“Rex omnibus Ballivis etc: Sciatis quod injunximus dilecto & fideli nostro Petro Corbet, quod in omnibus forestis, & parcis, & aliis locis, infra comitatus nostros Gloucestr’ Wygorn’ Hereford’ Salop’ et Stafford’ in quibus lupi poterunt inveniri, lupos, cum hominibus, canibus & ingeniis suis, capiat, & destruat, modis omnibus quibus viderit expedire. “Et ideo vobis mandamus quod eidem Petro in omnibus, quæ ad captionem luporum in comitatibus prædictis, pertinet, intendentes sitis & auxiliantes, quotiens opus fuerit, & prædictus Petrus vobis scire faciet ex parte nostra. “In cujus &c. duratur’ quamdin nobis placuerit. Teste Rege apud Westm’ decimo quarto die Maii.” {293} (TRANSLATION.) The King, to all bailiffs, &c. Know ye, that we have enjoined our dear and faithful Peter Corbet, that in all forests, parks, and other places, within our counties of Gloucester, Worcester, Hereford, Salop, and Stafford, in which wolves may be found, that he take and destroy wolves, with his men, dogs, and engines, in all ways, in which it shall seem expedient; and we command you therefore that you be aiding and assisting the said Peter, in all things that relate to the capture of wolves, in the aforesaid counties, as often as occasion may require, and the said Peter may make known to you on our part. In witness, &c., so long as it shall be our pleasure. Witness the King, at Westminster, the 14th day of May. Enough has now been stated, for the purpose of showing that it was an idle tale to assert that the extinction of these animals occurred in the reign of Edgar. Evidence has been already adduced to show that they existed here, in a wild state, a considerable period after the Conquest; but it is the intention of the author of this paper to go much further, and some proofs will be brought forward of their being in existence for centuries after that event; and some conjectures will be hazarded, respecting the probable period of their final extinction in England. In the 25th year of Edward I. (1296), John de Engaine, Lord of Blatherwic, died, seized of lands in Pightesse, or Pytesse, in Northamptonshire, found to be held of the King, by service of hunting the wolf, fox, and badger. {294a} In the reign of Edward II. (1820), John le Wolfhunt, or Wolfhurt, son and heir of John le Wolfhunt, or Wolfhurt, held lands at Wormhill, in Derbyshire, by the service of chasing and taking all wolves that might come into the King’s Forest of the Peak, in that county. {294b} In the 11th year of Edward III. (1336), John Lord Roos, of Hamlake, had a charter granted to him, by the King, of free warren in lands in Nottinghamshire and Oxfordshire, and also to hunt the fox, wolf, hare, and cat, throughout the King’s forest of Nottinghamshire. {294c}