Following on from Ezee's Pit Bull thread containing the old images, I thought I'd follow this up in the wolfhound section. http://www.irishwolfhounds.org/history.htm#romans
Great website! Very interesting information. I love historic dog stuff. "Only kings and the nobility were allowed to own the great Irish hound, the numbers permitted depending on position." We take for granted that we can own almost any breed we desire in today's world. Each Fian had “two hounds and two keen beagles”, while Fionn himself had three hundred full-grown hounds and “puppy hounds two hundred”. This is the type of stuff I was talking about. Where Kings would keep hundreds. This is so sad. Concluding that Gelert must have killed and eaten the baby, Llewellyn drew his sword and plunged it into the hound. The stricken Gelert gave a long-drawn out howl as he died and this cry was followed by a child's wail. Llewellyn searched for the source of this sound and found his child under a pile of bedding from the cradle, completely unharmed, and close by was the body of a gaunt wolf, which had obviously been slain by Gelert after a bloody battle.
It's a very moving tale. I've been there a few times over the years (lovely place) and perhaps I'll take Willow next time. http://www.mysteriousbritain.co.uk/wales/gwynedd/legends/the-grave-of-gelert.html
Oh dear, so she is living up to it, - a scented breeze! Have you seen any pics. of her litter mates? It's always nice to see how they compare - though, of course, we all know you have the best one.