240 British Dogs. 



Romans for hunting, and, as they are written of as a small dog, probably 

 corresponded to some extent with our modern beagle. They are thus 

 described by Oppian : 



There is a kind of dog of mighty fame 

 For hunting ; worthy of a fairer frame ; 

 By painted Britons brave in war, they're bred, 

 Are beagles called, and to the chase are led ; 

 Their bodies small, and of so mean a shape, 

 You'd think them curs that under tables gape. 



There were other dogs sent to Eome for more brutal purposes, namely, 

 to bait the bull and other animals for the amusement of the people in 

 the amphitheatres. These were the "broad-mouthed dogs of Britain," 

 differing, no doubt, very much from either the bulldog or the mastiff of 

 to-day, but possessing the great strength and indomitable courage that 

 distinguish both of these breeds, and which so eminently fitted their pro- 

 genitors for the rough and hazardous sports for which they were used. 



A Latin poet thus refers to them and their employment in the amphi- 

 theatres : 



And British mastiffs break the brawny necks of bulls. 



A feat which I imagine could not be literally performed by any dog then 

 or now. 



Although the majority of writers refer these fighting dogs to the 

 mastiffs, there are others who think the dog so used by the Eomans was 

 the Irish wolfhound ; and this view was cleverly argued by a writer in the 

 "Field" in 1871, whose letters, signed "E. W. E.," were reproduced in 

 "Dogs of the British Islands," and in these are given quotations showing 

 that Irish dogs were used in the amphitheatres ; but this does not show 

 that English dogs were not ; indeed, it is certain the sort from which our 

 mastiffs and bulldogs are descended, were also similarly employed, and 

 the writer I have referred to appears to me to be wrong when he quotes 

 Oppian' s description, " small in size, squat, lean, and shaggy, with blink- 

 ing eyes and lacerating claws, but mostly prized for their scent in tracking 

 where the foot has passed," against mastiffs having been so used, and 

 asks, " does this description apply to either mastiff or bulldog ? ' ' The 

 answer is evident. Oppian was not describing the dog used for bull- 

 baiting, but the beagle, which the Eomans so largely exported from 

 Britain for hunting purposes. 



I do not for a moment think that wolfhound, bulldog, or mastiff, such 

 as the names now cover, were represented at that date except in a rough 



