The Irish Wolfhound. 273 



side, and seeming perfectly aware of the dangerous 

 business he was engaged in. The night was very 

 dark and cold, and the poor httle boy, being 

 benumbed with the chilly air, was beginning to fall 

 into a kind of sleep, when at that instant the dog, 

 with a roar, leaped across, and laid his mortal enemy 

 upon the earth. The boy was roused into double 

 activity by the voice of his companion, and drove 

 the spear through the wolf's neck as he had been 

 directed, at which time Carragh appeared, bearing 

 the head of the other.'' 



One might have expected to find something reliable 

 and convincing as to what the Irish wolfhound really 

 was in the " Sportsman's Cabinet," published in 

 1803. Here we have an excellent engraving from a 

 picture by Reinagle, of a huge dog, an enormous 

 deerhound in fact, the identical creature popular 

 reputation stated such a dog to be. Unfortunately 

 the letterpress describes quite a different animal — 

 more of the Great Dane type than of the deerhound. 

 And so the authorities who wrote at the time differed 

 quite as much on the matter as do the admirers of 

 the variety at the present time. 



To Captain G. A. Graham, of Dursley, Gloucester- 

 shire, we owe considerable gratitude for the trouble 

 he has taken to resuscitate the Irish wolfhound. En- 

 thusiast though he be, he is not like so many other 



T 



