Irish Wolfhounds Among New England's Earliest Settlers
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Vol. XXXiii — No. 1 — 2021 Irish wolfhounds among New England’s earliest settlers n 1633, four Irish wolfhounds were cunning that seldom any are killed with I shipped across the Atlantic Ocean to guns or traps …” New England. They were sent to John Win- From an ecosystem point of view, the throp Jr., the son and namesake of the wolves were essential because they preyed founder and first governor of the Massa- on coyotes, deer, moose and other preda- chusetts Bay Colony. tors. But to the handful of Europeans strug- Born in England in 1605, Winthrop Jr. gling in the wilderness, the wolves were had been sent to Ireland at the age of 16 to deadly enemies constantly killing the sheep study at Trinity College in Dublin. While and other livestock essential for food. there, he boarded with an uncle, Emmanuel Shortly after arriving in Massachusetts, Downing, also a native of England. Winthrop in a diary entry wrote that when Winthrop Jr. immigrated to Massachu- he went for evening walks he carried a setts in 1631, a year after his father and musket in case he encountered the wolves other Puritans established the colony on who “came daily about the house and killed the seacoast near Boston. With 12 other swine and calves.” So great a threat were newcomers, Winthrop Jr. soon founded the they that one of the first laws passed by the town of Ipswich in Agawam harbor 28 Ipswich Puritans offered a bounty to any- miles north of Boston. one who killed a wolf. It was his uncle Downing who arranged When that law failed to decimate the to send the wolfhounds to America. Win- wolves, the English settlers looked to Ire- throp Jr. was notified of the arrangement land where they knew there was a potent by Edward Howes, who had been his class- weapon to deal with wolves: the Irish wolf- mate at Trinity College. In a letter to Massa- hounds, known in Gaelic as “Cu Faoil,” the chusetts in August 1633. Howes wrote: “Cu” meaning brave. “You shall receive in this ship 3 woolfe dogs The tallest of all dog breeds, the Irish & a bitch, with an Irish boy to tend them …” wolfhound is described by the American That ship was the James, which docked in Kennel Club, as “of great size and com- Salem, Mass., on Oct. 10 that year after an manding appearance … remarkable in com- eight-week voyage from England. Aboard bining power and swiftness with keen sight was a cargo of supplies, 80 new immi- This sketch of an Irish wolfhound was drawn … bred for long, solitary hunts based solely grants, 60 head of cattle, the wolfhounds by Louis A. Fuertes. It appeared in National on its ability to visualize its landscape … and their Irish lad tender. Geographic Magazine in 1919. Those who unlike hounds who rely on scent … The dogs were not just a frivolous gift of have had experience with Irish wolfhounds “A sturdy yet swift dog, it is capable of pets from back home. They and their Irish know the picture is not an exaggeration. running down and killing large animals. It keeper were sent in the hope they might has a general greyhound build only larger help solve a serious problem facing the grey wolves running wild throughout New and stockier. The legs are long, the body Puritans who were trying to make a go of it England. The wolves, wrote one historian, comparatively narrow … the chest deep in their small colony across the ocean. “are very numerous and go in companies, (Please turn to page 2) The problem was a huge population of sometimes, 10, 20, more or fewer, and so Renew your CIAHS membership for 2021 If the Irish wolfhound above could talk, he or she probably would say, “Don’t forget to renew your member- ship in the Connecticut Irish-American Historical Society because it is one of only a few places that you will find a story abut my breed.” And if you had such a magnificent Irish creature staring at you up close and personal, you probably would do anything he or she wants. So to help you remember, we have enclosed an envelope with this issue of The Shanachie. And on page 4, we have explained how easy it is to renew. Early New Englanders found Irish wolfhounds to be valuable allies (Continued from page 1) the cargo of wolfhounds overland to south- suspicious of any Catholics. The Catholics western Gaul which was known as an ideal were similarly narrow-minded in their view and the waist moderately small. Add to this location for hunting. A few years later, Pat- of all Protestants. The Puritans disdained a harsh, wiry coat and you have a dog that rick returned to Ireland as a