Canine history is replete with breeds named after their place of origin (or perceived place of origin): The Lhasa Apso, Dalmatian, Labrador Retriever, Rottweiler, Saint Bernard, and Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retriever, to name a few. How many places, however, were named after a dog?
To our knowledge, perhaps only one. As a place name, “Agár” was first mentioned in the foundation charter of a town in the Kingdom of Hungary in 1193. Toponymists (people who study toponymy, or the names of places) believe it’s possible that Agár was named for the local importance of raising or hunting with a sighthound called the Agár, what some people refer to as the Hungarian Greyhound. Evidently, entomologists are still quibbling over whether the word is Slavic or Turkish in origin. As Hungarian is a Finno-Ugric language which itself has two major branches – Finnic languages and Ugric languages – it may be awhile before the matter is settled.
What is more certain is the antiquity of this beautiful sighthound. Evidence that Magyarok hunted with sighthounds can be traced back to the Khazar Empire of the 7th century, and when Magyars entered the Carpathian Basin in the ninth century, Magyar Agárs were with them. Indeed, King Nagy Lajos I’s Illuminated Chronicle from 1358 depicts Agárs.
A long distance racing hound, the breed was bred to dispatch game shot by horseback riders on an open plain or open stand of hardwood timber, something that became easier when deforestation occurred on the Alföld. The hounds were expected to accompany hunters on an average of nineteen miles a day, but sometimes they might venture farther, up to thirty-one miles.
Interestingly, unlike many breeds in which ownership was limited to nobility and royalty, the Magyar Agár could be hunted over by every Hungarian. That said, Agárs owned by nobility were much larger than those owned by peasants which were known as “Farm Agárs,” or just “Hare Catchers.” These smaller versions are now extinct.
Image: Art deco Agár from the porcelain manufactory Vilmos Zsolany in Pecs, Hungary is available for purchase through Angela Baier, owner of Joantik