Title

The Wiltshire Champion Coursing Meeting at Stonehenge, 1865. Creator: Unknown.

Caption

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.

Credit line

Photo12/Heritage Images/The Print Collector

Reference

HRM24A26_473

Model release

NA

Property release

NA

License type

Rights managed

Available size

62,0Mb (4,8Mb) / 18,8in x 12,8in / 5650 x 3834 (300dpi)

Keywords

animal unusual countryside England sport animals horses horse riding rider riders meeting stone arts dog dogs stones art British color hunting hunter hunters archaeology rustic horseman horsemen cruelty blood sports Stonehenge Wiltshire farmland location century archaeological Britain meet newspapers press print concept archaeological site greyhounds controversy archeology B&W cruel controversial engraved engraving greyhound standing stone standing stones stone circle Colour horsewoman 19th century black & white black and white HUNTSMAN B W white and black nineteenth century rural The Print Collector ancient site hare coursing huntress Illustrated London News rural life TGN ILN newspaper animal cruelty Unknown Huntsmen Regionalism Horsewomen cruelty to animals coursing greyhound 19th-century George Bouverie Goddard Goddard George Bouverie