2 1 2 THE BOOK OF THE Doc. 



called in question. All the testimony which comes down to us agrees as to his sagacity, 

 courage, strength, speed, and size, although in this last point we perceive there is a difference 

 of opinion. Even allowing that he attained a height of from thirty-two to thirty-five inches, 

 he is taller than any breed now living, although the early accounts published of him state he 

 was from three to four feet high." 



For many months a spirited controversy and correspondence on the Irish Wolfhound was 

 carried on in the Live Stock Journal by the writer and others, without, it is confidently 

 thought, in any way disturbing the conclusions on the breed which the writer has, from careful 

 and prolonged consideration of the subject, arrived at, and which will be set forth presently. 



The question as to whether it is desirable to continue and thoroughly resuscitate this superb 

 breed now that his occupation is gone is hardly worth entertaining. 



Have not a dozen breeds such as St. Bernards, Collies, &c. been taken up, cherished, 

 and improved to a marvellous degree ? Why not, then, take such measures to recover the 

 Irish Wolfdog in its original form ? It can be done ; the means are at hand if the will be 

 only forthcoming. From the materials forthcoming in such specimens of the breed as are 

 extant and the largest Deerhounds, with judicious crosses for size and power, there is little 

 doubt that the breed can be restored to us in much of its original magnificence, and the 

 noble canine giant always held to be typical of Erin would be worthily and faithfully 

 represented. 



As the Deerhound of the present day is to the ordinary Greyhound, so is the giant Irish 

 Wolfhound to the Deerhound. An Irish paper, waxing enthusiastic on the subject, says, not long 

 ago. regarding the Irish Wolfdog : " This animal has become celebrated as the heraldic 

 protector of our country. Fair Erin sits pensively beside her harp, the round tower stands near, 

 and guarding all three, reclines the Wolfhound. Scotland's lions have been famed in story ; 

 England 'stole' one of them, say some, and joining him in company with the unicorn, committed 

 to his trust the honour of Albion ; but the unicorn is a beast which even Dr. Houghton has never 

 seen, while we must go back to the antediluvian era to find lions in Great Britain. But the Wolf- 

 dog is no mythic beast in Ireland ; he was and we trust will again be, included amongst the 

 undoubted, exclusive, and most distinguished specimens of the Irish fauna." 



In the British Museum there is a Grecian vase, some 450 B.C., on which Actaeon is depicted 

 surrounded by his dogs. Some of them would appear identical with what the Irish Wolfhound 

 was, save, perhaps, in the matter of coat. 



On some ancient frescoes at Easton Neston Hall, near Towcester, are depicted various 

 hunting scenes. In one of these two vast dogs of Deerhound type are represented as seizing 

 a boar, and these frescoes having been painted at a time when the Irish Wolfhound existed, may 

 be looked upon as throwing considerable light on the real type of that breed. They are shown 

 to be vast Deerhounds, with rough wiry coats, of a dark blue-grey colour ; ears small and 

 falling over. 



It will be well now to state the conclusions at which the writer has arrived as to the 

 general appearance and character of the Irish Wolfhound, after a prolonged, searching, and 

 careful study of the subject. 



Form. That of a very tall, heavy, Scotch Deerhound, much more massive, and very majestic- 

 looking ; active and fast, perhaps somewhat less so than the present breed of Deerhound ; neck 

 thick in comparison to his form, and very muscular ; body and frame lengthy. 



Head. Long, but not narrow, coming to a comparative point towards the nose ; nose rather 

 large, and head gradually getting broader from the same, ercnfy up to the back of the skull not 



