22 THE AMERICAN BOOK OF THE DOG. 



scent of the partridge, when a net was drawn over the 

 covey by two men; hence he was made to drop close to 

 the ground, an attitude which is now unnecessary." There 

 is thus an absence of positiveness in his later opinions on 

 the subject; in fact, there is no proof adduced whatever to 

 support the speculation. 



Gordon Stables briefly disposes of the subject, in " The 

 Practical Kennel Guide," as follows: ''The Setter used to 

 be called a ' Setting Spaniel,' and was known in England 

 long before the Pointer, and was probably first introduced 

 by the Romans." 



Laverack, in his work, "The Setter," says: 



\ I am of the 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 a Setting Spaniel. How the 

 Setter attained his sufficiency of point is difficult to account for, and I leave 

 that question 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 be true, and I believe it is, the Setter can not at first have 

 been crossed with the Pointer to render him what he is. 



A more modern writer, one who is generally very sound, 

 and always instructive, Mr. Hugh Dalziel, treats the subject 

 at some length. The following quotations give the main 

 points of his position: 



Difficult as it admittedly is to trace the history of any of our modern 

 breeds of dogs, although in so many instances their manufacture, if I may use 

 the term, into their present form is of comparatively recent date, there is, in 

 respect to the Setter, a general agreement among writers and breeders that our 

 present dog is largely derived from the Spaniel; indeed, the proofs of this are 

 conclusive. The family likeness is, in many respects, yet strongly preserved; 

 and in some kennels where they have kept pretty much to their own blood, 

 following different lines from our show and field-trial breeders, this is markedly 

 so. The writer on Setters in the Sportsman's Cabinet, 1802, tells us that in 

 his day, in the northern counties, the Pointer was called the Smooth Spaniel, 

 the Setter the Rough Spaniel; and although he speaks of this localism with 

 surprise, as a misnomer, it was really the preservation of an old distinction 

 the Setters, or Setting Spaniels, being so named to divide them from their 

 congeners, used for different work, and named Cockers and Springers. 



Somewhat inconsistently with the conclusion that "the 

 proofs are conclusive," Mr. Dalziel continues: 



