Concerning Dogs (4)

The word hound entered into many combinations as a name for various animals. Thus the rabbit was called, "the hound of the brake;" the hare was the "brown hound;" the moth was called "the hound of fur," owing to the voracity with which it devoured raiment. And the otter is still called by the Irish Madradh-Uisgue (the dog of the water).

The names of most creatures of the animal kingdom were primitive, the result evidently of observation. Thus the hedgehog was named "the ugly little fellow." The ant was the "slender one." The trout, Breac, or "the spotted," from the skin. And the wren was called "the Druid bird," because if any one understood the chirrup, they would have a knowledge of coming events as foretold by the bird.