Page:The Hare.djvu/75

Rh Lord William Howard, the bold Baron of the Marches, was supplied with great quantities of game for his household at Naworth Castle; the price which his steward paid was sixpence for an old hare and threepence for a leveret. At the present time a Scottish poacher can generally obtain half a crown for a good hare, and I am told that the price never falls below eighteenpence, even when hares are unsaleable in the shops.

The Rev S. Dixon gives an amusing anecdote apropos of this, in a little work published more than forty years ago. A Welshman is introduced to a Norfolk birdcatcher, who proceeds to describe his experience of the rural police of the day. '"One da', when I was here all alone arter some draw-waters [goldfinches], up come the rural, lookin' very knowin'. 'I sa', bor,' ses he, 'I want a hare very bad; can't yow happen o' one?' 'I don' know,' ses I, 'I'll see what I can du. Per'aps yow'll be here agin to-morrer.' So away he walk, as if the lane was his property, instid o' the governor's. The governor was 't'ome, so I went and told 'im the good-lookin' rural with the bootiful whiskers wanted a hare. Law, Sar! how he did cuss and swear! He called them a set of jinnizerries. 'Coyham, bor,' ses he, 'I'll tell ye what to du. Here's half a crown; du yow go to the citty,