E. Cobham Brewer 1810–1897. Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. 1898.
Hunt.
Like Hunt’s dog, he would neither go to church nor stay at home. One Hunt, a labouring man in Shropshire, kept a mastiff, which, on being shut up while his master went to church, howled and barked so terribly as to disturb the whole congregation; where-upon Hunt thought he would take his Lycisca with him the next Sunday,-but on reaching the churchyard the dog positively refused to enter. The proverb is applied to a tricky, self-willed person, who will neither be led or driven.
