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THE

SETTER.

THE

SETTER:

WITH

NOTICES OF THE MOST EMINENT BREEDS NOW EXTANT;

INSTRUCTIONS HOW TO BREED, REAR, AND BREAK;

DOG SHOWS, FIELD TRIALS, GENERAL

MANAGEMENT, ETC.

.^0): iy;- EDWARD LAVERACK,

Broughall Cottage, Whitchurch, Shropshire.

fF/TH TWO COLOURED ILLUSTRATIONS FROM PHOTOGRAPHS
BY y. EASTHAM, OF MANCHESTER,

LONDON :
LONGMANS, GREEN, AND CO.

1872.

//,

• y^-

LONDON: PRINTSD BY
8POTTISWOODB AND CO., NBW-STRBBT SQUARB
AND FARLIAMBNT STRBBT

R. LL. PURCELL LLEWELLIN, Esq.

Of Tregwynt, Letterstone, Pembrokeshire, South Wales,

WHO HAS ENDEAVOURED, AND IS STILL ENDEAVOURING,

BY SPARING NEITHER EXPENSE NOR TROUBLE,

TO BRING TO PERFECTION THE * SETTER,'

THIS LITTLE VOLUME IS DEDICATED

BY HIS SINCERE FRIEND AND ADMIRER,

EDWARD LAVERACK.

INTRODUCTION.

IN presenting this little volume to the public they
must not imagine I have written it through motives
of vanity, to see my name in print, or to eulogise my own
breed of dogs. Nothing of the sort. I write it at the
earnest and repeated solicitations of many of my friends
and acquaintances.

I have ever been Agoing to do it ' for the last twenty
years, but ever too lazy and unwilling to commence. An
old man now, over seventy-three years of age, in the
* sear and yellow leaf,' a sportsman from my early youth,
and with more than half a century's actual experience in
breeding setters, perhaps my ideas on the subject may be
received favourably, and even valued and appreciated by
some. I intend this little volume to be practical and
instructive, but at the same time as concise as the subject
will admit of.

via

INTRODUCTION.

I am not likely ' to achieve greatness/ or to have
'greatness thrust upon me/ as an author. I do not
desire such a distinction ; scribbling is not my forte, for
I am not, and never have been, much given to the
caco'ethes scribendi. In this case, though I admit the
task is a wearisome one to me, on account of my ad-
vanced age, I must do my best to make myself clear and
intelligible.

Dogs, but more particularly setters, have always been
my study and hobby ; my whole time and attention has
been given in endeavouring to breed what I consider the
best adapted for nosCy speed, shape, beauty, colour, and lastly
and of the very greatest importance, endurance ; also for
general utility, and serviceable for all kinds of game and
localities. I think, without vanity (which would be par-
donable), that I may say I have succeeded.

By this I do not wish my readers to imagine that I think
myself, or desire to be considered (as some do), ^>4^ autho-
rity, and that I know better than others : far from it
There are many living who have quite as much know-
ledge of the setter as I have. I merely wish them
to understand that I have devoted long and anxious
years to the study of setters, and in bringing my own

INTRODUCTION.

to what they are, second to none for general field
purposes.

At exhibitions I am sure I have never been favoured.
I am satisfied the decisions have been fairly and impar-
tially given, and according to conscience.

Whenever judgment has been against me I have not
rushed into print as a * disappointed exhibitor,' but accepted
the verdict in silence, and whatever I may have thought^
was wise enough to keep my pen quiet, always bearing in
mind Byron's well-known lines in ' English Bards and
Scotch Reviewers : '

* Oh, Nature's noblest gift, my grey goose quill,
Slave of my thoughts, obedient to my will,
Tom from thy parent bird to form a pen,
That mighty instrument of little men.'

Many years before the ' Field ' was in existence, or
dog shows or field trials thought of, my breed of setters
had made their mark, and were well known and appre-
ciated by hundreds of sportsmen in England, Ireland,
and the Highlands of Scotland, where I have shot ever
since I was eighteen years of age.

I am only going to handle the Setter. The man is not

INTRODUCTION,

yet born who understands /J7r/y-(w^ classes, and not likely
to come into existence for some time.

It is somewhat strange that the author of ' The Dog/ in
writing about the * Manchester gentleman's ' setters, never
noticed Mr. R. LI. Purcell Llewellin's ' Countess,* or Mr.
Garth's ' Daisy ;* these are the only two /^^r^ specimens
of the Laverack setters that ever contested at field trials,
and I think I may say their performances have satisfied
everyone.

One man may prefer one breed, one another ; some
the Irish, some the Gordons, and so on. It is purely a
matter of taste, as there are doubtless many strains quite
as good as my own to choose from.

There are gentlemen, first-rate sportsmen, who are
never heard of They do not care for shows or trials, yet
they breed beautiful animals, shoot over them, and keep
them to themselves ; and I am not at all sure they are not
right.

I purpose giving a short but faithful description of the
different varieties I know of.

A man to understand a setter, or indeed any species of

INTRODUCTION,

dog, must have given many years* study to them. ' Rome
was not built in a day/ neither is the knowledge of any
animal, no matter what, picked up at once.

I should at shows like to see judges for each class ;
that is, no one should judge more than one class, and men
fully competent for the office. Many judge classes they
had better leave alone. As for instance, a man may be
a first-rate judge of terriers, &c., but a very incompetent
one of pointers or setters. They should remember the
old adage of Ne sutor ultra crepidam.

All that I am about to bring before the reader may be
relied on ; it is not from hearsay or theory y but from long
and extensive experience.

CONTENTS.

■^s»:<

CHAPTER PAGE

I. Origin, or supposed Origin, of the Setter, General
Formation, etc i

II. The Naworth Castle, Featherstone Castle, Lord
Lovat's, Earl of Southesk's, Earl of Seafield's,
Lord Ossulston's, Mr. Lort's, Llanidloes (Welsh),
and Russian Breed of Setters 7

III. The Black Tan or Gordon Setter

IV. The Laverack Breed of English Setters .
V. The Irish Setter

VI. On Breeding, and the Value of Pedigree

15
29

VII. On Breaking 38

VIII. Dog Shows 46

IX. Field Trials 49

X. General Management 52

XI. On Scent

XII. Relative Merits of Dogs 58

THE

SETTER.

»*:o^

CHAPTER I.

ENGLISH SETTERS.

/^F all sporting dogs perhaps there are none more generally
^^ useful, beautiful, and sagacious than the Setter.

I am not alone in my opinion, for Daniel, in his 'Rural
Sports,' says, ' Their noses are undoubtedly superior, their feet
more durable . . ,' and * are to be preferred to the pointer.'

Now I do not for one instant intend to detract from the merits
of the noble-looking pointer, or any other breed the shooter may
fancy ; but being strictly a setter man, I am sure my readers will
pardon me if I prefer my favourite class to any other.

That the setter is the most generally useful of shooting-dogs
I fancy few will deny, being possessed of more lasting powers
of endurance, therefore better adapted for all localities and
weathers.

The setter can stand cold or heat alike; the hair on his feet
and between his toes allows him to hunt rough cover as well as
the spaniel. In fact, the setter is but an improved spaniel.

There is no doubt that good-bred setters are quite as keen of
nose as pointers ; and are, if you choose, excellent water-dogs
and retrievers, which is seldom the case with pointers.

THE SETTER.

I am of opinion that all setters have more or less originally
sprung from our various strains of spaniels, and I believe most
breeders of any note agree that the setter is nothing more than
the settmg spaniel improved.

How the setter attained his sufficiency of point is difficult to
account for, and which I' leave to wiser heads than mine to
determine.

The setter is said, and acknowledged by authorities of long
standing, to be of greater antiquity than the pointer ; if this is the
case, and which I believe it to be, the setter cannot at first have
been crossed with the pointer to render him what he is.

I have long had the idea that dogs carefully bred together,
carefully educated, and carefully shot over, that their instinct
and sagaciousness has developed and increased ; that a clever dog
imparts his cleverness and peculiarities to his progeny. Man has
become what he is by study, observation, thought, and education.
Why should not the dog, by careful training, improve likewise }

If I may so term it, it is the force of sympathy and constantly
breeding from the same good strain that has made all sporting dogs
what they are. To make my meaning clearer, it is my opinion
that a breed of dogs carefully tutored, generation after generation,
acquire from habit and usage an innate predisposition to hunt
intuitively, which causes them to be superior to dogs whose
faculties have not been so developed and cultivated, or in other
words, imparted an inborn goodness.

A great controversy has been going on of late years as to
whether our breed of setters are better or equal to those of
the olden time. I am decidedly of opinion they are not. No
man living can judge so well if this statement is correct or not,
as that noted old sportsman, G. H. Ramsay, J. P., Derwent
Villa, Tyneside, who has shot from boyhood over ail the wastes
and wilds of the border counties, from Christenbury Craigs to
Keelder Castle and Mounsey Know, decidedly the very best
localities in the United Kingdom for black game and wild shoot-
ing. He is yet so noted for his skill and sight, though over
eighty-two years of age, that the Duke of Northumberland

ENGLISH SETTERS.

went purposely to witness a man of his age shoot without the
aid of glasses, and so pleased was his Grace at this patriarchal
sportsman's skill, that he took a grouse to the castle to show his
guests.

With the exception of a few kennels of choice blood, and
which have been most carefully guarded, I fear, nay I am sure,
the setter has greatly degenerated and mongrelised.

I make this statement because I have seen most of the breeds
of former days, and having paid great attention, and very closely
observed them, can remember many superior specimens to num-
bers of those I see at present.

This degeneration has partly been caused by the carelessness
of the modem sportsman. There are also other causes : the now
fashionable system of driving and not using dogs so much as
formerly is one ; the habits of game having altered, that is, be-
come more wild and unapproachable from their being more
shooters, less cover ; a greater population is another ; but the
chief cause of all is by inattention, and promiscuous and inju-
dicious crossing, and not retaining /«n/)/ oi blood.

This is the cause of the decay of that magnificent species of
dog the Irish setter.

As an instance I may remark, that if I had not kept my breed
of 'Blue Beltons' pure, this rare old strain would have de-
generated in a similar manner.

When my dog ' Dash ' was first exhibited as a specimen of the
' Blue Belton/ I believe most of the public and judges had never
seen the breed. Since then many of this strain bred by ime
have been shown, and tested at trials ; amongst which I may
enumerate Mr. Garth's (Q. C.) * Daisy,' Mr. Purcell Llewellin's
* Countess,' Mr. Dickens's * Belle,' and others.

The following points will apply to most of the English setters,
except where colour is concerned, and certain peculiarities of
some breeds, which will be explained in their proper places.

I will commence with the head, which should be long and
rather light, though not too much so. I do not like a heavy-
headed or deep-flewed dog, it indicates sluggishness.

B 2

THE SETTER.

Nose large, black, moist, cold, and shining, slightly depressed
in the centre, prominent, and expanded at the nostrils.

The nostrils should be open.

Eyes bright, large, full, mild, and intelligent, and free from
rheum or discharge, in colour dark hazel ; but these will be
darker or lighter according to the colour of the dog.

Jaws and teeth level.

The ears set low on the head, and flat to the cheeks ; they
should be rather long than otherwise, not too-pointed, and thin
in the leather. A prick-eared dog is unsightly : it gives him a
bad appearance, and not that roundness of head as when the
ears are low set on, and back.

The neck should be muscular and lean, slightly arched at
the crest, and clean cut where it joins the head : towards the
shoulder it should of course be larger and very muscular, not
throaty, or any pendulosity below the throat, but elegant and
blood-like in appearance.

The shoulders I consider one of the most important parts of
the setter. They should be well set back, or very oblique, the
more so the better — upright shoulders are very objectionable —
the blades of them long ; he should be short and level in the
back. The shorter a dog is in the back — that is, from the
shoulder blades to where it joins the hind quarters in the back
loins — the more power and strength. This formation is similar to
the machinery of a steam-engine — ^short above, and the power
t)f stroke, spring, or leverage below ; or, in other words, short
above and long imderneath.

