MS M.1044, fols. 60v–61r

Undoing and Breaking Up a Hart
After the mort was sounded, the ritualistic undoing (flaying) and breaking up (butchering) of the hart began. The animal was placed on its back, with its antlers facing the ground. The scrotum and testicles were removed, and the skin was cut from throat to vent and peeled down to the spine in order to provide a bed for the flayed carcass. According to Phoebus, this was done on the spot where the hart was killed rather than at the hunting lodge, permitting the dogs to be immediately rewarded. The severed head went to the lymer (fol. 72), who would be praised. With the master's "tallyho" the other hounds were given pieces of meat that had been thrown into the hart's blood, which had collected on the inside of his hide (fol. 72). The master further rewarded the dogs by letting them fight over the hart's guts.