AND IN IRELAND 13 



Doubtless wolves existed in Ireland also in 

 great numbers ; and the Irish wolf-hound, which 

 was used in their pursuit, was considered to be 

 of such value that two of them were sent to 

 Queen Elizabeth as a gift by an Irish Chieftain, 

 together with two horses and two hawks ; and 

 Sir Francis Walsingham also received in 1585 

 a ' brace of good wolf-dogs, one black and the 

 other white,' from Sir John Perrott, the Lord- 

 Deputy of Ireland. 1 There is the same story 

 there of several Mast wolves,' and the same 

 difficulty in fixing the date of final extinction. 

 Harting sums up thus : * So far as can now be 

 ascertained, it appears that the wolf became 

 extinct in England during the reign of 

 Henry VII.; that it survived in Scotland 

 until 1 743 ; and that the last of these animals 

 was killed in Ireland, according to Richardson, 

 in 1770, or according to Sir James Emerson 

 Tennent, subsequently to 1766.' But on Hart- 

 ing's own showing, these two latter dates for 

 Ireland are extremely doubtful ; and a safer 

 date to assume for the final extinction of the 

 race in Ireland is 1710, when 'the last present- 

 ment for killing wolves was made in the County 

 of Cork.' 



To most of us, a reference to ' Wolves in 



1 Harting, Extinct British Animals. 



