This is the twenty-second of thirty-one readers used in the Veritas Press Phonics Museum program, designed for first grade.
Sample Section:
After my dousing, I sputter and pound my chest.
Water spouts from my mouth.
The hound shakes the water from it's fur, and I stroke its snout.
Then it runs around with the other dogs. The huntsmen and the hounds go on with the hunt, but Father stays behind with me.Story Background:
In our day, dogs are treasured for their beauty, loyalty, companionship, and in some breeds—hunting ability. Yet as valued as dogs are today, in the tenth century, killing a greyhound was punishable by death. In 1014 the Forest Laws reserved large areas of the country for hunting by the nobility. Only such persons could own greyhounds; any commoner caught owning a greyhound would be severely punished and the dog's toes mutilated to prevent it from hunting. In 1066 William the Conqueror introduced even more stringent Forest Laws. Later, King James valued his dogs so much that he wrote the following law to keep commoners from owning hunting dogs: "That no person shall be deemed qualified to keep setting dogs who is not possessed of an inheritance of the value of Pounds 10 per annum, a lease for life of Pounds 30 per annum, or who is worth Pounds 200 per annum, unless he be the son of a Baron or Knight or Heir-apparent to an Esquire."
Greyhounds were saved by clergymen during times of famine in the Middle Ages. They protected these hunting dogs and bred them for the nobility. Nobles favored spotted and white dogs who could be located and recovered more easily if lost in the forest. Among the English aristocracy it became common to say, "You could tell a gentleman by his horses and his greyhounds."
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