Chest rather wide, and deep in the brisket ; with good, round,
widely-sprung ribs; a narrow-chested dog can never last;* not

* My great dbject has been to obtain pow^r and strength in the fore-quarters ; not
alone in depth of chest but wide through the chest (as witness * Dash,* * Countess,*
* Moll,* * Cora,* * Nellie'), and many others of this formation, thereby giving greater
freedom for the play of fiie heart and lungs ; in fact, a close, compact, well-built dog.
This is what I have been endeavouring to obtain for the last fifty years — ^not a loose,
leggy, weedy animaL

ENGLISH SETTERS.

slack, but deep in the back ribs — that is, well ribbed-up — the
loin broad, slightly arched, strong and muscular.

Hips well bent and ragged, the more bent the better ; here is
the propelling power.

The fore-arm big, very muscular ; the elbow well let down.
Pasterns short, muscular, and straight.

The feet very close and compact. The foot I prefer is the
hare, or spoon-shaped one, which enables him to have free action
on the pad or ball of the foot instead of the toes, which should
be well protected by hair between them, and which grows as
fast as it wears away.

Slack loins are fatal : dogs of such formation are not as a rule
lasting.

The more bent the stifles the better. The crouching attitude
which the author of ' The Dog * so much objects to, is, in my
opinion, the object to obtain, as it denotes a greater leverage or
spring ; the more bent the stifles the greater the power ; as, for
instance, tigers, leopards, cats, &c., whose attitudes are crouch-
ing, are remarkable for their easy power of spring. Of all the
setters I have ever seen those having this formation have been
the fastest and most enduring, as the greater the leverage the
easier the stroke.

The thighs long, that is, frckm hip to hock.

The tail should be set on high, in a line with the hack;
medium length, not curled or ropy, to be slightly curved or
scimitar-shaped, but with no tendency to turn upwards; the
flag or feather hanging in long pendant flakes.

The feather should not commence at the root but slightly
below, and increase in length to the middle, then gradually
taper off" towards the end ; and the hair long, bright, soft and
silky, wavy but without curL

From the back of his head, in a line with his ears, the hair
ought to be slightly wavy, long, and silky, which should be the
case with the coat generally, and a tendency to part down the
back. A setter cannot have too much coat for me, as it is in-
dicative of the spaniel blood.

THE SETTER.

Quality of coat is a great desideratum, and denotes high
breeding ; the slight fringe on the throat should, however, leave
the throat and neck angle pronounced.

The fore-legs nearly down to the feet should be well feathered,
as well as in the breeches : you cannot have too much of it, as
long as it is soft, bright, and silky.

In his range he should be fast, bold, and free, carrying his
head well up, whip or feather his stern well in his gallop, quarter
his ground evenly, and hunt independent of any other dog ; good
tempered, and turn on his game like lightning, and on his point
as rigid and motionless as a statue.

There is another form of setter some like : deep and narrow
chested ; as thin through as a slate or hurdle. These dogs can
go very fast ; but for how long }

I have known many of these kinds of dogs brought down to
Scotland, and after the first day or two they were perfectly
useless.

We have another formation in the setter which is also ex-
cellent, namely, great depth of chest, but flat sided ; it should,
however, be accompanied with width through, to allow the heart
and lungs free action.

Of the two formations, I prefer the round-ribbed and deep-
chested dog. In short, the formation of a setter should be that
of a strongly-built spaniel.

t —

NAWORTH AND FEATHERSTONE CASTLE SETTERS. 7

CHAPTER II.

THE NAWORTH CASTLE, AND FEATHERSTONE CASTLE

BREED OF SETTERS.

npHERE IS a very fine old breed of setters, at present but
^ little known. It has been, and still is, in the possession of
the Earl of Carlisle, Naworth Castle, Brampton, Cumberland ;
Lord Wallace, Featherstone Castle, Cumberland ; and Major
Cowan, of Blaydon Bum, Northumberland, so well-known as
the blood-hound authority.

This breed of setters I remember fifty years ago, when I
rented the moors belonging to the late Earl of Carlisle, in the
vicinity of Gillesland, the debatable country — the very locality
where the fracas took place between * Dandie Dinmont' and the
Gipsies when rescued by Brown.

This moor is commonly called the Wastes, a description of
which is so graphically given by Sir Walter Scott in ' Guy
Mannering.'

This rare old breed has probably been retained in the above
mentioned families as long as any other strain has.

The Featherstone Castle breed has been looked after by three
generations of Prouds, Edward Proud (now pensioned off) and
sons.

Those at Naworth Castle, by Grisdale, who has been there
for forty years or more, but now a pensioner. How long the
breed may have been in the family of Major Cowan and others,
in Northumberland and Cumberland, I cannot say.

The distinguishing colour is liver and white, they are very
powerful in the chest, deep and broad, not narrow or slaty, which
some people seem to think is the true formation of the setter.

8 THE SETTER.

If there is any fault to find with them it is their size ; they are
a little too big and heavy.

There is a great profusion of coat, of a light, soft, silky texture.

The distinguishing characteristic is a tuft of long, soft, silky
hair on the crest of the head^ which is rather larger and heavier
than the generality of setters.

They are particularly strong and powerful in their fore-
quarters, beautifully feathered on the fore-legs, tail, and breeches ;
easily broken, very lofty in their carriage, staunch, excellent
dogs, and good^finders. Though liver, or liver and white, is
not at present a recognised colour in shows, my belief is that
there are as good dogs of this colour as any other.

The Featherstone Castle breed was brought into notoriety by
the late keeper, Edward Proud, and so much were they appreci-
ated by shooting men, that they went all over the country, and
even to Ireland. This was more than half a century ago.

There is also another celebrated breed at Edmond Castle,
near Carlisle, Cumberland. This likewise is liver and white, with-
out the tuft These dogs are much lighter, and more speedy look-
ing than the tufted ones.

They are very deep, wide, and powerful in the fore-quarters ;
well bent in the stifles, so much so as to give them a cat-like
crouching attitude.

Laidlaw was the keeper's name who had chaise of them.
These setters were noted all over the country for being first-
class and very enduring.

The late Mr. Heythome, of Melmerby Hall, near Penrith, had
this breed when he shot with me — at which time I had the shoot-
ing of Pitmain, Kingussie, Invemesshire — and first-rate dogs they
were.

Mr. Garth's (Q.C.) * Bess,' a winner at the Shrewsbury trials,
was from this kennel.

LORD LOVAT'S AND EA^RL OF SOUTHESK'S BREEDS. 9

LORD LOVATS BREED.
Black, white, and tan.

Another celebrated, tested, and well-known breed has long
been in the possession of that ever-green veteran sportsman.
Lord Lovat, Beaufort Castle, Beauly, Invernesshire. This strain
is black, white, and tan.

His lordship shot long with Alexander, the late Duke of
Gordon, and he informed me that his Grace had black and tans,
and black, white, and tans, hut preferred the latter.

A celebrated dog of Lord Lovat's, black, white, and tan,
named ' Regent,' was well known in Rosshire and Invernes-
shire. Old Bruce, his lordship's keeper, told me this dog would
never be beaten. Numbers of his strain and colour were in Lord
Lovat's kennels when I last saw them. They have long been
valued by many sportsmen for their great excellence and beauty.

I think I am correct in stating, that this breed has never been
exhibited at dog shows.

They are very handsome, good, and possessed of great powers
of endurance ; kept for utility and not for show.

Bruce, so highly valued by his lordship, and now retired on
pension, had charge of this kennel, which is at present managed
by his son, David Bruce.

I consider this was one of the best kennels in the North.

THE EARL OF SOUTHESK'S BREED.
Black, white, and tan.

There is also another breed called the ' Southesk,' belonging
to the Earl of Southesk, in Forfarshire, black, white, and tan.
These dogs are very fine, strong animals, large in size, and ex-
tremely well feathered, round barrelled, powerful, and strong in
their fore-quarters.

THE SETTER.

If any defect in their formation, they are apt to be somewhat
slack in the loins, and too long in the leg ; notwithstanding this
they are well known to be good and staunch dogs, and highly
appreciated.

The breed was well known to me when I rented the forest
of Birse, adjoining the Glen of Dye, the property of Sir James
Carnegie, now Earl of Southesk.

THE EARL OF SEAFIELUS BREED.
Black, white, and tan; and lemon, or orange, and white.

This is one of the most beautiful strains I have ever seen ;
there are few better than that of the Earl of Seafield, of Bal-
macaan, Urquhart Castle, Invemesshire.

Perhaps there is no breed of setters possessed of a greater
profusion of coat, I should say, save * Russians;' they had more
coat, of a floss silky texture, and more feather than any other
strain of setters I have ever seen.

Sheriff Tytler, of Aldoury, near Inverness, also had, or has,
some of the same breed, as well as the late General Porter, of
Inchnacardock, near Fort Augustus, and several others in that
district.

I had many opportunities of seeing this pure and beautiful
breed when I rented the Dunmaglass shootings and Boleskine
Cottage, on the banks of Loch Ness, Invemesshire.

The formation of these dogs is as follows : Head rather
short and light, full hazel eyes, ears well set on, of a soft silky
texture. They are very similar to toy spaniels on a large scale,
and covered with long floss-like silky hair on body, fore-legs,
flag, and breech ; medium sized ; good hunters ; good dispositions,
and easily broken. The objectionable points are their peculiarly
upright shoulders, straight hind- quarters and spareness of body,
which makes them go rather short and stilty.

The late Earl of Derby, and Lord Ossulston, when shooting
at Coulnakyle, in Straspey, Invemesshire, had a beautiful breed

LORD OSSULSTOISrS BREED. ii

of lemon and white setters, obtained, I believe, from Lord
Anson.

This breed in formation was very similar to my own lemon
and white ; they were very powerful in the fore-quarters and
remarkably handsome.

LORD OSSl/LSTON'S,
NOW EARL OF TANKERVILLES BREED.

Jet black.

Another breed of rare excellence, and greatly appreciated by
practical sportsmen, was that of Lord Ossulston, Chillingham
Castle, Wooler, Northumberland. These were jet black, with
beautiful bright, soft, glossy coats — a colour that our fastidious
judges of the present day would probably ignore, and not even
notice, however good and handsome they might be, as not
being fashionable. It was certainly one of the best, most useful,
and beautiful strains I ever saw ; and for downright hard work
could not be surpassed. I have, too, seen an excellent and
beautiful breed of light fawns, also a self-liver coloured one.
Both these strains were first-rate.

Lord Hume, of Tweedside, Wilson Patten, Lancashire, and
the late Harry Rothwell (that celebrated old sportsman of fox-
hunting notoriety, who resided near Kendal, Westmoreland),
had also a similar breed of blacks, well known, and eagerly
sought after in those days by all the leading sportsmen in that
country.

Lord Hume's strain were famous all through that district,
and the Lammermuir Hills, for their acknowledged good pro-
perties, stoutness, and powers of endurance.

The last of this beautiful and useful breed, as far as Harry
Rothwell was concerned, was a dog named * Paris,' in the
possession of his nephew, Robert Thompson, Esq., Ir^lewood
Bank, near Penrith, Cumberland, and who shot with me for
several years on the Forse Shootings, Caithness, which I rdnted. It

THE SETTER.

IS a fact that this dog — a medium-sized one— ran almost every day
for six weeks ; and he was, when required, as good a retriever
as I ever saw. Mr. Ellis, the Court Lodge, near Yalding, Kent,
who shot with us, can testify as to the truth of this statement

Wilson Patten's breed, similar to the above, were very good, and
noted for their hardy constitutions and innate love for hard work.

The colour of Lord Hume's and the other named gentlemen's
breeds was a most beautiful jet black, as bright and brilliant as
the blackest satin.

Long, low dogs, with light heads ; very strong and powerful
in the fore-hand ; well-bent, ragged, cat-like hind-quarters ;
capital feet ; hare-footed, but not too much arched at the toe.

They had not a great profusion of coat, but what there was,
was of a first-rate quality and particularly silky.

These dogs were exceedingly dose and compact in their
build, and noted all through the country for their endurance ;
they were good rangers, and very staunch.

MR. LORVS BREED.

Mr. Lort, of King's Norton, near Birmingham, has also a
beautiful and excellent breed of setters, descended principally
from the strain of the late Richard Withington, Ashfield House,
Pendleton, Manchester, an old friend of mine, and who shot with
me many years in the Highlands.

They are black and white, and lemon and white ; long silky
coats ; hardy, enduring, and good rangers.

Mr. Lort, from judging so constantly at dog-shows, has given
this fine strain but little chance, and they are not known as they
ought to be ; but, from what I am told and believe to be the
case, there are no better. He at one time possessed, I believe, a
black bitch, similar to the jet blacks of Lords Ossulston and Hume.

