Evening star., 1940-05-05
KEEPING TAB ON THE DOC WORLD
of Leaders in Dogdom and Their Masters Comments on
Breeds: Notes Shows Here and Elsewhere
By r. r. Taynfon.

that suggested glamour, the Scottish
deerhound is that breed. The very
name brings up visions Of knights
in armor, tapestried halls, and royal
hunts, jousts and tournaments, and
the rescue Of damseA In distress.
When knighthood was In flower in
ancient Scotia, these wire-haired
greyhounds were reserved for the
exclusive use Of the nobility, and to
tell the truth, none but the nobility
could afford to maintain them. But
be that as 1t may, 1t established q
tradition for exclusiveness which
survives to this day. Scottish deer.
hounds now are to be found only on
the estates Of the socially elect.
The first record Of . Scottish deer
hound In substantially the same
form as he appears today is dated
1926. In 1927, Holinshed mentioned
q shag-haired greyhound, which
probably refers to what Is now
known as the Scottish deerhound.
This name Is Of comparatively re-
cent origin. Formerly, such names
as rough Highland greyhound,
Highland greyhound, woHdog, stag
hound and Irisch hound were ap-
piled to this dog. It Is thought that
the term greyhound derives not
from the color Of the dog but from
the same root as the word degree,
indicating dog Of high degree. In
1860, Gesner referred to these dogs
Is greyhounds and until quite late
IN the 10th century they were 50 cal
ledin Southern Scotland. Irisch ap-
piled to both Scotland and Ireland
prior to 1900.
Were Near Extinction.
Since ownership Of deerhounds
was severely restricted by both law
and financial opportunity, there
were never great numbers Of these
hounds in evidence. BY 1892, when
deer driving had almost disappeared
from the Highlands, the dogs were
well on their way to extinction. BY
1880. when the act which restricted
the shooting Of certain game to
specified estates and ranks was re-
scinded, there was only a tiny nu-
cleus Of the breed on which to base
It's revival. Although Mr.. Menzies
OF Chesthill claimed to have had a
strain Of these dogs pure bred In
his family since 1750, several crosses
to other breeds were tried.
Glengary introduced the blood
Of the Cuban bloodhound and
almost started new breed. However
most Of the foreign blood introduced
to save the Scottish deerhound
eventually washed out, and left the
breed as 1t had been centuries
before.
The breaking Of the great forests
Of England into small ranges was
responsible for the final decline of
this great breed. It was saved from
complete extinction by the appear
ance of dog shows. and the efforts
Of the Duke Of Sutherland. Lord
Henry Bentinck. Sir st. George
Gore, Cameron Of Lochiel, Sir John
Mcneil. Col. 1nge and Mr.. Menzies.
From their kennels come all the
present deerhounds.
1t was Col. Inge's deerhound,
Valiant. which won the first prize
at the first dog show ever held, in
Birmingham In 1859. Gillespie s
Torom, Dodley's Hector, Mai.
Robertson's Morni and Morse Goul-
ter's Athol II all figure prominently
IN the pedigrees Of modern show
dogs. In Ireland, Sir Henry NC
Laughlin's kennels were the sal
vation Of the breed.
Arlington Animal.
A grand representative of this rare
breed Is owned locally by Mr.. and
Mrs. John Herrick Of Arlington
The Abbot of Twelfth Knight is q
home bred dog out of Runa Of Ran
noch by Glad of Enterkine. His
first show in was at Rye, N. Y
where he took winners dog and two
points. In 1898, he was shown at
the National Capital Club show, al
the Westchester show and at Bos-
ton. going to best Of breed each time
and getting three points or better
at each show. In 1899, he was shown
once, again at Westchester, where
he again took winners dog and five
points. The Abbott's wins at the
1898 specially shows in Washington
and at Rye, coupled with his sisters
Oh. Maida's, best Of breed at the 49,
80 speciality, gave Mr.. and Mrs. Her
rick permanent possession of the
sterling silver Tree Tops Trophy
presented to the club for competi-
tion by Mrs. Luje I. Wilson OF Be-
thesda. The Herricks hold for the
! second consecutive year the Hunt
ington Trophy. presented by the
Scottish Deerhound Club to that
owner whose dogs have made the
most points in the year.
The Scottish deerhound is second
only to the Irish wolfhound in size
and weight, although his greyhound
appearance bellies his bulk. In color
dark blue-gray is most preferred
but lighter and darker grays, Is well
as yellow, sandy red and fawn, are
permissible. White Is not tolerated
the greatest extent Of white allow
able being a small spot on the chest,
white toes or q white tail tip, al
D. MI Kxfe 4 4