# Limer

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Medieval scenthound

A **limer**, or **lymer** [/ˈlaɪmər/](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help:IPA/English), was a kind of dog, a [scenthound](/source/Scenthound), used on a leash in [medieval](/source/Medieval) times to find large game before it was hunted down by the pack. It was sometimes known as a **lyam hound/dog** or **lime-hound**, from the [Middle English](/source/Middle_English) word *lyam*, meaning 'leash'. The French [cognate](/source/Cognate) ***limier*** has sometimes been used for the dogs in English as well. The type is not to be confused with the [bandog](/source/Bandog), which was also a dog controlled by a leash, typically a chain, but was a watchdog or guard dog.

## Use

Medieval huntsmen, showing a limer and its handler

In [medieval hunting](/source/Medieval_hunting) in [France](/source/France) and [England](/source/England), certain kinds of game were not found and hunted with a full pack, as usual in modern hunting. Instead, they were first found by a limer.

The limer would be taken out at dawn by its handler, on foot, who would identify, perhaps from droppings, perhaps from footprints, where a large animal had passed during the night. He would set his hound on the trail, until it had found where the animal was browsing or at rest. This required keen scenting, the ability to ignore all other scents that might be a distraction, and silent trailing. This process became known as 'harbouring' the animal.[1][2]

Several limers might be sent out to different parts of the forest. The handlers would then report back to their lord, or the chief huntsman, who would decide on the one "which seemed to have harbored the greatest and oldest Deere, and hym which lyeth in the fairest covert".[3] Then the huntsmen would bring the pack of scent hounds, known as '[raches](/source/Rache)', or 'running hounds'.[4] Raches might be set in relays along the path where the quarry could be expected to run, held in couples, to be released on the huntsman's signal. The game animal would be put to flight or 'unharboured' and the pack would follow it on its hot scent until it was brought to bay and killed.

If the quarry escaped the pack, perhaps wounded, or if the hunt was overtaken by nightfall, the huntsmen would mark the point where the quarry was last known to have been, and the lords and ladies of the hunt would return to the hunting lodge, or to the pavilions which had been erected for them in the [forest](/source/Royal_forest), to sleep or occupy themselves with feasting. The limer and its handler would then set about the task of harbouring the quarry again, perhaps by following its blood-trail, and either the injured animal would be dispatched, or the hunt would resume as before.

A picture of a Dutch hunting party showing a rough-haired limer

The limer was a specialist tracker, probably outnumbered by raches in a lord's pack, in about the proportions 20:1, and it was highly valued. It is possible that on occasions it might be released to pursue the quarry with the pack, but normally it did not take part in the kill. The limer which had harboured the particular quarry should, according to the manuals, be the first to be rewarded with its special part of the carcass during the process of butchering it, apparent in this link, where the leashed hound is favoured with the head of the stag, while the raches wait impatiently for their share.[5] It had its own special attendant who looked after it and handled it: the 'valet de limier', translated by Turbervile as 'the varlet who keeps the bloodhound'.[3]

To do its work, the limer had to wear a collar, the modern tracking harness surprisingly being unthought of in a period when everyone must have been familiar with the harnesses and tack of horses, and the leash had to be long enough to allow the hound to cast. [Edward, Duke of York](/source/Edward_of_Norwich%2C_2nd_Duke_of_York) in *[The Master of Game](/source/The_Master_of_Game)* 1406–1413 (a translation of *Livre de la Chasse*) :[\[2\]](https://archive.org/stream/masterofgameo00edwa#page/n183/mode/2up) writes (Chapter XX):

And the length of the hounds' couples between the hounds should be a foot, and the rope of a limer three fathoms and a half, be he ever so wise a limer it sufficeth.

## Kinds of hounds used as limers

*Finding the Hart* from the famous medieval manuscript *Livre de la Chasse* by [Gaston Phoebus](/source/Gaston_Phoebus), Count de Foix. The handler has tied his heavily built limer to a tree, which he has climbed to spot the deer.

