheek, and, in conjunction with the bridoon,

constitutes the double reined bridle, called _a Weymouth_, mostly in use.

BITES—frequently happen to sporting dogs as well as to horses, but much

more frequently to the _former_, by poisonous insects that are, as well

as many not known. Means of relief must of course be regulated by

immediate appearances: in great inflammation, _bleeding_, and external

emollients, are of good effect: in bites of the _viper_, its own fat

liquified, and to be had at the medical shops as the "oil of vipers," is

acknowledged a certain antidote.

BITTERN—is a bird of similar formation to the _heron_, but of much

smaller size, and more beautifully variegated in its plumage. They are

principally found in sedgey moors, where they breed, particularly within

a few miles of the sea-coast, not being very common in the centrical

parts of the kingdom. If brought down by the gun with only _a broken

wing_, they display great courage in opposing their destroyer;

possessing such determined power, and quick exertion of both _talons_

and _beak_, they cannot be with safety secured till deprived of life.

From their scarcity, they are esteemed a rarity at the tables of the

great, where _one_ is received as a handsome present; a brace being

seldom seen together, either dead or alive.

BLACK ACT—is so called, because it was enacted in consequence of the

most unprecedented depredations committed in Essex by persons in

disguise, with their faces blacked and disfigured, and is literally thus.

"By this statute it is enacted, that persons, hunting armed and

disguised, and killing or stealing deer, or robbing warrens, or stealing

fish out of any river, &c. or any person unlawfully hunting in His

Majesty's forests; or breaking down the head of any fish-pond; or

killing of cattle; or cutting down trees; or setting fire to house,

barn, or wood; or shooting at any person; or sending letters, either

anonymous, or signed with a fictitious name, demanding money, &c. or

rescuing such offenders, are guilty of felony without benefit of

clergy." This is commonly called the Waltham Black Act, and was made

perpetual by 31 George II. c. 42.

BLACK-LEGS—is the expressive appellation long since given by the

superior classes of the sporting world (consisting of noblemen and

gentlemen of fortune) to the very _honorable_ and very _distinguished_

fraternity who are known to constitute "a _family_," and are, perhaps,

without exception, the most unprincipled and abandoned set of _thieves_

and _harpies_ that ever disgraced civilized society. They are a body,

existing by, and subsisting upon, the most villainous modes of deceptive

depredation: their various modes of attacking, and preying upon, the

credulity of the inexperienced and unsuspecting part of the public, are

beyond conception: their number is incredible, and their stratagems

exceed description. Destitute not only of character, but of every sense

of honor, their minds are destined solely to the purposes of determined

devastation upon the property of those unthinkingly seduced or betrayed

into their company; upon whose credulity and indiscretion they are

supported in a continued scene of the most luxurious and fashionable

dissipation.

As members have no great power in exerting themselves with much success

individually, _the firm_ (if a phalanx of the most infamous combination

can be termed so) are adequate to almost every desperate undertaking,

from _pricking in the belt_, _hustling in the hat_, or _slipping a

card_, to the _casually_ meeting a _friend_ upon Hounslow Heath. They

are sole proprietors of the different gaming tables, public and private,

as well in the metropolis, as the _hazard_ and E O tables at all the

races of eminence in the kingdom. They are invariably present at every

fashionable receptacle _for sport_: the tennis-court, the billiard-room,

the cockpit, have all to boast a majority in _quest of prey_; and even

the commonest coffee-house is a spot where _modest merit_, in the form

of a lounging emissary, frequently obtrudes, in the anxious hope of

picking up some opulent juvenile, that he may afterwards enjoy the

pleasure of introducing him in the most friendly and liberal way to

another member of the fraternity, as a very proper object, or _pidgeon_,

well worth plucking for the benefit of the family.

BLADDER—is a part of the horse liable to disease; but seldom known to

occur, unless by the indiscretion of the owner. A long retention of

urine, by continuing a journey to too great an extent without stopping,

may produce _strangury_; and that not being soon relieved, inflammation

may ensue. Instances are recorded of stones, calcareous substances, and

different concretions, having been found in the bladders of horses after

death. _Discretion_ is a proper and cheap preventative.

BLANK—was a horse in high form, beating almost every horse of his time,

and his blood was held in the utmost estimation: he was bred by LORD

GODOLPHIN; foaled 1740; got by the Godolphin Arabian, dam by Bartlett's

Childers, out of the dam of the Large Hartley Mare. The various

performances of BLANK will not admit of being brought within the compass

of so concise a description; therefore, suffice it to say, that, after

his performances upon the turf, he became a stallion of the first

celebrity, and was sire of _Ghost_, _Tripod_, _Chatsworth_, _Hengist_,

_Croney_, _Yeoman_, _Porsenna_, _Lottery_, _Young Blank_, _Lustre_,

_Lumber_, _Whipster_, _Amazon_, _Britannicus_, _Charlotte_, _Prussia_,

_Helen_, _Lycurgus_, and a very long list of excellent runners, too

numerous for insertion under this head.

