286 BRITISH DOGS 



have much improved, so far as Irish Setters are concerned they 

 are not an unmixed blessing, and championships are much too 

 easily secured, with the result that the shooting man who wants 

 to breed is quite bewildered, and probably ends by crossing with 

 the nearest dog whose field performance he knows, but whose 

 pedigree may be anything. To make dog shows really useful for 

 improving the breed, championship wins should not be given to 

 dogs who had not distinguished themselves at field trials. The 

 result certainly would be fewer champions (an undoubted blessing 

 to any one who knows some of the champions of the present day), 

 a tendency on the part of owners of good-looking dogs to have 

 them trained for competition at field trials, with the consequent 

 weeding out of worthless ones, and the perpetuation of the qualities 

 supposed to be sought for good looks combined with good work. 



The origin of the. Irish Setter is apparently unknown, and any 

 description of points is of comparatively recent date, while the 

 representations in old sporting books are quite unreliable, if their 

 worth is measured by similar engravings of animals whose appear- 

 ance is known not to have changed. It is consequently impossible 

 to know if the type was at all permanent or fixed until sixty or 

 seventy years ago, although unquestionably an Irish Setter of some 

 sort was bred and used on the Irish mountains and bogs, and 

 highly valued for his hardy constitution and great endurance, his 

 fine nose, keenness in hunting, and width of range all most neces- 

 sary qualifications where game is none too plentiful. 



That an undeniable type is not even yet established can hardly 

 be questioned, as probably no two show judges, if asked to give 

 the name of the most typical dog of the day, would give the same 

 answer; while the general diversity of opinion has brought from 

 exhibitors the frequent remark that they don't know what to breed 

 up to. Although it may with truth be asserted that a really good 

 Pointer or an English Setter will beat the average Irish Setter at his 

 own work and on his own ground, the same is equally true of a 

 really good Irish Setter as regards the average English Setter or 

 Pointer ; but taking the average of all breeds, for his own work and 

 on his own ground nothing can beat the Irishman. To prove that 

 this is no extravagant statement one has only to examine the records 

 of the Irish field trials during the last ten or fifteen years, where 

 the red dog, pitted against all comers, has over and over again proved 

 his worth. 



The " Veteran Sportsman," as shown by recent facts, was there- 

 fore not far astray, and it is certain that the dog long ago selected 

 by the Irish gentlemen was the one best adapted for their country ; 

 but there is undoubted danger of deterioration of the breed if some 

 restriction as to championship wins at ordinary shows, as before indi- 

 cated, be not made, as it is the general public, who know little about 



