THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE 



25 



with such amiable readiness. Whatever its 

 causes, these brave and friendly dogs, such 

 favorites with Landseer and Burns, have surely 

 maintained their enviable position in our re- 

 gard. 



In the United States they are seldom seen, 

 as only a few have been introduced and little 

 done to establish the breed here. This is un- 

 fortunate, though easy to understand, as our 

 laws do not permit the hunting of antlered 

 game with dogs, and our carnivorous big game 

 demands dogs of a heavier and more aggres- 

 sive nature than these fleet chasers of the 

 Highland stag. 



In appearance the deerhound is much like a 

 harsh-coated, grizzled greyhound, and i.s an 

 undersized counterpart of the great Irish wolf- 

 hound, standing from 26 to 29 or 30 inches. 

 They are self-colored, the dark blue grays 

 being perhaps the favorites. Cream, fawn, 

 sandy brown, and both light and dark brindles 

 are perhaps more frequently seen. Any large 

 amount of white is a fault, as it indicates a 

 foreign strain, even though the dog be fine in 

 other respects. 



The Scottish deerhound might well be de- 

 scribed as a powerfully built, rough-coated 

 greyhound. While not as swift as his English 

 cousin, he has speed enough for most purposes 

 and strength and stamina, which made him a 

 valued partner in the chase before the days of 

 the modern rifle. 



In olden times the possession of a fine deer- 

 hound was a matter of sufiicient consequence 

 for tribes to go to war about. In a battle be- 

 tween the Picts and Scots over one of these 

 dogs more than 160 men were killed. 



The deerhound makes a wonderful com- 

 panion. His honest, dark hazel eyes, looking 

 straight out from under their shaggy brows, 

 quiet but fearless, bespeak the rugged beauty 

 of his soul and gain at once our admiration 

 and our confidence. 



IRISH WOLFHOUND 



(For illustration, see page 23) 



While not so heavy as the St. Bernard, the 

 Irish wolfhound is considerably taller, and 

 easily outclasses all the other big dogs for size 

 and bulk, reaching the extreme height at the 

 shoulder of 36 inches. A big Dane witli his 

 feet on a man's shoulder looks about level into 

 his master's eyes ; a wolfhound towers head 

 and shoulders over even a tall man in the same 

 position. 



The picture gives a concrete idea of how this 

 dog should look. His immense size and shaggy, 

 grizzled coat add greatly to his impressiveness. 

 And. combined with these, this fine dog pos- 

 sesses that rare imion of great courage and 

 bravery with a gentle and affectionate disposi- 

 tion. He was used as a guardian against 

 wolves by the Irish shepherds of old. One can 

 hardly imagine a more efi^ective animal for this 

 purpose. 



There are some who think tlie Irish wolf- 

 hound an even better dog than the Scottish 



deerhound. If he is, it must be because there 

 is more of him; for, barring the fact that he 

 is of rather more massive build, he is practi- 

 cally a gigantic deerliound. 



Though of very ancient lineage and one of 

 the great dramatic figures of canine historj', he 

 would probably have been lost to us if it had 

 not been for the untiring efforts of Captain 

 G. A. Graham, of Dursley, England. With the 

 disappearance of the last wolf in Ireland, this 

 great hound's chief occupation was gone, and 

 the breed as such was neglected until about 

 sixty years ago, when there were but a few 

 degenerate specimens bearing the distinguished 

 name of Irish wolfhound. 



But Captain Graham did not hold tlie rather 

 general belief that this breed had become ex- 

 tinct. Pie was of the opinion that after the 

 extermination of the Irish wolves the large 

 dog used to hunt them became reduced in size 

 and strength to conform to the lighter work 

 required of it — that of hunting deer — and that 

 it was now represented by the deerhound. So 

 he bought a few specimens, still bearing the 

 original name, and by carefully cross-breeding 

 with the deerhound and great Dane, and later 

 with the Russian wolfliound and some other 

 large breeds, lias produced a giant hound 

 closely corresponding to the best descriptions 

 and the best drawings of the favorite dog of 

 the Irish kings. 



Like the deerhound, this great wolf dog has 

 a friendly, intelligent face, which, with his 

 physical ability to accomplish about anything 

 which he undertakes to do, wins respect and 

 confidence at the first glance. 



The Irish wolfhound figures in many legends, 

 the best known perhaps being that of Gelert, 

 who has given his name to the Welsh village 

 Beth Gelert (the grave of Gelert). The hound 

 was presented to Llewelyn the Great, King of 

 Wales, by King John of England in 1205. 



The story goes that one day, the dog having 

 left him in the field, Llewelyn returned from 

 the chase in an angry mood. When he reached 

 his castle, Gelert, covered with blood, rushed 

 out from the chamber of his little son to greet 

 him. The king entered and found the bed 

 overturned and stained with gore. He called 

 to the boy. but there was no answer, and rashly 

 concluding that the dog had killed him he 

 plunged his sword into Gelert's body. 



A further search revealed the child sleeping 

 unharmed beneath the overturned bed and be- 

 side it the dead body of a huge wolf, which 

 had been killed by the gallant hound. It is 

 said that remorse led Llewelyn to build a 

 chapel in memory of Gelert and to erect a 

 tombstone over his grave. At any rate the 

 chapel and the tombstone are there to this day. 



All colors are permissible except part col- 

 ored ; all pure-bred dogs of this breed, how- 

 ever, come naturally "whole" or "self" colored, 

 and blotches of irregular white showing for- 

 eign blood are almost invariably accompanied 

 by other conspicuous defects. 



In build the Irish wolfhound should be slen- 

 derer than the Dane and more sturdy than tlie 

 grevhound. He should be strong and straight 



