Thus, the inclusion of the sleuth hound in the story was no anachronism, hence that the dogs existed in Scotland as early as , and that their use as man-trailers was fully established. The earliest description of the sleuth hound is in The history and croniklis of Scotland 1536, a translation by John Bellenden of a Latin text by Hector Boece, Historia Gentis Scotorum (History of the Scottish People), originally published in 1526. The sleuth hound is described as one of three kinds of dog unique to Scotland. It is said to be red or black with small spots.
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Its special quality is its marvelous scenting power and determination in pursuing thieves (known as Border Reivers). The law of the borders between Scotland and England required that he who denies entry to the sleuth hound when in pursuit of stolen goods is held as an accomplice to the theft. John Caius (translated from Latin by Fleming 1576)John Caius tr Abraham Fleming Of Englisshe Dogges 1576 describes very similar uses of the English bloodhound on the borders, leading us to think that the Bloodhound and sleuth hound were the same animal. In a book published in Switzerland in 1554 the sleuth hound is also called 'blüthund' and 'canis Scoticus furum deprehensor' ('Scottish dog, thief catcher').
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Whether true or not, these stories show that the sleuth hound was already known as a man-trailer, and it later becomes clear that the sleuth hound and the Bloodhound were the same animal. In the 16th century, John Caius, in the most important single source in the history of the Bloodhound, describes its hanging ears and lips, its use in game parks to follow the scent of blood, which gives it its name, its ability to track thieves and poachers by their foot scent, how it casts if it has lost the scent when thieves cross water, and its use on the Scottish borders to track cross-border raiders, known as Border Reivers. This links it to the sleuth hound, and from Caius also comes the information that the English Bloodhound and the sleuth hound were essentially the same, though the Bloodhound was slightly bigger, with more variation in coat colour. The adjacent picture was published in Zurich in 1563, in Conrad Gesner's Thierbuch (a compendium of animals) with the captions: 'Englischen Blüthund' and 'Canis Sagax Sanguinarius apud Anglos' (English scenthound with associations of blood).
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It was just such a place as would have appealed to a German spy, for it commanded a lordly view over all London. Precisely the place to give signals to Zeppelins!"See "London in August, 1914. Sleuth-Hound" and "Spy.
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A modern Bloodhound running The sleuth hound (, from Old Norse slóð "track, trail" + hound)The Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology was a breed of dog. Broadly, it was a Scottish term for what in England was called the Bloodhound, although it seems that there were slight differences between them. It was also referred to as a 'slough dog', (or 'slewe dogge'), and a 'slow hound', the first word probably representing a mispronunciation of 'slough' rather than a reference to the speed of the hound. The sleuth hound first appears in poems about the Scottish patriots Robert the BruceJohn Barbour The Bruce 1375 and William Wallace.
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Increasingly concerned about the anti- German riots in EnglandSee Panikos Panayi, "Anti-German Riots in London during the First World War", in: German History, Vol. 7, Issue 2, 1989, pp. 184-203. and his "furrin" looking name, as well as having already received a visit from a Scotland Yard detective to his house,See "London in August, 1914. Sleuth- Hound and "Spy.
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They might use a sleuth hound (also known as a "slew dogge") to follow raiders' tracks. These dogs were valuable, and part of the established forces (on the English side of the border, at least).George MacDonald Fraser, pp. 95–96 Any person meeting this counter-raid was required to ride along and offer such help as he could, on pain of being considered complicit with the raiders.
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After c. 1530 the term 'rache' was hardly used in England, 'running hound' (tr. of chien courant), or mostly just 'hound', being preferred, but the term was still used for a while in Scotland,Hector Boece (Boethius) tr John Bellenden The History and Croniklis of Scotland 1536 where the Bloodhound was called the sleuth hound. Hector Boece (1536) describes the rache in Scotland as a versatile scenthound, able to find flesh, fowl, or even fish among the rocks, by smelling.
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Lorn, a nephew of John Comyn and a sworn enemy of Bruce, had brought with him a sleuth-hound which reputedly had belonged to the king, to help track down his former master. To no avail, for again Bruce and his ‘four hundred men’ evaded capture, this time ‘up in the strenthis’, i.e. the hills of New Cumnock. Local folk-lore suggests that Stayamera rock-face on Craigbraneoch hill overlooking Craigs farm was named as a taunt to the English commander Vallence, ‘Stay Amery’ i.e.
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Others, such as the sleuth hound, the Talbot Hound, the dun-hound and the Southern Hound, as well as pack hounds, have also been supposed to have contributed to its make-up. Some writers doubt whether anything certain can be said about specific breed ancestry beyond the last few centuries. The picture given by Le Couteulx and D'Yauville of the St. Hubert was that it changed considerably through mixed breeding, and perhaps degenerated, before its disappearance, while the Bloodhound which replaced it preserved its original character. However, it is apparent from 16th century pictures that the Bloodhound itself has changed considerably.
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Descriptions of the desirable physical qualities of a hunting hound go back to medieval books on hunting. All dogs used in the hunting field were 'gentle', that is of good breeding (not necessarily pure breeding), and parents were carefully chosen to maintain and improve conformation. In 1896, making some use of wording found in earlier descriptions, Edwin Brough and Dr. J. Sidney Turner published Points and Characteristics of the Bloodhound or Sleuth-Hound. This was adopted by the newly formed Association of Bloodhound Breeders, and ultimately became, with very little change, the 'official' breed standard of the KC and the AKC.
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His translator, Bellenden, says that it is not a large as the sleuth hound. The picture below, though it did not appear in Boece's original, was first published to illustrate his account when it was summarised in Conrad Gessner's Historiae Animalium (Zurich 1554, in Latin). The Scottish Rache Obviously raches must have far outnumbered Bloodhounds in the medieval dog population, and may have been quite disparate, depending on the sort of game they were used to hunt. In the picture above from Les Très Riches Heures du Duc de Berry (1410) the raches are not all of the same breed.
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Conrad Gesner(1554): Historiae Animalium It is confirmed here and in other texts of the time that the two animals were the same, except that the Bloodhound was somewhat larger, and had a greater variety of coat colours than the sleuth hound.Edward Topsell The History of Four Footed Beasts 1607 Generally, references to the sleuth hound appear in a man-trailing context, whereas the Bloodhound may appear either as a man- trailer or as a seeker of beasts in the hunting field. Probably from around 1700, any differences between the two types disappeared. "Bloodhound" becomes the usual term even in Scottish sources, such as Sir Walter Scott.
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Tournefort, a sleuth-hound employed by the Committee of Public Safety, is hanging around a house in St Lazare one night when he hears a voice talking to a 'Madame la Comtesse' and discussing how the diamonds she has left in her château can be recovered. Realising that this can only be the wife of the Comte de Sucy, he listens for more details then demands entry to the house to confront and arrest the traitors. The concierge tells Tournefort that he is imagining things and assures him he has seen no aristos. Tournefort doesn't believe him but despite searching the lodge, fails to find any evidence.
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By the 17th century it clearly existed as a breed or type. Large, heavy, slow hounds were 'talbot-like', whatever their colour, though the 'milk white' was 'the true talbot'. In his poem "The Chase", published in 1735, William Somervile describes the use of "lime-hounds" (leash hounds) on the Scottish Borders to catch thieves, obviously referring to the bloodhound and the sleuth hound, but adds that the (white) talbot was the "prime" example of this type of hound. The origin of both the name and the animal is uncertain. In a quotation from about 1449, the king referred to John Talbot, 1st Earl of Shrewsbury as "Talbott, oure good dogge", perhaps as a play on his name, or in allusion to that family's heraldic badge.
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