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THE ELIZABETHAN PEOPLE

A passage in Shakespeare, namely:

"If this poor trash of Venice, whom I trash
For his quick hunting, shall stand the putting on,
I'll have our Michael Cassio on the hip,"

has been a source of bother to many commentators. It was necessary, both for the purpose of effective hunting, and in order that the sound of the pack be harmonious at a distance, that the hounds, while running, keep close together. A hound who was guilty of running ahead of the pack "overtopped" the rest. Though it has long been known that the prevention of this habit was performed by "trashing," the exact nature of the cure was not so plain. One way was to impede the hound by hanging "clogs," or weights, about his neck. Mr. Madden's note, however, throws much additional light on the subject. He says in substance as follows. It [trash] is used as a substantive by Gervase Markham in his Country Contentments. He mentions trashes with couples, liams, collars, etc., among articles commonly kept in a huntsman's lodgings. Mr. Madden quotes from an earlier writer to the following effect: "A hound that runs too fast for the rest ought not to be kept. Some huntsmen load them with heavy collars; some tie a long strap round their necks; a better way would be to part with them. Whether they go too slow or too