The ground, which was a hollow in the common or moor, afforded little
advantage for approaching the stag unobserved; and general was the shout
of triumph when Bucklaw, with the dexterity proper to an accomplished
cavalier of the day, sprang from his horse, and dashing suddenly and
swiftly at the stag, brought him to the ground by a cut on the hind leg
with his short hunting-sword. The pack, rushing in upon their disabled
enemy, soon ended his painful struggles, and solemnised his fall with
their clamour; the hunters, with their horns and voices, whooping and
blowing a mort, or death-note, which resounded far over the billows of
the adjacent ocean.
The huntsman then withdrew the hounds from the throttled stag, and on
his knee presented his knife to a fair female form, on a white palfrey,
whose terror, or perhaps her compassion, had till then kept her at some
distance. She wore a black silk riding-mask, which was then a common
fashion, as well for preserving the complexion from the sun and rain, as
from an idea of decorum, which did not permit a lady to appear barefaced
while engaged in a boisterous sport, and attended by a promiscuous
company.
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