De Canibus Britannicis: Of Englishe DoggesCaius, John
Science
De Canibus Britannicis: Of Englishe Dogges
Caius, John
Dogs -- Early works to 1800
Est hic urcanus, sæva bestia, & intractabilis iræ (ut Gratii poetæ
verbis utar) cæteros canes nostros omnes feroci crudelitate
superans, vel aspectus torvitate terribilis, in pugna acris &
vehemens, tantaque mordacitate, ut citius discerpas quàm dissolvas;
nec lupum nec taurum, ursum aut leonem reformidat: vel cum cane illo
Alexandri Indico certe conferendus. Sed de his hactenus ut de
Britannicis verba fecimus.
The _Vrcane_ which is bred of a beare and a dogge,
Is fearce, is fell, is stoute and stronge,
And byteth sore to fleshe and bone,
His furious force indureth longe
In rage he will be rul’de of none.
That I may vse the wordes of the Poet _Gratius_, This dogge
exceedeth all other in cruell conditions, his leering and fleering
lookes, his stearne and sauage vissage, maketh him in sight feareful
and terrible, he is violent in fighting, & wheresoeuer he setteth
his tenterhooke teeth, he taketh such sure & fast hold that a man
may sooner teare and rende him in sunder, then lose him and seperate
his chappes. He passeth not for the Wolfe, the Beare, the Lyon,
nor the Bull, and may wortherly (as I thinke) be companiõ with
_Alexanders_ dogge which came out of _India_. But of these, thus
much, and thus farre may seeme sufficient.
A starte to outlandishe Dogges in this conclusion, not impertinent
to the Authors purpose.
[Externi canes.] Externos aliquos & eos majusculos, Islandicos dico
& Littuanicos, usus dudum recepit: quibus toto corpore hirtis, ob
promissum longumque pilum, nec vultus est, nec figura corporis.
Vse and custome hath intertained other dogges of an outlandishe
kinde, but a fewe and the same beyng of a pretty bygnesse, I meane
Iseland, dogges curled & rough al ouer, which by reason of the
lenght of their heare make showe neither of face nor of body.
[Externa prælata.] Multis tamen quòd peregrini sunt, & grati sunt,
& in Melitæorum locum assumpti sunt: usque adeo deditum est humanum
genus etiam sine ratione novitatibus. ἐρῶμεν ἀλλοτρίων, παρορῶμεν
συγγενεῖς, miramur aliena, nostra non diligimus.
And yet these curres, forsoothe, because they are so straunge are
greatly set by, esteemed, taken vp, and made of many times in the
roome of the Spaniell gentle or comforter. The natures of men is so
moued, nay rather marryed to nouelties without all reason, wyt,
iudgement or perseueraunce. Ἐρῶμεν ἀλλοτριῶν, παρορῶμεν συγγενεῖς.
Outlandishe toyes we take with delight,
Things of our owne nation we haue in despight.
Neque hoc in canibus solum, sed in artificibus quoque usu venit.
Nostros enim licet doctos & peritos fastidimus, belluam è longinqua
barbarie alienoque solo profectam tanquam asinum Cumani, aut hominem
Thalem, nostri suspiciunt.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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