Medieval hunting pictures generally show the limer as a hound of similar type to the running hounds, but larger and more heavily built. In England, the [Bloodhound](/source/Bloodhound) was so typically associated with the function of being a limer that [George Turberville](/source/George_Turberville) uses the term "Bloodhound" (in preference to "limer", which was becoming archaic) for the French word "limier" throughout his 1575 translation of *La Venerie de Jaques du Fouilloux*. For instance, du Fouilloux says limiers of the [St. Hubert](/source/St._Hubert's_hound) kind are good, so that when Turberville translates 'limiers' as 'bloodhounds', he is not saying that St. Huberts and Bloodhounds are the same breed, only that they work well as leash hounds.[3][4]

Though by then this form of hunting was becoming old-fashioned, in *Country Contentments, or the Husbandmans Recreations*, 1615, [Gervase Markham](/source/Gervase_Markham) writes:

The blacke hound, the black tann'd or he that is all liver-hew'd or the milke-white which is the true *[Talbot](/source/Talbot_(dog))*, are best for the string or lyam, for they do delight most in blood, and have a natural inclination to hunt dry-foot, and of these the largest are ever the best and most comely.

## Changes in hunting practice

French illustration showing a huntmaster teaching a huntsman how to hunt for [hart](/source/Hart_(deer)) with the limer.

In Great Britain, the [hart](/source/Hart_(deer)), the [wild boar](/source/Wild_boar) and the [fallow deer](/source/Fallow_deer) buck were the only animals to be harboured with the limer; all other game was found, as well as hunted, by the free-running raches.[6][7]

As the wild boar became extinct, and the interest of British huntsmen changed to fox-hunting, the limer lost its usefulness. In France, *limiers* held by "valets de limiers" are used to follow tracks in the early morning before the hunt starts so as to determine where to set loose the pack.

The word 'limer' is first recorded in surviving texts from the mid-14th century, though the way it is used suggests it was by then a familiar term to the readers. By the late 16th century, as hunting practices were beginning to change, it was becoming rarer, and later usage reflects some confusion about what it refers to, some authors just regarding it as a large [mastiff](/source/Mastiff)-type dog of impure breeding.[2]

## See also

- [Deer hunting](/source/Deer_hunting)

- [List of dog breeds](/source/List_of_dog_breeds)

- [List of extinct dog breeds](/source/List_of_extinct_dog_breeds)

## References

1. **[^](#cite_ref-Master_1-0)** [Edward, Duke of York](/source/Duke_of_York). [*The Master of Game*](https://archive.org/details/themasterofgamet43452gut). Project Gutenberg.[\[1\]](http://%5Bhttps://archive.org/details/masterofgameoldexx00edwa%5D)[*[permanent dead link](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Link_rot)*]

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-OED_2-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-OED_2-1) *The Oxford English Dictionary*.

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-Turbervile_3-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-Turbervile_3-1) [***c***](#cite_ref-Turbervile_3-2) [Turbervile, George](/source/George_Turbervile) (1575). [*The Noble Art of Venerie or Hunting*](https://archive.org/stream/turbervilesbook00turbgoog).

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-Livre_4-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-Livre_4-1) du Fouilloux, Jaques (1561). *La Venerie de Jaques du Fouilloux*.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-5)** ["BnF - Bestiaire médiéval"](http://expositions.bnf.fr/bestiaire/grand/12_03_bnf.htm). *expositions.bnf.fr*.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-6)** [Berners, Dame Juliana](/source/Juliana_Berners) (1881) [First published 1486]. [*The Boke of Saint Albans*](https://archive.org/details/bokeofsaintalban00bernuoft). Introduction by [William Blades](/source/William_Blades). London: Elliot Stock. Retrieved 2011-05-27.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-7)** [Forests and Chases of England and Wales: A Glossary.](http://info.sjc.ox.ac.uk/forests/glossary.htm) St John's College, Oxford.

