52 



THE IRISH TERRIER. 



holds him often enough; but the short, hard jacket of the red Paddies 

 is no impediment, and they work about with a dash and fervor enjoyable 

 to witness. Again, see them working hedgerows ; how assiduously and 

 well. You would never want to use another breed. 



" STAMINA. — They will bear any amount of hard work and rough 

 usage ; constitution appears to never trouble them ; they can give most 

 breeds points for stamina. Mr. Graham says : ' As I work all my ter- 

 riers with ferrets, and require a good, game dog, — -also a constitutionally 

 strong one, to work in winter for a whole day, and probably sit for hours 

 in frost and cold, should the ferrets lodge, — I find no breed suits me 

 nearly so well as Irish terriers. They are more hardy, require less care, 

 and are more free from disease than any other terrier with which I am 

 acquainted.' 



"BADGER. — At badger, the Irish terrier is not to be touched. 

 No punishment frightens them off ; they will hold on till death. 



" FOXES. — With regard to foxes, a well-known breeder writes : 

 ' I have experience of five packs of fox-hounds, and not one terrier of 

 any breed is kept in either kennel. When the varmint is earthed, some 

 persons detatch themselves from the crowd, and run to the nearest house 

 where lives an Irish terrier. -They need not to be trained, nor especially 

 bred; they will do the work if Jrish terriers proper, without tuition. In 

 the winter of 1874, in the County Louth, I was at the killing of five 

 foxes. From the meet, at nine A. m. until three p. m., there were three 

 of them earthed, and these were unearthed by two different Irish ter- 

 riers — one ten pounds and the other twenty-seven pounds weight. The 

 pack was owned by Viscount Massareene and Ferrard. I prefer to give 

 these quotations, as they contain facts and not general remarks.' 



" OTTERS. — Here the Irish terrier is in his element, and all his 

 quahties are brought into play, — love of the water, nose, pluck and 

 stamina. I quote an authority on this subject — Mr. Robert Dunscombe 

 of Mount Desert — who says : ' I have had the pleasure of hunting two 

 different packs of otter hounds, the former belonging to Mr. Johnson of 

 Hermitage, and the latter to the Earl of Bandon of Castle Bernard, with 

 both of which packs pure bred Irish terriers were used. I owned one, 

 called ' Dandy,' who would go to ground, challenge and bolt the largest 