Setter-breeders are under the greatest obligations to this
gentleman, for his unflagging endeavours to improve the setter:
and he spares no time, trouble, or expense.

His pointers, I am told, are very good and handsome.

WELSH AND RUSSIAN SETTERS.

THE LLANIDLOES {WELSH) BREED.
Whites and blacks.

This is a very ancient and well-known breed, but I am
sorry to say it is dying out. They are particularly stout and
hardy dogs, never tire, and unflinching in their endeavours to
find game. A close, compact animal, and very handsome.
The old pure breed was milk-white, or, as it is called there, a
^ chalk-white.'

Their coats are not quite so soft and silky as the other breeds
I have named, but they are very good, and admirably adapted
for Wales.

There is another old Welsh strain, similar to the above, jet
black, equally good, hardy, and enduring. In their own country
they cannot be beaten, being exactly what is required for the
steep hill-sides.

The Llanidloes are still to be had about that country, and
good specimens are sometimes picked up at a small figure.

THE RUSSIAN SETTER.
White, lemon and white, liver and white, and black and white.

These dogs are but little known in this country. The late
Joseph Lang's I have repeatedly seen. Two of them were
brought down by Mr. Arnold, of London, to my shooting-
quarters, Dunmaglass. He had given thirty guineas a-piece
for them as puppies, and had them very carefully broken by an
English keeper.

They were not at all good specimens of the class, and, as
working dogs, comparatively useless. So disgusted was he with
them before he left, that he shot one, and gave the other away.

I have never seen but one pure specimen, which was in the
possession of the late Lord Grantley, at Rannoch Barracks,
head of Loch Rannoch, Perthshire.

THE SETTER,

This dog was a magnificent type of the Russian setter,
buried in coat of a very long floss silky texture ; indeed he had
by far the greatest profusion of coat of any dog I ever saw. *01d
Calabar,' who knows well what a setter is, told me that, as a
young man, and living at his father's place, near Virginia Water,
that the late Mr. Turner, head-keeper to Her Majesty there, had
a beautiful breed of Russian setters, which the late Prince
Consort was very fond of. They were good but most determined,
wilful, and obstinate dogs, requiring an immense deal of break-
ing, and only kept in order and subjection by a large quantity
of work and whip ; not particularly amiable in temper, but very
high-couraged and handsome, an enormous quantity of long
silky white hair, and a little weak lemon colour about the head,
ears, and body ; and their eyes completely concealed by hair.

' Old Calabar * got a brace of these puppies, had them well
broken, and took them to Franee ; but, after shooting to them
two seasons, and being disgusted with their wilfulness and savage
dispositions (they would take no whip), sold them to a French
nobleman for a thousand francs (40/.), and considered he had got
well out of them.

CHAPTER III.

THE BLACK TAN OR GORDON SETTER.

T NOW come to this fashionable and favourite breed. They are
a class I am well acquainted with, having twice been over
to Broughty Ferry, near Dundee, for the express purpose of
inspecting the kennel of that veteran sportsman (now, alas ! gone
to other hunting grounds). Major Douglas, contemporary of the
late Alexander, Duke of Gordon, and Lords Panmure and
Wemyss. The black tans I saw at Broughty Ferry — also those
at Mr. Thompson's, Broughty Ferry — both exactly the same
strain, were strong, powerful, but, I understood, headstrong
dogs, and took a deal of breaking.

In addition to these I have seen many black tans tested by
gentlemen who have shot with me. As far as my observation
goes, they lack the endurance of the other breeds I have named ;
they are coarser and heavier made, and have not the light and
agile action of the blacks, the black and whites, the black greys,
or blue and lemon and white Beltons I have tested.

It is an acknowledged fact that the black tans are not so
speedy as other breeds ; they are nervous, and more prone to be
gun shy.

I have ever found the coats of the black tans coarser, stronger,
and more wiry in texture than the jet blacks, black and whites,
blue Beltons, and other strains, and not of that fine floss-silky
quality it ought to be. They are longer in the leg, and looser
in the loin, heavier and coarser in the head, thicker in the neck,
more throaty than other breeds, and not so clean-made in the
limbs, or so short in the back ; neither are they so close in the
feet.

i6 THE SETTER.

Nevertheless, they are very beautiful dogs, and I have seen
many good black tans, more particularly those of the lighter
build.

The Rev. Mr. Hutchinson, who writes under the nom de plume
of ' Sixty-one,' had, or has, as good a breed of black tans as
anyone, being much lighter, and not nearly so cumbersome as the
ordinary class.

Black tans, as a rule, have sour coarse heads ; shoulders loaded,
heavy, and too upright ; are heavy and thick limbed ; large feet,
often too straight and stilty in the hind quarters ; tail thick and
ropy. Many of the black tans have obstinate stubborn tempers,
and not particularly easy to break.

Two years after the decease of Alexander, Duke of Gordon,
I went to Gordon Castle, purposely to see the breed of setters.
In an interview with Jubb the keeper, he showed me three black
tans, the only ones left, and which I thought nothing of. Some
years after, when I rented on lease the Cabrach Shootings, Banff-
shire, belonging to the Duke of Richmond, adjoining Glenfid-
dich, where his Grace shot, I often saw Jubb and his setters ;
then and now^ all the Gordon Castle setters were blacky white, and
tan,

' The Druid,' now alas 'gone from our gaze,' gives the following
description of them in Field and Fern, Although they were not
what I call ' light in frame, or merry workers,* still I will quote
poor Dixon : — ' Originally the Gordon setters were all black and
tan, and Lord F. G. Halliburton's " Sweep," Admiral Wemys's
" Pilot," Major Douglas's " Racket," Lord Breadalbane's "Tom,"
and other great craftsmen of the breed of that colour ; now all the
setters in the Castle kennel are entirely black, white, and tan,
with a little tan on the toes, muzzle, root of the tail, and round
the eyes. The late Duke of Gordon liked it ; it was both gayer,
and not so difficult to back on the hill side as the dark-coloured.
They are light in frame and merry workers ; and, as Jubb says,
" better to put up half a dozen birds than make a false point."
The composite colour was produced by using black and tan dogs to
black and white bitches; and at a sale in July, 1836, eleven setters

BLACK TAN OR GORDON SETTER. 17

averaged 36 guineas. The five year old " Duke," black and tan,
fetched two guineas below that sum, he was bought from Captain
Barclay, and got another " Duke " still more famous than him-
self, from " Helen : " she was also the dam of " Young Regent,"
a black, white, and tan, which joined the Brethly kennel, at
72 guineas ; and his lordship did not grudge 80 guineas for " Crop,"
although one of her ears had been gnawed off in puppy-hood by
a ferret. Lord Lovat's, Sir A. G. Gordon's (of Cluny), dogs have
been the only crosses used for some time past at Gordon Castle,
" Sailor's " beautiful skull caught us at once, and Jubb might
well say " he knows everything." ** Dash " lay dignified and
apart during the revels, and there was no passing by " Young
Dash," and the neat " Princess," by " Rock," from " Bell." A
dozen pups by a dog of Lord Lovat's, also of the Gordon Castle
breed, were out at quarters drawing nurture from terriers and
collies.'

If there is a fault more objectionable than another in Gordon
setters, it is their want of staying and enduring powers. I leave
it, however, to those who have tested them to decide if my
statement is correct or not.

' Kent ' was a dog without a pedigree, and never did any good
for this beautiful breed of setters, even. * Idstone ' says, ' his
stock was not satisfactory ; he propagated his own faults, and in-
troduced others ; for, as a rule, his offspring feared the gun.'

The points of the black tan are pretty much the same as the
English setter. They are shorter in the tail, and have not such
a profusion of feather or flag. The coat I should give a prefer-
ence to would be a silky and slightly wavy one, and not flat ; in-
tensely black. The tan, a deep mahogany or burnt sienna
colour. There should be a well-defined spot of the same colour
over each eye ; the cheeks, the linings of the ears, the throat
and lower part of the forelegs, the feather on the back of them
as high up as the arm, inner parts of the thighs, and breeches,
all tan of the same hue, blended nicely together ; the vent,
thighs, and belly all tan. Some do not object to a white frill

THE SETTER.

on the chest, neither do I ; but it should not be — there should
be no white. To render these dogs lighter, give them better
heads, more endurance, but to keep their colour, my idea has
always been to cross with the blood-red Irish setter ; but this,
I am told, has been done.

MR, EDWARD LAVE RACK'S BREED.

CHAPTER IV.

ENGLISH SETTERS.

MR, E, LAVE RACK'S BREED.
Black greys or fiints^ blue, or lemon and white Beltons.

A BREED acknowledged to be one of the oldest and best
•^^ we have. Perhaps no strain has been more appreciated
by numbers of eminent sportsmen than this.

I do not make this assertion with a view of praising theip.
As I have said elsewhere, they do not require it. It is a fact
that I have run dogs of this breed for three weeks daily, from
9 A.M. to 7 P.M. ; and others possessing the same blood have
done the same.

So highly thought of were they by the late Marquis of
Breadalbane, that every setter in his kennels at Taymouth
Castle, Perthshire, consisted solely of this breed ; he would
have no other.

This strain was also at Inverary Castle, Argyleshire, the seat
of the late Duke of Argyle, and held in great estimation by
him.

At the same time there were some black tans in his kennels,
but the ' blues * were preferred. Both these breeds I often saw
there when I was in the habit of fishing Loch Awe, in that
vicinity.

The late Marquis of Bute, of Rothsay Castle, had also the
same blood ; as well as the late Duke of Northumberland,
Mr. Ramsey, of White Hill, near Edinburgh, and others.
. The breed was known many years ago all through Cumber-
land, Northumberland, and the border counties. I introduced

c 2

20 THE SETTER.

It into Perthshire, Badenock, Lochaber, Strathspey, Caithness,
the Isle of Islay, and the north of Ireland, where I have rented
shootings for the last forty-seven years.

In all these localities there are still living many keepers and
others who can testify to their general utility, goodness, and
enduring powers.

I can say with truth it has taken me a lifetime (being, as
I have said, over seventy-three years of age) to retain and
keep perfect this breed.

Let it be distinctly understood I do not say this strain is
superior to the others I have named and seen tested in the
Highlands of Scotland and elsewhere. The breeds I have
alluded to are excellent ; and although most of them have not
been exhibited at dog shows, being considered too valuable, and
the risk too great, yet they are just as good as if they had won
a thousand prizes, and the * Gold Medal at Paris ' included.

Perhaps it will not be amiss to give the pedigrees of * Fred 2nd.'
and * Dash.'

PEDIGREE OF MR, LAVERACJCS SETTER DOG 'FRED 2nd.'
FRED 2nd

DASH
Blue

MOLL
Black, White and Tan

no Tan

MOLL
nge and White

BELLE
ite Orange and

PONTO
Black Grey

STING
Blue

BELLE
Black, White and Tan

ROCK CORA
Black and White Black and White, no Tan

REGENT JET ist
Black, White and Tan Black and White,

PILOT
Black and White Ora

DASH
Bbck and Wh

zst
White

OLD MOLL
Silver Grey

MR. EDWARD LAVERACK'S BREED,

PEDIGREE OF ENGLISH SETTER * DASH,'

) /PILOT
REGENT....
(Black and
White)
JETist (PILOT
(Black and \
White) (moll and..

(Black and
White)
I moll and . .

,STING

i (Blue mottled)

,CORA(BLAIR'S)-
^ (Black and White)

REGENT.... (PILOT

(Black and \
White) I MOLL and..

JET ist (PILOT

(Black and i
White) (MOLL and..

DASH and.../
/ (Blue mottled)]

/FRED x8t..<

(Lemon and White)

,ROCK (ROCK

(Lemon and \
White) (PEG ..

^ CORA and...
\ (Black and
^ White)

MOLL and... (DASH xst....
(Orange and i
White) (BELLE ist..

.CORA xst

^ (Black and White)

^DASH xst....
(Black and
White)

{

^ROCK xst

( Lemon and White)

/ FRED xst. . . . (
(Lemon and
White)

MOLL and

(Orange & White)

ird. . .