BLEEDING—of horses is a simple and easy operation, hitherto performed

with an instrument called a _fleam_, which being steadily supported over

the neck vein (about five inches below the superior process of the

jaw-bone) is forcibly struck with what is professionally termed _a

bloodstick_, turned out of the wood called _lignum vitæ_, as being

sufficiently heavy to insure weight and certainty to the blow: the blade

of the _fleam_ is supported by a shoulder, to prevent the incision's

being made beyond the depth of safety: the use of _the line_ round the

lower part of the neck, previous to the operation, is now greatly out of

use; although it is certainly a means of keeping the vein firm from

_fluctuation_, and of course a very proper guide, particularly for young

practitioners. Of late years this mode of operating has greatly

declined, particularly with veterinarians of the _new school_, the most

expert of whom adopt the use of the _lancet_, and are introducing it to

general practice; and, although the neatness of the operation must be

candidly admitted, yet, with high spirited, _shy_, _unruly_ horses,

(where there is a chance of the point of the lancet's being broken in

the orifice,) a doubt naturally arises, whether, _in such cases_, the

former method is not both the least troublesome and least dangerous of

the two.

The _consistency_ and _propriety_ of BLEEDING upon slight or moderate

occasions, has always been matter of cavil and capricious controversy

with those whose cynical rigidity, and restless spirit, ever prompts

them to take even the _wrong side_ of any argument, (however absurd and

ridiculous,) rather than want a cause _to carp_ at; but with those

possessing the power of scientific disquisition, and practical

professional knowledge, such fallacious and ill-founded reasoning must

fall to the ground. Its utility, upon the attack of _almost every

disease_ to which the animal is subject, is now so generally admitted,

that it stands in need of no additional corroboration from the more

refined rays of constantly increasing improvement.

The quantity proper to be taken away at one time, in any case, may be

from _three_ to _five_ pints; the latter only in such disorders as

require plentiful _depletion_: in all cases of inflammation

(particularly the lungs) frequent repetitions are to be justified,

provided they follow not too fast upon each other; the lives of many

horses have been preserved (particularly in those _influenzas_ of late

years called "the distemper") by _four_ or _five_ plentiful bleedings in

so many days; and, _vice versa_, as great a number lost by a want of the

same means. As blood is generated, and the unloaded vessels replenished,

by the constant supply of _aliment_ in _health_, or _nutriment_ in

disease, so little, or, in fact, no permanent injury can be sustained by

leaning to the _safe side_, and taking away even too much, provided it

be at different times, particularly when it is remembered, that the life

of a valuable horse is very frequently lost by a too great pusillanimity

and forbearance in the operation.

BLEMISHES—are so called which constitute disfiguration and eyesore,

without impediment to _sight_ or _action_; it is therefore readily

conceived, a horse may be very materially _blemished_ without being

unsound. Blemishes are various, and many of them not to be immediately

perceived, in a superficial survey of the subject: _broken knees_ are a

very material and conspicuous blemish: _splents_, if large, are

unpleasing to the eye of the good judge and nice investigator: _warts_

are easily observed, and as _easily cured_: _thrushes_, and a carious

state of the _frogs_, not to be known but by an examination of the feet:

_sandcracks_, previously cured, sometimes remain unseen, but are always

liable to a renewal of the original defect: the marks of former

_blistering_ is, in general, to be plainly perceived by a variation in

colour, or an unnatural roughness in the hair of those parts: the marks

of _firing-irons_ may be easily traced (however neatly performed) upon

the _hocks_ for _spavins_ and _curbs_, or upon the back of the

shank-bones for _strains_ in the _back sinews_. A horse may be blemished

by a speck in the eye, arising from a blow with the lash of a whip or

switch; this is frequently no more than a partial thickening of a small

part of the outer humour of the eye, not obstructing those rays of light

which constitute vision.

If a horse is warranted "_perfectly sound_, without _blemish_, free from

_vice_, steady to _ride_, and quiet in _harness_," it is a full and

general warranty speaking for itself; leaving very little for the

intentional purchaser to do (in respect to _inspection_) if he has

previously _tried_ and approved the _paces_ of the horse. But where a

warranty _seemingly guarded_, or _cautiously partial_, is offered, a

proper degree of circumspection will be necessary to prevent a chance of

early repentance; a prevention of litigation will prove less expensive

than the _cure_ of a _lawsuit_.

BLINDNESS—in a horse (whether in one or both eyes) may originate in a

variety of well-known causes, many of which are occasioned by means of

violence, and may at all times be prevented by proper care and humane

attention. If a horse, having naturally good eyes, is observed to

undergo a _sudden_ change in the external appearance, from enlargement

of the lids, or a discharge of hot watery serum, with a visible _heat_

and _pain_ of the part, (the horse constantly shaking his head and

ears,) it may reasonably be attributed to some cause originating in

external injury: if not by such means, it must be from some morbid

affection in the system, acting more immediately and powerfully upon the

most irritable parts.

The eyes of some horses are periodically affected, even for months and

years, before they terminate in _total blindness_: to this species of

ocular defect, the illiterate and less enlightened of former times gave

the appellation of "_moon-blind_," under the weak and ridiculous idea,

that such changes were produced by the gradational stages of the moon;

an opinion too trifling to render animadversion necessary, it being one

of the very few remaining traits of superstition which will speedily be

totally done away. Many horses lose their eyes from extreme exertion, as

by _over racing_; in proof of which, a very long list of instances might

be adduced: the same effect has been produced upon STALLIONS in being

permitted to _cover_ mares not only in an unlimited degree in respect to

number, but stimulated so to do by the use of powerful and prejudicial

provocatives: in both these cases the loss of sight is occasioned by a

total subversion of the nervous system, reducing it to a fixed or

partial debility of those particular parts, from which they never

recover.

