CHAPTER XI. 

 THE IRISH WOLFHOUND. 



SOME there are who believe that this historical 

 hound became extinct soon after the last wolf was 

 killed in Ireland, which happened in 1710. Others 

 hold the opinion that it never became extinct at all ; 

 but survives in the Scotch deerhound, with which they 

 say it was identical. A third division have equally 

 strong opinions, something between the two, which 

 are to the effect that so recently as eighty or 

 ninety years ago very few real Irish wolfhounds 

 remained, and these not readily traceable back to 

 the oldest strains. Others advocate the smooth 

 greyhound as the true article. Then, to com- 

 plicate matters still further, the Great Dane has 

 become mixed up in the controversy. There is no 

 doubt that at one time or another this big dog has 

 passed himself off to the believing and credulous 

 inhabitants of the Emerald Isle as their own beloved 

 native dog, and, as a fact, many authorities of 

 the past generation write to prove that the Irish 



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