THE IRISH PENNY JOURNAL. NUMBER 45. SATURDAY, MAY 8, 1841. VOLUME I. [Illustration: THE IRISH WOLF-DOG.] The greyhound! the great hound! the graceful of limb! Rough fellow! tall fellow! swift fellow, and slim! Let them sound through the earth, let them sail o’er the sea, They will light on none other more ancient than thee! OLD MS. No individual of the canine race has attained an equal amount of fame, or excited an equal degree of attention through Europe, not merely in the days of his acknowledged existence amongst our dogs of chase, but even now, that he is considered to be extinct, with that once possessed by the superb creature whose picture adorns our title-page, and an account of whom forms the subject of the present article. Public opinion has long been divided respecting the precise appearance and form of this majestic animal, and so many different ideas have been conceived of him, that many persons have been induced to come to the conclusion that no particular breed of dogs was ever kept for wolf-hunting in this country, but that the appellation of “wolf-dog” was bestowed upon any dog swift enough to overtake and powerful enough to contend with and overcome that formidable animal. There are those who hold this opinion, and there are likewise those who hold that while a particular breed was used, it was a sort of heavy mastiff-like dog, now extinct. It is the object of the present paper to show that not only did Ireland possess a peculiar race of dogs exclusively devoted to wolf-hunting, but that those dogs, instead of being of the mastiff kind, resembled the greyhound in form; and instead of being extinct, are still to be met with, although we are compelled to acknowledge that they are very scarce. I myself was once in very gross error respecting this dog, for I like many others conceived him to have been a mastiff, and implicitly believed that the dogs of Lord Altamont, described in the 3d vol. of the Linnæan Transactions by Mr Lambert, were the sole surviving representatives of the Irish wolf-dog. An able and talented paper, read by Mr A. Haffield of this city, about a year ago, before the Dublin Natural History Society, served to stagger me in my belief, and subsequent careful inquiry and research have completed my conversion. I proceed to lay before my readers the result of that inquiry, and I feel confident that no individual after reading the evidences which I shall adduce, will continue to harbour a doubt respecting the true appearance and form of the ancient Irish wolf-dog.