Horses are frequently found to inherit constitutional defects from SIRE

or DAM; and none are, perhaps, to be considered more justly hereditary

than _defects_ of the _eyes_; and to render such fact the more

extraordinary, it generally happens to have lain dormant for the first

three or four years, and never to display itself to any visible

inconvenience till a colt is broke, and brought into work. The eyes of a

horse inheriting this taint by hereditary transmission, are much less

prominent than a natural, well-formed and good eye; they have a kind of

indented furrow in the lid above the orb, and a wrinkled contraction in

the part immediately over that, constituting a kind of "vinegar aspect,"

better conceived than described: this kind of eye should be carefully

avoided in purchase; for however they may vary by changes in work, and a

diversity of seasons, they, _nine_ times out of _ten_, terminate in

blindness; a circumstance fairly to be presumed, no professional man

living can prevent.

BLISTERING—is an operation performed upon a horse by unguents prepared

of different degrees of strength, according to the circumstances of the

case. They are in general use for blood and bone spavins, curbs and

strains of the back sinews: where they do not complete the purpose for

which they were intended, they are repeated at a proper period; or

_firing the part_ is adopted, and the horse is turned out. Blistering is

in general too soon resorted to as a remedy, and in many cases before

the inflammation arising from the original injury has sufficiently

subsided for the operation to take place; from which injudicious mode of

practice, a permanent enlargement of the part is occasioned, that is

never got rid of during the life of the horse.

BLOOD—is the well known fluid issuing from wounds, or separated vessels,

in an accidental destruction of parts: it is not only the very _basis_,

but the _support_, of life _itself_; and drawn from the frame of any

animal beyond a certain proportion (professionally ascertained,) causes

_instant_ death. In the regular routine of the animal œconomy, blood is

generated by the frequent supplies of nutritive aliment, and retaining

within itself sufficient strength and power for its _own peculiar_

purposes, throws off, by the different emunctories, the superflux with

which it may be encumbered: but as medical or anatomical disquisition is

not intended in a work of this general kind, it must suffice to observe,

that, from the blood in its original and first formed state, proceeds

all the progressive and superior functions of Nature. From the blood

issues every gradational proportion of insensible, sensible and profuse

perspiration; from the blood, the _urine_ is secreted (or separated) by

the _kidnies_; and from the blood is extracted, by the _genitals_, that

very masculine semen, by which (we are told from high and indisputable

authority) our posterity is to be continued to the end of time.

BLOOD HOUNDS.—Those so called, have always had a kind of fabulous

property ascribed to them, of pursuing, and infallibly taking or

seizing, _robbers_, _murderers_, or _depredators_, whenever they could

be laid upon the footsteps (or scent) of the particular object they were

intended to pursue; and of their possessing _this_ property there can be

no doubt, when the experience of ages, transmitted to us by our

predecessors, (as well as our own observations,) have afforded the most

indisputable proofs, that hounds may be taught or broke in to _carry on

any particular scent_, when _feelingly_ convinced they are to hunt _no

other_. There requires no "ghost from the grave" to confirm a fact of so

much notoriety: a mere _sporting embryo_ would tell us, that "a pack who

for some years hunted _fallow deer_ in the possession of their last

owner, are hunting _hare_ in high style with the present; that the

principal body of the celebrated pack who for some years past hunted

_fox_ with LORD DARLINGTON in the _north_, are now probably destined to

the pursuit of the _red deer_ with LORD DERBY in the _south_: and the

whole art of changing hounds from one chase to another is the temporary

trouble of breaking them afresh, and making them _steady_ to the _scent_

they are to pursue."

In respect to the received opinion of what were formerly called

_bloodhounds_, the fact is simply this: the original stock partook, in

nearly an equal degree, of the large, heavy, strong, boney old English

stag-hound, and the deep-mouthed _southern_ hound, of which mention is

made under the head "BEAGLE." The hounds destined to one particular kind

of business or pursuit, as _bloodhounds_, were never brought into the

chase for a constancy with the pack for the promotion of sport, but were

preserved and supported (as a constable or Bow-Street runner of the

present day) for the purposes of pursuit and detection, whenever they

could, with certainty, be laid on _in good time_ upon the scent of

footsteps of the object it was thought expedient to pursue. _Deer

stealing_, for instance, was so very common a century since to what it

is at present, that the GAME and PARK keepers in most parts of the

kingdom were in a kind of eternal watching and _nocturnal warfare_: the

hounds we are now describing were then constantly trained to the

practice, and so closely adhered to the scent they were once laid on

upon, that (even after a very long and tedious pursuit) detection was

_certain_ and _inevitable_: from this persevering instinct and

infallibility, they acquired the appellation they have so long retained;

and an offending criminal not a century since, was absolutely conceived

to be _positively_ taken, and _half convicted_, the very moment a

blood-hound could be obtained.

BLOOD SPAVIN—is a preternatural and puffy enlargement on the _inside_ of

a horse's hock, proceeding from a distension of the vein crossing the

internal junction of the inferior part of the thigh bone with the

superior part of the shank; and whenever such injury is observed, it may

rather be supposed to have originated in _a blow_, _a kick_, or more

probably from a ligamentary twist or distortion, (by a short and sudden

turn in the _small stall_ of an ill constructed stable,) than by any

continued exertion of speed, either on a journey or in the chase.

BLOWS—inconsiderately given, in _passion_, to harmless, inoffending

animals, are nineteen times out of twenty productive of repentance, when

probably repentance comes too late. A horse sometimes, and most commonly

from the inattention of the rider, steps almost unavoidably upon a flint

or rolling-stone; and in the very exertion of recovering himself from

_nearly falling_, he at that critical moment receives a severe and

unexpected blow _behind the ear_ from the stick of his _philosophic,

patient, humane_ rider, which brings him instantly to the ground, giving

and receiving ample proof, that "the remedy was worse than the disease."

