3-017-354 - The Print Collector/Heritage Images

The Wiltshire Champion Coursing Meeting at Stonehenge, 1865. Engraving of a sketch by Mr. G. B. Goddard, representing '...the trysting-place for the coursers on one or two mornings during "the Champion week." Stonehenge, that pile of ambres or holy stones, is a great mystery. Some aver that they were brought by Merlin's aid from Scythia's shore by the great Pendragon, and others that they were raised by Danish chiefs in honour of the Idol of Victory. Be this as it may, the shepherds and the [hare] coursers share them now...The recent meeting was very well attended, and nine stakes were run off. The champion cup was won by Captain Viner's Shadow...At one time...the Wiltshire greyhound was a peculiarly small one, and often only weighed from 30 lb. to 35 lb...Gradually the Wiltshire men have been obliged to breed their greyhounds as large as their fellows; and the hares, which were once only five-pounders, have increased considerably as well, owing to their improved fare, since so much of the downs was broken up for turnips and corn'. From "Illustrated London News", 1865.