The Chien-gris a.k.a. Gris de Saint-Louis (''Grey Saint Louis Hound'') is an extinct breed of dog which originated in

Medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire a ...

times. Like the Chien de Saint-Hubert, it was a

scent hound Franz Rudolf Frisching in the uniform of an officer of the Bernese Huntsmen Corps with his Berner Laufhund, painted by Jean Preudhomme in 1785 Scent hounds (or scenthounds) are a Dog type, type of hound that primarily hunts by scent rather than ...

, and formed part of the royal packs of France, which were composed, from about 1250 till 1470, exclusively of hounds of this type. According to King Charles IX, (1550–1574) they supposedly were introduced to France through Saint Louis (i.e. King Louis IX, 1226–1270), who had encountered these hounds while a prisoner during the

Crusades The Crusades were a series of religious wars initiated, supported, and sometimes directed by the Latin Church in the medieval period. The best known of these Crusades are those to the Holy Land in the period between 1095 and 1291 that were ...

, and subsequently received some as a gift. Old writers on hunting liked to ascribe an ancient and remote origin to their hounds, and these were claimed to be originally from

Tartary Tartary ( la, Tartaria, french: Tartarie, german: Tartarei, russian: Тартария, Tartariya) or Tatary (russian: Татария, Tatariya) was a blanket term used in Western European literature and cartography for a vast part of Asia bound ...

. They were large, and, even though they did not have such good noses, were preferred by the Kings to the St Huberts, which were said to be only of medium size. Jacques du Fouilloux, in the 16th century, says they were common, and describes them as 'gris' (grey) on the back with forequarters and legs tan or red, some having near black hair on the back. They were roughhaired, and were ancestors of the modern French rough-coated Griffon breeds. However the rough coats were not mentioned by Charles IX or du Fouilloux, and it has been suggested they were acquired later through interbreeding with indigenous French hounds. They were headstrong, wide-casting hounds, inclined to change or overshoot, but determined in their pursuit of a quarry to the death. However, by the nineteenth century, like the St Hubert, they had become virtually impossible to find, because of mixed breeding and the effect of the

Revolution In political science, a revolution (Latin: ''revolutio'', "a turn around") is a fundamental and relatively sudden change in political power and political organization which occurs when the population revolts against the government, typically due ...

on French hunting. George Turberville translated du Fouilloux' book on hunting into English, and used the term 'Dun hound' to translate 'Chien-gris'. It is presumed he did not translate it literally as 'grey-hound' to avoid confusion. One finds the term 'dun hound' in some subsequent writing in English, suggesting that the kind also existed in Britain, and it has been supposed that these 'dun hounds' went into the makeup of the

Bloodhound The bloodhound is a large scent hound, originally bred for hunting deer, wild boar and, since the Middle Ages, for tracking people. Believed to be descended from hounds once kept at the Abbey of Saint-Hubert, Belgium, in French it is called, ...

, accounting for the 'badgering' of the hair in the saddles of some bloodhounds. However, Turberville did not make it clear that his book was a translation, and it is highly possible that people mistakenly believed his work was about English hunting. Early references to the dun hound may simply come from people relying, like Nicolas Cox, on Turberville, and it is quite possible that the dun hound was never a significant animal in British hunting.

References

{{Extinct breeds of dog Dog breeds originating in France Extinct dog breeds

See also

References