No conjectures need be formed upon the _loss of eyes_ annually sustained

by blows from petulant masters, as well as the most rascally servants;

injuries of this kind may be daily seen by observers with their _eyes

open_ in every part of the kingdom.

BLOWS will most assuredly sometimes happen from _accident_, though most

of this description arise from folly, ignorance, or indiscretion; as for

instance, the very common circumstances of carelessly giving a horse's

_head_ or _eye_ a blow against the stall in turning, or the _hip-bone_

very frequently against the post of the stable door, and this by the

stupidity of those who _seem to think_ a horse can turn within as small

a space as themselves; or rather, perhaps, by those who seem

unfortunately destined by Nature _never to think at all_. In general,

the good or bad usage of servants to horses, or other animals under

their care, may be conceived a very fair and unerring criterion of the

depravity or integrity of their _own hearts_; and such should be

emphatically told, that not only _broken bones_, but instantaneous _loss

of life_, has frequently followed passionate blows, and cruel usage, by

the law of retaliation, in the resentment of an animal capable of

distinguishing between a fault committed, a reproof given, or any unjust

injury sustained.

BONE SPAVIN—is an ossified enlargement on the _outside_ of, and rather

below, the centre of the hock, originating in a cartilaginous protrusion

from the seat of articulation becoming progressively callous, and lastly

a substance equally firm with the bone itself. They do not invariably

constitute lameness upon their _first_ appearance, but it soon follows a

course of hard or regular work. Blistering _first_, and _firing_

afterwards, was the practice of farriers of the old school, which it is

not known has undergone any change with veterinarians of the new.

BOLTING.—When a fox, laying at earth, has been dug to, and, upon the

approach of the spade, the terrier, or the person attempting to take

him, makes a sudden spring, and _goes off_, he is then said _to have

bolted_; when, of course, the chase is continued with the hounds. The

term is also applicable to a rabbit from its burrow, or the badger from

his earth.

BORING;—one of the former _humane_ operations in farriery for what is

now called a lameness, then termed _a wrench_ in the shoulder: it

consisted in making a small orifice, or superficial incision, through

the integument near the part affected: into this is insinuated a small

tube or pipe; by the operator's breath through which the part is

inflated, directly in the way a butcher swells his veal: a flat piece of

iron, of small dimensions, is then introduced between the ribs and the

shoulder in different directions, to produce some effect hitherto

unexplained, and never understood. The seeming cruelty, and evident

uncertainty, of the operation, has long since buried it in oblivion, at

least with scientific practitioners; and it is very little seen or heard

of, except amongst the rustic Vulcans in remote corners of the kingdom.

BOTTS—are differently described by different writers; a certain proof

many of them wrote more from _theory_, _copy_, and _hearsay_, than from

attentive practice, or personal observation. Some have observed, they

were of one shape; a second, of another; a third has said their seat was

invariably upon one _particular part_; but the present Author has told

you, in his former Works, and now repeats the fact, that they are

equally inhabitants of the _stomach before_, as they are of _the rectum_

behind; and are as constantly found in the former after the death of the

subject, as they are seen adhering to the sphincter of the rectum during

his life; and that horses, who have fallen victims to the ravages of

these destructive diminutives, had both the stomach and rectum loaded

with numbers in a degree to be fairly concluded _incredible_, unless the

proof had been personally confirmed by sight and individual conviction.

The mode by which they are conveyed into the body (or how they are

engendered there) may possibly long continue a matter of conjecture and

ambiguity: Not so with _the effect_; when there, they soon continue to

increase, and to occasion constant disquietude; sometimes violent pain.

A horse labouring under their persecuting pinchings, is frequently

eating, and without appetite, in a hope of relieving himself from the

_gnawing sensations_ within: he is generally rough in the coat, low in

flesh, depressed in the stable, and not elated when out. Various

remedies are in use; but mercurial physic is the only certain mode of

extirpation.

BOWEL-GALLED—is a laceration occasioned by the tightness and heat, or

friction, of the girths, just behind the elbows of the fore legs, and is

soon hardened and obliterated by two or three applications of a soft

sponge, impregnated with common vinegar.

BOWLS—is a game played upon a fine smooth grassy surface, either square,

circular, or oblong, used solely for the purpose, and called a

BOWLING-GREEN. The party may consist of two, four, six, or eight, and is

generally chosen alternately, after tossing up a coin to decide who

shall have the first choice. The sides being selected, each player has

two bowls, which bowls have numerical figures, thereby ascertaining to

whom they belong. The leader sends off a smaller bowl, called _the

jack_, to what distance he pleases, it being (by the toss) his privilege

so to do: this he follows with his first bowl, getting as near the jack

as possible: he is then followed by one of the adverse party, the

partner of the first following, and so in rotation till all the bowls

are played; when as many of the bowls, on either side, as are nearer to

_the jack_ than the _nearest_ on the opposite side, so many do the

successful party score that time toward the game, and so on in

succession, till one side or the other have won the match. Sometimes

great disappointment happens in the play, when a ball laying very near

_the jack_, is removed to a distance by the hit of an adversary's bowl,

which remains nearer the jack than the bowl it has driven away; this is

called a rub, and gave rise to the long-standing adage, "he that plays

at _bowls_, must expect _rubs_."

