44 NATURAL HISTORY OF THE DOG. 



Such relics of Celtic verse as have escaped the merciless 

 hand of time, and amongst other fragments, those collect 

 Macpherson, under the title of " The Poems of Oss 

 inform us that the ancient Scoti* possessed a gigantic : 

 hound, an animal of vast size and prodigious strength, quali- 

 ties more than equalled 6y his surpassing speed, which \\ a< 

 used by warriors of olden time in the chase of the wolf and 

 deer. Such was "BRAN," "Bounding Bran," "\VhitP- 

 breasted Bran," *' Hairy-footed Bran."f BRAN, whose very 

 name is beautifully indicative of his character of the char- 

 acter of his race signifying, as Celtic scholars inform us, 

 'mountain torrent." Such, indeed, was Bran, the favorite 

 wolf-dog of Fionn Mac Comhal, popularly known as Fin Mac 

 Coul ; and be it recollr-ctrd. Fionn was an Irish chieftain, 

 known to modern ears as Fingal.i 



That the Irish dog was imported into Scotland, and even at 

 a later period than that to which I have alluded, is sufficient- 

 ly evident from the following document, being a copy of a 

 letter addressed by Deputy Falkland to the Ear) of Cork, in 

 1623 : 



"My LORD, 



" I have lately received letters from my Lord Duke 

 of Buccleuch, and others of my noble friends, who have en- 

 treated me to send them some greyhound dogs and bitches out 

 of this kingdom, of the largest sort, which, I perc. -iv, , tln-y 

 intend to present unto diverse princes, and other noble persons ; 

 anl if you can possibly, let them be white, which is the color 



Irish or Scotch indifferently. 



t These epithets will strongly remind the reader of Homer, and will go 

 to show how nearly the diction of all ancient languages will be found to 

 approximate " Dog-faced Agamemnon," " Swift-footed Achilles," " Gold- 

 en -footed Thetis." The simile of " Mountain torrent" is here given, a* 

 employed by Ossian, to designate the impetuosity of the wolf-dog. Scott 

 was evidently thinking of this epithet, as thus applied, when he used al- 

 most its converse in describing a torrent, as 



" A tawny torrent 



Like the mane of a chcsnut horse.** 



t Fingal, or Fionn Mac Comhal, son-in-law of Cornwic, monarch of 

 Ireland, of whom we read that he was " the most accomplished of all lh 

 Milesian princes, whether as legislator, soldier, or scholar was, according 

 to the general report of all his historians, the monarch and general of th 

 (aiued Fianna Eiriaun, or ancient Irish militia." (Moore's Ireland T 

 pp. 130-133, 



