A Hound which should be Good and Fair ought to have these Marks following.

 

Chapter 6.

The Tokens whereby a Man may know a Good and Fair Hound.

A hound which should be good and fair ought to have these marks following. 

First, I will begin at the head, the which ought to be of a mean proportion, and is more to be esteemed when it is long than when it is short-snouted; the nostrils ought to be great and wide-opened, the ears large, side, and of a mean thickness; the chin of the back-compass bowed like a Roch, the fillettes great. 

Also, the haunches great and large, the thigh well-trussed and the ham straight and well-compassed, the tail big near the reins, and the rest slender unto the very end; the hair underneath the belly hard, the leg big, the sole of the foot dry and formed like a Fox's foot, the claws great. And you shall note that seldom shall you see such dogs as are short-trussed (having their hinder parts higheer than their foreparts) to prove swift. 

Now, to declare unto you the signification of these marks, you shall understand that the open nostrils do betoken a dog of perfect scent, the ridge or chin of the back reochbent, and the ham straight, betoken swiftness; the tail great near the reins and long and loose towards the end betokens good and great force in the reins, and that the dog is long-breathed. The hard hair underneath the belly doth signify that he is painful, and fears neither water nor cold; the big leg, the forefoot and the great claws do betoken
that the foot of such a hound is not fat, and that he is strong in all his members,
and able to endure long without surbaiting of himself.