BRAN—would not have been entitled to notice in a work of this kind, had

it not been in a certain degree of conditional use with horses of

different descriptions, in sickness as well as in health. BRAN is an

article almost generally known to be the coarser part of the skin or

covering of the grain called _wheat_, from the body of which _flour_ is

manufactured, and _bread_ made. With some people (particularly in the

country parts of the kingdom, who are desirous of keeping their horses

at little expence) bran constitutes a principal part of their food; in

consequence of which, it becomes necessary to advert concisely to its

known effects. From its nutritive property having been taken away, it

contains little more than the means of distending the frame, without the

generative quality of enriching the blood, or contributing to the

formation of flesh. Not calculated to become a primary object of

support, it may in some ways be brought into use as a collateral of

utility. Horses belonging to _bakers_ and _mealmen_, who have been

principally subsisted upon this article, with the addition of a few

split beans, (or peas,) have become pursive and thick-winded; then

asthmatic; lastly, dull, heavy, and inactive; dying at nine or ten years

old; when a large ball, or _mealy concretion_, (of different sizes in

different subjects,) has been found in the stomach or intestinal canal,

of a most impenetrable hardness, to the weight of ten or twelve pounds.

Though not proper for food in its dry state, it is a most useful article

in mashes with _malt_, to disunite and prevent the satiating richness of

that article alone; or to assist in common mashes with oats, (when a

horse is in physic,) as well as to incorporate with a proper

impregnation of honey in the mashes for colds during the severity of the

winter season.

"On the 15th of November, 1799, died, after having been disordered some

days, a horse belonging to Mr. Ransom, of Hitchin. The cause of his

death was owing to a substance found in his stomach, of a brown colour,

exactly resembling a large pebble stone, very smooth and hard on the

surface, and weighed 11 lbs. 14 oz. avoirdupoise. It is nearly

spherical, and measures just two feet in circumference, being about the

size of a man's head. It is supposed to have been occasioned by his

eating of _bran_, that having been his constant food."—SPORTING MAGAZINE.

BREAKING THE HERD—is the ceremony of _singling_ out a deer (either stag

or hind) from the herd for the chase, which is thus performed with His

Majesty's establishment in WINDSOR FOREST. A survey being made of the

herd, and the particular deer fixed on for _separation_, the huntsmen,

assisted by one of the yeomen prickers, ride at a hunting rate, gallop

directly into the herd, continuing so to do (as the herd divide) at the

_particular part_ to which the deer intended to be singled out continues

to adhere. This ceremony is sometimes a very tedious business to the

men, as well as to the horses, as it is no uncommon thing, when they

have detached, or reduced a _divided_ part of the herd to a leash or two

brace, (amongst which is the particular deer wanted,) for that number to

make a circle of ten, fifteen, or even twenty miles, before the riders,

with all their energy, can disunite them more than to a single _brace_,

and not at all to a _single deer_. When this is effected, the hounds,

who are in waiting at some distance, under the six remaining YEOMEN

PRICKERS, are _capped forward_, and laid upon the scent; when the brace

finding themselves pursued, soon _divide_, under the impression of

individual safety; and the selected deer being thus completely _singled

out_, the chase goes on, and continues till the deer is taken; unless,

after a pursuit of proper length, for the sport of the day, he should

regain the herd, where he is then permitted to remain, and the hounds

are drawn off: but if it is either an _old hind_, or _a calf_ destined

to _death_, for the purpose of _blooding the hounds_, a repetition of

the original ceremony of separation takes place, when which is effected,

the chase is immediately renewed till the object of _blood_ is attained.

BREAKING THE DEER—is the act of cutting open the deer after the chase,

that the _purchased_ perquisites of _blood_ and _garbage_ may go to the

hounds. It is also the term for cutting up and dressing the _fallow

deer_ called BUCKS and DOES.

BREAST-PLATE,—an article in horse furniture of great utility with light

carcased horses, who very frequently, in both hunting and racing, _run

through their girths_. It is made of either spring web or soft leather,

as most agreeable to taste or fancy, and is fastened by buckles to small

loops screwed to the tree of the saddle, just under the upper

saddle-flap behind the withers of the horse; from whence the two parts

divide transversely, and one passes down each shoulder to the point of

the breast, where they are united to a strong strap, having holes, a

buckle and loop, through which loop one of the girths is passed when the

saddle is put on, and being thus fixed, it is considered almost an

impossibility that any alteration can take place in its situation, but

by the manual assistance of master or groom.

BREEDING—is the production of COLTS in a stud principally or solely kept

for that purpose. The methods of bringing up colts vary according to the

purpose for which they are intended, whether for the turf, field, draft,

or road. The breeders of opulent magnitude in the northern counties,

most celebrated for the breed of horses in Britain, are too well skilled

in the practical part to require the least aid from theoretic

instruction. They are well convinced, by the unerring principle of

well-founded experience, that sound _sires_, well shaped dams, good

summer care, and _winter keep_, are the means (and the only means) to

insure well-grown, strong and valuable stock for any of the before

mentioned purposes to which they are afterwards to become appropriate.

BRIDLE,—the well-known article by which we are enabled to ride, guide

and regulate the speed and action of the most noble, spirited, powerful

and valuable animal in the creation. They are of different kinds, as

most applicable to the mouth and temper of the horse; consisting of

_snaffles_, _Pelhams_, _Hard-and-sharps_, _Weymouths_, &c. There are

also others of different constructions; but as they appertain

principally to the MILITARY MANEGE and the RIDING-HOUSE, a minute

description would afford neither use or entertainment to the sporting

world, for whom this Work is more immediately intended.

