Sleuth hound

The sleuth hound (/ˈsluːθhaʊnd/, from Old Norse slóð "track, trail" + hound)^[1] was a breed of dog. Broadly, it was a Scottish term for what in England was called the Bloodhound, although it seems that there were slight differences between them. It was also referred to as a 'slough dog', (or 'slewe dogge'), and a 'slow hound', the first word likely representing a mispronunciation of 'slough' rather than a reference to the speed of the hound.

The sleuth hound first appears in poems about the Scottish patriots Robert the Bruce^[2] and William Wallace.^[3] These poems depict their heroes tracked by sleuth hounds. Bruce escapes by crossing water, and Wallace by killing one of his party, whom he suspects of treachery, and leaving the corpse to distract the hound. The poems are romances, not histories, but there is no implausibility about the use of sleuth hounds. John Barbour, who wrote The Bruce, was born before his hero died, and the year in which the Bruce was supposedly pursued was 1307. Thus, the inclusion of the sleuth hound in the story was no anachronism, hence that the dogs existed in Scotland as early as c. 1300, and that their use as man-trailers was fully established.

The earliest description of the sleuth hound is in The history and croniklis of Scotland 1536, a translation by John Bellenden of a Latin text by Hector Boece, Historia Gentis Scotorum (History of the Scottish People), originally published in 1526.^[4] The sleuth hound is described as one of three kinds of dog unique to Scotland. It is said to be red or black with small spots. Its special quality is its marvelous scenting power and determination in pursuing thieves (known as Border Reivers). The law of the borders between Scotland and England required that he who denies entry to the sleuth hound when in pursuit of stolen goods is held as an accomplice to the theft.

John Caius (translated from Latin by Fleming 1576)^[5] describes very similar uses of the English bloodhound on the borders, leading us to think that the Bloodhound and sleuth hound were the same animal. In a book published in Switzerland in 1554 the sleuth hound is also called 'blüthund' and 'canis Scoticus furum deprehensor' ('Scottish dog, thief catcher').^[6] It is confirmed here and in other texts of the time that the two animals were the same, except that the Bloodhound was somewhat larger, and had a greater variety of coat colours than the sleuth hound.^[7] Generally, references to the sleuth hound appear in a man-trailing context, whereas the Bloodhound may appear either as a man-trailer or as a seeker of beasts in the hunting field.

Likely from around 1700, any differences between the two types disappeared. "Bloodhound" becomes the usual term even in Scottish sources, such as Sir Walter Scott. The Scottish term survives in its metaphorical use from the early 19th century as a detective,^[8] now usually shortened to sleuth.