CHAPTER XL 



THE IRISH WOLFHOUND. 



Some there are who beHeve 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 ; and some advocate the smooth 

 greyhound as the true article. Then, to complicate 

 matters still further, the Great Dane has become 

 mixed up in the controversy, and one great authority 

 has stated that the original wolfhound, or the dog 

 from which he sprang, was brought over to Ireland 

 in the sixth century, B.C., by the Celts, during their 

 migration from the shores of the Black Sea. It has 

 also been urged that the wolfhound and the Great 



