William Twici was one of King Edward’s huntsman, and around 1325, he wrote a short treatise in Norman-French called Twici’s Le Art de Venerie. It’s believed to be the oldest book on hunting in England.  Twici wrote from experience.  He is on record in the Close Rolls of July, 1322 as having been sent by the King to the forests of Lancaster to “take fat venison, with a lardener, two berners, four ventrers, a page, twenty greyhounds, and forty harthounds.”

We know from the same record that the sheriff was to pay Twici “71511. a day for his own wages, 2d. a day to each of the berners and ventrers, Id. a day to the page, and .§d. a day for each of the hounds.” We honestly don’t know what this currency means today,  but William Twici died as a royal pensioner in the abbey of Reading in the spring of 1328.

We mention Twici because it was he who described the Otterhound as “a rough sort of dog.” If we mention the Otterhound on these pages more than we do other breeds, we make no apologies for it. We’re told that maybe 600 Otterhounds remain in the world, and the more we sound the alarm to the imminent loss of a venerable, ancient, and terrific breed, the better.

Image of this Otterhound puppy found on Pinterest and happily credited upon receipt of information