stretch along the mountain's ridge, or baying him at last in the
fastness of darksome corrie or deep ravine. Gone are the good romantic
days of stalking beloved by Scrope. The Highlands have lost their
loneliness, and the inventions of the modern gunsmith have robbed
one of the grandest of hunting dogs of his glory, relegating him to
the life of a pedestrian pet, whose highest dignity is the winning
of a pecuniary prize under Kennel Club rules.

Historians of the Deerhound associate him with the original Irish
Wolfdog, of whom he is obviously a close relative, and it is sure
that when the wolf still lingered in the land it was the frequent
quarry of the Highland as of the Hibernian hound. Legend has it that
Prince Ossian, son of Fingal, King of Morven, hunted the wolf with
the grey, long-bounding dogs. "Swift-footed Luath" and "White-breasted
Bran" are among the names of Ossian's hounds. I am disposed to affirm
that the old Irish Wolfhound and the Highland Deerhound are not only
intimately allied in form and nature, but that they are two strains
of an identical breed, altered only in size by circumstance and
environment.

Whatever the source of the Highland Deerhound, and at whatever period
it became distinct from its now larger Irish relative, it was
recognised as a native dog in Scotland in very early times, and it
was distinguished as being superior in strength and beauty to the
hounds of the Picts.

From remote days the Scottish nobles cherished their strains of
Deerhound, seeking glorious sport in the Highland forests. The red
deer belonged by inexorable law to the kings of Scotland, and great
drives, which often lasted for several days, were made to round up