THE WOLF. 197 



to compound for Wolf-heads ; which was ordered 

 accordingly. 



In 1662, as appears by the Journal of the House 

 of Commons, Sir John Ponsonby reported from the 

 Committee of Grievances that a Bill should be brought 

 in "to encourage the killing of Wolves and foxes in 

 Ireland." 



In the " Travels of the Grand Duke Cosmo III. in 

 England," 1669 (p. 103), the author speaks of Wolves 

 as common in Ireland, " for the hunting of which 

 the dogs called ' mastiffs' are in great request." 



O'Flaherty, in his "West or H'lar Connaught" 

 (1684), enumerates the wild animals which were to 

 be found in that district in his day, and names 

 " Wolves, deere, foxes, badgers, hedgehogs, hares, 

 rabbets, squirrells, martens, weesles, and the amphi- 

 bious otter, of which kind the white-faced otter is 

 very rare." Hardiman, in a. note to his edition of 

 this work (1846), says: "When our author wrote 

 (1684), and for some years afterwards, wolves were 

 to be found in Iar Connaught, but not in such 

 numbers as in the early part of that century. The 

 last Wolf which I have been able to trace here was 

 killed in the mountains of Joyce country, in the 

 year 1700. After the wars of 1641 the ravages of 

 the Wolves were so great throughout Ireland as to 

 excite the attention of the State. ' Wolf-hunters ' 

 were appointed in various districts, and amongst 

 others in Iar Connaught, who helped to rid the 

 country of these ferocious animals."* 



* Hardiman, op. cit., p. 10, note. 



O 2 



