CHAPTER XII. 

 THE MASTIFF IN THE iSrn CENTURY. 



A mastiff pass'd iuflam'd with ire 

 His eyeballs shot indignant fire. 



Gay. IX. Fablt. 



PEXXAXT in the preface of his Synopsis states that at Ray's 

 date (1697 to 1700) Natural History was only beginning to 

 dawn in Britain. All honour is therefore due to the black- 

 smith's son, as through his Zoological writings, he laid the 

 foundation of the classification of the animal kingdom. Ray 

 correctly uses the word mastivus for the mastiff, and states 

 that the largest dog he had ever seen was the Irish greyhound, 

 which surpassed even the mastiff in size. 



I have more than once had occasion to make reference to 

 the Irish wolfdog, or great rough Celtic greyhound, a breed 

 that probably seldom stood over 32 inches at shoulder. 



At Easton Neston Hall, near Towcester, are some ancient 

 frescoes, which Sir T. G. F. Hesketh kindly invited me to 

 see ; on one of them are two vast dogs of the deerhound type, 

 and as these frescoes were painted at a time when the Irish 

 wolfhound existed, it may be regarded as throwing consider- 

 able light on the real type and size of that breed. The 

 subject of the Irish wolfdog has been carefully gone into by 

 that experienced and enthusiastic breeder Capt. G. A. Graham 

 of Rednock, Dursley, Gloucestershire, whose researches and 

 investigations have been published in an interesting brochure 

 entitled "The Irish Wolfhound." In this work Captain 



