I got the notion for these pages after attending an event with SCA-sanctioned hound activities. The activity consisted solely of lure-coursing. Warned of this in advance by the event flyer, I left the one dog resident in Chateau-sur-Magothie, a Golden Retriever named Orion, at home. Orion is not interested in lure-coursing. I sat there, on that damp day, watching people have fun with their greyhounds and felt vaguely peeved that "SCA hound events" were so limited. "Why is it," I thought, "that no one has come up with activities for dogs other than greyhounds?" I knew the answer -- the people with dogs who aren't greyhounds haven't organised activities for their dogs. The SCA sponsors lure-coursing activities because greyhound people got together and put these things in place. If I wanted to have fun things to do with my non-coursing dog at events, I would have to figure out what to do, and how to do it.

I should say right now that I have nothing against lure-coursing or greyhounds per se. I like seeing dogs at events, and to the limited extent that lure-coursing brings some of the flavour of a mediaeval hunt to events, it is a good thing. Many SCA people have adopted retired racing greyhounds, and I am greatly in favour of all canine rescues. Greyhounds are also popular with SCA folk because they are a "period breed" (i.e. one that demonstrably existed in the Middle Ages). Again, no objections, although I would suggest, as one who has spent many many hours on the phone in the name of my local Golden Retriever rescue, that one should not adopt a dog unless one can LIVE WITH THE DOG, and greyhounds are not right for everyone. If there were one breed right for everyone, there would be only one breed. Maybe the right dog for you is a retired greyhound. But maybe the right dog for you is a Scottish Terrier, or a Cocker Spaniel, or a mutt down at the pound. Investigate all your options thoroughly before you bring a dog home.

Hound breeds were bred from ancient times to chase down live game and either kill it or hold it at bay until the hunters arrive. Greyhounds and their relatives do this by sight and are called sighthounds; bloodhounds and their kin do this by scent and are called, unsurprisingly, scenthounds. Depictions of hounds hunting large game by sight or scent are common from ancient times, and form some of the most beautiful and memorable examples of mediaeval art. The chase and its companion pastime falconry both became powerful metaphors in aristocratic life. But the art and metaphors, though dazzling, are not the whole picture.

Historians of every era have traditionally focussed on the lives of the rich and powerful. The SCA likes to pretend to recreate "the Middle Ages as they should have been," and claim that we are all members of the nobility. After all, who wants to be a smelly, toothless peasant? And besides, no one bothered to record the lives of common folk, anyway. Without documentary evidence, it's hard to do history, right?

Unfortunately, smelly, toothless peasants tend to form the vast majority of the population in any age. When archaeologists start digging, the remnants of smelly, toothless peasant lives turn up far more often than relics of wealth and influence. Surprisingly, the lives of the smelly and toothless masses are relatively well-documented in manorial court records and other local records. Often, it seems, the peasants weren't even smelly or toothless. Is nothing sacred?

When hunting is stripped of all its tropes and viewed with the mind of winter, it is a way to get food, to put meat in the bellies of the hunter and his or her community. Do aristocrats have a monopoly on the desire to eat, and specifically to eat meat? Of course not. It is true that peasants (and nobles) would have access to domestic animals, such as chickens, cattle, and sheep, but these were often more valuable alive, for eggs, milk, and wool. Logic suggests that peasants must have hunted, too, though probably without the expensive hounds and hawks used by the nobles. So, where did they hunt, and what, and how?

Part One: Into the Woods

Return to the Kennels

Updated 14 July 2003