WOLF-DOG. 1 



THE DOG, AND ITS VAEIETIES: 



of Anton., 220), treadinf^ the footsteps of 

 Justus Lipsius {JEpist. adHchj. Cent., i., p. 44), 

 makes no scruple to say, that the dogs in- 

 tended by Symmachus were British mastiffs. 

 But, with submission to great names, how 

 could the British mastiff get the appellation 

 of Scoticiis in the time of Symmachus ? For 

 he was consul of Eome in the latter end 

 of the 4th century; at which time, and for 

 some time before, and for many centuries after, 

 Ireland was well known by the name of Scotia, 

 as I have shown before (Chap. I.) Besides, 

 the English mastiff was no way comparable to 

 the Irish wolf-dog in size or elegant shape ; 

 nor would it make an astonish'mg figure in the 

 spectacles exhibited in the circus. On the 

 other hand, the Irish wolf-dog has been 

 thought a valuable present to the greatest 

 monarch, and is sought after, and is sent 

 abroad to all quarters of the world ; and this 

 has been one cause why that noble creature 

 has grown so scarce among us, as another is 

 the neglect of the species since the extinction 

 of wolves in Ireland ; and even of what re- 

 main, the size seems to have dwindled from its 

 ancient stateliness. 



" When Sir Thomas Eowe was ambassador 

 at the court of the Great Mogul, in the year 

 1615, that emperor desired him to send for 

 some Irish greyhounds, as the most welcome 

 present he could make him ; which being done, 

 the Mogul showed the greatest respect to Sir 

 Thomas, and presented him with his picture, 

 and several things of value. 



" We see, in the public records, an earlier 

 instance of the desire foreigners have had for 

 hawks and wolf-dogs of Irish growth. In a 

 privy seal from King Henry VIII. to the lord 

 deputy and council of Ireland, wherein his 

 majesty takes notice, ' that at the instant suit 

 of the Duke of Alberkyrke of Spain (of the 

 privy council to He^y VIII.), on the behalf 

 of the Marquis of Desarrya and his son, that 

 it might please his majesty to grant to the 

 said marquis and his son, and the lont^er liver 

 of them, yearly out of Ireland, two goshawks 

 and four greyhound. ; and forasmuch as the 

 said duke hath done the king acceptable ser- 

 vice in his wars, and that the king is informed 

 that the said marquis beareth to him especial 

 good- will, he therefore grants the said suit 

 and commands that the deputy for the time 

 40G 



[WOLF-Doa. 



being shall take order for the delivery of the 

 said liawks and greyhounds, unto the order of 

 the said marquis and his son, and the lono-er 

 liver of them yearly ; and that the treasurer 

 shall take the charges of buying the said hawks 

 and hounds.' 



" It is true that British hounds and leagles 

 were in reputation among the Eomans, for 

 their speed and quick scent. Thus Nemesiau, 

 in his Gunegetics : — 



** ' Divisa Britannia mittit 



Veloces, nostrique orbis veintibus aptos.' 

 " ' Great Britain sends swift hounds, 

 Fittest to hunt upon our grounds.' 



And Appian calls the British hound crKvkul 

 lyj'tvT-qloQ, a dog that scents the track of the 

 game. But this character does not hit the 

 Irish wolf-dog, which is not remarkable for 

 any great sagacity in hunting by the nose. 



" Ulysses Aldrovandus, and Gesner, have 

 given descriptions of the Canis Scoticus, and 

 two prints of them very little different from 

 the common hunting-hound. ' They are,' 

 says Gesner, ' something larger than the 

 common hunting-hound, of a brown or sandy 

 spotted colour, quick of smelling, and are 

 employed on the borders between England 

 and Scotland to follow thieves. They are 

 called sleut-hounds.' In the Regiam Ilajesta- 

 tem of Scotland, is this passage : — ' NuUus per- 

 turbet aut impediat Canem trassantem aut, 

 homines trassautes cum ipso ad sequendum 

 latrones, aut ad capiendum latrones :' — (No- 

 body shall give any disturbance or hindrance to 

 tracing-dogs, or men employed with them to 

 trace or apprehend thieves or malefactors). 

 This character no way agrees with the Irish 

 wolf-dog ; and the reader must observe, that 

 when Gesner and Aldrovandus wrote, in the 

 IGth century, modern Scotland was well known 

 by the name of Scotia, which it was not in the 

 4th century, when Symmachus wrote the 

 aforesaid epistle ; and therefore the Canis 

 Scoticus, described by Aldrovandus and Gesnei', 

 were dogs of different species." 



Buffon regards the Erench Matin and the 

 great Danish dog as the main stocks of the 

 greyhound race ; but this is not clear. In 

 Scotland and Ireland, there existed, in very 

 ancient times, a noble breed of greyhounds 

 used for the chase of the wolf and the deer, 

 and which appears to be the pure source of 



