THE SPANIELS 



327 



trace his history farther back than McCarthy's strain, no information 

 apparently being available earlier than the last forty or fifty years ; 

 and it is very doubtful if the Irish Water Spaniels of even that 

 period much resembled those of to-day. 



Their pedigrees that are registered show, by the scantiness of 

 detail, that little care was taken in the compiling of such records 

 before dog shows were instituted. Even Mr. M'Carthy, who is 

 so constantly referred to in terms almost suggestive of the idea 



FIG. 71. MR. J. W. JELLY DUDLEY'S IRISH WATER SPANIEL SHAMUS O'FLYNN. 



that he originated the breed, was silent as to their origin and 

 genealogy ; and, indeed, he says nothing of the pedigree of his own 

 famous dog Boatswain, contenting himself with saying that " the 

 true breed has become very scarce " a phrase used so often, and 

 in reference to so many breeds, that the general public might be 

 excused for suspecting that in reality there exists no longer a " true 

 breed " of any dog at all. 



There is a point on which Mr. Skidmore lays great stress 

 namely, the smooth tail ; but Colonel Hutchinson, in his work 



