my brother by Harvey Combe, of a
breed between the old Irish wolf-dog and the blood-hound. My brother
gave them to Robert Evatt, of Mount Louise, county Monaghan. One died
young, but the other grew to be a very noble animal indeed.
Unfortunately he took to chasing sheep, and became an incorrigible
destroyer of that inoffensive but valuable stock. Evatt found he could
not afford to keep such a marauder, and as he was going to Dublin he
took up the sheep-killer, in order to present him to the Zoological
Society as a fine specimen of the breed. His servant was holding him
at the door of the hotel when a gig drove up, and the gentleman
alighted. The dog sprung from the servant's hold, and jumping into the
gig with one bound, seized the mat at the bottom of the gig, which was
made of sheepskin, and with another bound made away with his woolly
prize, and was brought back with difficulty, after a long and
fatiguing pursuit."

This is one of the most desperate cases of sheep-hunting in dogs I
ever met with. It is said, that this propensity may be got rid of by
tying a cord covered with wool to the dog's lower jaw, so that the
wool may be kept in the mouth.

I should mention, that in a manuscript of Froissart in the British
Museum, which is highly illuminated, there is a representation of the
grand entrance of Queen Isabel of England into Paris, in the year
1324. She is attended by a noble greyhound, who has a flag, _powdered_
with fleurs-de-lys, bound to his neck.

Greyhounds were a favourite species of dog in the middle ages. In the
ancient pipe-rolls, payments are frequently made in greyhounds. In
Hawes' "Pastime of Pleasure," (written in the time of Henry VII.) Fame
is attended by two greyhounds, on whose golden collars, "Grace" and
"Governaunce" are inscribed in diamond letters.

In the pictures of Rubens, Snyders, and other old masters, some of the
powerful dogs there represented would appear to be a breed between the
greyhound and mastiff. Nothing can exceed the majestic and commanding
appearance of these dogs, and such a breed would be most likely to
produce the sort of animal most capable of contending with the wolf.

The Irish wolf-dogs were formerly placed as the supporters of the arms
of the ancient Monarchs of Ireland. They were collared _or_, with the
motto,

"Gentle when stroked--fierce when provoked."

Mr. Scrope, in his agreeable book on deer-stalking in Scotland, has
communicated an account from Mr