PARFYTIERES, the name given in the "Master of Game" to the last relay of hounds uncoupled during the chase of the stag. First came the "_vaunt chase_," and then the "_midel_," and then the "_parfytieres_." They may have been so called from being the last hounds to be uncoupled, being those that completed or perfected the pack--_i.e._ perfecters, or this relay may have derived its name from being composed of some of the staunchest hounds from the kennel, those not likely to follow any but the right line or the _parfyt_. It was customary in the old days to keep some of the slower and staunchest hounds in the last relay, and to cast them only when a stag nearing its end rused and foiled, and sought by every means to shake off his persecutors (_see_ Appendix: Relays). G. de F. gives the names of the three relays simply as _La première bataille_, _la seconde_, and _la tierce_ (p. 175). POMELED; spotted, from O. F. _pomelé_, spotted like an apple. The young of the roedeer are born with a reddish brown coat with white spots, which the "Master of Game" calls _pomeled_. This term was also frequently used in Ang.-N., O. F., and in the dog-Latin of our ancient records to describe a flea-bitten or dappled horse. "_His hakenei that was all pomeli gris_" (Strat.). "_Pommeli liardus, gris pommele, Uno equo liardo pomele_" (Obs. Ward. Acc. 28, Ed. I.). G. de F. does not use this word in describing the young of the roedeer, but says they are born "_eschaquettes_" (p. 40). RACHES; _ratches_ or _racches_, a dog that hunts by scent. A.-S. _raecc_, a hound, and O. F. and Ang.-N. _brache_, _brachet_, _bracon_, _braquet_; Ger. _bracken_. Ang.-Lat., _brachetus_, _bracketus_. Raches were scenting hounds hunting in a pack, later called "running hounds," and then simply hounds. Although raches or brachets are frequently mentioned in the O. F. and Ang.-N. metrical romances, and in various early documents, we have never found any description of them, but can only gather what they were from the uses they were put to. We find that the bracco was used by the early German tribes to track criminals, therefore they were scenting hounds. There is plenty of evidence that they were used for stag, wild boar, and buck hunting during the Middle Ages. They were coupled together and led by a _berner_ or _bracennier_ or _braconnier. Braconnier_ now means poacher, but this is only the later meaning; originally braconnier was the leader of the bracos, or huntsman (Daurel, p. 337; Bangert, p. 173; Dol. 9188). We gather that these brachets of the early Middle Ages were small hounds, sometimes entirely white, but generally white with black markings. Sometimes they were mottled (_bracet mautré_). One description of a _braces corant_ says this hound was as white as a nut, with black ears, a black mark on the right flank, and flecked with black (Blancadin, 1271; Perc. 17,555, 22,585; Tristan M., 1475, 2261; Tyolet, 332).