THE IRISH WOLFHOUND 105 



existed a sufficiency of the original blood on which to rebuild the 

 breed " in all its pristine grandeur," is still a vexed question. We 

 have not the space to enter into all the interesting points that 

 Captain Graham raises in his well-thought-out monograph. Here 

 we are chiefly concerned with the dog as we know it now, rather 

 than as it was some centuries ago. Before, however, leaving this 

 part of the subject, we will quote another passage or two that Captain 

 Graham has written in support of his theory that in the modern 

 Deerhound lives the Irish Wolfhound of old : 



"That we have in the Deerhound the modern representative of 

 the old Irish dog is patent ; though of less stature, less robust, and 

 of slimmer form, the main characteristics of the original breed 

 remain, and, in very exceptional instances, specimens ' crop up ' that 

 throw back to, and resemble in a marked manner, the old stock from 

 which they have sprung. For instance, the dog well known at all 

 the leading shows as Champion Torunn (now for some years lost to 

 sight), although requiring a somewhat lighter ear and still more 

 massive proportions, combined with greater stature, evidently ap- 

 proximated more nearly to his distant ancestors than to his immediate 

 ones. The matter of ear alluded to here is probably only a require- 

 ment called for by modem and more refined tastes, as it is hardly 

 likely that any very high standard as to quality or looks, was ever 

 aimed at or reached by our remote ancestors in any breed of dogs. 

 Strength, stature, and fleetness were the points most carefully 

 cultivated at any rate, as regards those dogs used in the pursuit 

 and capture of large and fierce game. 



It is somewhat remarkable that, whilst we have accounts of 

 almost all the noted breeds, including the Irish Wolfhound, there 

 is no allusion to any such dog as the Deerhound, save in writings 

 of a comparatively recent date. 



The article or essay on the Irish Wolfhound written by 

 Richardson in 1842 is, it is supposed, the only one on this 

 subject in existence ; and whilst it is evident to the reader of it 

 that the subject has been most ably treated and thoroughly sifted, 

 yet some of the writer's conclusions, if not erroneous, are at least 

 open to question. It is a matter of history that this dog was of 

 very ancient origin, being well known to, and highly prized by, 

 the Romans, who frequently used him for their combats in the 

 arena ; and also that he was retained at home, in a certain degree 

 of purity, to within a comparatively recent period, when, owing 

 to the extinction of wolves, and, presumably, to the indifference 

 and carelessness of owners, this most superb and valuable breed 

 of dog was unaccountably suffered to fall into a very neglected 

 and degenerate state. 



From the general tenor of old accounts we have of this dog's 

 dimensions and appearance, it is to be gathered that he was of 



