S6 The Irish Naturalist. August, 



and several learned disquisitions have been published on 

 the nature and history of this dog, there should be no 

 excuse for lack of knowledge on the subject. The earlier 

 writings deal more especially with the general features and 

 pedigree of the Wolfhound, whereas the more recent little, 

 book by the Rev. Dr. Hogan is an historical essay .-^^ Un- 

 fortunately almost the w^hole issue of this work was de- 

 stroyed in a fire, and copies are difficult to obtain. Hence 

 a brief resume will not be out of place. 



The Irish Wolfhound had acquired fame in very remote 

 times. Even in Roman times it was exported to Rome 

 for the games and excited the wonder of the people on 

 account of its great size and strength. The best dogs 

 were kept in Ireland for hunting and kilHng stags, white 

 being the favourite colour. As an instance of the great 

 value which was attached to these dogs, it may be mentioned 

 that in the first century of our era the King of Leinster 

 had a Wolfhound of such strength and breeding that six 

 thousand cows and other things w^ere offered for it by the 

 King of Connacht. It is also of interest to note in con- 

 nection with the origin of the Scottish Deerhound that 

 in the same century the sons of Uisneach, in their flight 

 from Ulster into Scotland, took with them 150 Greyhounds, 

 as the Wolfhounds were then called. In the third or fourth 

 century flourished the great warrior and hunter, Finn, son 

 of Cumall. In an ancient poem are given the names of 

 three hundred of his hounds. About the year 1280 Edward 

 I. ordered deerhounds to be sent to him from Ireland. It 

 was in the i6th century that we first learn something more 

 definite about this dog, which henceforth was sometimes 

 spoken of as the Irish Wolfhound. It is described as having 

 a long rough coat, pendent ears, the forehead being shghtly 

 raised, muzzle long and the line of profile arched. Two 

 such Wolfhounds had strength and courage enough to dis- 

 pose of a Wild Boar, and were sufficiently tall and powerful 

 to seize a Wolf across the loins and trot off with him as 

 easily as a Greyhound can deal with a Hare. The colour 

 of these dogs w^as of a dark-grey brindle without any white. 

 Irish Wolfhounds were exported in great numbers during 



14 Hogan. E. : " The History of the Irish Wolf dog." Dublin, 1897. 



