KING CHARLES SPANIEL 



in high terms to the variety of spaniel known as fotor or 

 comforter, which was used by the medical men of the 

 period for drawing the fever out of their patients by lying 

 on the breasts of the latter ! Although the latter-day lovers 

 of the King Charles claim no such ridiculous powers for 

 their favourites, the fact remains that there is no more 

 engaging or beautiful variety of dog in existence, and if 

 not coddled up and overfed, the breed is a very hardy one — • 

 in fact, cases have been known of King Charles having 

 been employed in beating hedgerows for game with com- 

 plete success. No doubt the original King Charles 

 possessed white miarkings, as the first advertisement for 

 the recovery of a lost dog, which dates back to the reign 

 of the Merry Monarch, refers to a black and white spaniel, 

 '^the property of His Majesty the King," which was lost 

 in the Green Park. Hogarth's paintings also support 

 the above statement as regards colour, but until some 

 thirty years ago the vast majority of the King Charles 

 spaniels which were met with were black-and-tans. The 

 first really good specimen of the tricolour that was shown 

 about that time was Conrad, the property of Miss Violet 

 Cameron, and the same lady exhibited a red bitch named 

 Clare with considerable success. Both these colours have 

 always been recognised as belonging to the King Charles — 

 indeed the reds were utilised many years ago for crossing 

 with the black-and-tans, in order to improve the richness 

 of their tan markings. Consequently, many old breeders 

 deeply resented the action of some modern exhibitors of 

 toy spaniels, who subdivided the breed now under con- 

 sideration into King Charles, which were the black-and-tans; 

 Prince Charles, which were the tricolours ; and Rubies, 

 which were the reds. Of course this was an absolutely 

 ridiculous and indefensible action, and therefore there is 

 some satisfaction in adding that the name Prince Charles 

 has been abandoned, but that of Ruby remains as a 

 testimony to the folly of some modern breeders. 



The general appearance and shape of the King Charles 



123 



