ies it is suggested that it was the dog
which we now know as the Great Dane. Others hold that as there were
rough-coated Greyhounds in Ireland, it is this dog, under another
name, which is now accepted. But probably the late Captain Graham
was nearer the truth when he gave the opinion that the Irish hound
that was kept to hunt wolves has never become extinct at all, but
is now represented in the Scottish Deerhound, only altered a little
in size and strength to suit the easier work required of it--that
of hunting the deer. This is the more probable, as the fact remains
that the chief factor in the resuscitation of the Irish Wolfhound
has been the Scottish Deerhound.

The result of Captain Graham's investigations when seeking for animals
bearing some relationship to the original Irish "Wolfe Dogge" was
that three strains were to be found in Ireland, but none of the
representatives at that time was anything like so large as those
mentioned in early writings, and they all appeared to have
deteriorated in bone and substance. Sir J. Power, of Kilfane, was
responsible for one line, Mr. Baker, of Ballytobin, for another, and
Mr. Mahoney, of Dromore, for the remaining strain. From bitches
obtained from two of these kennels, Captain Graham, by crossing them
with the Great Dane and Scottish Deerhound, achieved the first step
towards producing the animal that he desired. Later on the Russian
Wolfhound, better known as the Borzoi, an exceedingly large hound,
was introduced, as also were one or two other large breeds of dogs.

The intermixture of these canine giants, however, was not at first
very satisfactory, as although plenty of bone was obtained, many were
most ungainly in appearance and ill-shaped animals that had very
little about them to attract attention. Captain Graham, however, stuck
to his work, and very soon the specimens that he brought forward began
to show a fixity of type both in head and in general outline. Brian
was one of his best dogs, but he was not very large, as he only stood
just over thirty inches at the shoulder. Banshee and Fintragh were
others, but probably the best of Captain Graham's kennel was the bitch
Sheelah. It was not, however, until towards the end of the last
century that the most perfect dogs were bred. These included O'Leary,
the property of Mr. Crisp, of Playford Hall. O'Leary is responsible
for many of the best dogs of the present day, and was the sire of Mrs.
Percy Shewell's Ch. Cotswold,