a huge stone wall, seven miles in circumference, round his favourite park of Woodstock, near Oxford; and if any one wanted a favour from King John, a grant of privileges, or a new charter, he would have to pay for it in horses, hawks, or hounds.  The Norman lords were as tyrannical in preserving their game as their king, and the people suffered greatly through the selfishness of their rulers.  There is a curious Ms. in the British Museum, called The Craft of Hunting, written by two followers of Edward ii., which gives instructions with regard to the game to be hunted, the rules for blowing the horn, the dogs to be used in the chase, and so on.  It is too long to quote, but I may mention that the animals to be hunted included the hare, hart, wolf, wild boar, buck, doe, fox ("which oft hath hard grace"), the martin-cat, roebuck, badger, polecat, and otter.  Many of these animals have long since disappeared through the clearing of the old forests, or been exterminated on account of the mischief which they did.  Our modern hunters do not enjoy quite such a variety of sport.

Otter-hunting, now very rare, was once a favourite sport among villagers who dwelt near a river.  Isaac Walton, in his book called The Complete Angler, thus describes the animated scene:  “Look! down at the bottom of the hill there, in the meadow, checkered with water-lilies and lady-smocks; there you may see what work they make; look! look! you may see all busy—­men and dogs—­dogs and men—­all busy.”  At last the otter is found.  Then barked the dogs, and shouted the men!  Boatmen pursue the poor animal in the water.  Horsemen dash into the river.  The otter dives, and strives to escape; but all in vain her efforts, and she perishes by the teeth of the dogs or the huntsmen’s spears.

Foreigners are always astonished at our love of sport and hunting, and our disregard of all danger in the pursuit of our favourite amusement, and one of our visitors tells the following story:  “When the armies of Henry viii. and Francis, King of France, were drawn up against each other, a fox got up, which was immediately pursued by the English.  The ‘varmint’ ran straight for the French lines, but the Englishmen would not cease from the chase; the Frenchmen opposed them, and killed many of these adventurous gentlemen who for the moment forgot their warfare in the charms of the chase.”

But I must proceed to mention other February customs and sports.  Great importance was attached to the Feast of the Purification, commonly called Candlemas Day (February 2nd), when consecrated candles were distributed and carried about in procession.  At the Reformation this custom did not entirely disappear, for we find a proclamation of Henry viii., in 1539 A.D., which orders that “on Candlemas Day it shall be declared that the bearing of candles is done in memory of Christ the spiritual light, whom Simeon did prophesy, as it is read in the Church on