where does the saying "release the hounds" originate from?

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Request for Question Clarification by pafalafa-ga on 29 Jul 2005 14:18 PDT

This definitely has a long-standing use in fox-hunting, though whether
there are earlier uses is hard to say.

Dignitaries are sometimes given the honorary duty to "release the
hounds" at the hunt, rather like being invited to christen a ship.

Does that help?

Maybe from William Shakespeare's "Julius Caesar", act III, scene 1:
"Cry 'Havoc!' and let slip the dogs of war."

Scriptor

While surely this phrase was popularized by C. Montgomery (Monty, or
Mr.) Burns in The Simpsons, I have found it pre-Simpsons, though not
in its earliest use.