BRIDLE-HAND.—The left is so called, in contra-distinction to the right,

which, in racing, is termed _the whip_; and in military evolutions with

cavalry, called the _sword hand_. Those who are deemed good sportsmen,

or complete horsemen, manage the reins with equal dexterity, and one

hand is generally as much in use as the other.

BROKEN WIND—remains in its long-standing state of professional

ambiguity; for, notwithstanding frequent dissections must have afforded

every assistance to earnest investigation, yet no authenticated,

well-established opinion has transpired, sufficiently attracting or

corroborative to fix a criterion upon which scientific or public faith

seem inclined to rely. Since the appearance of "The Gentleman's Stable

Directory," (about fourteen years since,) a great variety of veterinary

_writers_, and veterinary _practitioners_, have emerged from obscurity

in the metropolis, as well as in different parts of the kingdom. One has

defined _broken wind_ to be "an inflammation, which continuing a length

of time, throws a quantity of extravasated blood into the _windpipe_,

where it occasions a kind of _roaring_": this was the opinion of an

eminent veterinarian, delivered upon a _horse cause_ tried before Lord

Kenyon in the court of King's Bench. In this sublime description there

certainly appears no _brilliant_ or satisfactory elucidation. A recent

writer says, "Broken wind is a disorder that a horse is subject to when

he is suffered to stand too long in the stable without exercise; by

which means he contracts gross and thick humours in such abundance,

that, adhering to the hollow parts of his lungs, they stop his

windpipe." So much for the "sublime and beautiful." A third attributes

it to "a relaxation or rupture of the phrenic nerves, which cause the

motions of the diaphragm." A fourth _supposes_ "the disease to proceed

from a _morbid_ or obstructed state of the glands, and membranes of the

head and throat, the enlargement of which prevents a free passage to the

wind." Doctor Darwin, speaking of humoural asthma, attributes it to "a

congestion of lymph in the air cells of the lungs, from defective

absorption."

Others, _harping_ upon the _same string_, constitute an echo of _nearly_

the _same sound_: "In my ideas, a redundance of lymph being thrown upon

the lungs, the quantity becomes too great for the capacity of the

absorbent vessels; hence it stagnates, and choaks up the air conduits;

and the theatre of its action being more confined, of course respiration

must be more difficult and laborious." All which divested of the

transposition of words, is the opinion of the present writer,

promulgated in his Stable Directory, "that the disease originated in a

sizey state of the blood, which at length becoming viscid and stagnant,

occasioned obstructions in the first instance, lastly _tubercles_, by

which respiration became imperfect, and one or both lobes of the lungs

inadequate to the execution of their office." However _literary

speculators_ may differ in either opinion or description, no great

diversity of opinion can happen upon the subject of relief; _palliation_

may be obtained; perfect _cure_ must _not be expected_.

BROOD,—a word almost indiscriminately used for the young of _any fowl_.

There is, however, a much nicer and more sporting-like distinction. To

speak properly, we say, a _brood_ of ducks, a _clutch_ of chickens, a

_setting_ of gulls, a _covey_ of partridges, and a _nide_ of pheasants.

BROOD MARE—is a mare kept solely for the purpose of breeding colts, and

put to no other use whatever.

BROW ANTLER—the first _branch_ from the _beam_ in the head of a stag.

BUCK—the male of the fallow deer. In his first year he is called _a

fawn_; he is then _a pricket_; and lastly A BUCK. In colour they are

mottled, sandy, or a deep dingy brown, approaching to black. The males

have horns; the does none. Buck venison is very superior to doe; and

when well fatted, sells from _three_ to _four_ guineas _each haunch_.

The season for it in the highest perfection is from June to September.

BUCK HUNTING—has been of late years but little practised, very few of

them affording chase enough to render it a matter of much sporting

attraction; particularly if bred in a park, whence, from its being so

much accustomed to the sight of the human frame, it becomes in some

degree like a kind of domestic animal. They were much hunted by the

_late_ and great (_Culloden_) DUKE OF CUMBERLAND; but with his hounds

(called buck hounds) he drew for and roused his outlying deer in

_Cranbourne Chace_, near WINDSOR GREAT PARK. When found in this way,

they frequently went away well across the country, and sometimes

afforded tolerable sport. The bucks shed their _horns_ (called heads)

annually in April or May, which, with the skins of both _bucks_ and

_does_ killed within the year, (if a park is large,) make no

inconsiderable perquisite to the keeper.

BULL DOG.—A bull dog, though inoffensive and harmless when properly

domesticated, forms, to the eye of timidity, a most terrific appearance:

the doubtful and designing leer of the eye, the tiger-like shortness of

the head, the under-hung jaw, the wideness of the forehead, the width of

the skull, the distension of the nostrils, and the almost constant sight

of the teeth, hold forth a very emphatic specimen of the power they

possess, when that power is _angrily_ brought into action. The breed is

by no means so numerous as formerly, in consequence of the gradual

decline of bull-baiting, and the great number taken abroad, for many of

which very great prices were obtained. The natural ferocity, strength,

and thirst for blood, in this animal, rendered them a formidable

nuisance in their unrestrained state, and they are now seldom seen at

their full liberty, either in town or country; the owners, from a proper

fear of the law, finding it more prudent to keep them properly confined.

