THE COCKER SPANIEL. 339 



the comforter, in Latin melitocus or totos" of which he 

 writes: 



There is besides those which we have already delivered, another sort of 

 gentle dogs in this our English soil, but exempted from the order of the resi- 

 due. Notwithstanding many make much of those pretty puppies called Span- 

 iels gentle, and though some suppose that such dogs are fit for no service, I 

 dare say, by their leaves, they be in a wrong box. 



Thus it will be seen that the Cocker is one of the oldest 

 and bluest-blooded strains of the Spaniel family. He was 

 the friend and companion of nobility in an age when few 

 other dogs were thus honored. 



Stonehenge, in "Dogs of the British Isles,'' says: 



The Cocker can scarcely be described, inasmuch as there are so many 

 varieties in different parts of Great Britain. He may however be said, in gen- 

 eral terms, to be a light, active Spaniel, of about fourteen pounds weight on 

 the average, sometimes reaching twenty pounds, with very elegant shape, a 

 lively and spirited carriage. In hunting he keeps his tail down, like the rest 

 of his kind, works it constantly in a most rapid and merry way; alone he may 

 be known from the Springer, who also works his, but solemnly and deliber- 

 ately, without the same pleasurable sensations which are displayed by the 

 Cocker. The head is round and the forehead raised; muzzle more pointed 

 than the Springer, and the ears less heavy, but of good length and well clothed 

 with soft, wavy hair, which should not be matted in a heavy mass. The eye is 

 of medium size, slightly inclined to w 7 ater, but not to weep like the toy dog's; 

 body of medium length, and the shape generally resembling that of a small 

 Setter. These dogs are well feathered, and the work for their feet and legs 

 requires them to be strong and well formed. The coat should be thick and 

 wavy, but not absolutely curled, which last shows the cross with the Water 

 Spaniel, and that gives too much obstinacy with it to conduce to success in 

 covert shooting. The color varies from plain liver or black to black and tan, 

 white and black, white and liver, white and red, or white and lemon. Differ- 

 ent breeds are noted as possessing some one of these in particular, but I am 

 not aware that any one is remarkable as belonging to a superior race. 



An old work on "The Dog," condensed from Stone- 

 henge's "British Rural Sports and the Farmer's Calendar," 

 contains the following description of Spaniels: 



Field Spaniels are divided into two principal groups, the Springers, or large 

 variety, used for all sorts of covert game ; the Cockers, kept more especially 

 for woodcocks, to follow which they must be of smaller size. The Springer 

 is again subdivided into the Clumber, Sussex, Norfolk, and other strains, while 

 the Cocker includes the Devonshire and Welsh varieties, as well as many other 

 strains without special names. The Cocker Spaniel is a much smaller dog 

 than the Springer, seldom exceeding eighteen pounds in weight for bitches 



