82 The Irish Naturalist. August, 



Thus we have historical testimony that two kinds of 

 dogs hved in Ireland in very early and probably pre-Christian 

 times, and we possess fossil evidence of three ancient breeds. 

 Since the early records deal largely with descriptions of 

 hunting, a small dog that was not used for the chase would 

 not be considered as worthy of mention. Remains of these 

 three dogs, viz., Canis f. Leineri, Cams f. intermedins, and 

 Canis f. palustris have also been found in the Swiss and 

 South German lake-dwellings, which belong either to the 

 Stone Age or Bronze Age. Hence Studer argued that 

 they were the original European breeds from which all the 

 others arose. 



One of the first additions that were made to these three 

 primary types of European dogs was the Sheep-dog, which 

 arrived apparently with immigrations of eastern tribes of 

 man during the Bronze Age. The original type of this dog, 

 from which the many varieties of modern Sheep-dogs have 

 sprung, was described under the name of Canis f. matris 

 optimae. There is no evidence as to the country where it 

 was first produced. It was probably some part of western 

 Asia. Scotland has several races of Collie, but it is not 

 known whether any distinct breed of Sheep-dog was ever 

 developed in Ireland. When agricultural tribes w^ith flocks 

 of sheep arrived in this country, they no doubt brought 

 this kind of dog with them, and that must have been in 

 very remote times. Jesse, when alluding to Galway, 

 mentioned that the Sheep-dogs, he noticed in that county 

 were handsome animals with long thick coats and long tails. ^^ 

 They were curiously marked, the upper parts, including 

 the head and tail, were black, the rest of the body light 

 brown. This description reminds one somewhat of a 

 Gordon setter. I have seen no other reference to Sheep- 

 dogs or their early history in Ireland. I have to acknow- 

 ledge, however, with thanks some help which was given 

 to me by Miss Byrne to elucidate this subject. Miss Byrne, 

 who is working at the Irish dictionary which is being pub- 

 lished by the Royal Irish Academy, informs me that there 



11 Jesse, G. R. : " Researches into the history of the British Dog." 

 London, 2 vols., 1866. 