BULL-BAITING—was formerly not merely a pleasing pursuit, but an _extatic

diversion_, of the most unfeeling, and least humane, part of the very

lowest, and most abandoned, orders of the people. To such a pitch of

prevalence had it arrived in some particular parts, and was so much

considered to give additional callosity to the minds of its cruel and

inconsiderate abettors, that the more polished and humane classes of

society made strong and repeated efforts for its _total abolition_, by

endeavouring to obtain an act of the Legislature for that purpose;

which, however, unluckily failed of the intentional effect; for the bill

being rejected by a very trifling majority in the House of Commons, it

left the sport at the full liberty of every _subject to enjoy_, who is

not restrained by any more humane, sublime and manly sensations of his

own, prompting him to believe it "more honoured in the _breach_ than the

observance." The towns of _Stamford_, in _Lincolnshire_, and

_Wokingham_, in _Berkshire_, are now, perhaps, the only places of any

note where the sport (as it is called) is obstinately persevered in, or

_enthusiastically_ and _annually repeated_ by the clamours of those

unfeeling advocates for _custom_, who, in the language of Shylock, claim

"it as a right, and will not be deprived of it."

The first bull-bait in this country is supposed to have been at

Stamford, in the year 1209, in the reign of King John, and at Tutbury,

Staffordshire, in 1374. The introduction of it at Stamford was as

follows.

"William, Earl Warren, Lord of this town, standing upon the walls of the

castle, saw two bulls fighting for a cow in the castle meadow, till all

the butchers' dogs pursued one of the bulls (madded with noise and

multitude) clean through the town. This sight so pleased the Earl, that

he gave the castle meadow, where the bull's duel began, for _a common_

to the butchers of the town, after the first grass was mowed, on

condition that they should find a _mad bull_, the day six weeks before

Christmas-day, for the continuance of that sport _for ever_."

"George Staverton, by will, dated May 15, 1661, gave the whole rent of

his dwelling-house at Staines, after two lives, to buy a bull annually

for ever; which bull he gave to the poor of the town of Wokingham, to be

there _baited_, then killed, and properly divided; the offal, hide, and

gift money, to be laid out in shoes and stockings to be distributed

among the children of the poor. The alderman and one Staverton (if one

of the name should be living in the town) to see the work done

_honestly_, that one of the poor's piece did not exceed another in

bigness."

These seem to have been the principal donations upon which the practice

was originally founded, and afterwards continued upon the plea of

_charity_ for its justification. To give it a degree of singularity in

the town of Wokingham, St. Thomas (21st. Dec.) is the _day_ dedicated to

the _sport_, and the market-place the _spot_ destined to the _sacrifice_.

Let the reflecting mind indulge one moment in awful rumination upon the

dreadful scene and "note of preparation." On a day when every well

informed mind, and duly disposed heart, must feel inclined to follow the

dictates of religious inculcation; when a certain impressive silence

pervades the whole; when the devout, the aged, and the infirm, await the

signal by which they are summoned to receive every comfort and

consolation from clerical benediction; it must be to all good hearts a

mortifying circumstance, that the very bell which tolls to bring the

moral and religious part of the inhabitants to their duty in the church,

is also the signal for bringing a poor, harmless, unoffending animal

(_with his chain_) _to the stake_. Incredible it must seem to those who

have never witnessed the cruelty of the scene, that this very stake is

fixed (and called the bull-ring) in the center of the market-place of a

market town no more than _twelve_ miles from the seat of Majesty, and

_thirty_ only from the metropolis of this great and enlightened kingdom.

Without enlarging much upon the "hellish practice" of the _sport

itself_, it cannot be inapplicable to advert one moment to the effect a

scene of so much insatiate cruelty must inevitably produce upon the

growing offspring of the lower classes, in towns where a custom so

generally execrated is so shamefully carried on. Previous to the

commencement, "every heart beats high with the coming joy;" not a window

but is crowded with women and children; not a street, or an avenue, but

is crowded with _brutes_; the very scum and refuse of society from every

part of the surrounding country; and then begins a scene of the most

cruel and infernal practice that ever entered the heart of man, under

the appellation of _sporting mirth_ to the multitude. In the church of

this town, on Sunday, the 20th day of December, (being the day previous

to the baiting of the bull,) 1801, a sermon was preached by the Rev.

Doctor Barry, which sermon is since published, and where the following

passages may be found.

"Gracious God! benevolent Parent of the universe, what a prodigy must he

be in a Christian land, who could thus disgrace his nature by such

gigantic infamy, at which the blood of a heathen, of a very Hottentot,

might curdle! Two useful animals, the bull, who propagates our food, and

the faithful dog, who protects our property, to be thus tormented! and

for what purpose? Does it tend, as some have said,[2] to keep alive the

spirit of the English character? In answer to this we must remark, that

the barbarous sport (if sport it can be called) was unknown to the

ancient bravery of our ancestors; was introduced into this country in

the reign of a _bad_ king; and earnestly do I pray to Almighty God, that

in the reign of a most pious and benevolent Prince, it may be _for ever

set aside_! Cowards, of all men the least unmoved, can both inflict and

witness cruelties."

"The heroes of a bull-bait, the patrons of mercenary pugilists, and the

champions of a cock-fight, can produce, I should think, but few, if any,

disciples brought up under their tuition, who have done service to their

country either as warriors or as citizens; but _abundant_ are the

testimonies which have been registered at the _gallows_ of her devoted

victims, trained up to these _pursuits_ of BULL BAITING!!!"

