ENGLISH TOY SPANIELS 589 



was attributed to them, for which purpose they were borne in 

 the bosom of the distressed person, or pressed against the afflicted 

 part. Be this as it may, it goes to show the estimation in which 

 they were held, and, after all, it is not unreasonable that the ready 

 sympathy with which these responsive pets meet our varying 

 conditions and moods carries it the soothing of devotion, potent 

 according to the sympathy existing between owner and pet. 

 Though they are the mere dependants and ornaments of our 

 idlest hours, many of us can testify to the strong but gentle hold 

 with which our pet Spaniels possess our affections, and how much 

 consolation they bring in the hour of sickness or depression. 



" I cannot but believe," writes a well-known fancier of these 

 Toys, "like the Rev. J. G. Wood, Dr. Gordon Stables, and others, 

 that the higher order of animals have souls, and that their spirits 

 live. Indeed, I look forward with as much anticipation as the 

 Indian to his happy hunting-grounds, attended by his horse and 

 dogs, to myself meeting in another realm the many sinless little 

 creatures whose bodies lie buried in my garden, and who by 

 life-long devotion might well shame many members of educated 

 humanity." 



History records that the hapless Queen of Scots was accom- 

 panied to the scaffold by her little Spaniel, and that while a 

 fugitive or prisoner at Carisbrook Castle, King Charles was attended 

 by his favourite Spaniels, with whom he often amused himself; it is 

 certainly a fact that he was rarely unattended by his four-footed 

 pets. They were so numerous in his time that they bred in his 

 bedroom, and over-ran Hampton Court and York Palace now 

 Whitehall to which, according to Pepys's diary, they had free access, 

 even upon State occasions. 



Although harsh censors may declare these facts fitting to a 

 frivolous age, the popularity of these little animals has ebbed and 

 flowed ever since, and the Toy Spaniel still maintains his exalted 

 associations. The aristocrat seems born in each variety they 

 cannot be otherwise. Psychologically they are sensitive and 

 observant, as quickly noticing the difference between poorly clad 

 and well-to-do people as between people kind and unkind. They 

 are more at home on the pillow or the counterpane and in the 

 drawing-room than in the kitchen or the kennel. Their lines have 

 correspondingly "fallen in pleasant places." 



It is interesting to note what vicissitudes of fortune have 

 attended these little dogs from being the chosen company of 

 ye daintie dames and monarchs, they were found, as late as thirty 

 years ago, bred in the slums of London, and some of the best 

 specimens now on the show-bench are related to grand-dames 

 and sires bred and reared in Whitechapel. Many are the ex- 

 periences old fanciers can tell of visits to underground kitchens 



