3. Did you know the modern-day Beagles are thought to have descended from Talbot Hounds, large white scenthounds that accompanied William the Conqueror into Britain during the 11th century ? (Another now-extinct breed that may have contributed some DNA is the Irish Kerry beagle, small black-and-tan dogs similar to Bloodhounds.)
4. Did you know the name Beagle first appeared in English literature in 1475 ? (It was mentioned in the works of no lesser literary lights than Chaucer and Shakespeare. "She's a beagle, true-bred, and one that adores me," says Sir Toby Belch in Twelfth Night.)
5. Did you Beagle-like dogs appeared in America sometime before the Civil War and that the breed wasn't firmly established until the 1880s ? (In 1885, a Beagle named Blunder became the first to be registered by the AKC.)
6. Are you familiar with any of these famous Beagles ?
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