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_Aft has he driven our bluidhounds back_.--P. 234. v. 2.
"The russet blood-hound wont, near Annand's stream,
"To trace the sly thief with avenging foot,
"Close as an evil conscience still at hand."
Our ancient statutes inform us, that the blood-hound, or sluith-hound
(so called from its quality of tracing the slot, or track, of men and
animals), was early used in the pursuit and detection of marauders.
_Nullus perturbet, aut impediat canem trassantem, aut homines
trassantes cum ipso, ad sequendum latrones.--Regiam Majestatem_,
Lib. 4tus, Cap. 32. And, so late as 1616, there was an order from the
king's commissioners of the northern counties, that a certain number
of slough-hounds should be maintained in every district of Cumberland,
bordering upon Scotland. They were of great value, being sometimes
sold for a hundred crowns. _Exposition of Bleau's Atlas, voce
Nithsdale_. The breed of this sagacious animal, which could trace the
human footstep with the most unerring accuracy, is now nearly extinct.