Editing Lurcher (section)

== History ==
''Lurcher'' is an old English term for a [[crossbreeding|crossbred]] dog; specifically, the result of [[dog reproduction|mating]] a [[sighthound]] with a dog of another [[dog type|type]], typically a working breed. The term was first used with this meaning in 1668; it is considered to be derived from the verb ''lurch'', apparently a variant form of ''lurk'', meaning ''lurk'' or ''steal''.{{sfn|Russell|2018|page=29}}<ref>lurcher, n.4. Oxford English Dictionary, online edition. Oxford: Oxford University Press. (subscription required).</ref><ref>lurch, v.1. Oxford English Dictionary, online edition. Oxford: Oxford University Press. (subscription required).</ref>  The tendency to "wrench" and "cut" rather than "course" was considered to be unfair and a violation of "The Law of the  Leash."<ref name="Burgeland">{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rL4UAAAAYAAJ&dq=%22Laws+of+the+Leash%22&pg=PA193 |page=193 |title=The sportsman's cyclopaedia : comprising a complete elucidation of the science and practice of hunting, shooting, coursing, racing, fishing, hawking, cockfighting, and other sports and pastimes of Great Britain, interspersed with entertaining and illustrative anecdotes [LeatherBound] |last1=Johnson |first1=Thomas Burgeland |origyear=1848 |year=2023}}</ref>

In England from 1389, the right to keep a dog of any kind used in hunting<ref>As stated in an act of Parliament: "None shall hunt but they which have sufficient living" in the [[Anglo-Norman language|Anglo-Norman]] and English of the time: ''null leverer, ne lerce, nautre chien pur chacer'',[https://archive.org/details/statutesatlargef01grea/page/388/mode/2up?q=none+shall+hunt+...+lerce]
translated as "no greyhound, hound nor other dog to hunt"</ref> was limited by law to those ''qualified'' by possessing lands, holdings, or income worth more than ten pounds per annum; in other words, [[Royal family|royalty]], [[nobility]], the [[gentry]], and the [[wealth]]y.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://archive.org/details/dictionaryof_kelh_1779_00/page/n145/mode/2up?q=lerce | title=A dictionary of the Norman or Old French language : Collected from such Acts of Parliament, Parliament rolls, journals, Acts of state, records, law books, antient historians, and manuscripts as related to this nation | year=1779 }}</ref>
This law, though repeatedly modified, remained in force until 1831.{{sfn|Russell|2018|page=29}} As a result, hunters and poachers bred sighthounds with breeds that could  disguise their sighthound bloodline, often under thick rough coats, whilst adding other abilities including intelligence, stamina or turning speed. The dog chosen for this could be an available farm dog, often a collie or terrier. 

In the nineteenth century, the word was used to describe some rough-haired regional greyhounds, which were banned from competition by [[coursing]] clubs such as Swaffham and Newmarket, due to the perception that they cut "turns" to kill instead of working the [[hare]] to gain points.{{sfn|Russell|2018|page=88}}