( no ) 



X 



THE IRISH GREYHOUND*. 



Wolf-Dog. Leviner, or Lyemmer. 



THESE Dogs are considered to be of very ancient 

 origin in Ireland. Mr. Pennant, from their near 

 resemblance to the Great Danish Dog of BufFon, 

 conjectures that they may probably have been im- 

 ported thither by the Danes, who long possessed 

 that kingdom. Their original use seems to have 

 been for the chase of Wolves, with which Ireland 

 formerly swarmed; but as soon as these animals 

 were extirpated, the number of the Dogs decreased, 

 and from that period they were kept chiefly for 

 state. Mr. Lambert informs us, in the Linnean 

 Transactions, that the only Dogs of the breed now 

 in Ireland, are those belonging to the Marquis of 

 Sligo which, when he saw them, were no more 

 than eight in number. One of them measured five 

 feet and an inch from the extremity of the muzzle 

 to the tip of its tail. Dr. Goldsmith saw an Irish 

 Greyhound that was about four feet high, or as tall 

 as a Calf of a year old. 



* Cants familiaris Hibernicus. Le Grand Bands. Bujfon ? 

 See the Synopsis, p. 10, No. 9. VAR. 8. 



The 



