which, among his other good
qualities for which they kept him (for he was a rare house-dog), had this
bad one--that he was a most notorious thief, but withal so cunning a dog,
and managed himself so warily, that he preserved a mighty good reputation
among the neighbourhood. As the family was well beloved in the town, so
was the dog. He was known to be a very useful servant to them,
especially in the night (when he was fierce as a lion; but in the day the
gentlest, lovingest creature that could be), and, as they said, all the
neighbours had a good word for this dog.

It happened that the good wife or mistress at the "Angel Inn" had
frequently missed several pieces of meat out of the pail, as they say--or
powdering-tub, as we call it--and that some were very large pieces. It
is also to be observed the dog did not stay to eat what he took upon the
spot, in which case some pieces or bones or fragments might be left, and
so it might be discovered to be a dog; but he made cleaner work, and when
he fastened upon a piece of meat he was sure to carry it quite away to
such retreats as he knew he could be safe in, and so feast upon it at
leisure.

It happened at last, as with most thieves it does, that the inn-keeper
was too cunning for him, and the poor dog was nabbed, taken in the fact,
and could make no defence.

Having found the thief and got him in custody, the master of the house, a
good-humoured fellow, and loth to disoblige the dog's master by executing
the criminal, as the dog law directs, mitigates his sentence, and handled
him as follows:--First, taking out his knife, he cut off both his ears;
and then, bringing him to the threshold, he chopped off his tail. And
having thus effectually dishonoured the poor cur among his neighbours, he
tied a string about his neck, and a piece of paper to the string,
directed to his master, and with these witty West Country verses on it:--

"To my honoured master, --- Esq.
"Hail master a cham a' com hoam,
So cut as an ape, and tail have I noan,
For stealing of beef and pork out of the pail,
For thease they'v cut my ears, for th' wother my tail;
Nea measter, and us tell thee more nor that
And's come there again, my brains will be flat."

I could give many more accounts of the different dialects of the people
of this country, in some of which they are really not to be understood;
but the particulars have little or no diversion in them. They carry it
suc