The Deerhound. 12 



the Irish wolfhound and the Scottish deerhound, 

 were identical, and indeed, that the latter was merely 

 an ordinary greyhound, with a rough, hard coat, pro- 

 duced by beneficent Nature to protect a delicate dog 

 against the rigours of a northern climate. 



About the end of the sixteenth century (1591), we 

 are told that the Earl of Mar had large numbers of 

 these deerhounds, but at the same period the Duke 

 of Buckingham had great difficulty in obtaining Irish 

 wolf dogs, a few couples of which, he wished to 

 present to ( ' divers princes and other nobles." So 

 the Irish dog was even then becoming extinct, but 

 the Scottish one, though rarer later on, survives to 

 the present day, and is now more popular and 

 numerous than at any previous period of his exis- 

 tence. Still, judging from what Pennant, writing in 

 1 769, says, the deerhound must, about his time, 

 have been in danger of extinction, for he says, " he 

 saw at Gordon Castle, a true Highland greyhound, 

 which has become very scarce. It was of large size, 

 strong, deep chested, and covered with very long 

 and rough hair. This kind was in great vogue in 

 former days, and used in vast numbers at the 

 magnificent stag chases by powerful chieftains." 



One or two authors have assumed that the 

 modern deerhound is a cross between the foxhound 

 and the greyhound, or between the bloodhound and 