MOLL 3rd. . .
(Black, White
and Tan)

/ROCK and

(Black and White)

BELLE xst..
(Orange and
White)

,ROCK

(Lemon and
White)

PEG

(Lemon and
White)

,DASH ist...
(Black and
White)

BELLE xst..
(Orange and
White)

^REGENT....
(Black aad
White)

r DASH xst
1 BELLE xst
PASH ist
BELLE ist
DASH ist
BELLE ist
DASH xst

■ BELLE ist
DASH xst
BELLE ist

(DASH ist
BELLE ist
DASH ist
BELLE xst

(DASH xst

■ BELLE xst
PILOT
MOLL and

fDASH ist

MOLL and

PO>ITO

OLD MOLL

rONTO
I OLD MOLL

PONTO

OLD MOLL

PONTO

OLD MOLL

(PILOT

(MOLL and ..
rDASH xst....
(MOLL and ..

1
1

( DASH xst
BELLE ist
DASH xst
BELLE ist
PONTO

(OLD MOLL
DASH xst
BELLE xst

PONTO

OLD MOLL

(PILOT

( MOLL and. . .

JET xst

(Black and
White)

(PILOT

(moll and...

PONTO

OLD MOLL

DASH xst
BELLE xst
DASH xst
BELLE xst
DASH xst
BELLE xst
DASH ist
BELLE ist
DASH xst
. BELLE ist
/DASH xst
, BELLE xst
DASH xst
BELLE xst
DASH xst
BELLE xst

All the above-mentioned dogs, except OLD MOLL and PONTO, were bred by Mr. Laverack. and are
descended from the pure blood (supposed to have at that period been pure for thirty-five years) of the late
Rev. A. Harrison's, near Carlisle, who bred OLD MOLL and PONTO, which animals Mr. Laverack
procured in the year x8ae since that time he has kept up a continuous strain of pure blood. OLD MOLL
and PONTO were both Blue Beltons. Consequently, Mr. Laverack having had this strain for more than
forty-four years, makes a continuous blood for over eighty years.

BELLE and..-
(Black, White
\ and Tan)

I REGENT...
(Black and
White)
JET xst
(Black and
White)

(PILOT.

(moll and...

(PILOT

( MOLL and. . .

22 THE SETTER.

The formation of this breed is as follows : — Head long and
light, not snake-headed, or deep-flewed, but a sufficiency of lip ;
remarkable for being very strong in the fore-quarters ; chest
deep, wide, and ribs well sprung behind the shoulders, carrying
the breadth of back to where the tail is set on ; immensely strong
across the loins ; shoulders very slanting or oblique ; particu-
larly short from the shoulders to where the hind-quarters meet
(I put it all in plain language, using no technical terms that
perhaps some would not understand). A setter should not rise, or
be too upright in the shoulder, but level and broad \ tail well set
on in a line with the back, rather drooping, scimitar-shaped, and
with plenty of flag ; legs remarkably short, and very short from
hock to foot and from knee to foot ; feet close and compact ;
thighs particularly well bent or crooked, well placed and close
under the body of the animal, not wide or straggling.

Colour black, or blue and white ticked ; coat long, soft, and
silky in texture ; eyes soft, mild, and intelligent, of a dark hazel
colour ; ears low set on and close to the head, giving a round
development to the skull.

There is another variety of the same strain, called the Lemon
and White Beltons, exactly the same breed and blood. These
are marked similar to the blues, except being spotted all through
with lemon colour instead of blue, and precisely of the same
form and characteristics ; equally good, hardy, and enduring.
Having possessed the above strain for nearly fifty years, I
consider there are none superior.

They are possessed of all the necessary requisites for general
utility, viz., great speed, nose, staunchness, method of range,
and finding, and, without any exception, one of the most en-
during breed of setters I have ever come across ; indeed, I may
say with truth, if they possess any superiority over others, it is
their indomitable, enduring, hard-working properties.

The jet blacks, before alluded to, in the possession of Lord
Ossulston, Lord Hume, and the late Harry Rothwell and others,
are a breed which are nearly or quite equal in goodness. A dog
named * Trimmer ' (blue Belton) was one of the best I ever pos-

MR. EDWARD LAVE RACK'S BREED.

sessed. This animal had an extraordinary gift for finding, always
hunting for the draft of air. So high-couraged was he that you
could not tell when he was drawing on game ; until he sprang
into his point, he gave no prior warning. I think I may say
I never knew him make a false point. This dog displayed
wonderful sagacity in running birds : for instance, pointing an
old cock-grouse, or a running brood, he knew by the scent when
the game had left him ; then, instead of footing, immediately
sunk, or dropped down wind, thirty or forty yards, and re-
pointed. If a long distance from him, he would repeat this
manoeuvre three or four times prior to getting up to him, his
sagacity telling him he could find game much quicker by taking
advantage of the wind than ^footing'

I am convinced this dog pointed from the scent emitted from
the body of the bird, and not from the scent attached to the
heather \ this extraordinary animal was bred between brother and
sister.

THE SETTER.

CHAPTER V.

THE IRISH SETTER.

TDERHAPS there has been no greater controversy than on
-*■ the merits of the Irish setter. When pure and thoroughly
broken, they are an admirable and excellent breed of dogs, being
possessed of great powers of endurance and speed.

So highly do I value the true blood belonging to the Irish
that I have visited Ireland four times for the express purpose of
ascertaining where the pure blood was to be found, with a view
of crossing them with my Beltons.

I very much regret to say, that after all my trouble and efforts,
I found that this fine and magnificent old breed has degenerated,
owing to the carelessness and negligence of the Irish in not
having kept it pure.

I believe it is admitted by some of the leading sportsmen in
Ireland, among whom I may name John King, of Firbane,
Colonel White, of Newton Manor, near Sligo, and others, that
there is scarcely any breed now to be relied upon for their purity.
' Sixty-one,* an Irishman, and who probably knows Ireland, and
the breed of setters, as well as anyone, does not, I am told, hold
them in the highest estimation. As far as my own researches
and observations have gone, the late John La Touche, of
Harristown, possessed this breed in its greatest purity.

One of the best specimens of the Irish setter I ever saw was
in the possession of Rowland Hunt, of Leicestershire, who has
the Braemore shootings, Caithness. This dog, he informed me,
he had purchased at the late Marquis of Waterford's sale.

Another magnificent specimen I saw at Cockermouth Castle,

THE IRISH SETTER.

Cumberland, belonged to the late General Wyndham ; both
these dogs were blood red, with a black shade on the tips of
their coats.

The one I saw at Cockermouth Castle I consider, without any
exception, to have been the most magnificent specimen of an
Irish setter I ever saw. The General informed me that when he
commanded the troops in Ireland he saw and shot over the best
specimens of this breed, and stated some were excellent, others
worthless. The dog alluded to he told me was made a present
to him by an Irish nobleman, whose name I have forgotten.

This dog was very long in the head, particularly low, very
oblique in his shoulders, wheeled or roach-backed, very deep
and broad in the chest, remarkably wide behind the shoulders,
and very short in the back and legs, more so than any Irish
setter I ever saw ; he had an immense profusion of coat, with a
tinge of black on the tip of his ears.

I should have bred from this dog but for the following reason,
and I think I was right : no one was ever able to break him, and
his stock were frequently black.

Rowland Hunt's dog also got black puppies occasionally, evi-
dently denoting there must have been a black stain in the breed.
Captain Cooper's 'Stella,' a sister to his 'Ranger,' who
obtained the first prize at Birmingham and Dublin, also occa-
sionally throws black puppies. Notwithstanding this stain of
black in the breed, the best and most perfectly formed Irish
setters I have ever seen had this stain or tint of black ; which I
should never object to, although I am well aware many of the
most eminent Irish breeders state that they ought to be without
any tint of black whatever in their coats.

As far as I have seen and been informed, for general goodness
and working properties those possessing this tint of black have
been quite as good, if not better, than those without it

Mr. Shorthose's Irish setter ' Ben,' blood red with a tinge of
black, who has obtained upwards of forty prizes at exhibitions,
gets a portion of black puppies.

It is the opinion of many well-known breeders that the pure

26 THE SETTER,

Irish setter should be blood red in colour, a mahogany colour
nose, and as I have before said, without any tint of black in the
coat, and should never get or throw black puppies.

My firm belief is, that no Irish setter exists without throwing
back occasionally to black. I can understand breeders preferring
the blood red, without this tinge of black, and retaining the
blood red colour in preference, but my idea is that those
having a tinge of black are the better dogs, although the colour
may be objected to.

There is another colour of Irish setters, blood red and whitCy
quite as pure, indeed some people maintain, of greater antiquity
and purity of blood, than the blood red.

Both the blood red, and the blood red and white will
throw each colour, evidently denoting they are of the same
strain.

I think the handsomest red and white Irish setters I ever saw
were in the possession of the two Misses Ledwidge, of Beggars-
bush, near Dublin : * Stella,' the dam, and two sons, named * Old
York,' and * Young York.*

' Stella,' although blood red and white, was the dam of Mr.
Dycer's celebrated blood red setter ' Dan,' well known in his day
for his goodness. This dog was sire of Captain Hutchinson's
' Bob.*

Miss Ledwidge informed me that she possessed this breed for
half a century or more ; and Mr. La Touche's keeper at Harris-
town, when I visited his kennels there, pointed out a blood red
and white setter as the best he had.

I believe the Misses Ledwidge's kennel was as pure as any in
Ireland : I was told they originally came from the Butler
family.

Another, and one of the best breeds, which have probably been
kept as pure as any in Ireland, are those of the Hon. David
Plunket and Lord De Freyne, of Coolavin, co. Sligo.

Of 'the two colours, blood red and blood red and white, I
admire the latter the most, they being in my opinion the hand-
somer of the two. Mr. Barton, co. Wicklow, had a large kennel

THE IRISH SETTER. 27

of the blood reds and whites ; there are doubtless other breeds
in Ireland considered as pure as those named.

As far as my experience goes of those I have seen worked,
there are few, if any, setters more valuable for general utility
than the Irish, provided you can get them with a sufficiency of
point ; but, I am sorry to write it, the major part are very
deficient in this requisite, and not to be relied on ; but when they
have it they are admirable dogs.

Those I have seen were rather light, if anything too light in
the head, wanting a little more squareness about the nose and
lip ; their ears are too high set on the head, being often in a line
with the skull, which gives them a prick-eared appearance.

A thin, spare, lathy body in general, and in my opinion too
long in the legs ; their shoulders are generally well placed, low
and oblique, with a drooping stern ; coat rather harsh, more harsh
and wiry than that of the English setter, neither is it so bright or
silky ; temper obstinate, fiery and impetuous, which detracts from
the major part of the breed, but still there are exceptions, and
notwithstanding some people say ' they never saw a good Irish
setter,' / havcy although rarely; but when they are really good
they are a first-class dog, none better. At the late Dublin show
the specimens were very poor indeed, excepting Captain Cooper's
* Ranger.'

I should probably have crossed with some of the above-named
dogs, but on consideration I was afraid they would not nick with
mine, and I was afraid of their acknowledged failing, * insuffi-
ciency of point'

Visiting Mr. Purcell Llewellin some short time ago, I noticed
in his kennel a young red Irish dog, called * Marvel,' a remark-
ably pure specimen of the breed, though a little too light in
colour. From a conversation I had with Mr. Llewellin I quite
approve of the system he is adopting in endeavouring to rectify
the defects of the male and female by judicious breeding. This
gentleman is evidently a great enthusiast, and deserves success
and the warmest thanks of setter breeders for his great energy
and perseverance in endeavouring to bring the setter to the

28 THE SETTER.

highest state of perfection, not forgetting Mr. Statter, of Stand
Hall, Manchester, and Mr. Garth, Q.C. Though the two last-
named gentlemen are not, I believe, breeders of the Irish setter,
yet they have very beautiful strains of their own, which always
command high prices.

The three most perfect specimens of setters I have ever seen
were Lord Lovafs * Regent,' black, white and tan; the late
Greneral Wyndham's blood-red Irish setter before alluded to,
and the Rev. A. Harrison's blue Belton * Old Moll ; ' these three
animals were particularly strong, powerful, and compact in their
build.

ON BREEDING AND THE VALUE OF PEDIGREE. 29

CHAPTER VI.

ON BREEDING AND THE VALUE OF PEDIGREE.

TTAVING exhausted the different strains of setters I am
"*" -^ acquainted with, I shall now proceed to treat on the
subject of breeding, and the necessity of pure blood.

