wish-hounds, n. pl.
Also whished, whisht, wished.
[wisht a. 2.]
Local name for a ghostly pack of hounds popularly believed to hunt over Dartmoor (Devon) by night. So ˈwish-hunt, ˈwish-hunter.
| 1847 Athenæum 27 Mar. 334/2 The Abbot's Way..is the especial haunt of the Wish, or Wisked [sic] Hounds. 1865 R. Hunt Pop. Rom. W. Eng. Ser. i. Introd. p. xix, Wistman's Wood..is the very home of the Wish hounds, which hunt so fiercely over the Moor. 1863 Baring-Gould Iceland 202 On Dartmoor..the [Wild Huntsman's] chase continues: it is called the Wisht hunt. 1865 ― Were-wolves viii, On Heathfield, near Tavistock, the wild huntsman rides by full moon with his ‘wush hounds’. 1897 ― Guavas xiv, 'Tis no Wish Hunter's gold. |