Buck vs, stag

[Carol]

Dumbledad wrote:
> I don't think so. Here's what the Oxford English Dictionary has to 
> say ...
> 
> >>>Stag, n.  1. a. The male of a deer,  esp. of the red deer;  
> spec. a hart or male deer of the fifth year. (In the 15th c. stag 
> of a hart.)<<<
> 
> >>>Hart. 1. The male of the deer, esp. of the red deer; a stag; 
> spec. a male deer after its fifth year.<<<
> 
> >>>Buck, n.
> 1.  The male of several animals.
>  a. The he-goat. <snip>
>   b. The male of the fallow-deer.  (In early use perh.  the male 
> of any kind of deer.)  buck of the first head, great buck (see 
> quot. 1774). <snip>
>
> That ties in with the UK English I've encountered: a buck would be 
> a young/small male deer, while a stag would have big antlers and 
> do that scary rutting crash thing.

Carol responds:

But specifically a stag is a mature male *red* deer. (A hart is a male
red deer at least five years old.) A buck would be a young male red
deer or a male fallow deer. (A fallow deer is apparently smaller than
a red deer and yellowish brown, spotted like a fawn in summer. here's
an illustration:

http://www.merriam-webster.com/art/dict/fallowde.htm )

American deer 

The etymology of "deer" is also interesting and perhaps hints at the
mythology and symbolism surrounding them:

Main Entry:
    deer <snip>

Etymology:
    Middle English, deer, animal, from Old English dor beast; akin to
Old High German tior wild animal, Lithuanian dvasia breath, spirit

Date: before 12th century 

Note that not one of these words is borrowed. they're all native to
English. That also relates to "hart":

Main Entry:
    hart <snip>

Etymology:
    Middle English hert, from Old English heort; akin to Latin cervus
hart, Greek keras horn — more at horn

Date: before 12th century

chiefly British: the male of the red deer especially when over five
years old : stag — compare hind

"Hind" is the female red deer ("Whoso list to hunt, I know where is an
hind"--that "hind" being Anne Boleyn):

Main Entry:
    hind <snip>

Etymology:
    Middle English, from Old English; akin to Old High German hinta
hind, Greek kemas young deer

Date: before 12th century

1 : the female of the red deer — compare hart 2: any of various
spotted groupers (especially genus Epinephelus)

For those unfamiliar with the line of poetry that I quoted, it comes
from a sonnet by Sir thomas Wyatt, which you can find here:

http://www.nellgavin.com/ThomasWyatt/

Conclusion: The English--make that the Germanic tribes both on the
continent and in Britain--were obsessed with deer from before the
twelfth century. And that's not even considering the body of *Celtic*
mythology indicating a similar obsession with animals in general,
including deer, on the part of the Celts.

Carol, who finds this thread edifying and hopes that others, do, too