Perhaps nothing is so generally little studied and understood,
or properly attended to, as breeding, which requires not only
great experience, observation, and knowledge of back ancestry ^
but also great patience and perseverance.

The first thing to be attended to in breeding is to consider
what object the animal is intended for. My idea is general utility
for the gun is the great desideratum.

One of the first objects to obtain, if possible, \s perfection of
forvty as best adapted for speed, nose, and endurance.

The next, and which I consider paramount, or of as much
importance as physical form, is an innate predisposition to hunt,
and point naturally in search of game, and without which innate
properties mere beauty of colour and perfection of external
form (however desirable) are but secondary considerations to
practical sportsmen, and simply valueless.

After having obtained these essential requisites, another most
important thing is to select a bitch with a strong, robust, healthy
constitution, regardless of colour, though if you can get it so
much the better.

The dog must possess the same proclivities. The object in
selecting males and females of strong and vigorous constitutions
is, that no matter how good the breed may be, still you cannot
expect healthy progeny from weakly parents, as according to

30 THE SETTER.

our most celebrated naturalists, Buffon and Cuvier, * like begets
like/ not externally, but internally and mentally.

The female is first to be selected. I like a long, well made,
roomy, finely formed, and intelligent bitch, not less than two,
and not exceeding eight years of age ; the dog the same.

I should never breed from a bitch until she had attained her
maturity. What is meant by purity of blood, is breeding from
ancestry of known and tested goodness, which is only discover-
able by having actually worked them yourself, or seen them
worked, thereby enabling you to judge of the natural disposi-
tions, capabilities, sagacity, and adaptability for finding game.

A great deal has been said about in-breeding ; many hardly
understand what is meant by it, or what in-breeding is.

My dogs are more inter-crossed, and inter-bred, than directly
bred in and in.

There are several secrets connected with my system of inter-
crossing that I do not think advisable to give to the public at
present. I can only say better constitutions, better feeders, and
hardier animals than I have, do not exist.

It must not be supposed I am prejudiced and obstinate in my
system of breeding. I have tried crossing, or letting my blood
loose ten or a dozen times, but the result has always been
unsatisfactory ; therefore I stick to inter-crossing with my own
strain, as I have ever found it answer best

I believe every noted breeder, whether of racehorses, horned
cattle, sheep, pigs, or poultry, will admit that they are indebted
to purity of blood for the class of animals they possess. On this
point I am bigoted.

There appears to be a law in nature we do not understand.
How is it buffaloes in the prairies of North America, and the
herds of wild animals in the South of Africa, in fact everything
in creation, birds, beasts, insects, fishes, reptiles, &c, continue to
reproduce their own species, with unerring and marked charac-
teristics, without ever crossing.

This law of nature has induced me to follow it, and to inter-
cross or in-breed with my own strain.

ON BREEDING AND THE VALUE OF PEDIGREE. 31

Every breeder who has attained superiority over others in any
class of animals knows well if they get a strain of impure
blood in their breed how difficult it is to eradicate it. This taint
will come out, though it may have lain dormant for years, and
through many generations.

There is no better test of a pure breed of setters than a perfect
uniformity of race, that is in colour, form, and coat, and never
throwing back to some other colour and form unknown to the
breeder.

This uniformity or certainty of back ancestry, known to be
good, can only be obtained by purity of race.

Crossing, or cross-bred animals, will never produce, to a
certainty^ uniformity of race. As I before stated, I have tried
the crossing system repeatedly^ but the result has always been
a failure.

It is true the first cross you obtain may be very handsome
and very good, but these scarcely ever reproduce others possess-
ing their own good qualities.

On the other hand, a pure breed will invariably transfer their
goodness, and all will be similar in form and goodness. Of
course, like other animals, some will be more beautiful and
perfect than others ; but this certainly will never be obtained
by breeding from cross-bred parents.

As many gentlemen have sent bitches to my dogs, may I ask
if their produce has been improved or not ?

These gentlemen ought not to expect that a pure-bred sire
will produce purity out of an impure or cross-bred female. It is
true a pure-bred sire will improve the progeny of an impure or
cross-bred female ; but to make perfect the breed, the issue
should be bred in again, or UP /^ the pure-bred sire.

After having selected suitable parents, the next thing to be
attended to is the bitch coming into * season ' or ' heat' This is
first discoverable by a slight enlargement of the teats ; a few
days after this the parts begin to swell, and discharge or
bleed, which it generally does for nine days ; and she remains
nine days in season. But they vary according to age. Some

32 THE SETTER.

young bitches go out of heat quicker than old ones ; therefore
there is no positive rule. Some remain in season longer than
others — a deal depending upon condition, temperature of wea-
ther, and being kept in a state of quietness.

There is one thing breeders oftentimes do not attend to ; that
is, the bitch being too fat She should be rather lean to ensure
fruitfulness. Neither should the dog be too gross. All breeders
of any species of animal know from experience the necessity
of having the females rather thin than otherwise.

Some maiden bitches are exceedingly fastidious, refusing to
allow the dog to have union ; thus causing great trouble and
annoyance. In this state there is only one mode to be adopted
— the bitch must be held, and ravished. I have had a number
of bitches in this state, and have been obliged to act in this way.

Many have an idea that a bitch so held could not conceive
and have puppies, which is an error. I have had scores of
puppies from bitches so treated. Aged bitches are comparatively
little trouble.

It does not follow that one who has been warded is always to
have progeny : many prove barren, from some cause or other ;
as witness in all kinds of animals — birds, fishes, reptiles, and
even the human race.

Another idea some have is that a dog cannot get a bitch in
whelp unless he is locked. This is not the case. I have proved
on several occasions that there is no absolute necessity for their
being tied or joined together. Bitches have often proved in
whelp by the dog having had connection with her but separating
immediately.

Is there not some given law in nature which will not allow
animals to be too prolific ? Every naturalist and observer must
have noticed animals are not equally fruitful every year. The
same applies to game — as some seasons there is a greater quan-
tity than others.

I should always advise that bitches be warded twice^ the last
three or four days of their being in season.

Some dogs will not copulate with bitches until the last day or

ON BREEDING AND THE VALUE OF PEDIGREE, 33

two they are in use. I will mention a remarkable instance of
this.

When I resided in the Lake district, I sent for a dog from
Carlisle, called 'Ponto,' six weeks prior to my requiring his
services. When the bitch came into season, and very desirous,
being strongly in heat, this dog would not attempt to have
connection. Day after day I tried him, but all to no purpose.
Afterwards I took her to another dog ; and as * Ponto * positively
refused the bitch, I sent him back to Carlisle, thirty miles
distant.

Fully a week after she had been warded, to my great annoy-
ance and surprise, ' Ponto * one morning made his appearance.
I turned him into the stable where the bitch was, considering
her out of season ; but to my astonishment he instantly lined
her. How is this to be accounted for, except the dog knew
there was only a certain time of heat that the bitch was fit to
be connected with ? It is evident to me he had been think-
ing of her, and considering she was then in proper season, came
of his own accord thirty miles to serve her.

I have met with several dogs, like ' Ponto,* who refused to
line a bitch till the last day or two of heat.

Bitches generally go with young nine weeks, but this is not
always a certain rule ; some will give birth three or four days
prior, sometimes three or four days later, than this time.

I remember a very curious occurrence of a bitch pupping one
pup a week prior to her time, and a %veek afterwards producing
nine others. The first pup livedo as well as those born subse-
quently.

When a bitch gives birth, each puppy comes enveloped in a
caul, or thin skin. The instant it is ejected, the mother bites
the skin to liberate her offspring, and then cleanses it with her
tongue. In liberating the pup from the skin, it sometimes
happens she mutilates the tail with her teeth, thereby causing a
crooked tail ; this, however, does not often occur. The best
mode is, as soon as the pup is cleansed, to take it away

THE SETTER.

and place it in a basket before a fire, wrapped up in flannel.
Every puppy should be so treated till the mother has done
pupping.

The reason for removing the young as they are brought
forth is to prevent the mother killing them, in the agony of
parturition, by pressure.

As soon as she has done giving birth, put the earliest puppies
back to suckle, and the others by degrees.

The first two or three days after pupping, give the bitch
nothing but a little gruel made of oatmeal (well boiled) and
milk, or sheeps-head broth with oatmeal ; no solid food. It is
of great importance always to have the oatmeal well cooked]
which should be boiled for an hour and a half or two hours,
and not boiled too fast.

The number of puppies to be kept on the mother depends in
a great measure upon the constitution of the bitch, and how she is
fed. Six is an abundance for any bitch to suckle ; the remainder
should be put to a foster-mother. Where a valuable litter of
puppies is expected, it is always well to have a foster-mother in
readiness. The bitch may die in, or after pupping, &c. ; there
are many contingencies the breeder must be prepared for.

When three weeks old, it is as well to commence giving them
a little milk, sweetened with sugar, twice a day, to teach them
to lap ; this they will soon do.

Wash them at this age weekly with warni water and soft soap,
with about a tablespoonful of carbolic acid in it, in order to
destroy the lice all puppies are subject to. When weaned, con-
tinue to wash weekly, to prevent vermin accumulating.

At a month or five weeks old, wean the puppies ; at any rate
do so at six weeks, unless there is a weakly one, in which case
it may be left a little longer.

After the puppies are six or eight weeks old, the bitch, if she
can get access to them, will feed them by vomiting her food
at intervals : this is a common occurrence.

I will relate a curious instance of a bitch suckling puppies not
her own.

ON BREEDING AND THE VALUE OF PEDIGREE. 35

I had two bitches, sisters. One was put to the dog, the other
not. When the bitch that had been warded pupped, and the
young ones were four or five days old, the other bitch fought
the mother off, and suckled them herself.

It is well known that all bitches have a certain quantity of
milk, whether in pup or not I took the real mother and gave
her her puppies again, allowing the other bitch to remain with
her sister ; when both laid amicably together, suckling the young
ones ; nor did they fall out again.

Another curious circumstance occurred with a bitch of mine.
She came into season, but was kept from the dog. A month
afterwards she came into season j^ain. I look upon this as a
very uncommon occurrence.

Puppies should be fed three or four times a day up to three
months old — little and often. Give them food easy of digestion,
such as milk and bread-crumbs, milk and oatmeal, sheep's-head
bjoth, and so on.

Warmth and dryness with good feed are the great preventives
of distemper, for which I am certain in my own mind there is no
known cure. I will give two remarkable instances of distemper.

Bruce, Lord Lovat's keeper, related to me the following cases
of recovery from distemper.

A young dog had been paralysed in his limbs for upwards of
three months. He ordered an underkeeper to take and ' throw
him into the river' close by. This the man did, and tossed it into
the Beauly. The poor animal was washed away by the current.
To the surprise of all, two or three days afterwards he crawled
home, and recovered. This was a cold water cure.

The other was a dog in a similar state. Being tired of seeing
it about, he told one of the men to * knock him on the head and
throw him on the dung-heap.' He was thrown on the dung-
heap, but not * knocked on the head,' but was partially covered
over with manure. Strange to say, this dog recovered. I may
call this a Turkish bath cure.

Puppies, indeed all dogs, shduld lie very dry and off the ground

D 2

THE SETTER.

in trays. To prevent them crawling under, which a tired dog
will sometimes do, there should be a guard to let down in front.
The dogs, then, must get on their beds.

Nothing gives kennel lameness sooner than damp, or lying
on the floor of an ill-drained kennel. They should have a well
paved yardy the bricks or paving-tiles set in cement, all four
sides sloping to the centre, where there should be a patent
trap to take off the water. A yard must always be flagged or
paved, otherwise the drainage is imperfect ; if not paved, it
soon gets saturated with filth, is very offensive, and most un-
healthy both to man and dog.

As I have elsewhere remarked, it is well known to every
experienced breeder that the first cross-bred animal generally
shows a great deal of beauty, form, and quality ; but breeders
ought to be exceedingly cautious not to breed from any animal,
no matter how handsome externally y or of known tested good-
ness, without ascertaining his blood and pedigree.

I will give one or two instances to show the absolute necessity
of such precautions.

I once saw two dogs, own brothers — one as magnificent a
specimen of a pointer as you could wish to look on ; which dog
I bought for a friend after trying him, he was a first-rate per-
former in every way.

