She is an aggressive personage, whom her hideous face makes one associate naturally, with Mastiffs; she is surly, like them, and, like them, she exposes herself to the blows of a stick.
"The Memoirs of Madame de Montespan, Volume VI. Being the Historic Memoirs of the Court of Louis XIV."
Madame La Marquise De Montespan
And now here comes the reverend Sanhedrim Of lawyers, priests, and Scribes and Pharisees, Like old and toothless Mastiffs, that can bark But cannot bite, howling their accusations Against a mild enthusiast, who hath preached I know not what new doctrine, being King Of some vague kingdom in the other world, That hath no more to do with Rome and Caesar Than I have with the patriarch Abraham!
"The Complete Poetical Works of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow"
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
Two big fierce Danish Mastiffs, half starved, have for years been the old man's only companions, and they guarded the shanty so well that not even a tax-collector could approach.
"White Slaves"
Louis A Banks