Thus much upon its morality: now to a description of its practice. The

bull being chained to the stake, which chain extends to about fifteen

yards in length, and terminates in a very strong leather collar passing

round the neck of the bull; and his horns having been previously muffled

at the points (by the professional amateurs) with a composition of

_tow_, _tallow_, and _melted pitch_, the ceremony thus commences. Those

_gentlemen_ best calculated to appear in the character of _desperados_

begin the attack by the most dreadful noises of different kinds,

_bellowings_, _hootings_, and _hissings_, consisting of a complication

horrid beyond description. Whilst the abandoned crew of _raggamuffins_

are in this way, with their _hats_ and _huzzaings_, endeavouring to

irritate him _before_, if the poor animal, partially submissive to his

fate, remains unmoved, seeming (in the "mind's eye" of rumination) to

say "I stand here an object more _sinned_ against than sinning," it

rouses the infernal malice of the multitude to a certain degree of

indignation, which is instantly displayed by the confederates _behind_,

who being mostly provided with sharp-pointed sticks, proceed to those

_pleasing punctures_, and provoking _twists_ of the _tail_, which rouse

him from his state of humiliation to a temporary madness; when, in the

midst of this horror and confusion, the _first_ dog is suddenly _let

loose_: and this, to the _treble refined_ and inexplicable sensations of

a bull-baiter, is the _most extatic_ moment of his life; his very

existence is absorbed in the magnitude of the concern; his whole soul is

engaged; the mind or memory is no longer itself, and the tormentor is as

completely _mad_ as the unfortunate object of his persecution.

The scene now advances to a state of confusion exceeding all _humane_

conception; the howling of the dogs, still in hand, anxious and eager to

be let loose; the roaring and dreadful bellowings of the bull,

(particularly if pinned by the nose to the ground;) the dangerous

pressings, and incessant hollowing and huzzaings of the _mob_; the

galloping _tramplings_ of the enraged animal; all constitute a scene

from which the thinking mind retreats with horror, and claims a chasm to

renew the description. The first dog, perhaps, inadequate to the wishes

of his adherents, and not being able to succeed farther than to increase

the rage of the bull, is assisted by a _second_, which instantly rousing

the victim at the stake to an encreased exertion of rage and self

defence, as evidently increases the _horrid happiness_ of the multitude

to a degree beyond all power of imagination, and to which the

descriptive pen must bow obedience, and acknowledge its _inability_.

Should the poor persecuted animal, by every strenuous effort in its own

defence, collect sufficient strength to keep its two inveterate foes _at

bay_, and preserve its nostrils from the blood-thirsty fangs of its

opponents, delay does but increase the determination of those previously

determined; in which case resentment is seldom long without a remedy.

Stimulated to a greater degree of cruelty by tedious disappointment, a

_third dog_ (should it be necessary) is let loose, _as it were by

accident_, to assist the other _two_; when, under so severe a weight of

accumulated oppression, exhausted nature sinks; the poor pitiable object

is _pinned_ to the ground by the most irritable and tender part about

him, bleeding and bellowing amidst the shameless shouts of a shameful

victory, where five hundred greater brutes have brought a lesser to the

ground.

Not to prolong so shocking a description beyond the length unavoidably

necessary to its perfect comprehension, it must suffice to say, the

cruelty is extended by every means that can possibly _assist the cause_.

Prizes are annually advertised for the best dogs, thereby inducing the

owners to bring them any distance, not only to increase and lengthen the

sport, but that the _object_ of _misery_ may not die too _easy_ a

_death_! In the midst of his sufferings, if the minds of his hellish

tormentors have not been sufficiently satiated with repetitions of what

has past, collateral aids are called in to rouse his powers (already by

an unwearied scene of persecution lulled to an apathy) of defence and

resentment once more into action. Instances are common where fires have

been made under the very body of the bull, when too much worn down, and

exhausted by the jerks of the chain, longer to exert himself; patiently

he stands, with the blood streaming from his nostrils, totally

insensible to the twistings of his tail even to dislocation, the

continued goring with sticks pointed with nails, and a long list of

experiments equally to be abhorred, only tend to strengthen, most

incontrovertibly, the dreadful effect such scenes (exultingly enjoyed)

must have upon the rising generation, whose minds must, by a familiarity

with the frequency of the scene, be rendered totally callous to every

sensation of tenderness and humanity, even in the very hour of infantine

infatuation.

[Footnote 2: Mr. Windham in the House of Commons.]

BULL RUNNING—is a pursuit of the bull in a way no less cruel and

disgraceful to the humanity of this enlightened country than what has

been before described. By custom in the manor of Tutbury, in

Staffordshire, as mentioned at almost the head of the last article, a

bull was given by the prior to the minstrels. After undergoing the

torture of having his horns cut off, his ears and tail cropped and

docked to the very stump, his nostrils filled with pepper, and his body

besmeared with soap, he was turned out in such a pitiable state to be

hunted, (this was called _bull running_;) and when taken, or held long

enough to pull off some of _his hair_, he was then fastened to the

stake, and _baited_. To the great honour, however, of the Duke of

Devonshire, (Steward of Tutbury,) and not less so of the people who

petitioned against it, the BULL RUNNING at _Tutbury_ was entirely

abolished in the year 1778.

BURROWS,—are the holes or cavities in the earth of a rabbit warren,

where they bring and breed up their young, as well as where they

instantly retire to for safety, upon the approach of danger.