His own brother — the same litter — was as good and beautiful
a specimen of a setter as his brother was a pointer. And both
were such good workers, that many people bred from them.
But mark the result : their stock were most mongrel wretches,
not only in appearance but in performances.

Another instance was a setter named * Blucher,* in the
possession of a late friend of mine, William Pearson, of the
Yews, near Kendal. This dog I shot over, along with his
master, for weeks. He was a first-class and extraordinary
good performer, and the admiration of all the sportsmen in
that district, who sent bitches to him, myself amongst the
number. Singular to say, this dog never gut a puppy worth
anything.

These instances are given to caution men who are breeders
never to breed from an animal, no matter how handsome or
good, unless they know the bcLck ancestry,

I should never object to breed from a dog or bitch, even if
they were not externally perfect in form, provided I was sure
they came from a good and pure strain.

38 THE SETTER.

CHAPTER VII.

ON BREAKING.

\/OUNG DOGS vary much in their tempers, and their early
^ predisposition to hunt and find game. I have frequently
shot over setters at nine and eleven months old, as steady as
need be, and continued to shoot over them daily the whole
season ; some come sooner into work than others, get their
strength, and furnish quicker.

Like children, many are more precocious than others. My
breed hunt, range, point, and back intuitively at six months,
and require comparatively little or no breaking.

The system of tuition I adopt is to take the dogs to my
shootings in Scotland, uncouple, and let them chase everything
(game) until they are tired, having previously accustomed them
to lie down at the word * Drop.*

After having run themselves down, they naturally point and
back. When pointing, walk quietly up, slip a thin cord through
the collar, and stand behind, making no noise, holding the cord
rather slack in your hand. After the dog has stood some little
time, he naturally, to ascertain by his nose where the game is
secreted, will prick up his ears prior to making his spring at
feather or fur, whichever it may happen to be. In attempt-
ing to do so, jerk him sharply back with the cord, calling
* Drop ! * Keep him down until the birds are out of sight, to
teach him patience ; then withdraw the cord, and let him
range.

By repeating this, the dog will very soon be broken. When
I rented the shootings of Cabrach, in Banffshire, belonging to

ON BREAKING. 39

the Duke of Richmond, I and my keeper, Alexander Rattray
(now keeper to the Duke of Richmond, Glenfiddich), by this
system once broke eight dogs in six days ; and all at the week's
end were as steady as could be — pointing, backing, footing, and
free from * chase/

When you get the dog to drop well to the word, it is easy to
teach him to do so at *wing, or fur;' to 'down charge,* to come
close to heel, and ware fence is nothing to teach.

My dogs are invariably broken on the open moors, and not in
small enclosures, which always cramps their range and checks
their spirits ; it is distressing to hear a breaker crying out every
instant * ware fence,' whistling and shouting : you cannot be
too quiet on all occasions.

I seldom use whip or whistle, but allow my dogs to use their
own natural sagacity in making their casts and finding game.

I have ever found those dogs who range wide turn out the
best. It does not follow because a dog ranges wide he will not
range close. Where game is plentiful a wide-ranging dog must
necessarily become a close ranger because the game stops him ;
he cannot get far without finding, his natural sagacity tells him
to hunt close ; it is his high courage and anxiety to find game
that causes him to range wide.

A wide-ranging dog too saves you a great deal of walking.
Every shooting man knows that he may occasionally tramp over
two or three miles without coming across anything ; here it is a
wide-ranging dog is of greater utility than a close ranger.

Many English gentlemen and keepers have an idea that Scotch
keepers are inferior to the English. I have found the reverse.
Men from living in the wild moorland districts of Scotland have
greater opportunities of seeing and understanding the habits of
the game found in those localities.

I give the names of a few I came across, all first class men
in their vocations.

Lord Lovat's old and much respected keepers, David Bruce
and son ; Alexander Eraser, keeper to Mr. Fowler, of Glen-
mazeran, Invernesshire ; Stewart, keeper to the Earl of Seafield,

THE SETTER.

at Balmacaan, Urquhart Castle, Invemesshire ; Sinclair, keeper
to Sir Robert Sinclair, Dunbeath Castle, Caithness, also keeper
to the Duke of Portland, Langwell, Caithness ; Mackenzie, keeper
to John Ramsay, Isle of Islay ; Hogg, keeper of the forest of
Brise, Aberdeenshire ; and Robert Robertson, Fealar, head of
Glen Tilt, Perthshire, keeper to the Duke of Athole.

When I rented the Macartney shooting, co. Antrim, North of
Ireland, my keeper was William Winter, now keeper to the Earl
of Rosse. Any of these men can testify as to the goodness of this
breed. David Burnett, long keeper to Mr. Winsloe, Coulnakyle,
broke thirty or forty of this breed for Mr. Winsloe, formerly
tenant of the Coulnakyle shootings, Strathspey, Invemesshire.

All these men I have named I found thoroughly understood
the habits of game in their own localities, and were admirably
adapted for the situations they held, highly esteemed and
respected by their employers.

There is no doubt that they are better calculated for their own
country than English keepers ; and vice versA, the English keepers
understand better their country, and the rearing of lowland game,
pheasants, partridges, &c. In this department the English are
decidedly superior.

I would further mention that I consider Scotch keepers quite
as good breakers of dogs : they do not over breaks which many
English keepers do.

The men I have named, and many others, have managed to
break dogs to the entire satisfaction of their masters. How they
contrived to walk without the aid of the ' Idstone boot,* and
tutor their dogs without using the * Idstone whistle,' which is
useless unless tuned to 2i particular key {Bflat)^ and the 'Idstone
whip,' one similar to that used at the 'Bala trials,' that 'sensational
whip,' which excited such general admiration, I am at a loss to
imagine. As for the ' Idstone trap,' it is 7io new invention ; / can
show one exactly similar more than fifty years old.

Many years have passed over my head, bleached my locks,
and withered the sap of youthful vigour since I took my gun and
dogs and made bonnie Scotland my home. I loved it then, I

ON BREAKING.

love it still, and ever shall. I yet go there annually, and feel
ten years younger when I catch sight of those wild, glorious,
healthy, purple-clad mountains, far away from the busy
hum of the world, and over-crowded and ill-drained cities.
It is in Scotland I find repose, contentment, amusement, and
health.

I cannot understand Pater Familias taking his wife and
family away to the Continent, or to some expensive watering
place for the autumnal months, when we have such lovely and
magnificent scenery within twelve hours of us. I may be
an enthusiast on this point. The used-up blas^, worn out
with dissipation and late hours, broken in health, constitution,
and spirits, is often now recommended by his doctor to take a
Highland shooting. What for } not with the idea that he may
kill much game. He is too prostrated, too feeble for a long
tramp over the hills. It is not for the sake of shooting, but to
wean him in some measure from dissolute habits, which, if per-
sisted in, must eventually carry him to a premature grave. It is
in the hopes of saving him, invigorating him, and restoring his
shattered constitution.

I remember the remark of an old Highlander to a cockney
sportsman who was grumbling at the country and asking * what
was to be found in it ? ' Sandy replied, * Hout mon, there's
health behind every rock and stane * (stone).

Bums's beautiful lines are now recalled to my memory : —

Now westlin winds, and slaughtering guns,
Bring autumn's pleasant weather ;
The moorcock springs, on whirring wings.
Among the blooming heather.

These lines again bring to mind many stories I heard ; scenes
I have seen, in years long gone by, never to return. Relentless
old Father Time serves us all alike ; shows no favour to rich or
poor, and with that terrible scythe of his cuts all down in turn.
I will here * break point ' and tell you of

THE SETTER,

SANDY DAVIDSON,
The Braemar Poacher.

There was, many years ago, no more celebrated character in
Scotland than Sandy Davidson ; a fine noble-looking fellow he
was too, considerably over six feet in height; luxuriant hair,
dark beard and moustache ; and dressed in his kilt, with rod in
hand, or gun over his shoulder, was a man that one would look
twice at before meddling with : such was Sandy Davidson.

This extraordinary man was the terror of game preservers in
the shires of Aberdeen, Banff, and Inverness. He shot and fished
in the Robin Hood style all over these counties.

This famous Highland poacher was, however, often detected.
When such was the case, and he was caught in flagrante delicto^ the
proprietors, his friends, or keepers, merely said that if he would
pledge his word not to shoot or fish there again, no further notice
would be taken. His word once given was never violated ; but
if brought before the magistrates and dealt harshly by, woe
betide that owner ; he at once fearlessly told the bench * he
should make a point of shooting over and getting double the
value of the fine off the estate ; ' which he carried out to the
letter, as proprietors found to their cost.

' Sandy * always shot, fished, and dressed as a Highland gentle-
man, in a kilt, with one or two attendants to carry his game, and
out shooting had ever a brace of setters with him.

The end of this fine hill-man was sad. He and a comrade
were shooting on a moor called Glenbucket, Aberdeenshire, and
were located in a small peat house on the moor, through the door
or opening of which many a gallon of Highland whiskey that had
never paid, or was ever likely to pay, a farthing duty, had found
its way. Running short of provisions, * Sandy's ' comrade went
down to the village of Rhynie to get a supply. A heavy snow
storm coming on prevented his returning. The poor fellow waited
several days for his coming back, but in vain ; so at last in sheer

ON BREAKING. ' 43

despair he started for Rhynie, but alas ! he never reached it, he
perished on the way there, and was found in the snow dead,
* stiff and stark.' The men who discovered him told me they
never saw so 'gruesome * (awful) a corpse.

Sandy used to go annually to the festivities at Gordon Castle
to dance the national dance named * Gillie Galium,' or the sword
dance. He was sadly missed, for he was a general favourite
with all.

The first time I ever came across him was on Dee side, fast
into a salmon, and his brace of setters at his gillie's heel.

There is another little scrap I will relate here, called

THE POACHERS' LAIR.

When I rented the shooting of Fealar, at the head of Glen
Tilt, belonging to the late Duke of Athole, I one day came across
a singular mound, or small stack of heather ; this my keeper,
formerly an old poacher {}.e. poachers are oftentimes the best of
keepers), pointed out to me as *the poachers' lair,' or bed, which
was made in this way : the long heather had been pulled up, and
a large hollow mound made with it ; the tops of the heather turned
in and the stalks out When night comes on, the poacher and
his dog get inside, having a lid or top to pull over them, and
remain all night dry, warm, and comfortable.

A poacher would be nothing without his dog. I was told of a
singular instance of the sagacity of one.

A noted poacher named Armstrong, living in Nicol Forest,
Bewcastle, Cumberland, had been out shooting on Christen-
bury Craigs. On his return, being wearied out, he laid down to
sleep on the moor ; some hours afterwards he was awakened by
his dog pulling at his cap, and barking, which aroused him ; he
got up, and with much difficulty reached his home. He found
out the dog had been homCy and returned to awake him.

The man stated if it had not been for the faithful animal's

44 THE SETTER,

pulling at his cap, and awakening him, from the hard weather it
would have been his last sleep.

A singular circumstance once occurred to me. Shooting one
day on Pitmain Moor, Kingussie, Invemesshire, on a sudden
we missed one of our dogs ; we were certain he had not left us.
After searching for an hour or more, whistling and calling, but
to no effect, we suddenly heard a low whimper under the ground.
The dog in ranging had fallen through some long dry heather
covering a chasm, or hole. To get him out was a difficulty, but
was overcome by turning Angus, the keeper, topsy turvy, and
letting him down head first, holding him by his legs. He
managed to reach the dog, and we pulled them both up. If we
had not happened to have heard the poor animal whine, he would
never have got out, but miserably starved. This accounts for
many dogs lost on the moors and never heard of again, also
for the sudden and mysterious disappearance* and escape of
several poachers, who, when surrounded and hemmed in by a
party of shooters, suddenly disappeared through the ground as
if by enchantment. These men no doubt, knowing every inch
of the ground, made for these holes or chasms, and thus baffled
their pursuers.

These excavations are caused by the under-current of water
in winter and during the floods ; afterwards they are grown over
by the luxuriant heather and lichen. They often run a long way
down the hill-sides, and thus enable poachers to escape easily.

I would impress on anyone taking shootings in Scotland how
much better ; how great a saving of time, trouble, money, and
disappointment ; how much more pleasant and satisfactory, it
would be to them to have a small stud of good and useful dogs
instead of a large and comparatively worthless lot ; but it is too
often the case that there are a large quantity of dogs where
a fourth would amply suffice.

