Feck the Dog
“If a chariot raced towards me, my dog could stop it in its tracks. She would knock a spear-waving man off his horse if he threatened me.”
At ninety-two years of age Mrs Magalore has encountered stranger things than charioteers and horsemen waving spears.
She is prepared for every eventuality while walking around Cookhill village.
Her dog is an Irish wolfhound.
Wolfhounds were originally war dogs, and could drag men out of chariots or off horseback. Even today they are used as hunting hounds and guard dogs.
Irish wolfhounds usually are sweet natured and friendly ‘gentle giants’, until they see prey and then their ancestry shows. Their hunting action is swift and deadly.
This was the sort of dog Snuff O’Brien inherited on his return home in my book Snuff O’Brien’s Private War.
Snuff’s dog was different from Mrs Monaghan’s. His dog had been named ‘Feck the Dog’ by his previous owner, old man Lacey, who had died in the cottage where Snuff was living.
Mrs Monaghan calls her dog ‘Filo’, or more commonly 'my little darling'; a misleading term for a dog that stands higher than her waist.
Unlike Mrs Monaghan pure bred, Feck's ancestors had been interbred with a German Shepherd. That reinforced his abilities on Snuff’s hunting and poaching trips and when guarding the small cottage when Snuff was away.
I expect Feck the Dog will attract many fans once readers meet him in my book. They will admire him for his courage and intelligence.
How can you not fall for him when you picture those sad eyes, that mournful mouth and the loyalty he shows to his friends? One look in those eyes and you sense the depth of memories he inherited from his ancestors. You can't help but love him.
Mrs Monaghan will hate me when she reads what happens to Feck the Dog in the book.
I will avoid her and Filo when I am carrying a spear in my hand or riding in a chariot around the village.
