By some the Irish Wolfhound is thought to have disappeared with the last Irish wolf - somewhere about 1710; but in a work on "Canine Madness," by Dr. James, and published in 1733, he refers specifically to an Irish Wolfhound of uncommon size. The dog attacked his owner's child, and would have killed it but that he wore a garland; this, the author explains, consisted of two cross-hoops, that were hung before a dog's fore legs to prevent him from sheep-worrying or being otherwise mischievous.

Whether the modern Irish Wolfhound is to be regarded in the future as containing sufficient of the blood of the old Wolfdog to be considered but a resuscitation, or whether it is to be judged in the light of a new creation (and we are personally of this opinion), will probably never be satisfactorily determined. One thing, however, is certain - that to Captain Graham, of Rednock, Dursley, belongs the chief credit of either creating or resuscitating the breed. This he began in 1862 with the two hounds Faust and Old Donagh, the latter bred by Mr. Baker, of Ballyrotune Castle, Kilkenny. Other dogs that played an important part in the resuscitation were Young Donagh, Islay, Swaren I., Brenda, Oscar, Wolf, and Torunn. In the process Great Dane, Deerhound, and later Russian Wolfhound blood have commingled with what is supposed to have remained of the original Irish Wolfhound, and the dog as we know it to-day has been gradually evolved, though close upon half a century has been occupied in the work. Even now the Irish Wolfhound Club and those outside its pale that are interested in the breed, cannot afford to rest upon their oars. There is yet a great deal more to be done before that uniformity of type so desirable in any breed is obtained. One is impressed with these divergencies of type at each gathering where these magnificent hounds are brought together in any number, and probably this will continue until the rival sections of the Fancy are united in a common cause and one type only is recognised. If one looks carefully at the family tree of the majority of present-day champions the particular blood favoured will be at once apparent, and it is this probably that is responsible for the difficulty experienced also in the rearing of present-day whelps. To stamp the progeny with the chief characteristics of the Brian II. type of dog considerable in-breeding has been resorted to this last five or six years, and with the inevitable result in such cases - weakness of constitution. Many Irish Wolfhound breeders swear by the O'Leary type of hound in preference to Brian II., but the infirmity that the former suffered from probably prevented the dog being used as much at stud as he otherwise would. At the present time there are not lacking plenty of splendid material on which to set to work and still further perfect the magnificent hound that Captain Graham, Colonel Gamier, Mr. Crisp, Mr. Hood Wright, the Hon. Miss Dillon, Mr. Angelo, Mrs. Williams, Mrs. Compton, Mrs. Gerard, and a few others have worked so assiduously for.

Fig. 35. - The Irish Wolfhound, after Reinagle.

We will now consider the Irish Wolfhound as a companion and personal guard, as the day has long passed since he can be utilised for any other purpose in these islands. He may, perhaps, be casually employed in other countries as a big-game dog; but in hot countries, whatever his suitability as regards activity and courage, he probably would not be able to live the year through. In India, at any rate, the closely allied Scottish Deerhound has often been tried, and though for a part of the season the sportsman has found him useful, yet when the hot weather arrives the dog has had to migrate from the plains to the hill country. And this doubtless would be necessary in the case of his bigger relative the Irish Wolfhound.

As a companion and personal guard we hold this hound in high repute, and for either a lady or a gentleman he is eminently suitable. Dignified and quiet of manner, though of immense strength, may truthfully be written of the Irish Wolfhound; added to which he boasts an excellent temperament. As is the case with all the Greyhound family, they are big dogs but not bulky ones, and they may therefore be kept where the St. Bernard, Mastiff, and suchlike huge-framed varieties could not be tolerated. We have often known the dog brought up in a house "quite as one of the family," and any one who has noticed an Irish Wolfhound "curled up" on the rug or under the table cannot fail to be struck with the comparatively little room that he then occupies.

For following a trap, if the pace be not too great or the distance too long, the Irish Wolfhound is admirably suited; while he is one of the very few breeds that may be taken by a lady cyclist on a lonely road. In fact, we can conceive no better dog for a lady's companion than a really well-trained, good-tempered specimen. Our only wonder is that a dog having so many good qualities has not found a more numerous following. Doubtless some of this lack of appreciation of the breed is due to the fact that, so far as outward appearances go, the Irish Wolthound, as judged by the "man in the street," has none of the personal attractions that go such a long way towards "making" a breed; nor has he been "boomed" to anything like the extent that some breeds have. Where good qualities lie hidden under a somewhat rugged exterior it is always a difficult and uphill task to get the merits of a variety properly recognised. It is this undoubtedly that in a great measure has helped to keep the Irish Wolfhound in the background. The more's the pity. His day will, however, assuredly come. Forty years of patient work in connection with the evolution of the breed have been absorbed, and with little monetary reward for those who have laboured so long. Still, breeders have manfully stuck to their recreated or regenerated animal, and at the present day are even more enthusiastic over the noble hound than they were in the early "sixties." Fig. 36 is an excellent type of present-day Irish Wolfhound, and a great winner upon the show-bench.

Fig. 36. - Irish Wolfhound Dermot Asthore.