Before I quit this subject perhaps it may not be uninterest-
ing to give the returns of five years* woodcock-shooting in the
Isle of Islay. It cannot, I fear, be done now, as thinning and
cutting away the underwood spoils the covers.

ON BREAKING, 45

Woodcocks shot round Ardensemey Cottage by P. McKenzie,
keeper to the late Campbell of Islay.

1848, Woodcocks bagged 512

i849> « 48s

185 1, „ 392

1852, „ 481

1853, „ 469

Same year, killed by Campbell of Islay and his friends 437

Total . . .2,776

I shot with McKenzie, and we have often killed from 35 to
45 cocks in one day.

46 THE SETTER.

CHAPTER VIII.

DOG SHOWS.

A GREAT deal has been said for and against ' dog shows.' I
-^~*' consider them a step in the right direction, if honestly and
honourably carried out, without favouritism (which I think it is
by the majority), and the judges competent ; but many of the
judges of the present day are far too youngs and have no ex-
perience whatever, and again i\\^y judge too many classes ; if this
continues it will be a death-blow to dog exhibitions.

No young man can have the experience of sportsmen of riper
years ; it is men of long and extensive knowledge I would have
as judges.

I would also have more gentlemen to judge the different
classes than there are at present. Of course the expense would
be greater, but then the public might be satisfied, which is
not always the case now. It does not follow that one who is
acquainted with one particular class of dogs should know more
about them than others who possess the same kind ; there are
probably many others who know quite as much, or more, about
them than he does. Therefore I would never have one man set
himself up as THE authority, no matter of what class. With
shooting dogs I would never consider judges of terriers, &c.,
competent to adjudicate, as many of these men have never even
taken out a game certificate or seen game dogs worked. For such
men to judge these classes is simply an insult to exhibitors.

Dog shows cause a pleasant rivalry, and bring together a large
assemblage of canine wonders, which enables visitors to see the
various breeds, and judge for themselves if the specimens
exhibited are good, bad, or indifferent ; thereby enabling those

DOG SHOWS. 47

who are desirous of improving their own breed to select models
which will conduce to the improvement of the strain they fancy.

It is an undoubted fact that the major part of the sporting
dogs exhibited have never been tested on game, but are merely
specimens of external form. The public know nothing whatever
of their working properties, whether they are good or worthless.

It is remarkable what numbers of miserable specimens often
obtain prizes. Judges differ and, I suppose, ever will ; but one
thing I am convinced of, that judging from points, as was pro-
posed some time ago, is all nonsense, and will never find favour,
or come into general practice.

Although a judge can only decide from external form, never-
theless, if he is a man of long and extensive experience in classes,
let us say of pointers or setters, by having seen most or many of
the best breeds, he can see at a glance unmistakeable signs of
high breeding which an inexperienced judge would not be able to
discern.

With regard to non-sporting dogs, you can only judge from
external form, beauty, and points of breed. Many of these are
magnificent specimens of their respective races, which is the
result of careful breeding.

Many possessed of the best strains object to send their dogs
to shows, owing to the distance, risk, expense and trouble, and
having no confidence in the officiating judges. And you must
bear in mind that the value of a dog does not consist in the
number of prizes he may have taken at shows, but in the quality
of his stock, and if he has improved the breed.

It is almost a certainty that any young dog who has not had
the distemper will catch it at an exhibition. I consider the
reason is, that the atmosphere in the building is impregnated by
a poisonous effluvia, caused by the large number of dogs. So
certain am I in my own mind of this, and having lost numbers
of very valuable young dogs by sending them to shows before
over distemper, that I am resolved never to do so again till they
have safely passed through this dangerous malady. Aged dogs
I always put in quarantine for a week after their return, and

THE SETTER,

wash them well with a solution of carbolic acid. I cannot
impress too forcibly the necessity of this precaution. My object
in exhibiting has not been so much for gain's sake as to see if
any were present worth breeding from, remembering always that
it must be from a strain of good and known excellence.

Dog shows are not only very fashionable, but very numerous
now all over England.

Birmingham I must class No. i, because it has been so long
in existence, and so honourably and well conducted, and I
believe the committees have ever done all they could to give
satisfaction to the exhibitors and public. The above observa-
tion applies as well to the committees of the Crystal Palace
shows, which have likewise given great and deserved satisfaction
to all. I cannot pass over this subject without paying a tribute
to Mr. John Douglas, the manager of these shows ; and I believe
all exhibitors and the public will admit unanimously, that they
are much indebted to him for his excellent arrangements, courtesy,
and assistance to all interested. This show and Birmingham
will always hold their own.

FIELD TRIALS, 49

CHAPTER IX.

FIELD TRIALS.

nPHIS is also a step in the right direction, though a somewhat
^ unsatisfactory one, the short time allowed for the trials
not being sufficient. Every man of experience, and who un-
derstands shooting, is well aware that many dogs work magnifi-
cently for half a day, or even a day or two, but are unable to
last any longer. Now endurance, as I have observed elsewhere,
is one of the most essential points. It frequently happens that
a high-couraged, good, resolute dog does not steady and settle
to his work at once ; he may be a little too free at starting, but
this dog might be superior in every way to others who had beaten
him. Again, some dogs are of a shy and nervous temperament,
and cowed by the assemblage of people and strange faces that
surround them.

Nevertheless, as far as it goes, it is a trial of speed, nose, and
method of finding, but in reality not a satisfactory test of those
more important qualifications, viz., powers of endurance, and
general goodness on all kinds of ground and on every species of
game. Still, winners at these trials may be possessed of all that
is required in the setter or pointer.

Dogs must be expressly prepared and coached for this now
fashionable amusement. That is, they must be under the
greatest subjection and discipline, and even, after all, a superior
dog may be beaten by an inferior one, owing to the shortness of
the trials, and luck being against him ; as, for instance, each dog
going in a separate direction, or hunting independent of each
other, which is the proper way, it may so happen that the best
dog goes over ground where there is little or no game, and the

THE SETTER.

inferior dog may cross ground where there is plenty ; thus, after
all, there is a great deal of chance work, which would not be the
case if the trials were longer, for the superior dog would be
certain to come in.

I consider it impossible at trials to judge of many of the
qualifications wanted in a shooting dog. You have only one
species of game, and one kind of ground, to test them on. It
does not follow that because a dog is good at partridges, that he
is to be first class at grouse or other game. I have frequently
seen excellent partridge dogs perform very badly on wild moor-
land game, and lack that bold independent range and lofty
carriage necessary for extensive ranges. This I shall explain
more fully in the ' relative merits of dogs.' You can only judge
at trials of pace, breaking, backing, staunchness, style, and
method of finding game. This, however, is a good deal, and I
dare say ere long some one will hit on an improvement for trials.
What is required is more time, but I do not know how this
can be done where there are so many competitors, except by
doubling the entrances.

Let it be particularly understood I do not wish to detract
from the merits of these trials ; on the contrary I am an advocate
for them.

I am informed by competent people that both Cornwall and
Hampshire are not well adapted for field trials; the latter county
is acknowledged by hunting men to be one of the very worst in
England for scent, scantiness of cover, and is not noted for an
abundance of birds.

Cornwall, though a long way off, and in many places hard and
stony, is better than Hampshire, both for scent and cover. At
Vaynol, the beautiful property of Mr. Assheton Smith, you have
an abundance of birds, fine air and scenery, and a good open
country, where you can see everything without pressing on the
dogs.

As Mr. Assheton Smith strictly preserves the hares for cours-
ing,, they are very numerous, so it is a rare place for discovering
if a dog is * free from fur * or not.

FIELD TRIALS.

Good as this county is it is not equal to Shrewsbury ; the
cover there is still better, and the fields much larger, than in
Wales ; the scent, too, I should imagine would hold stronger.
All agree that the Shrewsbury country is a first-rate one for
trials. It is central and not so far away as Vaynol ; but before
Shrewsbury can ever come to the fore again there must be
great changes.

I should think Norfolk would be the county par excellence
for field trials. That is supposed to be the best locality.

All who are fond of these trials owe a great deal to those
gentlemen who have so kindly given the use of their manors.

In dismissing this subject let me say I do not imagine spring
trials to be of any great service. Dogs require to see game
killed to them, otherwise it disheartens them. I should prefer
no spring trials, but more autumnal ones, and a greater length
of time given ; without which trials will never give general
satisfaction.

E 2

52 THE SETTER,

CHAPTER X.

GENERAL MANAGEMENT.

A VERY important subject is ' general management* Often
-^^ have I seen beautiful and valuable dogs in a state of
filthiness ; ill-housed, ill-attended to, and ill-fed, with masses
of putrid flesh hung up for them to gnaw at (no dog will
show a good coat who is fed on bad raw meat), and without
water. How can anyone expect dogs to do well when such
is the case }

A dirty and badly-washed house destroys the health and
scenting powers of the animals, to say nothing of the diseases it
engenders. Great cleanliness is absolutely necessary both in
yard and lodging ; the sleeping house should be daily well
washed, and the beds shaken up. Many keepers remove the
excrement as soon as dropped, but at any rate it should be done
every morning. The animals should be well and regularly fed
once a day, that is, grown-up dogs. The hour for feeding
depends on a great measure how you are using them ; when
dogs are not in work about 2 P.M. is a good time.

The bed, no matter on what you bed them, should be con-
stantly changed, and the trays on which they lie sufficiently high
to ensure ventilation and keep them from the damp. The
benches should fold against the wall, so that you may wash
the flags underneath them. If the dogs crawl under, which
tired ones will sometimes do, have a guard made to prevent
their creeping under them.

When I visited the shootings of Gairnshiel, Aberdeenshire, then
rented by the late Lord Cardigan, but now belonging to the

GENERAL MANAGEMENT. 53

Prince of Wales, I observed an excellent plan in the yard. On
one side was a bench for the dogs to lie on, and bask in the sun,
instead of lying on the flags ; the bench had hinges, so that it
might lie flat against the wall when not required ; the iron legs
folded up as well.

No kennels were better adapted than those I had at Fealar,
head of Glen Tilt — a piece of ground on a hill-side, enclosed with
large palings. The interstices between them ensured thorough
ventilation. There was a division inside for dogs and bitches,
and in each of the covered sleeping apartments raised benches.
This description of kennel I prefer to high walls, being better
ventilated. From using this style of kennel, and having them
well cleansed and flagged, I never, all the years I shot in the
Highlands, had a case of kennel lameness.

The sleeping apartments should have doors, to close in cold
or wet weather.

Always use old, round ground oatmeal, Scotch or Irish, well
boiled ; as new meal purges too much. Of course there must
be some kind of meat or broth with it, such as boiled cows' noses
(which is most capital food, being all flesh), milk, or graves,
and vegetables. Swede turnips occasionally, mixed with the
porridge, is good for all dogs, particularly in summer.

Should mange get into your kennel, dress with train oil, oil
of tar, and sulphur vivum ; and use as an alterative, and cooling
diet, Swede turnips, cabbage, &c., in their food.

Dogs that are hard worked, as well as those not going to be
used the same day, should be fed twice, morning and evening.
Flesh, if you can get it good^ is an excellent change, being the
natural food of all canines. I have used good horseflesh for a
month or six weeks daily, and never found it affect their
scenting powers ; but dogs fed on flesh must never be gorged or
have much on their stomach when required for use.

I have tried every remedy for distemper, and am convinced,
from my own experience and that of others with whom I have
compared notes, that for certain types there is no positive cure.
Good nursing, warmth, and assisting nature is better than all

54 THE SETTER.

specifics. Change of air has a most beneficial effect. I have
had dogs that have been two months attacked by it in England,
but by taking them to Scotland they have soon been cured.

Distemper I believe to be a blood-poison, proceeding from
the peculiar state of the atmosphere ; for I have known it break
out virulently both in England and Scotland at the same period,
and not transmitted from dogs coming in contact with others
who were affected.

The kennels should every now and then be hot lime-washed,
to destroy ticks or vermin ; and once a week — oftener in sum-
mer — sprinkled with Condy's deodorising fluid, or carbolic acid.
Kennels should be perfectly dry, well ventilated, well drained,
and well paved.

Dogs for exhibition must be washed, though as a rule I am
not a great advocate for it ; if kept clean, they will only occa-
sionally need it, or when hard clay or dirt is glued to their
coats. Take time in this case : soak the places thoroughly with
warm water, and do not use the comb, or brush roughly ; you
will only draw out lots of hair, which will not grow again till
they change their coat for a fresh one.

