CHAPTER I
PRIVATE COURSING
Though coursing is probably the oldest existing sport, it is only of late years that any attention has been paid to it from a literary point of view, and even now authoritative works on coursing are very scarce. The 'Coursing Calendar,' in its present form, was begun in 1857, with 'Stonehenge' for its editor, and in 1882 the 'Greyhound Stud Book' came into existence. Previously to 1857 some few odd calendars had been issued, but no printed record of the sport was published before 1828, when 'The Courser's Manual or Stud Book,' by Thomas Goodlake, made its appearance. This work was originated by a Mr. Barnard, of the Malton Coursing Club, who died long before the work was completed, and, leaving his unarranged materials to Mr. Goodlake, that gentleman brought the volume to a successful issue. There was then an interim before 'Thacker's Calendar' made its intermittent appearances; but
