ALSATIAN DOGS
[To the Editor of the SPECTATOR.]
SIR,—When I-lived in Brittany in the 'nineties I used to hear a good deal about the wolves which were said still to linger in the mountains round Carhaix, and the strange, fierce breed of hounds, half wolves themselves, which were used to hunt them. • The hounds really were partially bred from wolves. The wolf-cubs were captured young, reared in captivity, and mated with a pure-bred hound. The progeny from this first cross was useless in the pack—too ferocious and " unbid- dable." But a second cross with a pure-bred hound gave splendid results—anyway, from the point of view of a French chasseur. This would be in the 'sixties and 'seventies.
In my days the old people would still talk of the barbaric glories of the hunt ; though the Couvetier, a sporting local seigneur, who had of course originally been appointed to this office to exterminate the wolves, had long been engaged in carefully preserving them ! I do not suppose that these genuine wolf-hounds have been bred in the Black Mountains of Brittany since the beginning of this century.—I am, Sir, &c., BLANCHE WINDER. Graythwaite Manor, Grange-over-Sands.
Previous page
