The Sussex Spaniel. 145 



CHAPTER XXVIL THE SUSSEX SPANIEL 



BY CASTRA. 



IN introducing " Castra " to our readers it will be sufficient to say he 

 is a gentleman who has taken an enthusiastic interest in, and done much 

 to save the true Sussex spaniel from annihilation by absorption into more 

 modern strains. Not only has he been a successful breeder and exhibitor, 

 but nearly all the winning dogs of this strain at the present day are from 

 or bred direct from, his kennels. 



" Castra" says : 



" This variety of spaniel is one of the oldest known breeds of English 

 sporting dogs, and is probably the one from which the setter has been 

 produced by the simple process of selection ; such appears to be the 

 opinion of 'Idstone,' and such was the opinion of the king of setter 

 breeders I refer, of course, to the late Mr. Laverack who went so far 

 as to admit that in breeding the animals for which he became so justly 

 famous, he always aimed at producing an enlarged spaniel ; and main- 

 tained that the formation of a pure Sussex spaniel was perfection for the 

 purposes of endurance. 



"My theme has been so well and so exhaustively treated by modern 

 writers, and their writings are so fresh to my memory, that it will be 

 preferable, for my purpose to quote certain passages from Youatt, 

 ' Stonehenge,' and ' Idstone ' verbatim, rather than permit their ideas 

 adopted by the writer to appear secondhand. 



" It is generally agreed that the spaniel is of Spanish origin, and thence 

 its name. Youatt declares ' he is evidently the parent of the Newfound- 

 land dog and the setter ; while the retriever, the poodle, the Bernardine, 

 the Esquimaux, the Siberian, and the Greenland dogs, the shepherd and 

 drover's dog, and every variety distinguished for intelligence and 

 fidelity, have more or less of his blood in them.' 



" ' Stonehenge ' says ' The Sussex is a distinct and a very old- 

 established breed. He divides the honours of old family with the 

 Clumber, and he always has been and always will be in demand ; ' 

 whilst ' Idstone ' writes in 1872 thus : ' The Sussex is nearly if not 

 quite extinct, and I have not seen a first-class one for some years. 



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