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THE WORD HOUND by Jan Haber

The Canary Islands were named for what animal? If you said the little yellow bird, you would be logical, but wrong. The Canary Islands, comprised of seven small land masses in the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Spain, were named for dogs-not birds. When the Romans stopped by in ancient times, as the story goes, they found packs of big dogs roaming the islands and so named the place insulae canariae, or island of dogs. In this case, canariae is related to canis, the root of the word canine. Little is known of the human inhabitants, the Guanches. There is no evidence that they recorded anything. Cut off from the rest of the world by geography, they appear to have missed the bronze and iron ages, as there was no metal to be mined in the Canaries. The people were still living in the stone ages in the year 50 BC, when they had a visit from the king of Morocco. The king, whose land was a Roman colony at the time, was impressed by the ferocity of the dogs. He took home a souvenir sample of both dogs and people. From then on, the islands were regularly visited by Middle Eastern and European slave traders. By the time Spain and Portugal took an interest in the Canary Islands in the 14th century, the original inhabitants were long gone and the dogs had been crossed with European fighting breeds, such as bulldogs and pit bull terriers and were being used for blood sports. It appears they got out of hand. By the 17th century, only butchers were allowed to keep the dogs. Kept chained up in the daytime, they were let loose only at night to help slaughter cattle. Today, the Presa Canario, as the breed is known, is a medium size cattle herder and guard dog. Coat colors include black, fawn & brindles, with traditional white markings. According to their breeders, Presas can be gentle, even-tempered family members given the correct socialization and training. So, what about the little yellow bird? Is that canary derived from the Canary Islands too? On that, the authorities give us a definite maybe. The well- known cage bird, prized for its singing ability, is a finch, belonging to the Old World finch family Ploceidae, or similar wild canary, Serinus canarius, commonly seen in the Canary Islands, Madiera and the Azores. Aha! That settles it-or does it? Coincidentally-maybe a little too coincidentally-the Latin verb canere means to sing.   The Word Hound welcomes readers' questions & comments.

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