CHAPTER XVI 

 THE DEERHOUND 



THE Deerhound is one of the most decorative of dogs, im- 

 pressively stately and picturesque wherever he is seen, whether 

 it be amid the surroundings of the baronial hall, reclining at 

 luxurious length before the open hearth in the fitful light of 

 the log fire that flickers on polished armour and tarnished 

 tapestry ; out in the open, straining at the leash as he scents 

 the dewy air, or gracefully bounding over the purple of his 

 native hills. Grace and majesty are in his every movement 

 and attitude, and even to the most prosaic mind there is 

 about him the inseparable glamour of feudal romance and 

 poetry. He is at his best alert in the excitement of the chase ; 

 but all too rare now is the inspiring sight that once was com- 

 mon among the mountains of Morven and the glens of Argyll 

 of the deep-voiced hound speeding in pursuit of his antlered 

 prey, racing him at full stretch along the mountain's ridge, or 

 baying him at last in the fastness of darksome corrie or deep 

 ravine. Gone are the good romantic days of stalking beloved 

 by Scrope. The Highlands have lost their loneliness, and the 

 inventions of the modern gunsmith have robbed one of the 

 grandest of hunting dogs of his glory, relegating him to the life 

 of a pedestrian pet, whose highest dignity is the winning of a 

 pecuniary prize under Kennel Club rules. 



Historians of the Deerhound associate him with the original 

 Irish Wolfdog, of whom he is obviously a close relative, and it 

 is sure that when the wolf still lingered in the land it was the 

 frequent quarry of the Highland as of the Hibernian hound. 

 Legend has it that Prince Ossian, son of Fingal, King of 

 Morven, hunted the wolf with the grey, long-bounding dogs. 



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