Buffon says, he saw an Irish greyhound, which
measured five feet in height when in a sitting posture, and says that
all other sorts of greyhounds are descended from him, and that in
Scotland it is called the Highland greyhound: that it is very large,
deep-chested, and covered with long rough hair.

"Scottish noblemen were not always content with such specimens of this
dog as their own country produced, but frequently sent for them to
Ireland, conceiving, doubtless, that they would be found better and
purer in their native land. The following is a copy of a letter
addressed by Deputy Falkland to the Earl 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 entreated me to send them
some greyhound dogs and bitches, out of this kingdom, of the
largest sort, which I perceive they intend to present unto divers
princes and other noble persons; and if you can possibly, let them
be white, which is the colour most in request here. Expecting your
answer by the bearer, I commit you to the protection of the
Almighty, and am your Lordship's attached friend,

'FALKLAND.'

"Smith, in his 'History of Waterford,' says, 'the Irish greyhound is
nearly extinct: it is much taller than a mastiff, but more like a
greyhound, and for size, strength, and shape, cannot be equalled.
Roderick, king of Connaught, was obliged to furnish hawks and
greyhounds to Henry II. Sir Thomas Rue obtained great favour from the
Great Mogul in 1615, for a brace of Irish greyhounds presented by him.
Henry VIII. presented the Marquis of Dessarages, a Spanish grandee,
with two goshawks and four Irish greyhounds.'

"Perhaps sufficient evidence has now been adduced to demonstrate the
identity of the Irish wolf-dog with the Highland deer-hound. I may,
however, in conclusion, give an extract from the excellent paper of
Mr. Haffield, already alluded to, as having been read before the
Dublin Natural History Society, and which was received by that
gentleman from Sir William Betham, Ulster King-at-Arms, an authority
of very high importance on any subject connected with Irish
antiquities. Sir William says,--'From the mention of the wolf-dogs in
the old Irish poems and stories, and also from what I have heard from
a very old person, long since dead, of his having seen them at 'The
Neale,' in the