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The Laconian

"My hounds are bred out of the Spartan kind
So flewed, so sanded, and their heads are hung
With ears that sweep away the morning dew,
Crook-kneed and dewlapped like Thessalian bulls,
Slow in pursuit, but matched in mouth like bells,
Each under each.  A cry more tunable
Was never hollaed to, nor cheered with horn,
In Crete, in Sparta, nor in Thessaly.
Judge when you hear."   William Shakespeare, A Midsummer night's dream, 1594.

   The Laconian, or Spartan hound as it was sometimes called, was a hare-hunting dog of the Ancient Greeks, and the breed's prowess was so renowned that it was still quite well known in Shakespeare's time.  In his poetical appraisal Shakespeare has described those hounds with which he was familiar in the sixteenth century for we know that the Spartan hounds had no loose skin and they were of the harrier-type with pricked ears, although they were known for "giving chase vigorously ... with much clamour and baying" according to Xenophon.  They were attended by foot-followers and were probably moderately fast in the chase as they were quite racily built, but notably slower than the Vertragus; Cynegetica even suggests that these dogs were used in the pursuit of deer and gazelle, driving the game into nets.  These hounds sported the typical colouration of modern hounds; whilst  Xenophon famously championed the black-and-tans and the tri-colours.

   Laconian hounds were crossed with the Cretan hound to produce the Metagon.

The Heritage Of The Dog, Colonel David Hancock MBE

Nimrod Press Limited, 15, The Maltings, Turk Street,

Alton, Hants GU34 1DL

Dogs in Ancient Greece and Rome. 

Netted Hares

Grattius, Cynegeticon

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