v t e Hounds Scenthounds Alpine Dachsbracke American Foxhound Anglo-Français de Petite Vénerie Ariégeois Artois Hound Austrian Black and Tan Hound Basset Artésien Normand Basset Bleu de Gascogne Basset Fauve de Bretagne Basset Hound Bavarian Mountain Hound Beagle Beagle-Harrier Billy Black and Tan Coonhound Bloodhound Bluetick Coonhound Bosnian Broken-haired Hound Briquet de Provence Briquet Griffon Vendéen Bruno Jura Hound Chien Français Blanc et Noir Chien Français Blanc et Orange Chien Français Tricolore Colombian Fino Hound Dachshund Drever Dunker English Coonhound English Foxhound Erbi Txakur Estonian Hound Finnish Hound Gascon Saintongeois German Hound Grand Anglo-Français Blanc et Noir Grand Anglo-Français Blanc et Orange Grand Anglo-Français Tricolore Grand Basset Griffon Vendéen Grand Bleu de Gascogne Grand Griffon Vendéen Greek Harehound Griffon Bleu de Gascogne Griffon Fauve de Bretagne Griffon Nivernais Halden Hound Hamiltonstövare Hanover Hound Harrier Hygen Hound Istrian Coarse-haired Hound Istrian Shorthaired Hound Kerry Beagle Liangshan Dog Lithuanian Hound Montenegrin Mountain Hound Otterhound Petit Basset Griffon Vendéen Petit Bleu de Gascogne Plott Hound Poitevin Polish Hound Polish Hunting Dog Porcelaine Posavac Hound Rastreador Brasileiro Redbone Coonhound Sarail Hound Sabueso Español Schillerstövare Schweizer Laufhund Schweizerischer Niederlaufhund Segugio dell'Appennino Segugio Italiano a Pelo Forte Segugio Italiano a Pelo Raso Segugio Maremmano Serbian Hound Serbian Tricolour Hound Slovenský Kopov Smålandsstövare Styrian Coarse-Haired Hound Tarsus çatalburun Tatranský durič Transylvanian Hound Treeing Walker Coonhound Trigg Hound Tyrolean Hound Valdueza Welsh Foxhound West Country Harrier Westphalian Dachsbracke Sighthounds Afghan Hound American Staghound Azawakh Bakhmull Banjara Hound Borzoi Chippiparai Chortai Galgo Español Greyhound Hortaya borzaya Irish Wolfhound Italian Greyhound Kaikadi Kangaroo dog Kanni Kombai Levriero Sardo Longdog Magyar agár Mahratta Hound Mudhol Hound Polish Greyhound Rajapalayam Rampur Greyhound Saluki Scottish Deerhound Silken Windhound Sloughi Taigan Whippet Xigou Cur-type hunting breeds Black Mouth Cur Blue Lacy Catahoula Leopard Dog Florida Brown Dog Feist Lurcher Mountain Cur Mountain Feist Stephens Stock Treeing Cur Treeing Tennessee Brindle Miscellaneous American Leopard Hound Basenji Haofa Tangkhul Hui Pampas Deerhound Phu Quoc Ridgeback Rhodesian Ridgeback Thai Ridgeback Xiasi Dog Extinct Buckhound Celtic Hound Chien-gris Dumfriesshire Black and Tan Foxhound Grand Fauve de Bretagne King's White Hound Laconian Limer Norman Hound North Country Beagle Old Croatian Sighthound Potsdam Greyhound Rache Sleuth hound Southern Hound Staghound Talbot Hound Types: Anglo-French hounds, bassets, coonhounds, feists, lurchers

v t e Extinct dog breeds, varieties, landraces and types African hairless dog Alaunt Alpine mastiff Argentine polar dog Belgian Mastiff Black and Tan Terrier Blue Paul Terrier Braque Dupuy Buckhound Bullenbeisser Chien-gris Chiribaya Dog Córdoba fighting dog Cumberland Sheepdog Cur Dalbo dog Dogo Cubano Dumfriesshire Black and Tan Foxhound English Water Spaniel English White Terrier Grand Fauve de Bretagne Halls Heeler Hare Indian Dog Hawaiian Poi Dog King's White Hound Kurī Laconian Lapponian Shepherd Limer Marquesan Dog Mexican lapdog Molossus Moscow Water Dog Norfolk Spaniel Norman Hound North Country Beagle Old Croatian Sighthound Old English Bulldog Old Spanish Pointer Old Welsh Grey Sheepdog Paisley Terrier Polynesian Dog Rache Russian tracker Saint John's water dog Sakhalin Husky Salish Wool Dog Sleuth hound Southern Hound Staghound Tahltan Bear Dog Tahitian Dog Talbot Hound Techichi Terceira Mastiff Tesem Toy Bulldog Toy Trawler Spaniel Turnspit dog Tweed Water Spaniel Welsh Hillman

Authority control databases: National Czech Republic

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Limer](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Limer) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Limer?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.