missionary. the pomp, ceremony and hierarchy which can withstand cold, damp weather and run A thousand years later in 15th-century was the rule not only in the Catholic church, through thick brush without even getting Ireland, wolves were overrunning the coun- but also in the Church of England. Their scratched.” tryside. “The Irish wolfhounds, already preference in religious doctrine and prac- The wolfhounds also have class, accord- renowned big-game hunters, began to spe- tice was close personal relationship with ing to the Kennel Club: “… the best part cialize on wolves,” according to the Ameri- the Lord. about the coat is the distinctive long eye- can Kennel Club, and by the 1600s, wolves That explains why the letter from Howes brows and beard that impart a noble ex- and other big-game animals of Ireland had to Winthrop Jr. said little about the wolf- pression.” been hunted to extinction. hounds but went into detail about the boy The Irish wolfhound is also as old as the In the letter to Winthrop, Howes, know- and his faith. history of Ireland itself. In early The letter is written in Christian times, the Irish wolf- 17th century English and is hounds were known throughout sometimes puzzling in its Europe for beauty as well as meaning. “This is a very trac- hunting ability. Arrian, a Greek table fellow,” Howes wrote, historian in the second century “and yet of a hardie courage of the Christian era wrote, “The … I am persuaded he is very most highly bred of these Celtic honest …especially he makes dogs are a wonderful sight as to great conscience of his pro- eyes, body, hair and colour … mise and vowe … I could altogether the sight is delightful wish you would take him to to a hunting man …” be your servant, although he Arrian said wolfhounds were be bound to your father for frequently gifts that were be- five years.” stowed by provincial kings in That apparently means that Ireland to their princes, thus while the Irish lad could “seven hounds for the chase are easily be led, he did have a given by the king of Cashel to streak of independence. He one of his princes, to another he was honest and could be gives seven hounds to chase trusted to accept the terms The howl of the grey wolves was almost as frightening as their killing of down stags.” of his indenture. While the livestock in early Puritan settlements. The Rev. Joseph B. Felt, a descend- indenture formally bound In the year 391 A.D., a Roman ant of the Pilgrims, wrote, “It was a common thing to hear them com- the boy to John Winthrop Sr., statesman wrote a letter of mence their howl soon after sunset, when it was very dangerous to go it appears that the young thanks for such a gift of seven near the woods … (They) were so abundant and so near the meeting man was to actually live Irish wolfhounds with a com- house, that parents would not suffer their children to come and go from with John Winthrop Jr. ment that “all Rome viewed worship without some grown person.” (Picture: National Geographic, them in wonder.” 2012. Mexican Grey wolves at the Chicago Zoological Zoo.) Howes explained that the Wolfhounds even played a role Irish lad had a strong Catho- in the early life of the patron saint of Ire- lic faith, but with some ing the reputation of the hounds made no land. Born in Roman Britain about 380 A.D., nudging might be won over to Puritanism: explanation for sending them. However, St. Patrick was kidnapped at the age of 16 “At his first coming over,” — (which may their proven ability to clear a country of and sold into slavery to an Irish chieftain. mean when he was brought from Ireland to wolves certainly was the decisive factor in After six years tending sheep, Patrick es- England) —- Howes wrote that “he would shipping not only three males but a female caped, made his way to the eastern coast of not goe to church, nore come to prayers, so as to make fairly sure that their numbers Ireland and was taken aboard a ship about but first we got him up to prayers and then would increase in New England. to sail for Europe. The ship’s cargo included on the Lord’s Day to catachise and after- a number of the Irish wolfhounds to be sold What Howes did describe in detail in his wards very willingly he hath been at church on the continent. Some scholars think that letter was the Irish indentured servant’s 4 or 5 tymes …” Patrick may have been added to the ship’s religious beliefs and character. That focus But, even though the boy seemed to be crew because during his captivity he had undoubtedly was the result of the splitting gradually accepting Puritan ways, he still learned to manage wolfhounds.