TORTEVAL IRISH WOLFHOUNDS

"I will give thee a dog which I got in Ireland. He is huge of limb,

and for a follower equal to an able man. Moreover, he hath a man's wit

and will bark at thine enemies but never at thy friends.

And he will see by each man's face whether he be

ill or well disposed to thee. And he will lay down his life for thee."

The Icelandic Saga of Nial

circa 970-1014

"The most wonderful of all that I shall mention is the great Irish wolfdog,

that may be considered as the first of the canine species . . .

bred up to the houses of the great . . .

he is extremely beautiful and majestic in appearance,

being the greatest of the dog kind to be seen in the world . . .

they are now almost worn away and only very rarely to be met with."

Oliver Goldsmith

1770

Purpose It is easy to forget that the ancestors of the Irish wolfhound who leads such a comfortable and leisurely life as a family pet and companion in our modern homes were bred for the hunt and battlefield. As the name suggests, their purpose was to hunt wolves, and both their physical and temperamental attributes are determined by combining the speed necessary to catch a wolf with the strength to kill it.

High esteem So highly prized was the wolfhound for his hunting prowess in pursuit of both the wolf and the now extinct Irish elk (which stood 6' tall at the shoulder) that ownership was restricted to kings, nobles and poets. Chains and collars were often of precious metals and stones, and when disputes arose over the ownership of wolfhounds full scale wars could result.

Earliest references There is a popular misconception that the wolfhound originated in mediaeval times - they seem so 'right' in an environment of knights in armour, turreted castles and crusades. Yet, by then the fame of the giant hunting dogs of Ireland had already been known for more than a thousand years, with references dating back to 273 BC.

Roman times In 391 AD, the Roman Consul, Quintus Aurelius, was given seven wolfhounds which 'all Rome viewed with wonder.' Later, they were brought to fight and die for the entertainment of the crowds in the Circus Maximus.

Finn & Conbec During the 3rd or 4th century, the Irish poet Ossian told of the mythical warrior and huntsman, Finn, chief under King Cormac, commander of his armies and master of his hounds (300 adults and 200 puppies). According to the legend, Conbec, Finn's favourite hound, could bring down unaided any stag in Ireland and was the only hound to sleep in Finn's bed with him.

Cu-Chulainn The old Irish word for hound is 'cu', and it was common for warriors and kings to add 'cu' to their names, implying that they were as worthy of respect as a wolfhound. The legend of Chulainn tells how, arriving at a king's castle, his entrance was barred by a huge hound. He fought the dog for a day and a night before killing it, then, filled with remorse that he had slain so fine and noble a beast, he resolved to act as the king's hound himself for a year and a day, and so became known as Cu-Chulainn.

Gelert In the 13th century, Prince Llewelyn of Wales returned home to be greeted by Gelert, his faithful wolfhound, stained and smeared with blood. Alarmed, the Prince hastened to check on his infant son. The cradle was empty and the bedclothes and floor were splattered with blood. Thinking Gelert had killed the child, Llewelyn killed him with his sword. The wolfhound's dying call was answered by a child's cry, and Llewelyn discovered his son unharmed. Nearby lay the bodies of several wolves, killed by Gelert. The Prince was so full of remorse and shame that he never smiled again.

Near extinction As the fame and prestige of the wolfhound spread, so many were exported that by the 17th century the breed was almost extinct in Ireland, and in 1652 further exportation was banned. Elsewhere, the virtual extinction of wolves removed the wolfhound's very reason for existence, and a rapid decline in numbers set in.

Captain Graham That the breed survives today is due primarily to the efforts of Captain George Augustus Graham (1833-1909), a Scottish officer in the British army who collected together the last remaining specimens, and over a period of 23 years carried out a breeding programme to re-establish the breed. He tracked down every hound with a claim to the ancient strain, and through judicious out-crosses (primarily with Scottish deerhounds) managed to resurrect the breed. It was under his supervision that the first breed standard was set down, a standard which is still recognisable in the Kennel Club Breed Standard (1994) used today.