STRAINS OF DEERHOUNDS. 223 



men who owned the Scotch forests or wide wild tracts of deer-park in the less populated parts 

 of England. 



" The fault of the present day with Deerhounds is certainly the short body, the thick, 

 and, as the ignorant consider, the necessarily strong jaw, and the open, loose, flat foot. In 

 proportion to the weight, the foot 'goes,' or deteriorates, and the strain upon a Deerhound's 

 foot at speed amongst stones and boulders, ' in view,' and roused to desperation, is greater 

 than that imposed upon any other domesticated animal. No dog but the ' rough-footed 

 Scot ' could stand it. 



" The Deerhound is one of the oldest breeds we have. I should be inclined to 

 think that it is an imported breed. He is probably identical with the ' Strong Irish Grey- 

 hound ' mentioned as employed in the Earl of Mar's chase of the red deer, in 1618, by Taylor, 

 in his ' Pennilesse Pilgrimage.' 



The oldest strain known is, without doubt, that of the late Mr. Menzies, of Chesthill, on 

 Loch Tay. It is claimed, with every just right, no doubt, that this strain has been in the hands 

 of Mr. Menzies' ancestors for something like eighty to ninety years. Whether it still exists in 

 its integrity the writer is unable to say decidedly ; but he is under the impression that as 

 a distinct strain it has disappeared, though there are several dogs in existence that inherit the 

 blood, and that not very distantly. It was asserted that during the time the breed had been 

 in the Menzies family it had only thrice been recruited from outside! Mr. Potter, M.P. for 

 Rochdale, then residing at Pitnacree, Perthshire, had, in 1860, a dog, called Oscar, from Mr. 

 Menzies, and subsequently a bitch, called Lufra, from him. From these many puppies 

 were bred, and given away by him with a liberal hand. A bitch was given to the late 

 Dr. Cox, of Manchester, and from her and Dr. Cox's Ross (by Duke of Devonshire's 

 Roswell, out of Sir R. Peel's Brenda) was bred Buz, the property of Mr. R. Hood Wright, 

 of Birkby Hall, Cark, Carnforth. From this bitch Mr. Wright bred, by a dog (Oscar) 

 of the Duke of Sutherland's breed, his celebrated prize-taker Bevis. It may be here 

 mentioned that Oscar was sold to Prince Albert Solms, of Braunfels, and went to Germany 

 some years ago. The brother to Mr. Cox's Lufra was presented to Menotti Garibaldi, 

 for hunting the mouflon in Sardinia. Oscar, Mr Potter's original Chesthill dog, was given 

 to the late Lord Breadalbane ; and descendants of Oscar and Lufra were presented by 

 Mr. Potter to Mr. Cunliffe Brooks, M.P., who, it is believed, has the breed now indeed, the 

 finest dog at Balmoral lately was one of Mr. C. Brooks's breeding. Mr. Hickman, of 

 Westfield, Selly Hill, near Birmingham, exhibited two brindle dogs at the last Birming- 

 ham Show, got by his celebrated Morni out of Garry, by Chesthill Ossian Lufra. Garry 

 is the property of Mr. Spencer Lucy, of Charlcote. Next to the Chesthill strain,, the 

 earliest that the writer knows of is that of Mr. Morrison, of Scalascraig, Glenelg. Mr. John 

 Cameron, of Moy, a farmer residing near Fortwilliam, formerly in service with " Glengarry " 

 as keeper, can remember this breed as far back as 1830. From Bran, a celebrated dog 

 belonging to Mr. Morrison (by him given to McNiel of Colonsay, and afterwards presented 

 by McNiel to Prince Albert), was descended Torrom, the grandsire of Gillespie's celebrated 

 Torrom. The strain of McNiel of Colonsay was known about 1832, and from his strain many 

 of our modern dogs claim descent. The late Mr. Bateson, of Cambusmere in Sutherlandshire, 

 deceased early in 1879, became possessed of a brace of this breed about 1845, named Torrish 

 and Morven. These dogs were sketched by Landseer, the original being now in the hands of 

 Mr. Bateson's family ; and he considered them at the time the finest Deerhounds he had ever 



