THE AMERICAN GORDON SETTER. 



BY HARRY MALCOLM, 



President The American Gordon Setter Club. 



>HE origin of this famous breed of Setters dates back 

 eighty-nine years ago, or more, to the Duke of Gor- 

 don's Castle, whence its great fame as a field dog 

 has spread far and wide. It was from the Duke of Gordon 

 that our favorite derived his name; and but for this noble- 

 man we should never have known or been able to perpetu- 

 ate this neplus ultra of handsome Setter dogs. 



About the year 1859, the first specimens of this breed 

 were introduced in England, and were there called the 

 Black and Tan, or Gordon Setter. They were bred and 

 shown in England of immense size, and were entirely too 

 heavy in make to please the majority of English sportsmen; 

 and but for the old stock in Scotland, which were merry 

 little workers, and but for the careful breeding of some 

 English and American lovers of field sports, which resulted 

 in getting him back to his proper size for practical field 

 form, we should not to-day have had the handsomest and 

 grandest field dog it has ever been the writer' s good fortune 

 to follow afield, day in and day out. / 



Writing of the show bench in England, Stonehenge says, 

 referring to Kent (E. K. C. S. B., 1600): "His grand head 

 and rich color drew general attention to him, taking prize 

 after prize at Cremorne, Birmingham (four times), Islington 

 (twice), Worcester, and Paris. His extraordinary career 

 naturally caused a great amount of jealousy, and he was 

 called, by the opposition party, a 'cur,' a 'mongrel,' a 

 'half Bloodhound,' and a dozen other hard names. So 

 convinced, however, was Mr. Pearce of his purity of breed- 

 ing, that he determined to put the matter to the test of 



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