On returning from shooting, never put your animals away
carelessly, as many do ; remember, they have been working
hard for your pleasure. Let them be well fed, immediately
on their return, with plenty of clean straw on their benches. If
properly cared for, they will be fresh and willing for the next
day's work. By attending to these few simple rules, mange and
distemper will be almost unknown to you.

Your dogs, when not in work, should always be taken out
every morning for a couple of hours ; it will be conducive to
their health. Exercise is essential, as it keeps their feet hard
and in order. Bear in mind always that a sore-footed dog can
never run, and that nothing injures man or beast more than
close confinement.

If you have no knowledge of the ills which dog-flesh is heir
to, consult some one who has ; and in cases where operations
are to be performed, unless you are ' up in it,' and have con-

GENERAL MANAGEMENT, 55

fidence in your own powers, you had better let the veterinary
do it for you. It will be cheaper to pay a guinea or half-a-
guinea than kill your dog. Many diseases can be checked by
constant and prompt attention — such as canker, distemper, both
kinds of mange. The yellows I am not so certain about, for
when the animal is severely attacked, I look upon it as nearly
hopeless. Diarrhoea can easily be stopped, if taken in time.

CHAPTER XL

ON SCENT.

T^HIS is a question that up to the present time has never
'*' been satisfactorily settled, and I suppose never will be.
It is well known to hunting men that some counties will only-
carry a good scent when it is wet and cold ; others when it is
dry or hard. In some shires it is better on fallows ; in others
on grass. There is no accounting for it, and no absolute rule
that we know of to go by.

Scent is nothing more than the effluvia or evaporation emitted
from any animal or bird, and is elevated or depressed by the
weight of the atmosphere and current of air. That scent attaches
itself to the herbage, heather, grass, rushes, or bushes the quarry
passes through, we all know ; and that it is stronger or weaker
according to the nature of the ground and the pace the game
passes through it. Of course, any bird or beast 'dwelling* leave
a stronger trail than they would if they were to pass through
quickly.

Every shooting man of experience must have often noticed
that whenever a 'runner' gets out of the heather, &c., on to
bare ground, that the dog soon looses the scent, and it is much
more difficult for him to retain. The reason is obvious — there
is no herbage to hold it.

A dog will work much quicker on bare ground to recover
* scent' His instinct and sagacity tell him that there is nothing
for it to adhere to — that it soon evaporates ; and unless he can
take it up quickly, he will lose it for ever. Directly the bird
gets over the bare ground and enters cover, then it is that the
scent becomes good again.

The reason that lost dead birds, and those that are wounded,
who never stir, are so difficult to find, is because they leave no
scent.

All good and experienced dogs, when ' footing,' do so quickly,
knowing well that unless they ' road ' fast the game must be lost
to them, having evaporated.

When in a boat, flapper-shooting, I have found that the scent
of the ducks lies on the water ; the birds, swimming about, leave
it on the surface. The weight of the atmosphere being heavy
at the time, as it generally is in July and August, prevents its
being blown off the surface.

On the Moors, it is extraordinary the distance the air
tainted with scent is carried. I have time after time seen dogs
rear themselves on their hind legs to * wind it ' in the atmo-
sphere floating over their heads ; and after finding the direction
it came from, go slower and slower in the right line till they
got their * point*

Huntsmen often fancy hounds will carry a brilliant scent, and
race away with their heads up from 'find to finish ;* instead of
which they cannot run a hundred yards on the line without
throwing up. At other times, when you imagine there could not
be a worse hunting day, they will run into their fox without
a check. Scent is very fluctuating, much depending on the
soil and state of the atmosphere.

All shooting men know well that the deadly killing time for
game is after 4 P.M. About this hour the air becomes cooler
and moister ; the dew commences to fall, and the birds to
move ; and the dogs hunt keener, because the scent lies.

As a rule, the best scenting days are when scent rises. It
is then that many dogs who generally carry their heads low
will hunt high, to catch the taint which is borne and wafted
away in the current of air.

There is not the slightest doubt that scent rises or is depressed
according to the atmospheric pressure ; damp, rain, and other
causes will affect it as well.

58 TH£ SETTER.

CHAPTER XII.

RELATIVE MERITS OF DOGS.

'T'HERE IS a great deal to be said on the ' relative merits of
^ dogs.' This subject would fill a volume in itself. To give
my ideas on this, and as concisely as possible, I prefer bold, in-
dependent, high-couraged dogs, and as long as they are staunch
they cannot be too fast

The higher they carry their heads for draught of air the better ;
for as a rule, dogs that hunt for the wind find most game ; but
this is not always the case, as I will prove by an instance that
occurred to myself.

Many years ago when shooting in Annandale in very close
sultry weather, a friend of mine came to see a brace of setters I
then had, and which I had worked for eight years. They were
first-class animals in every way, self-liver-coloured ones, and
own brother and sister.

On an average the dog could make six points to the bitch's
one, because he always hunted for the draught of air, or for the
wind. The bitch on the contrary carried her head low ; for three
days in succession, she made four or five points to the dog's one,
and beat him all to nothing.

My friend said — ' Laverack, you speak very highly of the dog,
but in my opinion the bitch is by far the better animal, and
worth two of the dog.*

I replied, 'Wait till a breeze springs up, and you will see I
am right'

The fourth day. a breeze did spring up, and the dog literally
walked away from the bitch taking nearly all the points, and
hardly giving her a chance.

RELATIVE MERITS OF DOGS. 59

The reason the bitch found so many more birds the first three
days than the dog, was simply that he was hunting for the
wind. There being no breeze the scent lay low, therefore he
was hunting over it ; the bitch on the contrary hunting low,
got all the points, and beat the dog.

I have seen some exceptions, though but rarely, of dogs
adapting themselves to the state of the atmosphere, hunting low
in sultry weather, and high in a breeze. Such animals I need
not say are very valuable.

It is not always the fastest dogs are the best finders. I have
known capital finders who were not particularly speedy. It is
very easy to be deceived in the working properties of dogs.
When I lived in Cumberland I heard a wonderful account of a dog
(a cross-bred pointer). I sent for him to try him against one of
mine, a blue-grey Belton, ' Trimmer,' the one named at page 24.
This * nonpareil * set out at a marvellous pace — it was absolutely
terrific ; he carried himself magnificently, and behaved beautifully,
and beat my grey dog all to fits ; indeed, at the time I considered
him, without any exception, the very best dog I had ever seen ;
but after two or three hours his bolt was shot, he had run him-
self out, and dropped away to a canter ; then it was the blue-grey
came in, was pointing on all sides, and the crack nowhere. So
much for a flash, dog. Yet this animal would have carried all
before him at 'field trials'

I will mention another instance. Many years ago during the
Alston Moor poaching time, I heard of a famous setter, the best
of sixty, all tested and good dogs. I was anxious to behold this
wonder, and went over, accompanied by * Trimmer,' to try him,
and with the intention of purchasing, if he came up to my ex-
pectations. When we commenced on the moor, this setter, a
liver and white of the Edmond Castle breed (there are few better),
set off like a racehorse — he was the fastest dog I ever saw — and
would have the outside cast, which my blue-grey also wanted ;
the rivalry between them was curious to look at.

I saw directly where the liver and white had beaten the sixty
others, viz., by being the swifter animal he got his point first

6o THE SETTER.

from having the outside cast (he was a roach, or wheeled-backed
dog), and hunted low. Although he was faster than ' Trimmer,*
yet this dog made up for his loss of speed by his lofty and
superior carriage, and being equal in width of range, completely
defeated this celebrated animal.

I purchased both these dogs for friends — the half-bred pointer,
and liver and white setter. The former could never run two days
in succession. The latter was a very enduring animal, but a
very jealous one.

Many setters show great sagacity in their mode of hunting,
never crossing the same cast, or ground twice ; and always keep-
ing their head ' to wind.* These dogs, though they may not be
extraordinarily fleet, are, from their mode of hunting, very difficult
to beat

Other dogs, who are very fast, often show little or no sagacity,
quartering the same ground repeatedly ; they appear to be
doing a deal of work, but in reality are only running over ground
they have hunted before. I have ever remarked that the quick
finders are inclined to be self-willed. And although you may
wish them sometimes to hunt the same ground twice, will not
do so. No man can teach a dog to find game so well as his
own natural sagacity enables him to do, but you can occasionally
help him a little.

I have often known men give five or six hundred, and much
more, for a Scotch shooting, take down the best of guns, wines, and
other requisites, regardless of expense, and come home disgusted
and disappointed. And why } because their dogs were not able
to stand hard work, and lacked endurance. Had these gentle-
men taken precautions and procured good and lasting dogs,
instead of being obliged to give up shooting and return utterly
crestfallen, they would have come back contented and delighted
with their dogs' performances.

It must be most annoying to anyone, after having gone to all
the trouble- and expense, to find he is helpless for want of dogs ;
and seeing a friend who has been wiser than himself, and has
got lasting animals, bring home his forty or fifty brace a day.

RELATIVE MERITS OF DOGS,

If you want sport, no matter where you shoot, you must get
dogs adapted to the ground you have. I have repeatedly seen
a whole party of sportsmen at a standstill, and unable to go out,
owing to all their dogs being knocked up. As I have said before,
it is not the number, but the quality that is requisite. Six really
good enduring dogs are quite sufficient for any man, let him go
out every day ; indeed, barring accidents, four are ample.

I will give an instance of the advantage of selecting good and
lasting dogs. I was one of a party of four that on September nth
had bagged 3,066 head of grouse— one gentleman killed within
seven head, to his own gun, as much as the whole party, solely
by having superior dogs, and in addition, he lent a brace of
dogs several times to his friends.

I was one of another party of four on a Scotch moor. In four
days the four guns had killed 1,654 head. And one of them
bagged 127 brace in one day, over one brace of setters. None
of us ever used relays of dogs, or did any of us possess more
than two brace each.

When I rented the Forse shootings, in Caithness, Mr. Thomp-
son of Inglewoodbank, whom I have mentioned before, never had
more than two dogs, and used them daily. He was a young man
of five-and-twenty, an excellent walker and good shot, and his
brace of dogs never knocked up. One of them was his jet black
setter 'Paris,* that I called attention to as the breed of his
uncle Harry Rothwell. I mention this to show it is not ne-
cessary to have such a large and costly quantity of dogs as
many have.

Before closing and bidding you adieu, I hope and trust all will
understand that I have not written this little volume with the
idea of lauding up setters over pointers. Such has not been my
intention.

I have seen both in England, Wales, Scotland, and Ireland,
splendid specimens of the pointer, both good and tested dogs.

Those I most appreciated were a breed of self-liver-coloured
ones, belonging to the Earl of Fife : these I saw in Mar Forest ;
they were long, low, light dogs, with the leather of their ears

remarkably thin, and coats as bright as satin, lively workers, and
very enduring.

McNichol, the Duke of Buckingham's keeper, at Glenbucket,
Aberdeenshire, was noted for a similar breed of self-liver-coloured
ones ; they were very good, and I frequently saw them, as I had
for many years the adjacent moor, * The Cabrach.* There was,
and still is, a jet-black breed of pointers in the possession of
the Duke of Buccleugh, of Dumlanrig Castle, Dumfriesshire.
Alexander Robertson, Esq., of Foveran, Aberdeenshire, a well-
known sportsman, also had a similar breed.

The Earl of Lonsdale's family have for more than half a cen-
tury had a breed of black pointers at Lowther Castle, Cumber-
land, famous for their goodness and enduring qualities.

The late Mr. Edge's, Joseph Lang's, and Moor's, of Appelby,
were all good. The first-named gentleman's breed was supposed
to be the best in England.

Mr. Garth's ' Drake * is too well known to need any comment
from me ; also Messrs. Whitehouse and Lort's breeds, and many
others whose names do not at this moment occur to me.

I have, now, I think, written all I know about setters, at least
all that will be of any service to breeders. And if they have
obtained any information, or derived any pleasure, in the pe-
rusal of these pages, I shall be more than amply repaid for any
trouble I may have been at ; and no one will feel more gratified
and pleased than

Edward Laverack.

london: printed by

spottiswoodk and co., new-strbbt squarb

at:d parliament street

/,.

■ 1

( ..

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