Page:Showell's Dictionary of Birmingham.djvu/69

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Dog's.—A 5s, duty on dogs came into force April 5, 1867; raised to 7s. 6d, in June, 1878; This was not the first tax of the kind, for a local note of the time says that in 1796 ' ' the fields and waters near the town were covered with the dead carcases of dogs destroyed hy their owners to avoid payment of the tax." The amount ])aid per year at present for "dog licenses" in Birmingham is about £1,800. The using of dogs as beasts of burden (common enough now abroad) was put a stop to in London at the end of Oct. 1840, though it was not until 1854 that the prohibition became general. Prior to the passing of the Act in that year, dogs were utilised as draught animals to a very great extent in this neighbourhood by the rag-and-bone gatherers, pedlars, and little merchants, as many as 180 of the poor brutes once being counted in five hours as passing a certain spot on the Westbromwich Road. There have teen one or two "homes" for stray dogs opened, but it is best in case of a loss of this kind to give early information at the nearest police station, as the art of dog stealing has latterly been much cultivated in this town, and it should be considered a duty to one's neighbour to aid in putting a stop thereto.

Dog Shows.—The first local Dog Show was held in 1860, but it was not until the opening in Curzon Hall, December 4, 1865, that the Show took rank as one of the "yearly institutions" of the town.—See "Exhibitions."

Domesday Books.—The so-called Domesday Book, compiled by order of William the Norman Conqueror, has always been considered a wonderful work, and it must have taken some years compiling. Some extracts touching upon the holders of laud in this neighbourhood have already been given, and in a sense they are very interesting, showing as they do the then barrenness of the land, and the paucity of inhabitants. Though in Henry VIII.'s reign an inventory of all properties in the hands of Churchmen was taken, it did not include the owners of land in general, and it was not till Mr. John Bright in 1873 moved for the Returns, that a complete register of the kind was made. It would not be easy, even if space could be given to it, to give the list of individuals, companies, and corporation